Perhaps the most useful application for self-driving tech is in the area of driving that annoys most drivers. Parking. Parking is perhaps the one reason I don’t enjoy driving. Looking for a spot, and then struggling to parallel park (and eventually take out) your car from said spot requires patience, skill, and willpower… virtues that I don’t possess, but a robot could. Hik Vision’s award-winning self-driving palette helps out by doing that task for you. Unlike other that tug your car, the Hik Vision Parking Robot operates your car from underneath it. The robot sits under a metal platform that carries your car. All you do is drive onto the platform, making sure your car is perfectly positioned on it, and parking robot does the rest. Using inertial navigation, visual navigation, and a set of wheels that allow the palette to travel in any direction, including rotating in place, the robot carries your car to the nearest parking spot and gingerly lowers the platform down onto the ground. Once summoned, the robot lifts the platform and your car up, and carries it back to you, eliminating pretty much any undesirable parking experience you’d otherwise have if you were parking the car yourself. The Hik Vision Parking Robot is a Gold Winner of the for the year 2018. Designer: