A commercial building near Ibn Battuta Mall has devised a new way to dispel parking blues - it has come up with a car park in which robots do the work for you. Motorists drive into slots inside a parking bay, much like an automatic car wash. TV screens, voice prompts and grooves in the ground guide the driver into a proper fit. After clearing a checklist – brakes up; engine off; doors and windows locked; keys and valuables out – on a touch-screen unit in the bay, the driver is given an access card.

Within seconds, the car is pulled into the building, given a spot and lifted onto a shelf.

Car owners can catch the whole process live on TV inside a central bay.

Parking is currently free at the 765-lot computerised multi-storied car park which opened on Wednesday.

When it is time to leave, the driver inserts the card into another touch-screen and the car is rolled out at a numbered gate. The whole process takes less than 160 seconds.

And there is no risk of car damage, said an official of the company managing the property where the parking has come up. “Your car is safe from break-ins and accidents, or the dents and scratches that are usually the risk of parking in large car parks,” said Ahmet Cini, CEO of Asteco Development Management.

A multi-storey, automated car park, capable of housing 765 vehicles, opened on August 12 on the development next to the Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai.

“With this technology, you don’t need to drive through the garage to find a parking space. You simply drive your car to an entry station and leave your car to be picked up by the computerized lifts that will safely place it inside the building on a shelving system. When you leave, you return to a central point and your car is swiftly retrieved for you,” said Sami K Issa, general manager of Robotic Systems, the technology licensor.

Pre-opening performance tests of the system achieved more than 250 parking transactions per hour, said a release from the developers.