Gatwick Airport will test robot valet for parking cars

Your next airport valet might be named Stan, and it might also be a robot.

Gatwick Airport in Britain announced this week that it will use Stanley Robotics' autonomous valet robot, Stan, in a pilot program to see just how many cars can be crammed into Gatwick's parking lots. The trial will start in August in Zone B of Gatwick's long-term parking and will run for three months, coinciding with the busier parts of the holiday season.

All drivers will need to do is drop their car in the predetermined drop-off location, then summon Stan through a touchscreen. The car will be scanned to determine its size, then Stan will load the car onto its built-in ramp and ferry the car to a spot where it will fit. The robots run on electricity and use GPS to determine their location.