Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

aerospaceglobalnews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 285 posts

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#171

Post by rsynnott »

louthy wrote: post #112
dyauspitr wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah because I want to haul all my luggage on a train journey when I go to the airport. I’ll take a train to a lot of places but the airport is not one of them.

Presumably, you've never taken the Heathrow Express? That is a train journey that is always better than a car. The Gatwick Express, not so much.

As far as I can see, the Gatwick express is mostly an excuse to rip people off. Last time I was there, there was a normal train to Victoria for about a third the price, which took literally two minutes longer. Is there a tourney for which the Gatwick express actually makes sense?

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#172

Post by kioleanu »

jplrssn wrote: post #170
kioleanu wrote: post #166

Are these not the guys that ask like 7 pounds to drive up to kiss & fly? Good to see that money’s put to good use!

£7 is about the price of a pint. Surely that’s worth it given the convenience of driving right up to the front door of the terminal?

I may be a socialist but being able to bring your heavy luggage to the door of the place you already pay a fee to be at (airport taxes) should be free, no? Like in all other parts of Europe

And they say, oh, no, you can come for free if you’re willing to walk 15 minutes to the terminal. No, that’s greed plain and simple.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#173

Post by juleiie »

aequitas wrote: post #152
juleiie wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless the bike has electric engine and cargo compartment it’s not super viable id say to move all that luggage

Maybe that’s why the “elektrische bakfiets” (electrified cargo bike) is really popular here in the Netherlands. I’ve got one and don’t even live anywhere near an airport, closest one is at least an hour by car.

What about a sudden rainstorm on a bike? Or a heatwave without AC?

The way I see it sure you can go everywhere using a less than ideal transport option and manage if you must. But.. why?

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#174

Post by INTPenis »

pontus wrote: post #14

So I'll have to park my car in a garage first, then take a bus to the terminal just so that a robot can move my car from the place where I parked it to a different place? I was hoping it'd be something where I'd pull up to the curb, grab my bags and head in while the robot parked the car for me but apparently I'll still have to take a bus to the terminal?

It's basically a larger version of P-Snurran they made in Stockholm back in 2023. It was like a CD changer for cars.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#175

Post by jryle70 »

ukrulez wrote: post #136
rwmj wrote: post #48

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/26/water-supply... As long as you don't want to use the toilet.

More fun to spend millions on AI than fixing literal shit.

Even more fun to bash AI from the comfort of HN without knowing how much AI is being used, or at all, in this case.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#176

Post by amiga386 »

pj_mukh wrote: post #45

Great, now let's (gradually) get rid of all surface parking lots and build hyper-optimized multi-floor parking setups not made for human driving. A sort of Ocado Grocery Warehouse [1] for cars. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssZ_8cqfBlE As always, yes I know this already exists in Japan.

Not the best example...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQQlREtqAM8

As far as I understand, first one Ocado robot went on fire, it doesn't have a sensor for fire so it kept going. Neither do its neighbours, who pass right by it and catch fire themselves. And so it keeps going until everything is on fire.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#177

Post by hbcdbff »

dybber wrote: post #108
myself248 wrote: post #105

I wonder how many people will forget to roll up their windows because they parked in a garage, then the robot leaves the car outside for a week, then the owner comes back to find the car back in the garage but inexplicably soggy and full of mold. Does the process have a check for forgotten windows?

Is parking with the windows open a normal thing to do in the UK?

I have never seen anyone ever park and leave their windows open. Ever

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#178

Post by globular-toast »

pontus wrote: post #14

So I'll have to park my car in a garage first, then take a bus to the terminal just so that a robot can move my car from the place where I parked it to a different place? I was hoping it'd be something where I'd pull up to the curb, grab my bags and head in while the robot parked the car for me but apparently I'll still have to take a bus to the terminal?

It's more like valet parking except you lock your car and keep your keys. I guess enough people don't trust someone else driving their car.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#180

Post by Gud »

dyauspitr wrote: post #81
pkulak wrote: post #72

I guess we can add this to the ever-growing list of extremely expensive, complicated, inefficient and convoluted solutions to problems that end with the final specification: "but it can't be a train".

Yeah because I want to haul all my luggage on a train journey when I go to the airport. I’ll take a train to a lot of places but the airport is not one of them.

I travel 40-50 times a year by flight and I absolutely don't mind taking the train. I live in Zürich which has an excellent rail network.
Post reply on HN