U Illinois To Deploy Robotic Parking Structure

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will deploy an automated robotic parking system at a 16-story student housing project currently under construction.

The university decided to adopt Boomerang's RoboticValet system, which "eliminates ramps and sharply reduces the number of drive aisles, allowing up to twice the density of parked cars and requiring as little as half the space required by a conventional garage," according to a news release.

At the student housing project, cars will be guided to and from parking spaces with their engines off to reduce carbon emissions and eliminate the need for ventilation and lighting of a traditional parking structure.

"In addition to saving space and lessening the impact of parking on the environment, we believe that providing a central drop off and pick up location for vehicles on grade will provide a safer and more convenient parking experience for our student residents," said James Letchinger, CEO of HERE Enterprises, one of the project's developers, in a prepared statement.  "After investigating a number of automated parking systems, we chose Boomerang's RoboticValet solution based on the unique advantages of the product and based on Boomerang being a US manufacturer with an experienced in-house installation team."

More information about RoboticValet is available at boomerangsystems.com.

About the Author

Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].

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