Heathrow Airport's parking garage to get automated tracking system

Finally, someone has had the kindness to step in and solve the age-old problem of finding your car at the airport. Britain's Heathrow -- a major hub for scores of European airlines and their travelers -- is about to unleash a new wing known as Terminal 5, and as part of the package, its parking lot is getting an upgrade. A new automated system in the garage will snap a photo of your license plate as you head in, direct you to a space using illuminated arrows and an infrared camera tracking system, then issue a ticket which can be read at a kiosk when you get back. When you insert the stub into the reader, a digital display shows you a 3D map of the carpark, and points you to the exact location of your vehicle. According to planners, the project will reduce traffic, cut carbon emissions by 397 tons per year, and will halve the number of relationship-ending arguments that occur while trying to find a car.

[Thanks, Rastrus]

[David Piatek @ Nov 12th 2007 12:48AM]

Now that is just a god send! Can't tell you how many women I've lost to just those type of arguments.

[John @ Nov 12th 2007 7:37AM]

The BWI Airport in Maryland has had this system for years. It doesn't show you where your car is, but it lists at the beginning of each row of cars how many spots are available.

[James @ Nov 12th 2007 8:11AM]

John, that was the first place my mind went -- whenever I go to BWI to pick somebody up, I'm thankful for that system. It's not the same thing, tho. BWI has ultrasonic sensors above every spot, and a central computer that keeps track of the number of available spots and where they are. It tells you at the end of each row if there's any left (in some rows, exactly how many, but I think not for all of them), and it will tell you at the ramp if the entire floor is full.

[Mrfreezie @ Nov 12th 2007 12:51AM]

That picture made the story.

[JB @ Nov 12th 2007 1:10AM]

Yes, you engadget staffers should have bored Sunday nights more often! Sweet "CGI" on that pic!

[Ryan @ Nov 12th 2007 1:17AM]

i lol'd irl

[sam @ Nov 12th 2007 3:21AM]

OMG - ya that picture is the best thing I've seen on engadget in as long as I can remember.

Ditto the LOL IRL!

[ph0t0phobic @ Nov 12th 2007 8:48AM]

Ditto. If Engadget sold a poster of this, i'd totally buy one.


Hint, hint ;-)

[Mikey @ Nov 12th 2007 12:56AM]

Wouldn't it be easier for governments to just put RFID tags in/on license plates? It could be used for this, providing law enforcement with registration information, a way to pay for gas, and much more.

My question is what happens to the people who lose the stub?

[jonthemiller @ Nov 12th 2007 1:20AM]

Or to track your every move! Oh noes, they are going to follow you everywhere!

/paranoia

[Marek @ Nov 12th 2007 1:11AM]

Best
Picture
Ever

[Ian @ Nov 12th 2007 1:16AM]

Reminds me of a coworker whose car was stolen from the parking garage under the office building. About a week later, he was exiting the garage in the rental car provided by his insurance company when he spotted the car that had been "stolen." Yup, he had simply forgotten where he parked the car!

[mlody11 @ Nov 12th 2007 1:20AM]

I for one welcome our car finding robotic overlords.

[Fitzy @ Nov 12th 2007 1:26AM]

It was inevitable folks! I'm surprised 'overlords' wasn't a tag.

[MikeG @ Nov 13th 2007 6:48PM]

I for one despise all these stupid engadget crazes (asian model puns including).

[Cesar Cardoso @ Nov 12th 2007 5:45AM]

Still not seeing 'overlords' or 'robotic overlords' as a tag. C'mon, Engadget, you know you want to!

[toronado455 @ Nov 12th 2007 2:41AM]

And what happens if you try to park in a spot other than the one the automated system is directing you to?

Circuits overloading...error...error... does not compute...

fatal error

[paul34 @ Nov 12th 2007 3:56AM]

DRIVER_STATUS == DISSENT;

DESTROY_PROTOCOL ();

[paul34 @ Nov 12th 2007 3:57AM]

danget, I just realized I noob'ed up my fake code. Embarrassment!

[redgar @ Nov 12th 2007 2:47AM]

The nanny state grows!

[Hardcore @ Nov 12th 2007 2:56AM]

Seriously, I'm waiting for robots that can wipe my butt. No, seriously.

[Sander de Regt @ Nov 12th 2007 4:06AM]

Who cares about finding my car? I'll be waiting for the airline to find my luggage until I'm part of the sequel for 'The Terminal'

[soul7963 @ Nov 12th 2007 4:06AM]

What happens when some idiot parks his 4x4 over 2 spaces!? Are the robots going to get mad at you when you can't park in a 2ft space?

[Howard @ Nov 12th 2007 5:31AM]

Precisely what should happen when you park over 2 spaces: you should be charged for 2 spaces!

[Russ @ Nov 12th 2007 6:38AM]

i like the way u are thinking...

[Russ @ Nov 12th 2007 4:56AM]

is this the first of its kind? i've heard of the completely automated robot garages before - not one that directs you to a pre-selected space.

i like this concept.. could be annoying if you get to your space, and some a-hole is taking up two spots.

[JC @ Nov 12th 2007 6:26AM]

Why will it cut carbon emissions when you are on foot trying to find your car? Surely getting out of the car park is fairly simple ¬¬

[invincible @ Nov 12th 2007 8:36AM]

It directs you to an empty spot so you don't have to do laps of the carpark to find a spot.

[Rajkumar @ Nov 12th 2007 9:23AM]

Cant stop laughing seeing the pic. We need more of these !!!!

[Andrew @ Nov 12th 2007 10:42AM]

Ah good, now perhaps they can apply this system to locate all of the baggage that they lose at Heathrow. It has an unenviable record as being one of the worst Airports in the World for lost luggage.

[Marisa @ Nov 18th 2007 4:03PM]

Well god forbid you actualy take resosponcebility and remember where you parked your freaking CAR!!! I mean it is only a $20,000.00 1 ton peace of equitment you are still making payments on. Why on earth would you want to remember where you left it?(Illwillpress.com Fomey rules!) I have never lost my car in a parking lot. I always write down what row I am in and what spot i am in. ALWAYS!!!

[Sara @ Nov 18th 2007 6:27PM]

Granted, it's a rather expensive investment to misplace. And I do get the impression that many people are so busy they forget to take notice of their parking spot, which is a fixable error. But there are some people who are just not as good at remembering this stuff. This can include people with bad directional senses, the elderly, and people just on the cusp of alzheimer's.

[seasand04 @ Nov 18th 2007 4:25PM]

Tampa (TPA) has someone go thrue the garage each night recording license plates. Should you forget where your car is you can either call control, stop one of the security patrols or go to the entrance gate and give them you plate number. They pull it up on the system and tell you where you left it. There are also color tags next to elvators for what ever floor and section you're on.

[Zac the Hoople @ Nov 18th 2007 5:56PM]

Yep, a buddy and I lost his Z-4 drinking one night. Spent 6 hours wandering around looking for it after we'd cabbed back to the original restaurant. After finally filing the police report and having dinner and drinks elsewhere in the city while waiting for his wife to pick us up the next eve, we looked outside and saw it on the side street. Where we'd apparently re-parked it the the night before. We need this system in DC for us drinkers too. PS: Did you know it takes time to un-report a stolen vehicle and driving one while drinking is not really a viable option???

[Ludovic Windsor @ Nov 21st 2007 1:12PM]

Those guys at BAA (British Airports Authority, recently taken over by Ferrovial from Spain) could not organise a piss-up in a brewery: the new car park in T3/T2 is a disaster in terms of "flow" (cabs told me it's not uncommon to wait up to one hour to just GET OUT because of congestion in the spiral ramps) and lastly spent about 20 mn trying to GET OUT of the parking lot because of faulty meters/barriers.

So just imagine what will happen when the automated thing will loose your car....