Car Knowledge Manual Lexus Intelligent Parking Assist System

The Intelligent Parking Assist System (IPAS) used in Lexus models is the first mass-produced automatic parking assistance system. This system was developed by Toyota Motor in 2003 and was initially used only on the Japanese version of the Prius hybrid car, and then gradually covered other Toyota and Lexus models. The driver can activate the system through the central display and buttons, and then the vehicle can park itself into the parking space.

The first generation of intelligent parking assistance system, which was born in 2003, only supports parallel parking. The system scans the parking space through sensors, and then the on-board computer analyzes the relevant data, and the analysis results are reflected on the central display screen. At this time, the driver needs to operate the arrows on the display screen to move the graphic representing the vehicle into the scanned parking space. After completing the above steps, press the confirmation button, and the rest of the work can be left to the system to complete.

However, the parking assistance system at that time was not yet intelligent. First, the early version of the system had difficulty recognizing small animals, baby strollers and pedestrians. Second, when the driver needs to park the vehicle in a narrow parking space, the vehicle will issue a collision risk warning, and the driver must take over the rest of the parking action. The upgraded system released in 2005 added the ability to recognize parking space markings, and the system launched in 2006 integrated parking radar. The latest version of the system currently supports both parallel parking and reverse parking, and uses different colors to mark the size of the selected parking space, which is more convenient for drivers to use.

The intelligent parking assistance system used by Lexus processes the information transmitted by the reversing camera and the front and rear parking radars through the on-board computer, plans the vehicle's driving trajectory, and finally completes parking. The parking radar is responsible for scanning the parking space and sending back information. The on-board computer analyzes the information obtained and plans the vehicle's movement trajectory during parking. The central display screen in the car intuitively displays the information analyzed by the computer. After that, the driver only needs to control the speed of the vehicle through the brake pedal, and the automatic parking assistance system controls the vehicle's steering wheel and parks it in the parking space by itself.

During the operation of the system, once the steering wheel is touched or the brake pedal is stepped on vigorously, the parking assistance program will be released; similarly, when the reverse speed exceeds the system default upper limit, the automatic parking assistance system will also be turned off automatically. In the Lexus LS series commercial, the LS460L with a length of more than 5 meters easily parked in a parking space surrounded by a large number of glass cups, which made people amazed. Is this system really so magical? What unexpected situations will occur when Nissan uses it? We just conducted a comprehensive test on this system. You should be able to find the answer in the test article that will be presented later. Stay tuned.