‘Robot’ car park gives Abu Dhabi motorists a lift

The three-level underground car park, which has 85 spaces, promises to relieve the stress of searching for a parking space and remembering the location of the parked vehicle.

A car is raised to ground level in a building with automated parking in the Sheikha and Marium Saeed Al Rumaithi building, which is being built in Abu Dhabi. Delores Johnson / The National

ABU DHABI // An automated car park, said to be first of its kind in the capital, has begun operation at a new residential building in the Al Zahiyah district.

The system at the under-construction Sheikha and Marium Saeed Al Rumaithi building near the Ramada Hotel aims to make parking easy for the residents in one of the most congested parts of the city.

While there are two multistorey automated car parks in Dubai – at the Ibn Battuta shopping mall and the Conrad Dubai hotel – Fady Sokhon, the general manager of Gitech Conveying systems, said this was the first operational automated one in the capital.

It was also “the first underground automated parking system in the UAE”, he claimed.

He said not only would the system relieve the stress of looking for a parking space, it would also mean residents would not have to remember the location of their parked vehicle.

The car park takes up three underground levels and has 85 places.

A driver takes the vehicle into a loading bay, gets out of the car, swipes an access card and then presses a button.

A lift then delivers the vehicle to the required floor, then a trolley takes it to its designated space.

When the driver needs the car again, they wait at a kiosk for the system to retrieve the vehicle.

The system delivers the car in three minutes or less.

Under Department of Transport rules, any new building in the capital must have adequate parking spaces for occupants and visitors.

Mr Sokhon said the automated system has up to three times the number of parking spaces than a conventional multi-storey car park.

He said it was utilising the latest machines from Germany and robots from Japan.

The Sheikha and Marium Saeed Al Rumaithi building, managed by Abu Dhabi Commercial Properties, has 18 floors and 90 one-bedroom and two-bedroom flats. It also has three office spaces on the mezzanine floor.

Building began in August 2014 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of March, according to Issa Atieh Al Issa, executive manager of Qumra Transport and General Contracting.

“We expect the handover to be on November 16,” he said. “The automated car park, which is integrated into the building’s structure, is really a good solution for the parking shortage in this area, especially at night.”

Mr Sokhon that the car park was finished before the building to allow for operational testing.

Gitech is working on a second automated underground car park in a residential building being built near the junction of Hamdan and Salam streets.

“We’re seeing a great interest in smart parking solutions. We have seven to eight projects in the pipeline and are now working on the designs,” said Mr Sokhon.

Thomas Edelmann, founder of the Road Safety UAE organisation, said there was a pressing need for more parking in downtown Abu Dhabi.

“This is an innovative approach to the parking problem. Any new technology to relieve the stress of parking is welcome,” he said.

“Of course it’s all about safety and convenience,” he said.

“In the UAE, it’s still a new technology, so reliability will drive the success of the scheme.”