Beijing airport to introduce automatic parking system

The intelligent parking lot at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Wednesday, June 26, 2019. [Photo: IC]

Beijing Capital International Airport is set to start a trial of China's first intelligent robotic parking system by the end of the month, reports Beijing News.

The system includes 132 parking spaces and eight robots. It will be a relief for drivers with poor parking skills or who are struggling to quickly find a parking space.

A car is seen parked on a tray inside the intelligent parking lot at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday, June 25, 2019. [Photo: IC]

Drivers park their car on a tray at one of six locations inside the parking lot, and a robot will lift the tray and carry the car to an empty space. The whole process takes less than one minute.

The robots can carry up to 3.5 metric tons, said Ba Gen, the chief engineer of the Beijing Capital International Airport IT department. He said the robots produce zero emissions and can work for up to six hours on a single charge, before automatically making their way to their charging station.

A robot carrying a car to a parking spot runs through the intelligent parking lot at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday, June 25, 2019. [Photo: IC]

Sensors enable the robots to dodge obstacles, including other robots and cars, which reduces the risk of cars getting dents or scratches from parking lot mishaps, said Ba.

A robot used to transport parked cars to and from their parking spaces at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday, June 25, 2019. [Photo: IC]

When the customer wants to collect their car, they scan their parking ticket or enter their plate number using a terminal, which tells them where to go to collect their car. It takes less than two minutes for the car to be delivered.

A pickup terminal placed inside the intelligent parking lot at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Wednesday, June 26, 2019. [Photo: IC]

Beijing Daxing International Airport, which is scheduled to open in September, also will deploy parking robots, according to the report.

(Story includes material sourced from China Daily.)