Not only does it look nice, but it also solves the age-old problem of lack of parking spaces, especially while traveling. We’re talking about Stan, the brainchild of French startup Stanley Robotics, and another welcome robotic participant in our everyday lives.
Two years ago, Stanley Robotics raised $4 million (€3.6 million) from Elaia Partners, Bpifrance and Idinvest Partners for financing the creation of a giant robot that can park your car for you. And now it is a reality. Stan is a completely autonomous AI robot that provides a safe, practical, and quick way of parking.
How does it work?
Just drop off your car at a dedicated box at the airport, take out your bags and take your keys with you. Then verify your flight information on the terminal along with confirming the parking in only a few clicks. After the confirmation, the box will secure your car. The robot will then come and slide underneath the vehicle and carefully lift it by the tires using its precise arms.
Also interesting: Delivery Bots May Invade Your Neighborhood
Stan will carry your car to a free parking space on the exclusive parking lot. The parking lot is only available to robots, so have no fear, your vehicle is safe from any damage or break-in. If you’re worried about the waiting times with all those cars, don’t be. Stan will have your flight information so it can bring your car to a box just in time for you to take it over.
Stan can tow (almost) any car
According to Stanely Robotics, their flagship product can park vehicles up to 6m in length and 3 tons in weight. Stan allows for optimization of parking spaces, creating up to 50% more parking spaces.
All that is available without much modification of existing parking lots as Stan can adapt to most of the situations. In case you were wondering, yes it is 100% electric, so there are no pesky carbon dioxide emissions there.
The future of Stan
Stanley Robotics has already caught the attention of large international companies like airports in Paris, Lyon, and even London Gatwick. In 2017, they signed a partnership contract with the Lyon airports to deploy Stan on the external, long-term P5 parking lot. The team has also announced cooperation with other major industry players.
YouTube: Meet Stan, The Valet Parking Robot
Photo credit: The images shown are owned by Stanley Robotics and have been provided to us for press usage.
Source: Stanley Robotics website and press release
Editorial notice: It’s possible that some of the images are conceptual renders and might not be a photograph.