Robots now have a variety of purposes through technological innovation, one of them being parking your car when you get to the airport.
Germany-based Serva Transport Systems has created a robot, dubbed RAY, that takes the form of an automated forklift truck capable of picking up vehicles and moving them into pre-designated parking spots, according to CNN.
The machine is currently being used at Dusseldorf Airport and works with an app, requiring travelers to only drop their cars off in a designated area and confirm that the car is empty at a nearby touch screen. The bot will then measure and photograph the car with sensors, gently lift it and park it in one of 249 spots reserved for RAY and the rest of his robotic buddies. Car owners can also use the app to communicate with RAY if they experience any flight delays.
RAY also comes with a space-saving system that Serva Transport says can measure the car's length, width, and accessories like wing mirrors thanks to its lasers and sensors, CNN reported. The company also said the machine does a 60-percent better job at parking cars than human drivers.
Other companies working on parking robots include New Jersey-based startup Boomerang, which has been working on an automated parking system that can park hundreds of cars by itself.
Dusseldorf Airport is letting people use RAY to park their cars for $40 per day, or $5.50 per hour, and is targeting business travelers, CNN reported. Thomas Schnalke, managing director at the airport, describes the service's target customers as travelers "who arrive at the airport shortly before the flight, seek efficient parking, and return within a few days."
Serva Transport also plans on improving the robot's ability to communicate with the car with a collaboration with German automaker Volkswagen it announced earlier this month.
"Our jointly developed technology exchanges data automatically between RAY and Volkswagen cars via Bluetooth and thus facilitates the parking progress," said Rupert Kock, managing director at Serva Transport.
