Most car washes these days have robotic tunnel operated systems. These systems have an array of sensors, which tell the machine where the car is as it goes through. There are more robotics in the average carwash than the winner of the Grand DARPA Challenge, which drove an unmanned ground vehicle through the desert.

Why are there so many robotic systems in the modern-day carwash? Well, it is simple a good tunnel carwash can clean a car every 45 seconds or less and two humans working at breakneck speed would take at least two to three minutes.

Now let's flash forward to the present day and the unemployment of 4.7% in the United States of America. Car washes are now having trouble getting cashiers to work behind the counter of the carwash. This means they are looking for ways to go robotic in that job category as well.

Consider if you will the modern-day grocery store or Wal-Mart and how they have robotic cashiers now that are fully automated. Although they do not work perfect, they come in handy if you only have a couple of items and the lines are long. Perhaps it is more of an issue of the perception of service at the carwash that is holding us back.

The fact is however with the labor so tight and more and more people wanting their car washes quicker and for a lower price the modern-day carwash owner has really no choice but to go with a robotic cashier.