Japan is known for its variety of vending machines: from soda, to beer, to bread, to batteries, to books, to umbrellas and yes, even to cars.
But this particular vending machine is not made to sell cars. Japan has utilized the concept of automation of vending machines to create one of the world’s most advanced automated parking systems (APS) in the world.
History
APS is an innovative mechanical scheme specifically designed to save space when construction parking areas. Instead of having a vast parking lot, the idea is to build a robotic multi-storey parking garage, automating it so that it resembles a vending machine.
It was said that the APS or the Automated Parking System was put to practical use in Japan in 1960, four years before the first Tokyo Summer Olympics.
After 30 years, it has been said that there are already around 40,000 APS facilities built in Japan. In 2012, in line with Japan’s rapid technological growth, the number had boomed to 1.6 million facilities.
So how do these car vending machines work?
The State-of-the-art Technology
An example of an Automated Parking System in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo.
Beginner drivers would not have any problem when parking in Japan.
All the car owners need to do is to position the car in the slot provided. Then, the automated system will take care of the rest.
Once passengers are out of the car, depending on the type of APS a specific area has, the car will then be carried by a conveyor system into one of the stacks of cars inside the multi-storey parking facility. No maneuvers needed to park one’s vehicle.
This system is also more convenient and lessens cases of forgetting where one has parked one’s car. When it is already time for the owner to pick up his or her car, the conveyor belt will be the one to get the car from the stack and deliver it to the owner, right where the owner left the car.
Future plans
Through the years, Japan has innovated its APS.
Eco Par, an APS facility developed by Giken Ltd.
The first video shows an APS still being facilitated by a personnel. In the second video, all are automated by a machine. The owner just needed to get a number upon entering the parking facility. The owner leaves his car and then it “parks itself” into a circular parking lot.
In 2016, Japan held the first conference on Autonomous Vehicles and Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The conference targeted to provide an all-automated and driverless valet parking system that will work in specialized parking facilities by the year 2020.
Valet parking is a service offered mostly by hotels and restaurants wherein the owner just leaves the car key to the attendants and the car will be parked accordingly. Japan is having plans to make such service automatic, four years before the next Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020.
The conference will happen again this year, on May 15 to 16 at The Prince Park Tower in Tokyo. The said gathering will be attended by top Japanese car companies like Toyota, Suzuki, Mitsubishi and others, and by parking lot and parking lot equipment manufacturers.
Truly, automation has now been the trend. Maybe in the next 10 years, this innovation can also be applied to homes.
Sources:
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