Stanley
Valet parking robot Stan to manage parking facilities at Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport in France. Credit: VINCI Airports.

A collaboration between Stanley Robotics and Aéroports de Lyon / VINCI Airports has rolled out valet parking robots at P5+ car park at France’s Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport to better manage flows and improve the passenger experience.

The robots, named Stan, have been deployed following a successful trial. They will be launched on a large scale to airport passengers in the coming weeks.

The plans will see nearly 500 parking spaces made available in Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport’s P5+ car park, where four autonomous robots will operate simultaneously along with 12 vehicle drop-off / pick-up boxes.

In the future, the partners plan to deploy more robots to cover an additional 2,000 spaces and extend to a total of over 6,000 spaces.

“For us as transport infrastructure operators, it is a daily challenge to handle ever-increasing passenger numbers without compromising the quality of the passenger experience.”

The new automated parking system offers benefits such as safety, simplicity and time-saving, with the reservation of parking spaces online and the vehicle drop-off / pick-up point in the same place.

As well as modernising vehicle management in a car park, the robot also provides genuine space savings by creating 50% more spaces over the same surface area as it operates several queues at once.

The valet parking robot also helps to cut CO2 emissions as it eliminates passenger vehicle traffic in the car park, while the robot itself operates on an electric engine.

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VINCI Concessions CEO and VINCI Airports chairman Nicolas Notebaert said: “In an increasingly open world, mobility is escalating. For us as transport infrastructure operators, it is a daily challenge to handle ever-increasing passenger numbers without compromising the quality of the passenger experience, but with sustainable development in mind at all times.

“Our solution is to take full advantage of the potential of new technologies to improve traffic smoothness and quality across our network. The valet parking robot confirms our determination to continue shaping the mobility of the future.”

VINCI Airports led consortium owns nearly 60% stake in Aéroports de Lyon (ADL), which manages Saint-Exupéry Airport.