What is billed as the world’s first robot valet service is expanding its pilot project at Lyon Airport in France to 2,000 spaces in the summer of 2020.
Stanley Robotics has partnered with Vinci Airports to expand the outdoor robotic parking service into a new phase after a successful trial involving 500 spaces. The outdoor car park is managed by seven autonomous robots working simultaneously that were developed by Stanley Robotics and Vinci Airports. The partnership aims to ultimately offer more than 6,000 parking spaces at Lyon Airport.
The robotic valet system enables drivers to avoid having to look for a free space in the airport parking lot. After booking their parking space at the Lyon Airport, drivers drop off their vehicle in a dedicated cabin and then get on a shuttle bus that takes them to the airport. The robot takes care of the car, parking it in the secure car park until drivers send notification through an accompanying app that they are ready for their vehicle and the robot returns it to the dedicated cabin.
The company said the parking system also arranges vehicles in the car park to maximize the space used as the cars can be parked in dense blocks. Stanley Robotics said this can create 50% more spaces in the same surface area because the cars can be packed several layers deep. Likewise, CO2 emissions are reduced because drivers would no longer need to circle the parking lot in search of a free parking spot. Using an electric motor, the robots are expected to save 100 tons of CO2 emissions over a one-year period.
For the 500 spaces currently used, Stanley Robotics services 8,000 users per month with 95% of those customers saying they would use it again in the future, the company said.
