A system that will allow robots to park tenants' cars will be introduced in an Abu Dhabi building, The National reported this week.
The robotic car park, designed and implemented by United States company ParkPlus, is made of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) and will be installed in a 12-story building in Al Nahyan Camp. It is expected operate on 110 spaces in six months.
The AGVs are adapted from factories, where they are used to transport heavy machinery without human assistance. ParkPlus will install its system in the three underground levels of the building. The project has been approved by both Abu Dhabi and Dubai Civil Defense Departments.
“The initial plan was to build 42 conventional parking spaces but we managed to bring it up to 110 with the AGV system,” Cyrus Hodes, Managing Director at ParkPlus Middle East, told The National.
If successful, the building's parking system will serve be showcased to the region. The system works to let the driver park their car in a loading area. The car is then scanned twice to ensure that no damage has been done, and for security measures. The robot can also detect and extinguish fires. Car owners can request their cars at a kiosk, with an option to wash and cool the car before it is retrieved.
Hodes also said that with such a meticulous software in place and the concrete structure that the AVGs operate, there will "never, ever going to be an accident."
"You’ve got multiple robots working and if part of a system breaks, the whole system carries on."