The Current Trends In Robotic Parking Systems

By Rosalind Landry


The population of most world cities has increased over the last few decades. This has resulted in a number of challenges one of which is the lack of car parking space due to the ever rising demand for land. For a long time, developers have been constructing offices, hotels and other structures that generate high income and have turned away from car parks due to low returns. The advent of automated or robotic parking systems has been a welcome development as efforts are made to deal with this problem.

The reason as to why this development is successful is because it has allowed for smaller spaces to handle many more vehicles than was the case in the past. To achieve this, many designs take the form of several levels or stories that range between 4 and 30. There is accompanying hi tech technology that maintains a high efficiency in storing and retrieving the vehicles. The driveways and ramps that were previously a common site are no longer used.

There are five types of these systems that are being used at the moment. They are the puzzle, the crane, the rail-guided cart, the silo and the shuttle systems. Each comes with its own advantages and downsides. The main considerations in choosing a design include the amount of capital available, the chosen site of constructing the project and the anticipated size of clientele among others.

The crane design, as the name suggests, is centered on a huge crane. The crane moves vehicles in the required direction when they are being parked or retrieved. It is able to move horizontally and vertically simultaneously. Rails are fitted on the floor to help with the horizontal movement while an elevator takes care of the vertical movements.

Areas that are very limited in construction space may consider the puzzle design. In a puzzle there are several pallets arranged to create some form of a grid. The grids are interconnected by conveyor belts and they move on a roller system. Electric motors provide the required power. Rail-guided carts are a modification of the same design. These carts are placed beneath the pallets that move the cars to be parked or retrieved.

Shuttle Systems are controlled by programmed elevators. The number of shuttles in use depends on the size of budget available. There are robots installed on the shuttles to facilitate movement in a horizontal plane. With the shuttle located in the middle, there are rows of vehicles on either side. There are two lift types that are used to move the vehicles horizontally. They are the Off Aisle Lifts and the End of Aisle Lifts.

The silo system resembles a large cylinder. This cylinder is has a parking mechanism located at the center. This mechanism can move up and down and rotate simultaneously to either park or retrieve the desired vehicles. The only downside of this kind of design is that only a single vehicle can be parked or retrieved at a given time.

There are many benefits that have resulted from the use of robotic parking systems. These are enjoyed both by the provider of the service and the customer. Many customers are assured of better security for their vehicles as well as efficiency in parking retrieval. The investors, on the other hand, get more returns to their capital due to the high numbers of clients that they serve on a daily basis.




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