In Düsseldorf, A Robot Valet Will Park Your Car

stephendavion (2872091) writes In Germany, high tech has come to airport parking. Last week, Düsseldorf airport (DUS) introduced robot valets to take the hassle out of parking for travelers. Travelers can leave their cars at the arrival level of the ParkingPLUS structure. As they leave, they confirm on a touch-screen that no one is in the car. The robot valet, nicknamed "Ray," takes it from there. The robot measures the vehicle, picks it up with a forklift-like system, and takes it to the back area, where it will position it in one of the 249 parking spots reserved for automated valets. The machine is capable of carrying standard cars weighing up to 3.31 tons.

Comments

i don't wanna hear how lazy americans are.

[NemoinSpace]

Maybe we don't want to make our cars any more, but we have plenty of highly skilled valets.

Re: i don't wanna hear how lazy americans are.

[arth1]

statistically germans and english are about as fat... Some years, I think they've surpassed us.

I actually looked this up. For every year there are figures, the US obesity rate has been more than twice as high as Germany.
As for the UK, they're up there too, but has never had a higher rate than the US.

Many of the pacific countries have an even higher percentage of obesity, but among OECD countries, the US ranks top.

Re: i don't wanna hear how lazy americans are.

[Anonymous Coward]

> We've become the laughing stock of the world.

Only to hipsters and eurofags. They bleat about tolerance and inclusion, except when it comes to people they disapprove of, and then suddenly they become snarky sarcastic little bitches with superiority complexes.

Re: i don't wanna hear how lazy americans are.

[Paradise Pete]

People chose bacon over low cholesterol... get over it.

A big part of the problem why Americans (and others) are fatter and fatter are because of misbeliefs foisted upon them.
Fatty foods don't cause heart disease. Sugar, stress, and smoking do. A high cholesterol count does not cause heart disease. It is a *symptom*, not a cause. It is your body attempting to repair the damage.
Avoiding fats is a very good way to fatten yourself up. You'll instead be ingesting sugar and other carbohydrates, and you'll quickly feel hungry again. The sugar in your bloodstream requires the release of insulin to process it. The insulin tells the fat cells to open up and start sucking up all that sugar. When there an over-abundance the walls of your arteries get inflamed in the process, causing your body to *produce* cholesterol to attempt to heal the damage. Then you've got leftover insulin in the blood, and so you feel hungry again so you can put it to use.
Stop accepting what you've been told all your life. Stop eating sugar and stop avoiding fats. It's good for your brain and your heart, and you won't eat as much because you'll feel full for much longer.

Re:What could possibly go wrong

[AK Marc]

No, they are designed to be lifted by lift. Lifts use designed jackpoints. A forklift could be set to mimic this action. That's well within the design parameters of the cars.

Re:What could possibly go wrong

[Travis Mansbridge]

Actually, from this part of the video, it looks like two slats converge under the front and rear wheels. This would also be suitable for lifting three-wheeled cars (mentioned in a comment below).

It does (video)

[saibot834]

Here's a video of the actual thing, not just an animation.

Re:What could possibly go wrong

[itzly]

I love how the first reaction is to come up with a disadvantage that affects 0.01% of the population. Simple solution: cars that don't have 4 wheels can't be parked by the robot and they'll send you to the regular lot.