No matter how well you think you can park, Stan can do it better. Don’t feel too disheartened though; he doesn’t even need to open the doors once stationary – meaning he can stack cars as close as possible to each other.

Stan isn’t some ghostly valet from a budget American horror film though, but a small forklift-style robot that will literally pick your car up and drop it into an ultra-tight space without even needing to see your keys.

Created by Stanley Robotics and set to be trialled at Gatwick Airport in August this year, the little droid will then use your flight numbers to ensure that your car is ready and waiting back at the drop-off/pick-up cabin on your return from holiday.

The system and the robots have already been trialled successfully at airports in Paris, Lyon and Düsseldorf, and it now looks like they will be coming to the UK.

The main aim for Stan is to increase the number of cars that can be parked in any given area, and the trial at Gatwick should allow space for 270 robotically parked cars where you and I could only fit 170.

The whole system sounds remarkably simple given the minefield that is airport parking, and this is one piece of autonomous tech that we sincerely hope catches on.

Source: BBC

BDST: 1744 HRS, JAN 27, 2019

AH