34 n VARIABLE-SPEED DRIVES January 2024 www.drivesncontrols.com UK VSDs give cars a lift in Mumbai tower block Using elevators to move vehicles in tower parking facilities is a complex process. It's crucial to ensure a smooth, silent ride to the right oor for the safety of the vehicle and to avoid disturbing the residents. The Indian automated car parking expert Wipro-Pari is well-known for its systems for both overground and underground vehicle parking. A recent project involved a 24-storey parking tower in Mumbai which is integrated with an 18-storey residential block. Vehicles enter the elevator before being lifted to the required oor where they are moved from one transport tray to another one for parking. The elevator can accommodate vehicles weighing up to three tonnes. When a resident wants to take the car out, the process is reversed. The geared elevator system operates in a closed-loop conguration. “We have to ensure a smooth and safe movement of vehicles throughout their transit from the entrance to the parking space and vice versa,” explains Mahesh Joshi, Wipro-Pari’s head of controls design. “The inverter is crucial for this.” For the Mumbai project, the company chose Invertek Drives’ Optidrive Elevator variable-frequency drives to control the electric motors used for both vertical and horizontal movements. Joshi say that these drives “not only ensure a smooth ride, but their motor braking control has also been superior compared to other drives we’ve used. This combination is crucial, to achieve highly accurate stopping of elevator at parking oors”. The drives are dedicated to geared and gearless lift applications. Five independent Sramps allow ne tuning of ride and performance and jerk-free travel. They also oer high motor switching frequencies for quiet operation, which is essential for residential applications. Other built-in functions include antirollback in open- and closed-loop operation, and brake release monitoring. “Vehicle elevators require certain essential features such as smooth movement and a seamless start and stop, in addition to a quiet operation to not disturb residents,” explains Bhupesh Katakkar, manager of Invertek’s Indian operation. “To achieve this, four 37kW Optidrive Elevator drives control 30/37kW induction motors in the four towers of the building linked to the residential block.” n A 24-storey automated vehicle parking tower in India is relying on UK-made VSDs to ensure that the cars are moved safely to and from their destinations without disturbing the building’s residents. The automatic parking system in Mumbai moves vehicles smoothly and quietly to their storage spaces VSDs help to ensure that the Mumbai automated car parking system operates reliably
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