HUNTING FOR A parking space when you’re at the airport is not a fun task by any means, especially if you’re in a rush.
Yet those who are travelling to Düsseldorf airport in Germany can leave the job to a robot valet who will park their car for them.
An airport spokesman says the robot, nicknamed Ray, starts work today and can be booked using a smartphone app.
Thomas Koetter says all travellers need to do is leave their car in a designated area and confirm it’s empty before they collect a ticket.
Then Ray, or one of its cybernetic colleagues, will take the car to one of 249 parking spaces reserved for robots. When the person wants to return to their car, they pay the ticket and their vehicle is brought to a designated location.
Koetter says the forklift-like machine can carry any standard car weighing up to three metric tons (3.31 tons) and is fully insured.
He says the service costing €29 a day targets busy business travellers, but is available to anyone.
Similar services designed around the car are beginning to emerge. Google recently announced a new feature for Google Now where it remembers where you parked your car, while both it and Apple are developing services which will see iOS and Android integrated in cars.
Here’s the robot in action.
(Additional reporting by Quinton O’Reilly)
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