Pumping gas is a real pain. It involves actually getting out of your car, moving the muscles in your legs and arms and surrounding yourself with outside air. But one company plans to introduce robotic gas pumps in St. Louis, which would do all the work for drivers. Husky Corporation, based in Pacific, Mo., has developed such a pump that should be ready for regulatory testing in about nine months, reports local Fox affiliate KTVI.
“We already have drive-thru McDonalds, drive-thru banks and drive-thru car washes,” Husky executive Brad Baker told KTVI. Why not robotic gas pumps?
This is how the machine works, as KTVI explains:
Infrared lights and cameras locate the fuel door. An arm with a suction cup opens the fuel door. A nozzle then extends into the fuel tank and releases the desired amount of fuel. Once the tank is full, the nozzle returns to the pump.
Baker said that he envisions the system with a touch-screen display, allowing drivers to select what kind of gas they want. A phone-based app could then be used for payment (not sure why one couldn’t pay with a credit card, as with an ATM). The pumps were developed in cooperation with Swedish company Fuelmatics Systems and are expected to cost about $50,000 each. For what it’s worth, there are already functioning robotic pumps in the Netherlands.
This article originally appeared on Popular Science
One of these will never touch my car. Look for the printed disclaimer on the robot that explains the manufacturer and the station owner bear no responsibility for damage to your vehicle.