At Düsseldorf Airport, a robot called Ray will park your car

Ray is a robot valet at Düsseldorf Airport that will safely store travelers' cars and have it ready for them when they return.

Airport parking lots can be a hassle. Every driver knows the experience of spending the better part of an hour searching for a spot, only to find one that’s miles away from the terminal entrance. Those flying from Düsseldorf Airport may no longer have this problem thanks to a new robotic employee. Ray is a robot valet that will safely store travelers’ cars and have it ready for them when they return.

Available to customers of the airport’s PremiumPLUS parking scheme, drivers can avoid having to look for a parking space and simply drop off their vehicle at the entrance of the lot. Using the PremiumPLUS app, they can enter their travel information to make a reservation and payment before they arrive. When they do, they simply scan the QR code they received through the app at the entrance terminal. After leaving their car in the special drop-off area, Ray the robot uses laser-scanning to determine the size and shape of the vehicle and tows it safely into one of 249 dedicated storage spaces. When returning from their holiday, the automated system uses the customer’s flight details to make sure their car is ready to pick up as soon as they land.

Watch the video below (in German) to see the robot in action:

An example of how robotics can take over the more mundane aspects of consumers’ lives, the PremiumPLUS scheme costs EUR 29 for each day the vehicle is stored. Could this kind of storage be implemented at other facilities with heavy parking traffic?