Visualization and control of the parking building for bicycles in the city of Pardubice

September 6, 2017 | Reliance SCADA

In the summer of 2017, a parking building for bicycles was put into operation near the railroad station in Pardubice. The building – BIKETOWER – is named after its vertical storage system and provides service only to cyclists. It allows storing bicycles and bicycle accessories (panniers, helmets, child bike seats, etc.) in a safe and dry place.

Control system

The control and visualization of the parking facility is provided by a Siemens SIMATIC
S7-1200 PLC and the Reliance SCADA/HMI system. The Siemens PLC is the heart of the entire system. It is used to process algorithms and to determine what and where to park or return back to the owner. In addition, the PLC stores statistical data and controls the storage/retrieval machine's motors. The PLC is also used for direct communication with the light curtains through IO-Link and with another integral part of the parking building – the parking payment system. These systems exchange their data through the Modbus TCP protocol.

The movement of the storage/retrieval machine is provided by four NORD AC drive–controlled motors. The AC drives are installed directly on the motors. For precise movement, absolute encoders are used. The PLC and the AC drives communicate with each other over Ethernet through PROFINET.

The parking building for bicycles in Pardubice

The parking building is also equipped with cameras. They are installed on the parking cart and at the entrance.

For maintenance purposes and easy access, a touch control panel is available. It allows directly handling the motors, blocking and releasing the parking position, returning the bicycle back to the owner in case of receipt loss, etc.

The Reliance SCADA system is used for:

• Providing the instructions (available in both English and Czech) on how to park and retrieve the bicycle using a player.
• Playing the instant camera recording of the parking process using the Internet Explorer component.
• Providing a step-by-step guide through the parking process.
• Displaying the number of parking spaces available and providing information about other current events (e.g., faults).
• Passing the information about vacant parking spaces to the Internet.
• Creating statistical reports in the background every day and sending them by email to recipients.
• Retrieving data from an SQL server.

Examples of visualization windows

Follow the instructions

Parking the bike

Returning the bike

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