CUR-Systemtechnik Case Study - Globus Völklingen / Germany

In 2011, Globus Völklingen decided to install a parking guidance system in their parking facility to optimize the parking occupancy and customer satisfaction. To this time, a new parking garage was built to meet the raised attendances of the shopping center. The parking guidance system should cover both, the existing parking garage with 250 indoor and 130 outdoor parking spaces, and the new parking garage with overall 300 spaces. Because of this fact, the requirements of the parking guidance system are varying in the different parts of the parking garage. They can be divided into three main parts.

Parking levels P1 and P2

In the lower two floors of the existing parking garage, called P1 and P2, there are many pillars and downstand beams. In addition, in some parts of the two floors, the downstand beams are only 2,30m high.

Parking level P2

To get a high visibility of the actual parking situation in this non-transparent parking deck, it is necessary to display the actual situation of every of the 250 parking spaces in the driving lane. This can be done by whether connecting an external lamp to the sensor, or by using the new USS350e single space sensor, which can be installed in the driving lane to detect the actual situation of the parking space. The decision went to the USS350e, because of the 50% decreased installation time and costs and the 20% decreased hardware costs as compared to the solution with an external lamp. In addition, 12 LED-Signs, type ZM30A, were used to direct the customers to the nearest free parking space.

Parking level P3

In the upper outdoor floor of the existing parking garage, called P3, only a few parking spaces are roofed, so the installation of single space sensors is not possible. Therefore, four USDS300 directional detectors and potential free contacts of the three barriers are used to count the in- and outgoing vehicles on this floor. They are connected to a DC300 with an eight-port input interface and an USDS-interface. Six outdoor LED-signs show the residual spaces of the lower floors and the new parking garage.

Parking levels PA, PB and PC

The floors of the new parking garage, called PA, PB and PC, are clear and without disturbing downstand beams. The 100 sensors per parking level are visible from the driving lane. Therefore, an additional signalisation in the driving lane is not necessary. For this reason, the USS350d single space sensor is used. This sensor is mounted centered above the parking space.

12 LED-Signs show the way to the free parking spaces within the floor, on the upper/lower floors and on the existing parking garage.

Control and visualization

The CUR Visual Control Center Software is used to control and visualize the current state of the car park. Every floor has its own sheet, showing every single space sensor, LED-sign, directional detector and potential free contact in the floor. There is an additional sheet for the four information signs, which are located on the access roads around the car park.

The car park is opened from Monday-Saturday, 8 am to 8 pm. To save energy, all LED-signs and sensors are configured to get dark from 08:30 pm to 07:30 am and on sundays. In this state, the energy consumption of the whole parking guidance system is reduced by half, resulting in an overall 25% energy saving over time.

About CUR Systemtechnik 

We have been successfully developing and producing electronic equipment and devices for more than 20 years.

Our main fields of activity are:

• Traffic technology e.g. electronic displays, vehicle recognition sensors, data concentrators, car park system-software for multi-story car parks.
• Control technology - analogue and digital special develop-ments, circuit board control with microprocessors, etc.
• Industrial electronics e.g. Charge controller for batteries, solar equipment, security systems, transmission technology, etc. propulsion technology, engine regulation, bearing regulation, etc.

We have a large international following due to our innovated and future-orientated technology, the high quality of our products and services, our flexibility and our customer satisfaction.