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Another problem could be perception. A potential market for robotic garages is high-rise apartments and condominiums with built-in parking. However, Denda said, the image of a mechanical parking apparatus may not fit in with the image developers want to convey: a personal touch of luxury that high-end buyers expect.

Haag said resistance to automated garages is changing quickly. Over the past few months, he said, he has finalized plans with developers for five robotic garages - one each in Tampa, Clearwater and Brooklyn, N.Y., and two in Fort Lauderdale.

In Tampa, Colin Breen, owner of the Four Green Fields tavern on the edge of downtown, bought the robotic parking concept in conjunction with the boutique hotel he plans to construct adjoining the tavern. The space-saving aspects of the garage convinced him because he has limited land to provide parking for hotel guests. Going robotic will allow him to construct a garage that's about 6,000 square feet instead of one that could be five times as big, he said.

That means instead of building a hotel atop a garage, as originally planned, the hotel can be built with a more attractive design at ground level because the robotic garage can be along side the building, Breen said.

Hoboken's Experience

Haag said the success of the Hoboken garage is what has finally convinced real estate developers that his concept works. Using his patented technology, Haag said, he has has built a better mousetrap than his predecessors in Europe and Japan. He said multiple elevators and backup motors, computers and electrical generators ensure the garage will always work.

However, John Corea, executive director of the Hoboken Parking Utility, said the garage malfunctioned more than a dozen times last winter as temperatures dropped and snow blanketed the ground. Motorists were left waiting for their cars up to 30 minutes in the best situations, Corea said, and up to eight hours in the worst. "I hate to throw robotic parking under a bus," Corea said, "but there are still some kinks to be worked out."

Under normal conditions, the retrieval time for a car is two to three minutes after a motorist punches a four-digit code and swipes an identification card, he said. The situation last winter was most frustrating, Corea said, because he was powerless to override the system while Haag's technicians tried to figure out why the garage wasn't working.

"In a conventional garage, you can always manually lift the gate if everything else fails," he said.

Haag disputes Corea's account, saying the garage broke only twice last winter when sensors that propel the elevators were affected by the snow. New procedures put into place to deal with severe weather will avoid future problems at the Hoboken garage, he said.

One garage patron, Hoboken insurance agent Roger Muller, said he has not had any problems in the approximately six months he has used the facility.

"At first I was a little bit nervous about my car getting damaged, but I have been very satisfied with the garage," he said. "I used to drive around for 45 minutes looking for a space. It's worth the $200 a month to rent a space." Muller said the most he has waited for his car was five minutes.

Researcher Denda said robotic parking can cost more to build than conventional parking: $18,000 per space on average, compared with $14,000 for nonautomated parking.

Denda said the cost differences lessen, though, when other factors are taken into consideration, such as the eventual deterioration of a parking deck's concrete structure.

Haag said robotic parking will succeed because it is a good thing, eliminating such annoyances as walking around a garage searching for a lost car.

"Progress is determined by the increase in quality of life overall," he said