What if you could drive to the front of restaurant get out the car and not worry about where to park your car? You don’t even have to speak to a live person if you didn’t want to. The Concierge will take care of parking for you. I am not talking about the that nice old man that is always behind the desk. This concierge does not talk to you forever about stories of yesteryear. Instead Ray, the Robot Parking Concierge stands wheels by it’s namesake. When you are ready to go. Clock a button on the touch screen. Wait a few moments and just like that car returns to you.
The service is not free. It’s almost $30 per day. Is it worth it? The perks are not having to worry about remembering where you parked and you a guaranteed parking spot at Germany’s Dusseldorf Airport. That alone might be worth if for business travelers. The robot and parking system was Serva Transport Systems.
“We are able to park the cars in such a way that really saves space. One can park between 40 percent and 60 percent more cars in the lot, which of course is always an important matter. Especially at airports, in big cities, wherever. And so we came up with the idea to optimize that.” Upon arrival, travellers have to park their car at a delivery box. After the driver calls for the robot on a touch screen it wheels the vehicle to the desired parking spot. And when they return, Ray delivers it directly to the flyer. Airport representative Thomas Koetter thinks that passengers will appreciate the automated service. ~ SOFTWARE ENGINEER OF THE DEVELOPER FIRM, THOMAS NAGEL
“We do notice that there is a target audience of passengers at the airport who quite simply do not want to spend their time tediously searching parking spots in the mornings and evenings. It is, of course, in many cases the business travelers who must catch very early flights.” Using Ray costs drivers 4 euros ( 5.44 USD) per hour or 29 euros (39 USD) per day. But passengers say it’s a price worth paying to ensure peace of mind. ~DUSSELDORF AIRPORT REPRESENTATIVE, THOMAS KOETTER
“Certainly, that has a lot of advantages for me as a business traveller.” Currently, 249 parking spots are reserved for “Ray.” If it proves popular, Dusseldorf airport will consider adding more spots in other areas of the parking lot. ~ VOLKER CHRISTMANN