First automatic car parking unveiled for GCC Region

Posted on | August 15, 2011 | No Comments

The Gulf Cooperation Council, comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates, unveiled the first robotic parking system for the area. It will hold up to 306 cars at the City Seasons Muscat Hotel. 

It’s no secret that real estate developers and building owners have been finding it increasingly difficult to meet the parking space requirements of people. But that might become a thing of the past, as automated parking system is all set to make its debut in the Sultanate.

Taking a major stride forward in this direction, North Ocean Enterprises (NOE) has successfully completed the mechanical installation of Hyundai Autocarparking Systems for City Seasons Hotel, Al Khuwair, which will be the first of it kind in the GCC region.

As many as 306 cars can be parked with nine elevators in an area of 405 sq. m. only, whereas a traditional car parking would require approximately 7,500 sq. m. to adjust these many vehicles. Apart from convenience, the robotic car parking system saves space too.

How it works
The system is expected to offer solution to the increasing parking woes of Muscat, which has been witnessing a steady rise in the number of vehicles and population.

The system is totally automated. Thasleem Khan, project director, who demonstrated the car parking system to the media, explained, “The car is parked in the front of the elevator. The driver goes to control panel and registers his password and presses the button. The door of the elevator opens and the driver takes the car inside and parks it in the pallet which is on the lift.  “The driver comes out and the sensor, which is near the entrance of the elevator doors, immediately informs to control panel that the driver has come outside of the lift.  The elevator immediately takes the car with the pallet at a speed of two metres per second and reaches the destination where there is an empty space for the allotted car and the car with the pallet slides to left or right and is parked. After that, the elevator picks ups the next empty pallet and brings it to the entrance of the lift to pick up the next car.”

Thasleem later explained the retrieval of the car from stored space. “The driver presses the button in control panel for retrieval of the car and enters the stored password in the control panel. The elevator goes to the destination of the pallet entered in the control panel by the driver.  “The car slides to the elevator and the elevator comes to the main entrance and turns automatically. The door of the elevator opens for the driver to come in and take the car out of the elevator. The whole operation takes just 60-90 seconds approximately.”

Thasleem said there are several advantages of the system. “The vehicle will be stored in a fully enclosed structure, no risk of robbery, etc.”

Shabbir Boriyawla, managing director, NOE, said, ‘We are very proud that our team has successfully commissioned a very complex project which is the first of its kind in the Middle East and Oman.  “We are looking forward to hand over the complete project in three months to the client for operation. We have received an order for a prestigious office building at Ghubra for basement type auto car parking, where even traditional car parking is not possible.”

Muscat Municipality, several ministries and major corporate houses have also shown interest in the auto parking system.

Adapted from Times News Service

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