As of right now, many car models come loaded with one kind or another of self-parking feature. However, with the current technology that is available, such features are usually nothing more than just a parlor trick. French startup, Stanley Robotics, has come up with a new approach for this particular task; making use of a little robot tug that can tow the car around the parking lot and decide where to park it.
The electric-powered and autonomous robot by Stanley Robotics has been named Stan. The company has stated that in a standard parking lot, Stan is capable of creating 50% more parking space because of its capability of parking cars more efficiently. The website of Stanley Robotics doesn’t offer any specifications of Stand; it is understood that these robots will be big boys. Why? Because they will be moving cars that are up to 20 feet in length and weigh in at high numbers.
In the promotion video of Stan that has been put forth by Stanley Robotics, a human driver parks the car on a kind of platform that is towable. Once the human driver has taken off, Stan comes in. The robot hooks onto the platform and then tows the car to a parking spot in the lot. It then parks it tightly along with a couple of other vehicles.
Stanley Robotics has debuted Stan in the parking lot located at the airport in the French city of Lyon on 14th March. A total of five hundred parking spaces have been dedicated to Stanley Robotics. A total of four Stans will be taking the cars to the parking spots and bringing them back. They are booked at about $60, slightly more expensive than how much you would pay for a week of parking. If Stanley Robotics is successful, it will expand to 6,000 parking spots at the airport soon enough.
The company has also stated in a press statement that the Stan robot can reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by taking out the passenger vehicle traffic at parking lots. Clément Boussard, CEO, in the press statement, said, ‘We are proud to be leading this operation with Aéroports de Lyon and to be able to present to the world, for the first time, the operation of Stanley Robotics’ outdoor valet robot service. We have designed the service to be the simplest and most enjoyable experience for the users. In addition, our solution meets the sustainable growth needs of our partners VINCI Airports and Aéroports de Lyon, which allows us to envisage long-term collaboration.’
