Travellers flying out of Duesseldorf airport in Germany no longer
have to worry about valets taking their cars for a joyride before
they’re parked. A robot valet nicknamed Ray starts work today, and he’ll
automatically deliver cars to a set of designated spots without even
having to start them.
Ray doesn’t even need to enter the vehicle, because it actually works
as a large forklift that’s capable of lifting vehicles up to three
tonnes in weight. Travellers just park their car in a designated pickup
spot, use a smartphone app to indicate it’s ready to go, and the robot
will automatically deliver it to one of 249 designated spaces for the
service.
At around $US40 a day, the service isn’t the cheapest solution,
particularly for travellers leaving the country for a couple of weeks.
But for business folk who will only be gone a day or so, leaving your
car with a robot probably provides a little more peace of mind,
especially since you get to keep your car keys and not worry about
things in your vehicle going missing.
