Siemens control used for bike rental system in the Netherlands
20/08/2014 Siemens Industry Automation & Drive Technologies
Bunnik, the Netherlands. Bicycles can be rented 24/7 from 95 railway stationsin the Netherlands. Velowspace, a fully automated rent-a-bike system with an integrated carousel, is managed by a Simatic S7-1200 controller from Siemens Industry.
The Dutch bike rental company OV-Fiets uses Velowspace to increase the availability of rental bikes at railway stations and promote the idea of -€žgreen" mobility in urban areas. The system is currently in operation at 95 stations throughout the Netherlands. Velowspace was developed by Ubink achinebesturingen B.V., a Dutch company specializing in designing and manufacturing customized drives and controls for bike and car rental systems which, when developing Velowspace, opted to incorporate the Simatic S7-1200 controller from Siemens in its new product.
Automated bike rental system
The system hardware consists of a fully automated carousel tethering upto 24 bicycles. Its modular design is sufficiently flexible to allow for stacking or configuration as single sections.
Depending on whether the client wishes to collect or return a bicycle, the system rotates the carousel and stops it in front of an automatic door that opens to give access either to an empty return cell or a cell containing a bike.
External system control and data communication using Simatic S7-1200
The S7-1200 modular controller from Siemens controls both the carousel and the access security system. The integrated ethernet port using the open TCP/IP protocol ensures data communication with system operator OV-Fiets' database and back-office systems. The system can be managed using a dedicated Siemens webpage
pre-installed in the controller.
Additional webpages will allow third parties to access and manage the system.
For more information, please visit: www.siemens.com
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