2nd Automated Parking System in Copenhagen delivered

Posted on | April 5, 2011 | No Comments

Copenhagen’s Mayor Bo Asmus Kjeldgaard has just opened Europe’s largest automated parking garage Leifsgade. About 200 visitors took the opportunity to try the technology from the German company Westfalia Logistics Solutions Europe GmbH & Co. KG and park their car in one of the 408 parking spaces. This automated parking garage matches the community’s focus on sustainability and environmental protection.

The visitors push themselves against the windows, trying to look inside the glass box and look puzzled: their cars actually sink in the ground.  “Our technology has a lasting impression on the Danes”, says Westfalia project manager Mathias Spötter.   Similarly pleased is Copenhagen’s Mayor Bo Asmus Kjeldgaard: “Our parking strategy works well. The  first garage Nørre Allé is busy every evening and Leifsgade is highly frequented, too.  In recent weeks only the 50 test occupants made use of the Leifsgade car park. Now it is open to all citizens”, emphasizes the head of Copenhagen administration.  In about four weeks the third car park from Westfalia will open in the Danish capital.

“Leifsgade simply is  a visual highlight.  The City of Copenhagen has done a fantastic job”, commends Mathias Spötter. A playground with an adjacent basketball field is surrounded by four boxes whose entry cabins turn out to be a car magnet.  Except for the vehicles, which stop regularly in the portals, this gives hardly the  impression that this is the gateway to Europe’s largest automated parking garage. Rather it is the welcoming atmosphere of the venue which attracts the attention. “The City of Copenhagen decided to create a green oasis in the metropolis.  The combination of technical finesse and sustainability was at the forefront of our planning”, describes Westfalia Managing Director Andreas Gartemann.  Approximately 200 people had a look at the unique technology during the two hour opening ceremony and used the opportunity to ask their burning questions to the leaders of the community – Project Manager Allan Christensen and Mayor Bo Asmus Kjeldgaard – as well as park their cars directly on one of the 408 seats.

The rush into fully automatic car parks in Copenhagen

The annoying waiting on the ramp, the tiresome search for a car park and the concern about possible damages to a beloved vehicle are a thing of the past for the citizens of Copenhagen.  Instead, the era of easy, safe and environmentally conscious car parking starts in the Danish capital.  “The handling of the system is really easy.  The car is just parked in the entry cabin, the customer alights from the vehicle to a terminal and pays with the credit card or chip card, and immediately the fully automatic parking process starts.  There is  much emphasis on safety”, summarizes expert Mathias Spötter.  Before the vertical conveyor carries the possission of the Copenhagen’s citizens into the depth – the car is measured accuratel withe sensors.  “We have three height options and have chosen a maximum length of 5.25 meters.  Hence all vehicles from small cars to large SUVs find a place iniour parking garage”, reports Spötter.

In this automated process, the software is of particular importance.  “A computer is looking for a suitable parking space and the safety sensor checks if anyone is in the entry cabin.  Only if driver and passenger have left the enty cabin does the pallet take a car to a free space”, explained the experienced technician.  The same counts for the reverse cycle.  “We assure that every customer receives his car in less than four minutes after he requested it”, promises Spötter.

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