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

• What was needed: E2.1 series energy chain
• Requirements: Safe and reliable cable routing, high flexibility, travel speeds of up to 1 m/sec
• Industry: Storage and retrieval machines in material handling
• Success for the customer: With the E2.1 e-chain® for medium loads, the customer saves on the purchase itself as well as the fast and uncomplicated filling with cable. SERAAP was able to keep to the price defined by the customer.

Initially focusing on special machines and later increasingly on robotics, the French company SERAAP has established itself as an innovative machine manufacturer. Customers commission the company to automate processes and make them more cost-effective.

The bicycle garage developed by SERAAP, which aims to make mobility in large cities even more convenient, can also be described as innovative. Their eco-friendly concept was to create a space-saving parking area for as many bicycles as possible in every city with a population of 100,000 or more with a modular, cube-shaped bicycle shed.

Once the bike owner reserves a space via an app, they receive a code on their mobile phone, which they can enter at the garage. Once the bike has been parked and locked, sensors begin to check the bike's dimensions. A storage and retrieval unit picks it up and places it in the reserved position. This can sometimes be several meters in height.

The implementation of the bicycle garage also required a solution for a safe energy supply of the storage and retrieval unit (SRU). This was because it had to be able to move freely within the cube without the data and power cables restricting or slowing down the robot's movement. The SRU pulls the numerous cables along with it at speeds of up to 1 m/sec over a travel length of 4 meters. At the same time, it was important to consider that garage is a public building. The robot must park and retrieve the requested bicycles safely and reliably, as maintenance cannot be carried out immediately if the system fails.

SERAAP ultimately opted for one of our energy chains for medium loads from the E2.1 series. The system was the obvious choice due to its particularly long service life, which has been further increased compared to the previous E2/000 model. Also helpful for the installation: the filling and assembly of the chains is quick and therefore cost-saving. Both of these factors helped the customer to keep the implementation of the robot at a favorable price and thus meet the client's target price.