‘Stan’ the valet parking robot uses lidar

Velodyne Lidar has announced a multi-year agreement to provide its lidar sensors to Stanley Robotics for an automated valet parking solution.

The innovative service uses autonomous handling robots to help car parks to improve the customer experience and increase the number of vehicles that can be stored.

Stanley Robotics is working with Velodyne’s Puck and Velarray M1600 lidar sensors to provide perception and navigation capabilities that enable its all-electric Stan robot to operate autonomously and safely.

The sensors provide real-time 3D perception data for localisation, mapping, object classification and object tracking.

Velodyne’s power-efficient sensors support Stan robots in a wide range of challenging environmental conditions, including varied temperature, lighting and precipitation.

The Stanley Robotics automated valet parking solution equipped with Velodyne sensors is already operating in airports and finished vehicle logistics in Europe and Japan, with further deployments expected in 2023, including North America.

“High-performance sensors are key to enabling our autonomous mobile robots to reliably navigate and manoeuvre in narrow parking lanes,” says Stanley Robotics chief operating officer Mathieu Lips.

“This agreement reflects Velodyne’s ability to serve the unique nature and high-level requirements of our use cases. This partnership with Velodyne also provides Stanley Robotics privileged access to best-in-class technology in the field of lidar sensors.”

Stanley Robotics is transforming logistics for vehicles with its autonomous mobile robot technology, says Velodyne Lidar worldwide sales senior vice president Laura Wrisley.

“Equipped with Velodyne’s lidar sensors, Stan robots provide the precision needed to safely move, park and deliver cars where and when customers need them. This advanced system aligns with efficiency and sustainability goals of car park operators, parking cars in dense blocks and relieving the need to add costly new parking areas.”

Stanley Robotics is partnered with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to deliver business opportunities in Japan and Asia-Pacific and collaborate on future industrial projects.

Using the Stanley Robotics parking service, drivers leave their vehicles at a dedicated drop-off/pick-up area where the robot takes the car to a secure parking area not open to the public. When customers return, the car is waiting in the designated area.

It enables efficient use of limited parking space at airports, shopping malls and more, fitting more vehicles in a single line just centimetres apart, allowingthe number of cars in a given area to increase by up to 50%.