Japanese manufacturing company Giken has developed a robot that parks bicycles fully automatically in an underground space.
To use the robotic system, cyclists place their bike on a rail on the ground at the registration point for contact-free check-in via card scanner.
A door opens and a gripper at ground level pulls the bike over the rail into the car-sized station.
The bike then stands on top of a mobile platform that can travel up to 16m downward and rotate 360°.
The lift descends, stops at the level of a free space and turns in the right direction. A telescopic mechanism then pushes the bike onto the bike rack.
The entire parking process takes an average of 13 seconds.
The Eco Cycle garage is currently located at 63 locations in 26 cities across Japan, with reports that the system may also be deployed in Germany in the near future.
Achievements and innovations in active travel and smart parking will be celebrated at the third annual CiTTi Awards, which will be held on 26 November 2024 at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Nominations are open now! Please visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector
