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Stan, Robot Valet, Will Drag Your Car Away
One of the most tedious and unpleasant exercises I can think of is parking your car at the airport, especially during the holidays. Now, thankfully, there's Stan, the robot valet.
(Stan, airport robot valet)
If all goes well during the three-month trial, the Gatwick airport pilot program could lead to a more widespread implementation of the technology that would allow it to replace 6,000 available self-parking spots with 8,500 spots maintained by robot valets, all without increasing the size of its parking lots.And the space-saving tech could make the robots an attractive option anywhere parking is at a premium, not just airports — it’s not hard to imagine a future in which robot valets swoop in to park cars at stadiums, amusement parks, and shopping centers across the globe.
(Via Futurism.)
I seem to recall that Frank Herbert made use of the idea of some sort of robot that wrangles your car for parking. This excerpt is from The Dosadi Experiment, one of his less well-known books, but still a classic:
He activated the grapple tracks. The skitter jerked into motion, danced sideways, and slid smoothly down the driveway to the street. As they emerged from the parking spire's enclosing shadows, even before the grapple released and Havvy activated the skitter's own power, Jedrik firmed her decision not to look back.
(Read more about grapple tracks)
Read more about Robot Parking In Fact and In Fiction.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/23/2019)
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