Legal woes over robotic parking garage

Robotic parking garages, albeit very few and far between, aren't exactly new creations, but the original fully-automated deck in Hoboken, New Jersey has found itself the center of unwanted attention. For those unfamiliar with the process, bustling commuters follow computerized instructions to park (and exit) their vehicle on a steel slab, where the car is then hoisted upward and slid into an open bay until recalled. The robotic car shufflers can cram 324 vehicles into a 100- by 100-foot lot, which is more than double the amount traditional lots hold. But all has not been well for the automated car-lifters -- the city of Hoboken has been locked in a bitter dispute with Robotic Parking, which owns the software that operates the garage, over a contractual violation dealing with the intellectual property owned solely by the company. After the city decided to change the deck's management, they failed to stop using the proprietary software that was licensed to them, while succeeding in cutting off Robotic Parking's royalties. As expected, legal blows starting flying as Hoboken reportedly claimed there were "booby traps" in the company's software (but they kept using it?), while Robotic Parking demanded reparations for the unpaid use of their code. The dust has began to settle, at least somewhat, as both parties recently agreed to a deal in which the city shells out $5,500 / month for "licensure and support" of the software for the next three years, after which we assume Robotic Parking will promptly be kicked to the curb. This definitely isn't the first time lawsuits have caused headaches in consumer electronics, and it's presumably not the last, but it just goes to show that you should probably see if certain things are "reserved" before pulling on in.

[Chris Gregg @ Aug 12th 2006 11:00AM]

You missed the best part of the story: the software stopped working when the contract expired, and it trapped hundreds of cars:

http://www.sedans.autoblog.com/2006/08/08/robotic-parking-garage-shuts-down-traps-hundreds-of-cars/

Talk about a good bargaining position for the software owners...

-Chris

[Jason Stewart @ Aug 12th 2006 11:19AM]

I live in Hoboken, and this is quite the story here - especially considering this town has the WORST parking known to man.

A little more info:

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17015129&BRD=1291&PAG=461&dept_id=523585&rfi=6

[Doug Thompson @ Aug 12th 2006 11:24AM]

Gosh! The nerve of some companies! Because the city won't pay for something that has tremendous value, and the software shuts off, they get mad and get sued by the company! Go figure!

Good for that software company for putting time bombs in their software to keep from getting ripped off by Big Government. Particularly Big New Jersey Government. Remember, these guys are the ones who shut down an entire casino industry over politics. Big Business doesn't have any kind of power like that (or to put people in jail).

[Alex @ Aug 12th 2006 12:13PM]

I live on Hudson street a couple blocks from this thing... I've heard about it - but pay for parking in the "old" style city garages. I'll have to see if the ambulance fits in there later tonight :-D

J/K.

I've been tempted to find a friend and send one of us up in the car to see what the thing looks like, and then recall the car back down... (of course, taking some photo's of the thing for curiosity sake).

[Walter E. Wallis @ Aug 12th 2006 1:03PM]

The failure to have required a manual retrievable mode was a failure of specification in the original design. The city should have posted a bond to continue opeation, then issue an RFP for the purchase, not licensing, of software to operate the garage. Once the city ownes the software, they would have to pay for upgrades and glitch fixes.
Solution - renegotiate the license.

[MobileMistress @ Aug 12th 2006 1:17PM]

Cool, it sounds like a roller coaster ride!!

[JCA @ Aug 12th 2006 1:50PM]

I agree a software time bomb is necessary in this case and implemented in this way probably gets the city to fork over the license fees REAL quick.

Couldn't the time bomb just allow cars that are already inside to be taken out and just not allow any new cars to be put in? There is no need for the end user to have a bitter taste in their mouth as well.

[Will @ Aug 12th 2006 4:16PM]

Ehm... Engadget, where is the typically topical gadget in this article?

[Bryant @ Aug 13th 2006 1:30AM]

eh, Hoboken should just go to google and search for a crack or a keygen, either that or roll back the system clock.

[The Venture Bros. @ Aug 13th 2006 4:22AM]

@Will

That would be; Robots, Computerized, Automated, Software, & secret code. There IS a whole world outside of gadgets.

[evo @ Aug 13th 2006 6:33AM]

I'm surprised they bothered--the licensing deal works out to just under $200,000 over three years. That's hardly worth suing over for a company of any size.

[strider_mt2k @ Aug 13th 2006 9:45AM]

What's cool is that the garage itself can get away with it because it isn't harming humans or allowing humans to come to harm.

First law, biotch.

[frozenrubber @ Aug 13th 2006 5:18PM]

The best part of the site was when it had its first "accident". Now they require you to give them the keys as well.

Bascially, a lady hit her trunk release while it was moving the car internally. As a result, while moving it, the lid of the now open trunk got caught something above and the car fell 1.5-2 stories...pretty cool.

Hoboken also has the largest parking gestapo force you will ever encounter. Parking tickets/fines make up the largest part of their budget compared to almost any city in the world. God Bless this 1-square mile town.

[Andrew @ Aug 15th 2006 11:33AM]

I read that you can't hide people in your car with this system because they automatically check for body heat and reject any car that fails their test. How does the machine differentiate between human heat and engine heat?

I would think that there are many hot areas in a car (maybe the transmission hump) that would appear to be a person or animal but is actually just caused by friction.

Also I'm pretty curious why these dummies didn't install some sort of manual controls for their machine. It could not be that difficult for an experienced crane worker to start moving some of the captive cars out with a good set of controls.

[Ray @ Feb 19th 2007 3:19PM]

There are always certain legalities that arise even outside of technology http://www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/spencer73 but I guess that is just a part of our culture

[Jim @ Jul 26th 2007 3:12PM]

This is too bad. This really is a great concept. I think this whole situation will effect the concept for a longtime in the States. I even read that the owner of the installation company Robopark changed his name over this situation. I think they also market under a different name also. I have really been looking into this small company from New Zealand. It is called U-Parkit, here is the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTq74dO29JM