EMMELOORD, Netherlands -- Motorists nostalgic for the time they could sit tight while attendants braved windswept gas islands to fill their tanks may yet see those days return, compliments of a Dutch robot, said Reuters.
Dutch inventors have unveiled Tankpitstop, a 75,000 euro ($111,100) car-fuelling robot they said is the first of its kind, working by registering the car on arrival at the filling station and matching it to a database of fuel cap designs and fuel types.
A robotic arm fitted with multiple sensors extends from a regular gasoline dispenser, carefully opens the car's [image-nocss] flap, unscrews the cap, picks up the fuel nozzle and directs it towards the tank opening, much as a human arm would, and as efficiently.
"I was on a farm, and I saw a robotic arm milking a cow. If a robot can do that, then why can't it fill a car tank, I thought," said developer and gas station operator Nico van Staveren. "Drivers needn't get dirty hands or smell of petrol again."
He hopes to introduce the Tankpitstop robot in a handful of Dutch stations by the end of the year. It works for any car with a tank that can be opened without a key, and with contours and dimensions that have been recorded to avoid scratching.
Asked whether he would trust his car to a robotic garage attendant, Jelger De Kroon, filling his black Alfa Romeo at a nearby gas station, said: "Why not? I guess I could keep my hands free and clean, but I'd hope they have good insurance."
Click hereto view images of Tankpitstop.
Andclick here to view a video of the robot in operation.
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