battyr Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I don't think that's a problem. You turn the system on, and then drive down a street looking for a parking spot. The system will let you know when it 'finds' one. I don't know how long it will stay on before it turns off, but I would argue that this is a plus. The Lexus system requires (AFAIK) that you line up for the spot before you engage the system. With the MKT, turn it on and 'fuhgeddaboutit', it says, "Hey knucklehead--there's a spot" and then it parks the car for you. My guess is that it will take a pass on a number of spots that a skilled parkist could easily park in, though. BTW, how come no one's mentioned that the picture illustrating the story shows a 2010 MKT? I have an issue with intellegent systems. The smarter they are, the more likely they get confused and refuse to give me some simple thing that I want. Like the advanced voice recognition system that some phone systems use. I would think in the real world, I would see where I want to park. Pull up to it. Then the punch line is that I would park it my self. If I were to press park it on the Toyota. It would likely see that it can't and tell me. I don't think it would just steer into another vehicle just because it didn't have enough space. If I did the same with the Ford, I would have to back up and start over, so that the system can find the spot. Where the Ford gets real credit, is developing a system that doesn't have a huge cost and knowing how to sell it. I would think that the Ford system requires you to drive forward only slowly while you are looking for a parking spot. On the other hand, if you are unable to park a car by yourself, then you would not be able to find the correct size parking spot either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Where the Ford gets real credit, is developing a system that doesn't have a huge cost and knowing how to sell it. Did you look at that Automobile Mag video? Granted a bunch of hyperactive guys are hardly an ideal testing environment, but did you SEE that interface? Did you HEAR the jargon-spouting compu-nanny? Ford gets credit in my book for taking ONE problem (parallel parking) and solving it rather elegantly (e.g. chime, one touch to accept, you run the gas, brakes, and shift), as opposed to the Lexus "let's kind of solve five different problems". Parallel parking is probably the easiest parking task to automate and Ford's 'scan and measure first' approach makes it far more fool-proof than the Lexus system which relies entirely on guesswork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battyr Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Ok you let the system park your car for you. The car infront of you pulls out and a different one parks there but parks closer to you. The car behind you does the same. How do you get out of the parking spot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Ok you let the system park your car for you. The car infront of you pulls out and a different one parks there but parks closer to you. The car behind you does the same. How do you get out of the parking spot? I'm not saying you shouldn't learn how to parallel park, and I'm not saying that Ford's system is foolproof. I am saying that Ford's system appears to be a far, far, far superior implementation than Toyota's. That the difference in execution exceeds the difference in price & marketing that you posit. -- In the case you suggest, your forward and rearward sensors would let you know when you were dangerously close to the fore & aft cars. Or you could 'man it up', turn off the electronic aids, and get yourself out, even if you have to shift ten times to do it. I doubt the Ford system will be providing automated exits due to Ford not wanting to get named as a defendant when the auto-assist powered car gets rear ended pulling out into traffic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battyr Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Did you look at that Automobile Mag video? Granted a bunch of hyperactive guys are hardly an ideal testing environment, but did you SEE that interface? Did you HEAR the jargon-spouting compu-nanny? Ford gets credit in my book for taking ONE problem (parallel parking) and solving it rather elegantly (e.g. chime, one touch to accept, you run the gas, brakes, and shift), as opposed to the Lexus "let's kind of solve five different problems". Parallel parking is probably the easiest parking task to automate and Ford's 'scan and measure first' approach makes it far more fool-proof than the Lexus system which relies entirely on guesswork. Thanks. I did not know that a Lexus could back into a spot by itself. To me, it would be a lot easier to just park the car, than it would be to figure out how the computer works. Looks like the Japanese still have an issue with making things too complicated. Ford follows KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battyr Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I'm not saying you shouldn't learn how to parallel park, and I'm not saying that Ford's system is foolproof. I am saying that Ford's system appears to be a far, far, far superior implementation than Toyota's. That the difference in execution exceeds the difference in price & marketing that you posit. -- In the case you suggest, your forward and rearward sensors would let you know when you were dangerously close to the fore & aft cars. Or you could 'man it up', turn off the electronic aids, and get yourself out, even if you have to shift ten times to do it. I doubt the Ford system will be providing automated exits due to Ford not wanting to get named as a defendant when the auto-assist powered car gets rear ended pulling out into traffic. I guess it would be easy to get out of a tight parking spot when a car has a bunch of cameras and sensors. And yes, Fords system is a far better implementation. I would think Ford will keep adding capabilities as they discover smart ways to implemente them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 If Meadow Soprano had one of these new Lincolns, the last Sopranos episode could have been about a minute shorter. :hysterical: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 By way of contrast: http://www.automobilemag.com/multimedia/vi...ideo/index.html question here is...isn't this feature for PARALLEL parking?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 (edited) question here is...isn't this feature for PARALLEL parking?? Yeah, but the Lexus system ostensibly provides automatic parallel parking as well. http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2006/09...60_parking.html Look at how COMPLICATED that system is!!!!! You pull up alongside a space, making sure to pass the rear car before aligning next to the front car. A sonar sensor on the front fender measures the length of the space and your distance from the cars. Put the car in Reverse, and the rearview camera, which comes with the required navigation system, presents a wide rear view on the in-dash display. (This feature comes with the optional navigation system, which is a prerequisite for APGS.) Pressing the parallel-parking icon at the bottom of the touch-screen places a simple green square roughly over the parking space. Arrows let you adjust its position. Once it's centered, you press OK, take your hands off the wheel and use only the brake to ease the car backward. The steering wheel flings itself around under control of the electric power steering, angling you in. All you have to do is keep the speed low enough and stop the car when the display shows that you're closing on the rear car's bumper. Then you put it in drive, square the car and you're done. Basically, the car controls only the steering. If you let it, it will drive into the car behind you. Though it may change in the future, APGS doesn't tell you when a space is too small for the car. For now, it lets you try, no matter how small the space. Edited December 31, 2008 by RichardJensen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versa-Tech Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Yeah, but the Lexus system ostensibly provides automatic parallel parking as well. http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2006/09...60_parking.html Look at how COMPLICATED that system is!!!!! I've experienced the Lexus system first hand. I wish I hadn't... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battyr Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 question here is...isn't this feature for PARALLEL parking?? I checked the Lexus web site and it looks like it handles both parallel and back in parking, but gives little information. The electronics can do a better job at parallel parking than people, just because they are better at measuring and math. Looks like people are better at backing in from the video. With a back up camera, I really don't know why anyone needs a system for backing? Especially one that does not work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazerdude20 Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 Yeah, but the Lexus system ostensibly provides automatic parallel parking as well. http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2006/09...60_parking.html Look at how COMPLICATED that system is!!!!! good god... thats more complicated than just parking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 good god... thats more complicated than just parking Exactly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbalek Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 (edited) 2010 MKS: new gauges and shift gate leather boot are very nice! Edited December 31, 2008 by hbalek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yahforseth Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 2010 MKS: new gauges and shift gate leather boot are very nice! I kinda wish the gauges were a little more luxurious than that. I mean, the MKZ's gauges look better integrated. I hope that this is a mule because that piece of black plastic with LINCOLN spelled on it needs to go in favor of another storage spot. I like the new shifter design, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalepsy Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 It's not really. It's using technology that's been around for years. There are already a lot of service robots that deliver medicine or products to set locations automonusly and avoid obstacles in the path such as pedestrians. It's basically the same technology. good god... thats more complicated than just parking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 If someone cant park on their own, they shouldnt be driving....Then again, there is braille in drive-thru tellers, so that should explain it... Sorry to ruin a joke, but there's braille on drive through ATMs because they share components with the walk-up ones... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 I kinda wish the gauges were a little more luxurious than that. I mean, the MKZ's gauges look better integrated. I hope that this is a mule because that piece of black plastic with LINCOLN spelled on it needs to go in favor of another storage spot. I like the new shifter design, though. Well, people were complaining how bad the current guages looked, so we could wait until we get a better view to make a final judgment. We've already complained about/debated that LINCOLN blank space, and I too agree there should be a storage spot. It's not really. It's using technology that's been around for years. There are already a lot of service robots that deliver medicine or products to set locations automonusly and avoid obstacles in the path such as pedestrians. It's basically the same technology. He means that using that system (setting it up, aligning it, etc) is more complicated and difficult than it would be to just park the car yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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