The city of Dubai, well known in the region for employing the best available technology in every field, is now turning to Robotics for finding solutions to its car parking problems.
According to a source in Dubai Municipality, the civic body is all set to install on a trial basis an operator-less robotic car parking facility near its headquarters in Deira in just over a monthÂ’s time. Occupying space slightly more than three parking slots (4.5 metres by 7.5 metres), the 20-metre robotic car parking facility, currently being installed at the premises of East and West Robotics LLC for final testing, will accommodate as many as 16 vehicles.
"A motorist has to just park the car near the gate of the car park and move away. The robotics take over and park the car. If there is a problem with the way the car is parked near the gate, the system will inform the driver and guide him in parking it correctly," Amiouni said, adding that the interface is 'intelligent' enough to point out constraints such as height and weight of a vehicle. To retrieve a parked vehicle the driver has to simply give a couple of rings on a telephone number (connected to the system) and the vehicle is brought down to be driven away.
According to Amiouni,senior robotics engineer and Director of Operations at East and West Robotics said,it takes an average of 26 seconds for the robotic car park to park a vehicle, while the same for a human ranges from 15 seconds to one minute, depending on the type of parking slot, the driver's proficiency and his/her habits.
The fully automatic facility boasts 'artificial intelligence', has overhead cranes for maintenance purpose, and also features elevators for maintenance personnel. "It is highly advanced and interacts with humans pretty much like 'humans'. In case there is a malfunction, the system is designed to seek attention from the maintenance by sending out an SMS to the concerned section.
Amiouni said that East and West Robotics has received a number of enquiries for the robotic car park, and feels the machine, because it can effectively solve the parking problem in relatively tighter locations, will gain popularity not only in Dubai but all across the UAE.
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