Indigo, the world’s No. 1 parking and individual mobility provider, is the leading integrator for an innovation developed by Valeo and Cisco, the so-called “Cyber Valet Services”, which is currently being tested at Indigo’s “Camille Desmoulins” car park in Issy-Les-Moulineaux. This pilot project was first presented at the international event Viva Technology in Paris on 15 June.
An innovation designed to promote fluid itineraries and smart mobility
This groundbreaking solution, now allows vehicles equipped with Valeo Park4U® Auto technology automatically and safely park without a driver on board in connected car parks. In concrete terms, the driver simply has to step out of their vehicle and use their smartphone to control the procedure from the car-park entrance. The car will then automatically follow the course set, up to its parking space. It will later return to the driver at the car-park’s meeting point when requested.
By combining “Cyber Valet Services” with the payment-and-access numberplate-reading application that its partner, Indigo Neo, provides, Indigo has given its customers a way to save much time. The user thereby begins their parking procedure before even entering the car park.
Innovative technologies
Within the building, the vehicle moves around via Valeo Park4U® Auto automatic-parking technology, Valeo’s on-board telematics and its secure key, Valeo InBlue®, combined with Cisco’s solution, Parking Controller. To complete that system, Indigo Camille Desmoulin car park was equipped with WiFi hotspots, video sensors, and artificial-intelligence technology.
Through the vehicle’s sensors and data provided by equipment installed in the car park, the vehicle is able to discern very accurately at all times, and foresee and calculate its course up to the end of the manoeuvre. Via coordination of all this data, the vehicle can navigate complex car-park structures, even over several storeys, in full safety, notably using its sensors and the geolocation service incorporated.
The increasing popularity of new mobility solutions
This innovation reflects an acceleration of efforts to optimize mobility in urban areas with possible new uses. Above and beyond the space savings associated with optimal parking, car parks equipped with this service could give customers easy access to new service offerings (automatic washing, automated maintenance or charging, etc.). This would allow fleet managers to optimize use of their car park by reducing the time needed for vehicle drop-off/pick-up. Private parking garages could be turned into shared car parks without any access problems while guaranteeing an optimum safety level.
Indigo develops smart parking solutions designed to let city dwellers enjoy their city more. Furthermore, this project is the second pilot test launched in an Indigo car park in Issy-Les-Moulineaux after SoMobility, which was trialled last March and is aimed at offering multimodal travel options to meet traffic needs during the road works in Greater Paris.
Sébastien Fraisse, Indigo’s Deputy Managing Director and Director for France, explained: “As a player seeking to provide high-quality solutions in parking and individual mobility, our Group has never stopped innovating in services to offer a seamless, turnkey, remodelled parking experience. This ambitious partnership takes parking well into a phase of renewal and change, especially for drivers’ uses. As autonomous vehicles develop, car parks are also undergoing their own changes to support these trends, with the rise of new services designed to constantly simplify customer experience while bringing added value. This type of system paves the way for diversification in how car parks are used.”
Jacques Aschenbroich, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Valeo, said: “Valeo seeks to develop technology that is accessible for all and that rewrites the rules of mobility to make it safer, more intuitive, and more fluid. Valeo Park4U® Auto technology has already been incorporated into 12 million vehicles worldwide. Our partnership with Cisco is a great chance to show how our technology can lastingly transform urban-mobility services. I would like to pay tribute to the teams of both companies whose work made this project possible.”
Robert Vassoyan, Chairman of Cisco France, commented: “The Cyber Valet Services project can now connect millions of parking spaces safely. We are pleased and proud to combine our expertise, technology, and resources with those of Valeo so that together we can offer towns and their inhabitants new digital services. This partnership with a major French player is a new illustration of our desire to work with the entire ecosystem and of our ability to innovate alongside partners as we undertake to accelerate digital transformation.”