There are a couple collision repair shops in the Seattle area that have had these installed for car storage for quite some time. Quite amazing to watch the thing shift cars around to give you the one you just got parts for.
I just wonder what happens if you’re running late for work, and the damn thing breaks, holding 20 cars hostage…
I’m glad the article mentions that there used to be a couple of automated lift public parking garages in Portland. I remember at least one of them operating in the 1970’s.
I’m sure they did think about that… the mechanical lift systems reach a limit in practical terms after a certain number of cars and a certain volume per hour. For a large office building with a mix of public and private parking and large volumes of cars arriving and leaving in peak periods, an automated garage may not have been able to keep up with demand.
They will have the same problems with rush hours at a residential development. Imagine you are running late for work, and you go down to get your car and there are 5 people waiting in front of you. People aren’t going to be very happy if they have to wait several minutes to get their car every morning.
wow. too bad they didn’t think of something like that before building a 5 story hole in the ground under the new park block.
This was part of the concept a few years ago when they were thinking about creating a five block string of “Midtown Park Blocks” .. a gigantic underground parking complex with automated storage and delivery of your cars, stretched out underneath five blocks of parks. It might have been pretty cool.
But it didn’t happen. Instead, we’re getting one new park block, and a 37 story tower from Tom Moyer.
In many high-density urban areas, parking garages should be preferred over surface parking. But, automated parking is probably overkill. In the future, parking garage stalls will have electric power outlets for recharging batteries and/or supplying power. Will an automated parking garage be able to automatically connect to these power outlets?
Oh, excuse me. HouseBOT 5000!
“ztZz yEs.”
Bring toast and another cup of coffee.
“ztZz yEs, Marmelade?”
No, HouseBOT 5000, no marmalade.
“zZtz, vEry wELL, zZtz”…….
I thought I told you no Marmalade!
“ztZzz.. hee hee.”
Stacked parking is not a new concept. In the 60’s give or take a few years there was at least one stacked multi-story parking lot (if not more) in downtown Portland. The location was just South of Burnside between Broadway and 10th Avenue. It was kind of amazing to see it operate. A car was driven on to a platform that could be operated vertical or horizontally. After lining up in front of an empty stall, the car would be slid in from a device underneath. To retrieve a car, the operation was reversed. I believe the property on which this parking structure once stood has been redeveloped. I also seem to remember a news story on TV just before it was shut down.
The upside of this kind of parking structure is that it can be accommodated on a relatively small parcel of property. The downside and maybe what has contributed to the demise of such parking lots is the costs of maintaining the mechanical components, the amount and costs of energy used to operate the platform, the differences in the sizes and mix of vehicles as compared to what the structure was designed for, and a possible liability if cars are damaged in the operation.
Wells, how do you know what we will need in the future? There are many ways, many of which neither of us can imagine, to propel our cars. For example, supper effective solar cells in the desert could generate power for hydrogen fuel cell cars. Or:
0 responses to “Your Car in 60 Seconds”
There are a couple collision repair shops in the Seattle area that have had these installed for car storage for quite some time. Quite amazing to watch the thing shift cars around to give you the one you just got parts for.
I just wonder what happens if you’re running late for work, and the damn thing breaks, holding 20 cars hostage…
wow. too bad they didn’t think of something like that before building a 5 story hole in the ground under the new park block.
I’m glad the article mentions that there used to be a couple of automated lift public parking garages in Portland. I remember at least one of them operating in the 1970’s.
petrichor –
I’m sure they did think about that… the mechanical lift systems reach a limit in practical terms after a certain number of cars and a certain volume per hour. For a large office building with a mix of public and private parking and large volumes of cars arriving and leaving in peak periods, an automated garage may not have been able to keep up with demand.
They will have the same problems with rush hours at a residential development. Imagine you are running late for work, and you go down to get your car and there are 5 people waiting in front of you. People aren’t going to be very happy if they have to wait several minutes to get their car every morning.
So, where exactly at 20th and Hawthorne is this development occurring? Is the the lot the church sits on right now?
wow. too bad they didn’t think of something like that before building a 5 story hole in the ground under the new park block.
This was part of the concept a few years ago when they were thinking about creating a five block string of “Midtown Park Blocks” .. a gigantic underground parking complex with automated storage and delivery of your cars, stretched out underneath five blocks of parks. It might have been pretty cool.
But it didn’t happen. Instead, we’re getting one new park block, and a 37 story tower from Tom Moyer.
In many high-density urban areas, parking garages should be preferred over surface parking. But, automated parking is probably overkill. In the future, parking garage stalls will have electric power outlets for recharging batteries and/or supplying power. Will an automated parking garage be able to automatically connect to these power outlets?
Oh, excuse me. HouseBOT 5000!
“ztZz yEs.”
Bring toast and another cup of coffee.
“ztZz yEs, Marmelade?”
No, HouseBOT 5000, no marmalade.
“zZtz, vEry wELL, zZtz”…….
I thought I told you no Marmalade!
“ztZzz.. hee hee.”
Stacked parking is not a new concept. In the 60’s give or take a few years there was at least one stacked multi-story parking lot (if not more) in downtown Portland. The location was just South of Burnside between Broadway and 10th Avenue. It was kind of amazing to see it operate. A car was driven on to a platform that could be operated vertical or horizontally. After lining up in front of an empty stall, the car would be slid in from a device underneath. To retrieve a car, the operation was reversed. I believe the property on which this parking structure once stood has been redeveloped. I also seem to remember a news story on TV just before it was shut down.
The upside of this kind of parking structure is that it can be accommodated on a relatively small parcel of property. The downside and maybe what has contributed to the demise of such parking lots is the costs of maintaining the mechanical components, the amount and costs of energy used to operate the platform, the differences in the sizes and mix of vehicles as compared to what the structure was designed for, and a possible liability if cars are damaged in the operation.
Wells, how do you know what we will need in the future? There are many ways, many of which neither of us can imagine, to propel our cars. For example, supper effective solar cells in the desert could generate power for hydrogen fuel cell cars. Or:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rb_rDkwGnU
Maybe we’ll need hose bibs at our parking places.