MHE Singapore Introduces New Parking Solution
The Automatic Guided Vehicle Parking Solution is a First in the Country
Singapore – MHE was entrusted to supply and install an innovative automatic parking system in a commercial building redevelopment, the Robinson Towers located in Robinson Road. The parking solution will provide 90 parking lots for all types of cars weighing up to 2,600kg with sizes up to 5.3m (L) x 2.3m (W) x 2.0m (H) distributed evenly in the basement.
The parking system is controlled and managed by a computer system which allows a high degree of flexibility. It can switch operation modes to adapt to different requirements in the day, be it during the peak hours of the morning rush or the quieter moments in the afternoon.
Key Innovative Features
A key component in the parking solution is the Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV) feature, which is tasked to carry, manoeuvre and park vehicles in randomly-determined parking lots. AGV is a mobile robot that follows markers or wires on the floor and employs the usage of vision, magnets or lasers for navigation purposes. This solution will replace the conventional car ramp or car lift for multi-storey parking and the parking of cars at each storey will be handled by the respective designated AGV.
Its most attractive feature is the absence of the need of a steel supporting structure and steel parking pallets. Cars are either placed on AGV platforms during transportation or rested on supported comb elements mounted on the parking floor slab. There is no additional building provision required for the system as it can be easily adapted into a conventional parking provision in any building development.
The parking solution also provides two distinct benefits – firstly, a supporting steel structure is not required and thus eliminates the need for four-hour fire proofing treatment on the steel structure, which results in huge cost savings. Secondly, the system offers relatively faster parking and retrieval time compared to other automatic parking systems, which translates to less waiting time and delay in parking or retrieving of cars.
The parking installation is scheduled for completion by the end of 2018 – by then, car owners only need to drive their cars into the receiving compartment and the AGV will take over by transporting it to a randomly assigned vacant parking lot. Drivers will no longer have to drive around the parking floors to look for vacant parking lots, which is fuel saving and contributes less exhaust emission, resulting in lesser air pollution to its surroundings. In addition to that, the safety of drivers and passengers will be ensured as well as they no longer have to worry about being hit by careless drivers while navigating the parking area.