World premiere of parking robot “Ray” at Duesseldorf Airport

0a11_2648
0a11_2648
Avatar of Linda Hohnholz
Written by Linda Hohnholz

Düsseldorf, Germany – Düsseldorf Airport is also called the airport of short distances — due to all its gates being in one building for easy connections — and a brand new parking robot by the name

Düsseldorf, Germany – Düsseldorf Airport is also called the airport of short distances — due to all its gates being in one building for easy connections — and a brand new parking robot by the name of Ray now makes the distances between planes and passengers’ vehicles even shorter. Travelers at DUS can now leave their cars near the airport terminal and a robot handles parking for them. Düsseldorf Airport is the world’s first airport to employ an intelligent robot parking system for vehicle drop off and pick up, and the system was officially put into operation on June 23, 2014.

The objective is to take the hassle out of air travel and trips to the airport, and thanks to Ray, parking has become child’s play for passengers, who can reserve an individual parking spot before the trip via an online booking system (parken.dus.com) and download the app when using the system for the first time (“DUS PremiumPLUS-Parking” available for OS and Android).

On site, customers drive to the arrival level and the special parking area at car park P3 and leave their car in one of the six transfer boxes. Prior to leaving the garage on the way to the nearby terminal, the driver uses a touch-screen to confirm no passengers are left in the car, indicate when they want to pick the car up, and whether they are travelling with carry-on or checked luggage. The subsequent parking is done by robot Ray, which measures the vehicle and gently parks it in a rear part of the building.

Ray is connected to the airport’s flight data system, and by matching the stored return trip data with the airport’s current database, Ray knows when the customer will come for the vehicle. The vehicle is then deposited in one of the transfer boxes on time. If an itinerary changes, the traveler can easily and quickly communicate the changes to the system via the app.

“The new PremiumPLUS Offer expands our broad range of parking services by another innovative and customer-oriented segment,” says Thomas Schnalke, the airport’s Managing Director. “Our product is especially appealing s to business travelers, who arrive at the airport shortly before the flight, seek efficient parking, and return within a few days. Our product is ideal for them.” The system is produced by serva tansport in the Bavarian town of Grabenstätt and employed by SITA Airport IT GmbH, a joint venture of Düsseldorf Airport and SITA, a worldwide provider of air transportation industry ICT.

During the first phase, there are 249 available parking spots. The introductory rate until the end of the year for the airport’s “PremiumPLUS” parking offer is 29 Euro per day and 4 Euro per hour. If customers adapt the technology, DUS will consider expanding the system, since it is easy to integrate into existing parking structures.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

Share to...