We’ve all been there. Your flight lands after a long business trip or vacation and you are completed exhausted by the time you have picked up your baggage. But you still have one more task to accomplish. You have no idea where you parked on the day of your departure and it’s time to go search for your vehicle in the vast expanse of the airport parking lot. Düsseldorf Airport in Germany, has found a solution to this problem through the use of robotic technology, and it is more than likely that we will start seeing this system used more in the near future.
Image provided by “Wikipedia”
Here is how the automated parking system works. First, you book your entrance and exit dates through the online portal. When you arrive at the parking lot, you leave your car to be taken by the forklift-like robot named “Ray”. This robot takes your car, records its measurements, and stores it with the other cars left by customers. It is priced at 30 euros a night, and is only a two minute walk from the airport entrance. You can read more about the process and see pictures of “Ray” here. You can also see an animation of the process, and video of the robot at work.
Having the computerized system store the cars also is an advantage in terms of required space. Because people don’t need to be able to get to the cars and drive them out, the robots can organize them in a very efficient manner. Techno Crazed states that, “This innovation will allow companies responsible for parking of cars to free 60% more parking capacity as compared to traditional parking operations.” The site also says that the system is linked with the airports flight database, so when people arrive from their flight the robot automatically starts preparing their car for pick up.
It is exciting to stay up to date with the program, and see how much it is being embraced by the airport users. The only question is if the automated parking features in individual cars will take over before this robotic system can be implemented in other airports.
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