ABOUT ROYCE MONTEVERDI
Meet the robotics pioneer who is transforming the parking industry.
Royce Monteverdi created the term. But the origins of robotic parking belong to August Perret, who in 1906 built the first automated parking garage, the Garage Rue de Ponthieu, in Paris. The definition of automated at the time was a lift taking cars to attendants on upper floors.
It would be more than 85 years of development before Monteverdi, a former engineer at Krupp Industrietechnik in Germany, would develop the proprietary system and software needed for the creation of a fully robotic parking structure.
Coining the term “robotic parking” to distinguish his system from the existing mechanical parking systems in use, Monteverdi and fellow German engineer Heiner Schween brought cutting edge robotics and architecture to develop the systems that would allow robots to reliably and efficiently park automobiles, making fully automated parking structures possible. In 1994, Robotic Parking Systems, Inc. was formed; shortly after, the company filed the patents on its new technology.
Monteverdi came into the parking garage industry with a sterling reputation in the engineering community, having built acclaimed assembly lines for Mercedes-Benz and air bridges for Munich Airport. The “Lift and Run System” created by Robotic Parking Systems, which was the first system allowing 3 axis simultaneous movements, produced a radical transformation in the warehousing and parking industries. By 1998 the company had produced its first prototype, in Ohio.
early prototype, Ohio, 1988
In 2000, its first installation, in Hoboken, NJ, broke new ground for the industry, became the first automatic parking system in the US, with 314 parking spaces and 7 levels. An audit two years later, in the National Parking Association Magazine, noted that after processing 705,000 transactions, the average response time was 145 seconds, the average occupancy was 99.5%, and the garage has 99.99% up time.
Robotic Parking Systems went on to build the first robotic parking garage in the Middle East, in Dubai, followed by the largest automatic garage in the world, also in Dubai.
Pioneer Monteverdi remains one of the few in the industry to successfully build and operate simultaneous moving robots, staying well ahead in his field today with systems that allow a garage to move 30 to 50 cars at the same time, drastically increasing peak traaffic capacities and reducing wait times.
Today Monteverdi’s Robotic Parking Systems has built more automatic parking spaces than any company operating on the American continent.
Monteverdi was the originator and co-developer of the Automated and Mechanical Parking Association guideline for automated parking, which was adopted as the standard by the National Parking Association in Washington, DC. He initiated the National Fire Code for automated parking for the National Fire Protection Association and serves as a technical committee member for the association.
While continuing to design and build cutting edge robotic parking garages, Monteverdi also produces stunning architectural designs, interior design and furniture design — all channels for expanding upon his purpose to uplift the lives of those his products touch.
Monteverdi is also a regular face in humanitarian and social causes, most recently leading teams of hurricane relief volunteers with the Florida Governmental Emergency Management and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). Robotic Systems LLC, a subsidiary of Robotic Systems, was awarded the prestigious Arabia Corporate Social Responsibility Award by the Emirates Environmental Group.