Capital Showcases Robotic Cycle Storage

Never sure where to park you bike safely in London? One clever idea could solve the headache and encourage more people to cycle.

Japanese robotic technology that allows multiple bicycles to be stored securely above or below ground and be retrieved by the rider within seconds has arrived in London. A demonstrator of the ‘Eco Cycle’ concept was unveiled behind Southwark Underground station on 24 November.
A two storey, cylindrical storage unit that can hold 58 bicycles, stacked over four levels, currently stands on a footprint large enough to accommodate no more than two cars. Those behind the system are also promoting a below ground storage system, said to accommodate as many as 204 bicycles.

The system works like this: Users wheel their bicycle up to the entrance of the storage unit, touch an access card onto a reader and two metal doors move slightly apart. The rider then pushes their bike’s front wheel through the opening, before a clamp seizes the wheel tight.

The user steps away, presses a button on the wall, the doors open and the bicycle
is whisked inside the storage system on a metal cradle. The cradle, which moves up and down inside the storage unit, gently deposits the bicycle on the closest available rack.

To retrieve their bicycle the user touches the access card onto the reader, which sends a message to an electronic tag secured to the wheel. The bicycle is then delivered back to the entrance of the storage unit within 13 seconds.

Eco Cycle managing director Nick Knight says he is introducing the idea to London in an effort to overcome a lack of secure cycle spaces in the capital. “So much investment is going into cyciing infrastructure but there are few places where riders can securely park their bike,” he says. “The only spaces being provided are by developers through the planning regime but the problem with that is the spaces are only accessible to the building’s occupants.”
His hope is to establish a secure cycle storage network across London. “If we increase the convenience for people riding a bike so that they know where they can park it, we will get more people cycling.”

Transportation Professional January 2016