The Unites States has taken a great leap forward in the parking department, with the opening of a fully automated parking facility.

THE nation's first fully automated parking system opened on 16 September in the crowded residential heart of Hoboken, New Jersey.

The garage is 56 feet tall, 100 feet deep and 100 wide and can hold 324 cars, more than three times what a conventional garage in such a space could accommodate by virtue of a proprietary system of computer-guided pallets, lifting devices, and rails. The use of novel technology was crucial, given the need for parking, but the lack of space that would be required for a conventional garage.

In fact, the Europeans have had automated garages, though not so technologically advanced, for over twenty years. Until recently, however, the amount of space available in America meant space-saving considerations were not so important. But over the past few years, space - and the time it takes to go across spaces - has become more important in that country just as it has in Australia.

Beyond the savings in space, however, Robotic Parking's system provides vastly improved security, convenience, and economy. The advantages of such a system have exited the imagination of urban planner, space-starved municipalities, and developers of large facilities from medical centres to airports.

Instead of ramps, with entrance and exit lanes, the entrance to the garage is simplicity itself. The driver drives his or her car into one of several entrance bays at grade level, gets out of the car, keeps the keys, and swipes a key card past a reader. The car, now protected on a steel pallet, is lifted under computer guidance into one of the available slots in the heart of the building.

When the driver wants the car back, he enters the lobby, swipes his card in front of a sensor and gets directed to one of the bays designated as an exit. Mean-while, the Robotic computer locates his car, brings it down to the station, and delivers it with the front conveniently pointing toward the street, ready to drive away.

Multiple redundancy of all the major components (as well as complete units) ensures that if a failure occurs, up to four backup systems are ready to take over. Added attention is given to ensuring over-all smooth operation with interior video monitors and a 24-hour attendant to ensure that lost key cards and similar mishaps do not come up against a purely mechanical interface.

Because no one enters the garage itself, it virtually eliminates any danger of vandalism, scratches, dents or theft of a vehicle. And more importantly, it eliminates any threat of personal danger. No more having to walk around alone in a dark, dangerous garage looking for one's car, and the convenience of all ground level access. No more having to take elevators or walk up stairs with heavy parcels to search for one's car.

As one expert enthused: "Automated parking provides all the convenience of a valet service - without the valet, practically no wait, and no tip!"

Gerhard Haag, the President of Robotic Parking, said he had a vision early along to provide a smart solution for urban planners in major metropolitan areas. Why, he asked, should so much space be used for parking when it could be used more efficiently and more aesthetically. "Our unique, patented technology offers a revolutionary alternative to conventional parking where space is limited," he said. "This technology is truly the wave of the future."

The influential American "Kiplinger Letter" said they expect automated parking to be so widespread as to be commonplace in the US by 2007.

Frank Turso, Chairman of the local Parking Authority is as proud of the garage as Haag. It follows a local historical tradition of innovation in Hoboken, such as being the site of the first brewery in the US in the seventeenth century. "We're exited about the garage being open, not only because it helps alleviate the parking problems in the City," he said, "but also because it marks another first for the City of Hoboken."

Hoboken Major David Roberts, seeing the system at work for the first time, called it "incredible".

Ray Boucher, an architect who viewed the system in operation said:"….the system works very well indeed…. To be able to store this many automobiles so efficiently, so safely and so inconspicuously in the midst of all the homes is a remarkable accomplishment."

Incorporated in 1994, Robotic Parking is the designer, manufacturer, installer, service provider and operator of a full line of automated parking systems suited for accommodating from 20 - 5000+ cars. The company said that while they expect to be busy with US demand for a few years into the future, they see Australia as a "forward-looking country that we hope to service in the future".

Enquiries: www.roboticparking.com
Email: info@robopark.com