Fail-safe energy chain as cable guidance in an innovative bicycle garage

Profile

• What was needed: E2.1 series energy chains
• Requirements: Safe and reliable cable guidance, high flexibility, travel speeds of up to 1m/s
• Industry: Storage and retrieval units in material handling
• Success for the customer: With the E2.1 e-chain for medium loads, the customer saves costs twice: when purchasing and when filling with cables quickly and easily. In this way, SERAAP was able to meet the price defined by the customer.

With modular and automated garages in large cities, SERAAB creates new and space-saving parking options for bicycles.

Problem

Initially with a focus on special machines and later increasingly also on robotics, the French company SERAAP has established itself as an innovative machine manufacturer. Customers commission the company, for example, to automate processes and make them more cost-effective.
The bicycle garage developed by SERAAP, which is intended to make mobility in large cities even more convenient, can also be described as innovative. The idea is to create a space-saving parking area with modular, cube-shaped bicycle sheds for as many bicycles as possible in every city with a population of 100,000 or more. A project in the spirit of climate change.
After the bike owner has reserved a space via an app, he receives a code on his cell phone, which he can enter to use the garage. When the bike is parked and locked, sensors start checking the dimensions of the bike. A storage and retrieval unit picks it up and places it in the reserved position. This can sometimes be several metres high.

Solution

For the implementation of the bicycle garage, a solution for the safe energy supply of the storage and retrieval unit was also needed. Because it had to move freely within the cube without the data and energy cables restricting or slowing down the movement of the robot. While the SRU pulls the numerous cables with it, speeds of up to 1m/s are achieved over a 4m travel length. At the same time, it was important to remember that this is a public building. The robot must park and retrieve the requested bicycles safely and reliably, as a repair cannot be carried out immediately if the system fails.
SERAAP finally decided on one of our plastic energy chains for medium loads of the E2.1 series. The system was ideal because of its very long service life, which has increased even further compared to the previous model, the E2/000. Another helpful feature for the installation is that the filling and assembly of the chains is quick and therefore cost-saving. Both helped the customer to keep the implementation of the robot cost-effective and thus meet the principal's target price.

SERAAP during the testing of the bicycle garage: when parked on the platform, the bicycle is locked immediately.

Technical centrepiece: the storage and retrieval unit with E2.1 energy chain for cable guidance