Shell's Experimental Automated Gas Station

[joeshell383]

Shell's Experimental Automated Gas Station
At Shell's experimental automated gas station, a robot fills your tank.
BY MICHAEL LAMM
Photos by James A. Sugar
Published in the February 1998 issue.

If you find yourself at a loss for some polite conversation with the gas station attendant, soon you may not have to worry. Then again, if you've counted on him for directions when you're lost, you may be out of luck. That's because full automation is about to enter the filling station arena. Soon, there will be no one to say, "Fill 'er up," to anymore. In fact, you won't even have to get out of your car.

Here's how it works:

You pull into the station and an electronic sensor reads the transponder that you've placed on the dashboard, visor or wherever it can be read. As you pull in, the information from the transponder identifies your car's make and model. That's important, because it tells Shell's robot fueling system, called a Smart Pump, exactly where your fuel-filler door is located.

By now you've parked. A pay module moves to the driver's window. You swipe your payment card through the slot, choose the grade of gasoline you want, then hit the interior release for your car's fuel-filler door if your car is so equipped. Meanwhile, an overhead 3D camera validates the make and model of your car. It also reads exactly how you've parked–whether your vehicle is alongside the pump island or a little askew from it. The 3D camera feeds your car's position to a "vision" computer and adds this information to that of the transponder.

Based on these inputs, the Smart Pump's robot arm moves to the proper side of your car and slowly lowers itself. It stops at just the right height a few inches from your fuel-filler door. A suction cup above the fill nozzle gently opens your filler door, then retracts. Finally, the fuel nozzle inserts itself through the special cap. The nozzle extends a few inches down into your tank and automatically fills it.

Shell's special gas cap fits over the mouth of your fill pipe and twists in place in seconds. This special cap replaces your vehicle's original gas cap. The cap has a spring-loaded flap that provides an airtight seal. The fuel nozzle pushes the flap open and creates a tight seal. The cap also contains a series of vent slots so the fumes can be routed up through a secondary conduit and into a vapor canister. After it fills your tank, the nozzle retracts and the robot arm automatically swings up and out of harm's way.

Full Article:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/1266746.html

[Abstract]

The pumps in Japan are automated enough for most people to be happy, I think. Lets just make all petrol stations like that and see if people like it.

I don't like machines doing everything for me. The less we move around to perform day-to-day tasks, the less we'll do, period. Then we'll complain about our poor health and whine about how long our workdays are, while the real reason we're so unhealthy is because we can't even be bothered to get up and do something simple like fill our own petrol.

[yg17]

Gas stations having to install these pumps definitely won't raise gas prices......


I'll pump my own gas, thank you. I don't trust a machine around my car, and I'm not that freaking lazy anyways

[FF_productions]

Why don't we work on making gas prices cheaper rather than help make this country lazier?

[notnek]

Why don't we work on making gas prices cheaper rather than help make this country lazier?

Agreed. No wonder the U.S. has the highest percentage of obesity.

[joeshell383]

One of my favorite aspects of the concept is that the system can work regardless of fuel door location so one wouldn't have to worry about the pumps/sides available.

[Doylem]

Just replace the driver's seat with a commode, and you wouldn't need to get out at all... ;)

[iDAG]

It seems like a great idea as long as it doesn't scratch my car. ;)

[ClassicBean]

I liked it better the first time I saw it 18 years ago in Back to the Future 2...

[GSMiller]

I can't imagine the suction cup working very well if your car is really dirty. I imagine this being years off, as we've had automatic carwashes for how long? And manual ones still outnumber them probably 10 to 1. I imagine all Shell's having at least one automatic pump within the next decade but not many of their stations being fully automatic.

[Blue Velvet]

I imagine this being years off...


Note that this discussion is based on an article that is over a decade old, which really doesn't merit an inclusion in the Current Events forum.

[adk]

The pumps in Japan are automated enough for most people to be happy, I think.


What are they like in japan? When I was in Tokyo the only difference I saw was that they seemed to be full service stations with the hoses/nozzles hanging down from above.

[Abstract]

One of my favorite aspects of the concept is that the system can work regardless of fuel door location so one wouldn't have to worry about the pumps/sides available.

They should just make the hose bigger.

Actually, I can use either side of the pump with my car already.

[iDAG]

Note that this discussion is based on an article that is over a decade old, which really doesn't merit an inclusion in the Current Events forum.

I just feel stupid now. If this happened a decade ago, then what is the current status of the whole project?

[guifa]

I didn't even know you could get someone else to pump your gas? I've never in my life been to a gas station that has anything other than self service... Well, disabled folk could push a button to request assistance but that's all I ever remember.

[GSMiller]

Note that this discussion is based on an article that is over a decade old, which really doesn't merit an inclusion in the Current Events forum.

Ah, and you are correct. And I still haven't seen any automated pumps. I guess my theory was correct ;)

[MrSmith]

I remember when there used to be service at British pumps. Now it's a surly git behind bullet proof glass. In Japan there are still many service pumps (and they check your windscreen washer fluid, take your rubbish and wipe your windows). Unfortunately, though, the self-service pumps are appearing. For the sake of a few yen people are prepared to forgo the service. Few Japanese drivers will have been to England and seen what a country can become without the notion of good service. Personally, I'm prepared to pay more to preserve it. Whatever the technology involved, anything that takes away a human smile is a step backwards, not forwards, in my opinion.

And off the soapbox...

[Stampyhead]

This sounds cool but I'd never go to a Shell station anyway. They always charge more for gas than the other stations around them.

[BornAgainMac]

I want C-3PO to pump gas.

[yg17]

I didn't even know you could get someone else to pump your gas? I've never in my life been to a gas station that has anything other than self service... Well, disabled folk could push a button to request assistance but that's all I ever remember.

Some gas stations have full service. And in New Jersey, it's illegal to pump your own gas, the gas station attendant has to do it (I still don't understand the reasoning behind this law, but it sure was nice when I was driving through NJ and had to stop and get gas :D)

[Antares]

I didn't even know you could get someone else to pump your gas? I've never in my life been to a gas station that has anything other than self service... Well, disabled folk could push a button to request assistance but that's all I ever remember.

In Oregon, you are not allowed to pump your own gas. An attendant has to do it for you. That threw me off when I first moved there.

[Les Kern]

This sounds cool but I'd never go to a Shell station anyway. They always charge more for gas than the other stations around them.

Because they spend all their R+D dough on Stoopid.

[Macmaniac]

I live in NJ, I dont pump my own gas, my gas is cheaper then in PA where it costs more for self serve, and I want this why?

NJ gives people a job pumping gas, why get rid of that.

[FoxyKaye]

I live in NJ, I dont pump my own gas, my gas is cheaper then in PA where it costs more for self serve, and I want this why?

NJ gives people a job pumping gas, why get rid of that.
I always wondered about that when I lived in NYC - gas in NJ was both cheaper and full-service. Good on them!

Although I'd really miss pumping my own gas and topping off the tank $.05 at at time or putting in just enough to make the purchase price a nice, rounded number like $29.50 or something. Yeah, it's weird, I know.

[joeshell383]

I always wondered about that when I lived in NYC - gas in NJ was both cheaper and full-service. Good on them!

Although I missed pumping my own gas and topping off the tank $.05 at at time or putting in just enough to make the purchase price a nice, rounded number like $29.50 or something. Yeah, it's weird, I know.

I think most people strive for a "nice" number.

[hwojtek]

To put it back in "current events" perspective...

"Dutch unveil robot to fill car gas tank (http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL0448185920080204)"

[joeshell383]

To put it back in "current events" perspective...

"Dutch unveil robot to fill car gas tank (http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL0448185920080204)"



Mon Feb 4, 2008

Dutch inventors unveiled on Monday a 75,000 euro ($111,100) car-fuelling robot they say is the first of its kind*

"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 Nico van Staveren

Shame on Reuters and the "Developer" for publishing false information.

*Emphasis Added

[USAGas]

New Computer age gas pumps are coming soon, within 10 years.
You just drive up to the pump,the nosel is injected into the car, by robotic pump and you pay, more like a drive thru.
The only problem is the older cars, but adapters are being made for older models. New Model cars will be designed this way soon.
C ya all... Jeff

[kwood]

New Computer age gas pumps are coming soon, within 10 years.
You just drive up to the pump,the nosel is injected into the car, by robotic pump and you pay, more like a drive thru.
The only problem is the older cars, but adapters are being made for older models. New Model cars will be designed this way soon.
C ya all... Jeff

Thanks for the insight... however this thread has been dead for a year.