The future of parking is launched!

On 23rd and 28th November the company Skyline Parking from Winterthur invited investors and visitors from near and far to the testing hall in Arbon in the Canton Thurgau. There the functionality of the conveyor system for our first "auto tower", a fully automated parking garage was demonstrated. The six-meter lift column elements with the twelve-meter long rail, cart and turntable offered an impressive image. After the test phase, the entire conveyor system will be installed in the 25 meter high tower.



Conventional parking could soon be a thing of the past, as conventional car parks require a lot of space. Up to now access ramps and manoeuvring space had to be provided. Moreover, all the room heights had to be planned so that all type of cars could be driven into the parking garage. Today, about 120 cubic meters per car is needed to park one car, in spite of the fact, that the cubic volume of a car is actually less than 20 cubic meters and the increasing mobility and growth of population leaves continuously less room for parking.

Efficiency in all respects

Automatic parking systems require less than one-third (that is 30 to 40 cubic meters per vehicle) of the volume of conventional parking- or underground garages. When entering the garage, the external dimensions of each vehicle is established so the smallest available parking space can be assigned. On the conveyor, the cars are rotated around the vertical axis, while at the same time being lifted to the allocated height and then are conveyed to the radially arranged parking platforms. As people do not have access to the parking bays, stairs, lifts, emergency exits, ventilation, door opening distance and ceiling height, as well as expensive lighting and ventilation, are generally not required. Thus, an enormous amount of energy, material and space are saved. The building cost and construction emissions are therefore reduced accordingly.

Adaptable High Performance Modules

The automated parking systems of Skyline Parking are very fast, customer friendly and operate with few moving parts and engines. The project manager Peter Hossli explains: "The systems are designed to be completely redundant. So even in the event of individual components failing or during maintenance, high availability is ensured." The Skyline Parking System also shines in terms of flexibility: The modular design allows adaptation to any environment, whether above ground, underground or in combination. Depending on the overall performance requirements more conveyor systems and multiple entry and exit boxes can be installed, so that even during high traffic peak hours no time delays accrue.

The successful tests therefore represent a milestone in the development of the new technologies for highly compact, fast, environmentally friendly and fully automatic parking of the future. 

Info on Skyline Parking AG

The company was founded in 2007 and employs 14 people. The core competencies are: development, sales, project management, maintenance and service of advanced, automated parking systems. References: City Parking Schaffhausen, Garage Side Hotel in Hamburg, Starimgplein Parking in Amsterdam, Prinsengracht 381 Parking in Amsterdam.