> (probably, given recent AI advances) an incredible time to market
It's probably got some AI but not the GPU gobbling kind. This is old school robotics using control loops and old AI algorithms. Sensors decide if you've parked correctly in the garage. Robot is dispatched via a queue once you've closed the door. Cameras and sensors guide the dolly into place. Robot follows predetermined route to the parking spot and uses sensors to detect obstructions (people, debris, other robots parking cars). Maybe there's lidar on board. Cameras and encoders guide the car perfectly into the designated spot. Robot whisks off to go charge or grab another car from the queue. It's effectively the same level of intelligence as a Roomba with the mechanics of an electric forklift. It's still cool but the fundamentals were developed 40+ years ago, we've just managed to shrink a lot of the tech down in size and power since then.
replyI parked in a robotic parking garage in Denmark ten years ago. This isn't really new tech, though the implementation sounds a bit different.
replyGreat, I've been day-dreaming about this for decades, and when it finally happens, I don't notice it. ;p
reply2015-06-10 indeed: https://youtu.be/H4jYDfOzrjY
replyAh, that answers something I was wondering about that the article didn't answer, which is how you can lift a car by its tyres without starting already under the tyre and without friction or forcing them to rotate.
replyLooks like the answer is (at least for this older system), come in from both sides of the tyre with two separate arms, and have each of those arms have their own little wheels on, so as you move inwards it lifts up the tyre and just rolls your mini wheels a little bit. Clever.
This is the video of the 11+ year old system installed in Århus Denmark by Lödige Industries from Germany.
Lödige Industries more recent solution is actually moving the whole pallet you park on, so you can also plug your car into it: https://youtu.be/-_ZxnDrfwGk?t=46
replyThe system in London Gatwick UK is done by Stanley Robotics from France (which was acquired by HL Robotics from South Korea in 2024), but it could be similar.
Sorry yeah, I understood that they're not the same company or system, but I couldn't think of any way it could be done (aside from, as you say, parking already on it) so it was nice to see at least one solution.
replyIt says Stanley Robotics in the article: https://www.stanley-robotics.com/
replyEdit: seems like they got bought out in 2024 by HL Robotics: https://en.hlrobotics.co.kr/
> how much training data they put into it
replyThis kind of stuff has been the norm literally for decades in any major harbor. No AI BS needed.
We had AI in the 80/90s, we even had an AI hype in the 80/90s.
replyThe things we called AI back then would not get that label today. Maybe “decision tree” or “expert system”? Or simply “algorithm”?
replyAnd I bet even current LLMs will get relabeled as not-AI once the next best thing comes around in a decade or less.
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