11/22/2005: SmartP parking innovation
 

http://cellar.org/2005/smartp.jpg

OK, don't panic, this is just a model, not the actual thing.

There have been automated parking systems before, but it seems like Smart P is a little more practical - lifting the cars and spinning the platform like a turntable, it seems. The website is terrible at explaining their concept, maybe because it uses English as a second language. But it does explain the advantages. They claim a car can be retrieved within "seconds".

I'm not sure I want my car delivered that quickly. I can wait a little, please.

They say it's all computerized and that space can be alloted for different shapes of vehicles. Huh.

They point out that since their space doesn't have to be populated - no humans around those cars - no need for elevators, fire escapes, signage, etc. I guess, but I don't want to be the operator if the main hydraulic lift fails. It's not facing the danger of it... it's facing the hundreds of car owners who can't get their car out!

That looks a lot like one of the buildings at the Autostadt in Germany. So I think someone (Voltswagen in this instance) has actually built one of these!!

Looks pretty damn stunning.

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,331307,00.jpg
http://www.ftd.de/asset/Image/Migrat...stadt_gr,0.jpg

I wonder how the "tractor attaches to the car? :eyebrow:

I'm pro tractor if it eliminates the coke head driving your car up the ramp. Not that I have a car worth worrying about. However, Pete's new rig appears Friday, her first new car. Happy 40th babe.

Looking at the center of each pod....
 

Looks like a short version of the car-wash chain. You know the rollers that slide up behind your wheel and push the car through the car wash? In this case, there are two rollers, because one pushes the car in, and the other pushes the car out.

I think I have one of these for my hotWheels

When I first saw "SmartP" I was certain that it was going to be a new P-Mate competitor.

P-Mate

That is amazing Anton! Like the Matrix for cars...

I think that also means all of the cars are parked in neutral without the aid of a parking brake or other anti-roll-away setting. I assume that means they have some sort of indent for one set of wheels. What if the wheels aren't where they expect them?

They probably just have bumps that rise to stop the car from going too far forward or back.

I'm pretty sure I had that playset as a kid.

I don't think so because it has to move the car completely clear of the platform. That's the rear bumper that has to be clear which means the wheel could be several feet from it. :confused:

the movies will have to find a new place for stalkers, kidnappers, killers, and car chases..

You could be set upon by terrorists while awaiting your car in the lounge at the bottom ...

Oh, man, I have to say it... it's an AutoMat!

Hard to say
 

The model shows some sort of push/pull arm in each bay. That would seem to me less efficient than a push/pull arm in the center rotating platform (platter). However, for the platter, the idea might be 'keep it simple, stupid.'

If that is the case, then the platter has only two tasks: adjust to the right elevation, and do the lazy-susan thing to align the vehicle with the bay.

As long as each bay has a telescoping arm to reach the automobile wheels, it would work fine. I'm sure there is some sort of camera to keep the arm retracting to make sure that nothing hangs out of the bay into the platter space. The biggest problem I see would be if the vehicle were badly out of alignment, and pulling it in caused it to skew alignment.

Hmmm. :confused:

Platter tractor it is
 

I agree that the text and the picture of model do not appear to agree. It is more efficient to just have one hydraulic arm (tractor) - and the text says it is a part of the platter.

That makes sense. It makes for a little more complicated platter, but over all, it would be less expensive to build.

I expect that for alignment, there is a camera directly above (and pointing straight down) the opening of each bay. This lets the platter align the path the car will take into or out of the bay.

The tractor arm probably remains narrow until it extends to behind the wheel of the car to be moved. Then it expands and places two rollers: one behind, and one in front of the tire of the car. Once alignment is confirmed, it starts pushing or pulling the car - to effect bay / platter ingress / egress (or vice-versa).

So the model could just show a flat floor, and show the tractor arm on the platter. Maybe someone in marketing thought the model looked boring. :eyebrow: