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French Use Space Tech To Find Parking Spots

Posted by Soulskill on from the arguments-nasa-can-use dept.

itwbennett writes "Using technology developed by French space agency CNES (Centre Nationale d'Etudes Spatiales) to explore the planet Venus, drivers in the city of Toulouse are discovering something much more down-to-earth: vacant parking spots. The system is based on 3,000 sensors buried just under the pavement that detect changes in the electromagnetic environment around them and communicate the results via coaxial cable to a server, which makes the information available in real time to drivers' smartphones."

7 of 112 comments (clear)

  1. Driving with smartphones? by Scryer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder whether Toulouse has laws against using your smartphone while driving -- this could be a nice income source for the municipality as well, staking out the parking spots with hidden cameras!

    1. Re:Driving with smartphones? by metalmonkey · · Score: 4, Funny

      Simple solution, find park first then use smartphone to search for a park.

  2. Exploring Venus by jamesh · · Score: 4, Funny

    So the plan is to explore Venus by burying sensors around the planet and detecting when something parks on top of them?

    At least the pioneers will be able to locate a parking spot quickly!

  3. Re:Can they try using it to find razors? by Dhalka226 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You made a joke about the French being cowards and their women having too much hair! Hahahahahaha! That is both clever and original sir, i salute you! The only thing I can't understand is why you posted anonymously and denied yourself credit for such hilarity!

  4. Same in SF by MrEricSir · · Score: 5, Interesting

    We have a similar system in San Francisco:
    http://sfpark.org/how-it-works/

    --
    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
  5. Vacant Parking Detected! by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 5, Funny

    Step on it Pierre, no time Toulouse!

  6. Bad Article or Worst System Ever? by Leuf · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "The 3,000 sensors, buried about nine inches apart, are able to pinpoint open parking spots within 980 feet"

    Something doesn't seem right about that.