Information On Automated Parking Systems

Boomerang Automated Parking Systems

Benefits of Automated Parking

Automated Parking Saves Space

Automated Parking systems allow vehicles to be stored without human intervention and
allow for much greater vehicle density within a parking facility. By consuming roughly
half the space of a conventional parking garage, automated parking brings value to real
estate development projects in any of the following four ways:

Saves Valuable Air Rights

Reduces Expensive Excavation
Fits More Cars
Conserves Open Space
In urban infill situations with small or irregular footprints that are not conducive to the
construction of a ramp garage structure, automation may be the only way to satisfy the
need for parking.
Additional Economic Benefits to Developer
Enjoy tax benefits from equipments Accelerated Depreciation.
Reduce Up Front Capital by phasing equipment as project leases up.
Smaller structure results in Less Construction Time.
Green aspects help qualify for LEED Certification.
Improved user experience = Faster Lease Up.
Reduced lighting, ventilation and labor = lower operating costs.
Total accountability and control eliminates shrinkage (employee or operator
skimming)
In addition to the economic benefits to the developer, consider the numerous benefits of
automated parking to the consumer and the community in general.
Automated Parking is Greener
Elimination of Carbon Emissions since cars are turned off once in the garage.
Half the materials are used in the construction of the garage.
Less electricity required due to reduced lighting and ventilation requirements.
Preferential parking automatically granted to electric and hybrid vehicles.
Automated Parking is Safer

Consider that parking lots are the number one place where sexual assaults by strangers
occur. Unfortunately self park garages are difficult to monitor and secure and therefore
present an opportunity to would be robbers and assailants.
Even if no one is lurking in the garage, it can be an unpleasant experience to walk alone
at night to ones car in a large ramp garage.
By contrast consumers do not enter automated parking garages and occupied space is
limited to a small central common area which is easy to monitor and secure
Automated Parking is More Secure
In an automated parking garage, you can park your car with the piece of mind that no one
has access to it. Because automated parking garages are unoccupied, many of the
problems that plague conventional self park garages are eliminated:
Fender Benders Door Dings Vandalism
Theft of Vehicle Theft of Vehicle Contents
Automated Parking is More Convenient
In an automated garage, even if there is only one space available, just drive into the
central loading area and park. There is no need to drive up and down ramps searching for
a space, nor do you have to remember where you parked your car. Everyone gets the
chairmans spot!
Upon returning, just enter your code and have your car delivered and ready to drive away
in less time than if you walked to your car and navigated back down the ramps of the
garage. Its like valet service but without the worries of someone else driving your car.
Optional services include electric vehicle charge stations and an automatic car wash.
Automated Parking Improves the Cityscape
Because they are about twice as efficient as a typical self park ramp garage, automated
parking facilities consume substantially less space, preserving more room for street level
retail or open space to make for a more attractive development.
Since they are typically enclosed, any variety of facades can be used to make the facility
blend in with the surrounding neighborhood.
In addition to having a more attractive facade, enclosed automated garages substantially
reduce noise and light pollution commonly associated with conventional open air
garages.

Video on Automated Parking Systems:

http://www.boomerangsystems.com/index.php?view=page&pageId=2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkrK54XdLis&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWb5LlFE69Y&feature=player_embedded

WPS Parking Systems

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRM
WPS Parking Systems, in conjunction with our European partner, Whr Parking Systems,
provides customers with the worlds most innovative automated parking technology. An
automated parking system can increase parking capacity by up to 50%, compared to a
conventional ramp parking garage.
Whr has been one of the worlds foremost manufacturers of parking technology for
more than 40 years. In 1991 the company produced its first automated parking facility
and never looked back. They currently have over one hundred (100) projects completed.
WPS parking systems is the exclusive partner of Whr Parking Systems in the New York
metro area.
Many urban areas have experienced rapid growth in recent years, and more people means
more cars. As a result, many areas are faced with the challenge of balancing the desire to
maintain open space with the need to provide a parking facility that can accommodate the
urban growth. An automated parking facility provides an environmentally friendly
solution to this issue. Listed below are several benefits to an automated parking facility.
BENEFITS & HIGHLIGHTS:

Capacity -Parks up to 50% more spaces in same square footage.

Environment - Green & LEEDS certification
Weight - Light-weight steel frame vs. heavy concrete decks.
Design Friendly - Flexible layout options.
Car Security - No entry to locked vehicle, no dings or damage.
Operating Costs - Less personnel, lower insurance, lower facility maintenance
costs; especially when compared to valet operations.
Car Safety - Car is locked and then stored automatically in a secure area until
retrieved by owner.
Space Saving - Maximum utilization of space, no ramps or drive aisles
Cost Saving - Expense reductions for ventilation, lighting and insurance.
User Friendly - No parking attendants
User Safety - No one drives within the facility
Drivers dont have to access parking area

No risk of damage, theft or vandalism.

Time Saving - Fast access & retrieval times.
Ease of Use - Parking Ambassador available at all times.

THE PARKING PROCESS

The driver enters a secure, well lighted entry area and parks the automobile on a storage
pallet. Before an automobile is placed in storage, it is scanned for any foreign objects (i.e.
Movement in the vehicle, electronic devices, etc.) An Automated Parking System is userfriendly and allows the driver to store his or her automobile in a secure space until it is
ready for retrieval. There is no risk of damage, theft or vandalism, since the driver does
not enter the parking area. At the time of exit the driver uses a personal access card that
starts the retrieval process.

During storage in the automated facility the automobile engine is turned off. This allows
the facility to be designed with no mechanical ventilation. This provides an
environmental benefit as well as a better utilization of space. An Automated Parking
System requires no ramps or drive aisles.
In both the public and private sector the issue of security has come to the forefront of
everyday life. How to provide a safe and secure facility for automobiles is becoming an
issue for all building owners. An automated parking facility can provide a transfer area
from the street to the automated parking facility that can be equipped with the latest
technology to scan an automobile for the highest level of security. This is an advantage
for both existing government facilities as well as new buildings.
Elected officials, real estate developers and decision makers at the highest level of the
public and private sector all realize they must adapt to an ever changing work
environment. Parking is only one of the many issues that will be faced in the process.
WPS Parking Systems can help in providing a secure, environmentally friendly
automated parking facility.

Press Article
Press
For the last year and a half or so, we bombarded you with news about how many vehicles
any given manufacturer sells each month. We witnessed together how millions after

millions after millions of vehicles find new owners each year worldwide. Toyota alone,
to give you an example, sells around 8 and a half million vehicles each year.
Naturally, the question arises: where will we park them all? We mean, the streets aren't
getting bigger, cities grow much slower in size than the sales rate of new vehicles and
yet, more and more cars keep poring onto the roads.
Many cities already battle congestion on a daily basis. Taking a one or two hours margin
when leaving for work has become part of hour daily routine. Similarly, when returning
home, minutes are lost in search of a parking space. We're overrun with cars...

The solution to all the parking problems isn't at all different than the one envisioned by
architects for accommodating the growing population: since we can't go sideways, we'll
go up (or down).
Enter the automated parking systems. Also known as automated parking garages, multitiered car parking systems, robotic parking or simply buildings for cars, the solution is as
simple as it is effective: cars are stacked one on top of each other, on several levels. This
solution allows, for instance, for 20 cars to occupy the same footprint as four would have
done in normal parking conditions.
An automated parking garage can be erected on any empty lot, even in between
buildings. They come in several sizes, so a city can choose which type of garage fits its
needs best. The building itself is made of a metal skeleton which can be covered on the
outside with pretty much what ever is needed for it to fit in the city landscape.
HOW IT WORKS
Automated parking systems make use of computers, sensors, cameras and mechanical
components to take the car, move it throughout the garage and park it in an empty slot.
The process is very simple and it requires little effort from the driver.
There are two types of automated parking systems, depending on the manner in which
they transport the car from entry to the parking spot: horizontal platforms or vertical lifts.
In both cases, the process is very similar, with the only thing that differs being the
movement of the car until it reaches the desired space (lateral or vertical).
In both types of systems, the car is driven into the multi-storied garage as usual. Once
positioned on the ramp, the driver shuts down the engine, secures the parking brake and
steps out of the car. While the driver does all this, sensors analyze the vehicle to
determine it's size and overall shape. (Below is a "how it works" video of such a system)

Once the driver has exited the building, the mechanical arms of the living building are set
in motion. Depending on the available empty spots in the garage, the system determines
where to take the car. Using various electro-mechanical components, the car is moved
into the respective spot, either vertically or horizontally.
For the fastest such systems, the whole process can take as little as two and a half minutes
from entry to parking the car in its spot. Most such systems are fitted with turntables,
which means that when leaving, there is no need for the driver to drive in reverse.
Now, if you are wondering how the system recognizes which car is yours, you should
know it does no guess work. Automated parking systems give you a card or key
containing a code which identifies the position of the vehicle. Once you scan your card or
key, the system finds the car and sets in motion it's mechanical arms to bring the car back
to you.
ADVANTAGES
We doubt there's any real need for us to point out the advantages of such parking systems
over existing parking lots and even over multi-storied car parks. Automated parking
systems are, if you like, the next generation multi-storied car parks. Having no access
ramps, automated parking occupies less space on the ground. Space is also gained from
the fact that the cars are staked together much closer compared to usual parking lots,
because they don't require clearance for the doors to open.
Automated parking systems can help cut CO2 emissions and fuel consumption levels
because they don't require the engine to be running while the car is moved about through
the building.
Automated parking systems can be built both above or under ground, depending on the
available space in a given city.

Automated Parking Benefits From Manufacturer

Automated parking systems may accommodate dozens of car locations, up to 1000
locations or more. Particular advantage is gained when a typical ramp-access garage will
not provide adequate parking capacity due to limited space, height or depth limitations, as
well as in expensive and dense urban areas. The total required volume (footprint and
height or depth) of an automated parking system is about 30% to 50% of a conventional
self-park garage with the same capacity - that means 2 to 3 times more parking locations
in the same volume! Among the main benefits:
Increased Capacity: an automated parking system can accommodate two to three times
the amount of parking spaces within the same volume as a conventional self-park, ramp
access garage. This results mainly from:

Reduced Space Width automated systems utilizes narrower space than selfpark facilities, due to the precision of the computer-controlled automated vehicle
conveyor
Lower Ceiling Height ceiling height does not have to take pedestrians into
consideration, saving 30-50% in height requirements
Dense Parking density can be increased by automatically storing the cars doorto-door and bumper-to-bumper
No HVAC Since the storage area is not accessed by the public and cars are stored
with their engines stopped, there is no need for heat or air-conditioning, saving utility
costs.
No Public Stairs or Elevators - Since the storage area is not accessed by the public, no
stairs or elevators are required, and only emergency and maintenance access is provided
for authorized personnel
Reduced Lighting - Since the storage area is not accessed by the public, lighting is
required only for emergency or maintenance purposes, thus saving utility costs
Enhanced User Experience Comparable to a high quality valet parking operation,
replacing valet runners with efficient automated machinery
Enhanced Safety and Security Drivers are not required to park, reducing collision or
damage risks. The storage area is not accessed by the public and therefore it is much
more secured