When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Germany

Robots Park Your Car At Dusseldorf Airport

Robots Park Your Car At Dusseldorf Airport
Screenshot
Andre Tauber*

Starting on Tuesday, arriving passengers at Düsseldorf airport will be able to turn their car over to robot Ray who’ll park it for them.

Vehicles are left in one of six boxes about the size of a car-wash unit. Each box is equipped with its own Ray. Once the car is parked in the box, a touchpad asks the driver if the baggage has already been removed and when his or her return flight is.

After that Ray — a kind of robotic fork-lift — picks the car up and carries it to its parking spot.

Ray was designed by the Heidelberg-based Serva company. A basic system with two Rays and two parking bays costs 875,000 euros. According to Rupert Koch, Serva sales director, generally a system pays for itself within two years.

The director of Düsseldorf airport, Thomas Schnalke, says: "The product is mainly aimed at business travelers who’ll be returning within a couple of days. They get to the airport only shortly before their flight leaves and want maximum-efficient parking."

On return, passengers use an app to indicate when their flight is due. Shortly after their flight lands, Ray goes to fetch their vehicle.

Parking for a day costs 29 euros, or 4 euros per hour.

*This is a digest item, not a direct translation.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

That Man In Mariupol: Is Putin Using A Body Double To Avoid Public Appearances?

Putin really is meeting with Xi in Moscow — we know that. But there are credible experts saying that the person who showed up in Mariupol the day before was someone else — the latest report that the Russian president uses a doppelganger for meetings and appearances.

screen grab of Putin in a dark down jacket

During the visit to Mariupol, the Presidential office only released screen grabs of a video

Russian President Press Office/TASS via ZUMA
Anna Akage

Have no doubt, the Vladimir Putin we’re seeing alongside Xi Jinping this week is the real Vladimir Putin. But it’s a question that is being asked after a range of credible experts have accused the Russian president of sending a body double for a high-profile visit this past weekend in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

Sign up to our free daily newsletter.

Reports and conspiracy theories have circulated in the past about the Russian leader using a stand-in because of health or security issues. But the reaction to the Kremlin leader's trip to Mariupol is the first time that multiple credible sources — including those who’ve spent time with him in the past — have cast doubt on the identity of the man who showed up in the southeastern Ukrainian city that Russia took over last spring after a months-long siege.

Russian opposition politician Gennady Gudkov is among those who confidently claim that a Putin look-alike, or rather one of his look-alikes, was in the Ukrainian city.

"Now that there is a war going on, I don't rule out the possibility that someone strongly resembling or disguised as Putin is playing his role," Gudkov said.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

The latest