ABU DHABI: It will be valet parking with a difference. The “valet” is a mechanical robot, it promises to park or retrieve your car inside 50 seconds – and best of all, parking will be free.
The 14-storey, 50-metre-high robotic car park at the Qaryat al Beri resort will have space for 325 vehicles, from small cars to SUVs, and will be the first of its kind in Abu Dhabi. Building begins next month and it is expected to open next May.It works like this: you drive into the car park and stop, facing inwards, on a rotating steel pallet operated by small robots. Cameras and sensors tell you when the vehicle is correctly placed.
You then leave the car and go to a nearby machine, which issues a token that identifies the car. The robots on the steel pallet then slide and rotate your car into an available parking spot.
When you return, drop the token into the machine to trigger the retrieval process. The robots slide your car through the exit point, facing outwards and ready to go.
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