GERMANY: Robot concierge Ray parks cars hassle-free

Record ID: 401991

  • Title: GERMANY: Robot concierge Ray parks cars hassle-free
  • Date: 13th July 2014
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF CUSTOMER USING TOUCH SCREEN
  • Embargoed: 28th July 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Disasters,Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVA9EOPOK01T140QDWQUWRURVQWU
  • Story Text: Air travel is stressful at the best of times, while the hassle of both parking a car and then finding it in the car park after a long return journey can add to passengers' woes. Now help is at hand, thanks to 'Ray', a robot parking concierge being trialled at Germany's Dusseldorf Airport.
    Ray is a machine on wheels that is able to park a traveller's vehicles automatically. Drivers need only park their vehicles inside a delivery box and use a touch screen to call on him. The robot then transports the vehicle to the parking spot that the customer reserved on an app beforehand. Upon return, the passenger orders the car's release, and Ray delivers the car directly to them.
    Ray was developed by Bavarian firm Serva Transport Systems who believe it enables efficient parking. "We are able to park the cars in such a way that really saves space," Serva Transport Systems software engineer, Thomas Nagel told Reuters TV. "One can park between 40 percent and 60 percent more cars in the lot, which of course is important, especially at airports, in big cities, wherever. And so we came up with the idea to optimise that."
    Airport representative Thomas Koetter says that because the delivery boxes lie nearby the terminal, the scheme will enable passengers to reach their flights quicker.
    "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 travellers who must catch very early flights and it makes a difference, if I have to be at the airport at 6 or 6:30 in the morning. And here with the new product you simply park your car in the delivery box and are at the terminal within two minutes," Koetter explained to Reuters. Furthermore, Ray even knows at what time the passenger lands again, as the robot is connected with the real time in flight data base.
    Parking with Ray costs 4 euros per hour, or 29 euros per day. Two visitors whom Reuters spoke to liked the idea of using the service. "I would definitely give it a try. And if it were a success, I would continue to use it," passenger Hubert Esser said. Volker Christmann concurred, saying the device "has a lot of advantages for me as a business traveller, because I would be finished much more quickly."
    Currently the airport is reserving 249 parking spots for Ray. If the scheme proves popular, Dusseldorf airport will consider expanding supply to other areas of their car park.
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