Four students from Guangzhou Nanyang Polytechnic have invented a piece of equipment that can accomodate 12 cars while only taking up the space of two and a half cars. The equipment was granted a practical patent by China’s State Intellectual Property Office last month.

A photo of the model reveals a mini version of a ferris wheel. It has two components, each with six enclosed carriages.

"The parking robot has combined a rotating structure with new technology. Its enclosed carriages offer rolling parking, which not only saves space but also adjusts parking locations based on users’ needs," said Zhou. The parking robot was inspired by ferris wheels at amusement parks.

The team has four members. Design director Zhou Yubo is a junior in the university's electro-mechanical department. Zhou said the invention was developed from mechanical design homework he completed as a freshman. His parking robot was singled out by the teacher and he was asked to keep working on the design.

It wasn't easy for the team to develop the robot from its original concept all the way into the version that just received a patent. They had to find parts in hardware stores, create components from scratch and even use 3-D printing technology.

Guangzhou Nanyang Polytechnic promised to help the students transform their patent into a real, usable device.