Preserving the cityscape: automated bicycle storage
Summary
The cyclist simply places the bicycle on a rail on the ground at the registration station then logs the bike using a contactless map scanner app. The elevator is surrounded by round walls, to which 200 rail-shaped bicycle racks are mounted at regular intervals in a room measuring 8.5 metres in diameter. The elevator goes down, finding a free space where a telescopic mechanism then pushes the bicycle onto the rack, the entire process taking an average of 13 seconds. In the event of an elevator defect, for example due to a faulty control cable, cyclists would lose access to their bicycle and need to find an alternative way to travel while this is resolved. “The energy chains protect the electrical cables in the elevator from mechanical damage and external influences, which is essential for the reliable operation of the entire system,” says Justin Leonard, head of the e-chains business unit at igus UK.