Successful Business Transition with Support from Bucheon City and Surroundings
Developed Parking Robot 'Narka' for Demonstration Project
Enhancing Space Efficiency and Contributing to Parking Crime Prevention
"There is no worry about ‘door dings’ when parking, and no need to receive calls asking to move the car. Because dense parking is possible in narrow spaces, space efficiency is high, resulting in lower parking lot construction costs. Safety concerns that arise from ‘mechanical parking lots’ where cars are stacked vertically have also been eliminated. Not only is parking time shortened, but energy is saved and exhaust emissions are reduced." This is why Kim Deok-geun, CEO of Maro Robot Tech, who developed the smart parking robot ‘Narka,’ takes pride in his work.
◆"The ‘Mavengers’ who recognized our item... like gaining a thousand troops"= Maro Robot Tech aims to dominate the domestic parking robot market. While CEO Kim, who ventured early into robot development, deserves credit, the support from Bucheon City, known as the ‘robot industry hub city,’ was significant. Kim, who started his business in 2008 with educational robots, opened his eyes to logistics robots after seeing them by chance on the news during a difficult period. At that time, Bucheon Industrial Promotion Agency announced a development project for logistics robots, and Maro Robot Tech mobilized all its know-how and experience to be selected as the project executor through an open competition.
In 2017, the company succeeded in transitioning its business by winning its first order at a logistics expo. The following year, at a robot company meeting, Bucheon Mayor Jang Deok-cheon asked, "Can you make a parking robot?" to which CEO Kim confidently replied, "Of course, we can." At that time, they were collecting videos and data related to parking robots. Kim explained, "The basic performance of logistics robots and parking robots is similar. The only difference is the weight, whether it is 1 ton or 3 tons." Maro Robot Tech later participated in Bucheon City’s parking robot development project.
The resulting ‘Narka’ passed the regulatory sandbox and began a two-year demonstration test in February under the Gyenam Overpass in Bucheon. An additional two years of demonstration exceptions can be granted, but actual commercialization requires amendments to the Parking Lot Act, which includes various regulations on parking robots. Seol Hoon, a member of the Democratic Party representing Bucheon, has decided to prepare the bill. CEO Kim said, "We call the people who support Maro Robot Tech the ‘Mavengers.’ Thanks to the promising future potential of the parking robot item, we have gained tremendous support."
◆Overcoming the limits of mechanical parking lots to relieve urban parking difficulties and stress= Narka can replace mechanical parking lots that stack cars vertically in a small area. Mechanical parking lots are currently underutilized because they do not fit the specifications of recently released vehicles. Due to aging facilities and poor management, accidents occur frequently, causing dozens of casualties annually. As a result, some local governments have started restricting the installation of mechanical parking lots.
Narka has solved safety issues. Since no time is wasted on parking, there is no related stress. When a passenger car is parked at the parking lot entrance and vehicle information is entered, Narka moves the vehicle pallet and the car to an empty space. It recognizes QR codes on the floor to find the route and parks cars side by side like a checkerboard. Originally, the parking lot had a maximum of 20 spaces, but with Narka, space efficiency increased by 30%, effectively adding six more parking spaces. Since no people enter the parking lot, it also helps prevent crimes such as theft. Exiting is as simple as parking. By entering the vehicle number at the parking lot exit, Narka moves the car to the exit.
Recently, word of mouth has increased, and more local governments are sending love calls. In October last year, a 1.7 billion KRW contract was signed with Bupyeong District in Incheon to supply Narka and create a smart parking robot parking lot underground at Galsan-dong Gulpo Food Town. Applying more advanced technology than the Bucheon model, the number of parking spaces is expected to increase by more than 50%, from 42 to 65. CEO Kim said, "Interest in parking robots is growing mainly among local governments promoting parking lot construction projects or urban regeneration projects. I hope the day comes soon when smart parking robot services relieve parking difficulties and drivers no longer feel stressed."
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