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London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

aerospaceglobalnews.com

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Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#61

Post by mattlutze »

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?

Think of it as picking the parking garage or lot you like, but skipping the hunt for an open spot.

As these things go, if the service provider is able to make step one work and the airport continues the partnership, an eventual step would indeed be coming closer to or at the terminal, and the robot scooters (sounds a little like scaled-up warehouse robots) would move the car to storage.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#62

Post by bravoetch »

wat10000 wrote: post #38
simonklee wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, i think this product is solving an airport problem and not a user problem. Whenever i park at an airport i always look for the shortest distance to terminal / price, then chose an option that lands within an acceptable range. Unless i'm way for very long shuttle-bus isn't really on the table.

Isn't this just automated valet parking? Valet parking allows more efficient use of space, which makes it cheaper in places where space is at a premium. Automating it would change that tradeoff in a way that benefits the customer.

It's missing the value-add of valet parking - being able to pull up at the front door and walk away from your car. Without that, this is not valet anything. You still park then shuttle to the airport so there's zero benefit to the end user.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#64

Post by bravoetch »

beejiu wrote: post #58
ajay-b wrote: post #43

"Unlike traditional valet parking, passengers retain possession of their keys throughout their trip." "If passengers accidentally leave an essential item in the vehicle after drop-off, on-site staff will be available to retrieve emergency items." But.. how would they get that emergency item if they don't have the keys?

You give them the keys, then they go to the site to collect your item.

They can turn your alarm off while they're fetching your pills.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#65

Post by krisoft »

beardyw wrote: post #9

I remember parking in central London where you left your car in a single space inside a building and it would whisk it up onto some unseen location. I think that was under human control but maybe it will make a comeback with automation.

There are some horror stories when those kind of systems break down.

For example this one is about a van which got stuck in one for two years: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx207jwknp5o

Or there was one in Sweden which trapped cars for 2 months: https://www.mitti.se/nyheter/fnurret-pa-psnurran--m-vill-se-... (sorry, could only find a swedish source)

It is because these kind of systems are complicated bespoke automation. When it breaks down it costs a fortune to fix it. And what can happen is that different parties (operators vs manufacture vs maintainer) gets into a contract dispute to see who is liable to pay to get it fixed. Which as you can guess can take years to play out. Meanwhile your vehicle is stuck and nobody who could is interested in spending a penny on getting it out.

In contrast to that this project is better in two ways. There are multiple robots. (or at least there really should be) So if one breaks down the other robots can still retrieve cars (albeit of course with reduced throughput). And because the storage is just a flat parking lot if all the robots give up the ghost at the same time humans can drive out the cars from the edges of the storage rows.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#67

Post by the__alchemist »

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?

I will give you a reason why this might be useful. Not at Gatwick. (I always took the train when I lived in that area and usually ended up at Heathrow or Stanstead anyway). But at Raleigh NC for example, you have to go up 5 levels to find a spot, (I have never seen an open spot on levels 1-4) and spend about 10 minutes or more finding a spot after that, then walking from your spot to the elevator, then back out. Or sometimes the lot is filled up, and you have to drive to a lot far away, then spend even longer finding a spot that will be at the far end of the lot, then walking a good distance to the bus terminal.

That's if you know the system, and are aware that you won't find spots on the lower levels, and that the "x spots open" indicators are lying. If you're new, you can spend 30+ minutes on a goose chase, miss your flight etc.

This solves that problem; not the bus one. (If the drop-off location is easy to access; if not, then it's pointless)

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#68

Post by kkotak »

IshKebab wrote: post #59
have_faith wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Article says one of the terminals is within walking distance

Anything is within walking distance if you're willing to walk... Anyway here's where it is: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YZKPXp7LSjc5jPot5 Turn on satellite view and you can see it is on the edge of the long stay parking. I dunno if you're realistically going to save a lot of time unless your parking space is right at the back of the long stay car park. Worth it if it's free! I assume it's overpriced though.

From the map. It looks like the train is closer to the terminal :)

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#69

Post by michaelt »

sixQuarks wrote: post #4
walthamstow wrote: post #2

It's quite reasonably priced too (for airport parking), about £80 a week booking for September today. I paid that for short stay parking at Stansted earlier this summer.

That is pretty good pricing. I’m surprised. I wonder if this is just introductory pricing. It seems like there’s not much throughput for something like this. I can’t see how this could handle a constant stream of people wanting to park their cars.

> It seems like there’s not much throughput for something like this. I can’t see how this could handle a constant stream of people wanting to park their cars.

Assume your car park is a grid of cars, 20 cars wide and 20 cars long, i.e. 400 parking spaces.

You make the entire first row drop-off/pick up points. With 20 pick up/drop off points you can have a lot of people dropping off or picking up at the same time. And you know pretty well when people will be picking up their cars, as you know their flight arrival details.

Assume your average airport parking customer parks for 5 days, that's 80 arrivals and 80 departures per day. Each of your 20 pick-up/drop-off points only needs to handle 4 pick-ups and 4 drop-offs per day. To me that sounds feasible.

Re: London Gatwick has launched a robotic airport parking service

#70

Post by chedabob »

trebligdivad wrote: post #50
jq-r wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question, what there is to steal from a car what was left on the parking lot? Especially on an airport where I assume everyone flies off with their luggage and leave nothing or nothing of value behind.

The car.

I agree with you, but given that a lot of car theft is now done by exploiting the keyless entry system, it feels like there'd be easier targets.
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