Featured Introduction

As smart parking garages become the new wave of infrastructure for urban parking, the heart of the drive system—the inverter—is undergoing a profound transformation—from “import dependence” to “self-reliance through domestic innovation.” Faced with industry challenges such as high prices, long delivery times, and inflexible commissioning associated with imported brands, how can we break this deadlock? The STEP ET6L series inverters, with their three core strengths—customized features, precise dual-loop control, and multi-drive capability in a single unit—are achieving high-level domestic substitution in the core drive field of smart parking garages, empowering intelligent spaces and driving efficient traffic flow.

I. Industry Background: Smart garages are becoming a new trend in parking.

Smart parking garages, which integrate automation, information technology, and intelligent systems to enable automatic vehicle storage and retrieval, intelligent parking space allocation, and secure management, have become an essential infrastructure for alleviating urban parking difficulties. In this highly automated system, variable frequency drives (VFDs), as core drive and control products, directly influence the efficiency, stability, and energy consumption levels of equipment operation. STEP has deepened its expertise in the field of logistics lifting drives and has specially developed the high-performance, highly reliable, and user-friendly ET6L series VFDs tailored for smart parking garage applications, thereby supporting the industry’s intelligent transformation and upgrade.

II. Customer Pain Points: Limitations of Imported Brands Spark Demand for Domestic Substitution

A leading smart parking equipment company in Guangdong offers a product portfolio that covers six types of mechanical parking systems, including vertical lift, flat-moving, and vertical-circulation systems, with its technology at the forefront of the industry. However, in real-world applications, the company faces multiple challenges: First, special solutions require variable-frequency drives to support non-standard functions; second, testing new models demands close collaboration and fine-tuning by the manufacturer; third, the high cost, long lead times, and inconvenient maintenance of existing imported-brand drives have significantly increased operational costs. Customers urgently need a domestically produced drive solution that can be both custom-optimized and substantially reduce costs while boosting efficiency.

III. Solution: The ET6L series of variable frequency drives offers deep, scenario-specific adaptation for multiple applications.

STEP offers flexible and configurable drive solutions tailored to different types of equipment used in smart parking garages. The ET6L series of variable frequency drives, with their powerful motion control capabilities, open communication interfaces, and programmable features, precisely meet customer needs in terms of functional customization, performance tuning, and cost control. They provide a high-performance alternative to imported brands, offering customers a stable, cost-effective, and easy-to-maintain drive solution.

IV. Application Case: Stack-Type Parking System—Dual Closed-Loop Precision Control

The aisle stacking system achieves high-density parking by enabling the stacker crane to perform synchronized horizontal and vertical movements within the aisles. In this application, the STEP ET6L series frequency converters demonstrate several technical advantages: They employ a dual-loop control architecture—combining an "encoder-based speed loop with a laser-ranging position loop"—to enhance operational stability and positioning accuracy; they support both one-to-two and one-to-four drive configurations, significantly reducing hardware costs; they allow for rapid commissioning and parameter optimization via the STEP host computer software; and, based on PROFINET communication, the PLC only needs to send target instructions, while the frequency converter autonomously handles motion control, greatly simplifying system integration.

V. Application Case 2: Elevating Parking System—Multi-functional Intelligent Switching

Lift-type parking structures are simple in design, quick to install, and cost-effective, making them ideal for expanding and upgrading parking capacity. In this application, the STEP frequency converter enables flexible multi-control functionality with a single unit: by using DI signals, panel operations, or PN communication commands, users can switch among pre-stored macro parameter sets to control multiple motors to operate in alternating fashion. This solution significantly reduces the number of components, lowers the cost of the electrical control cabinet and system complexity, and helps customers achieve highly cost-effective equipment configurations.

Leveraging domestically developed drive technology to boost the upgrade of the smart parking garage industry.

Relying on the successful application of its ET6L series inverters in the smart parking garage sector, STEP has demonstrated the reliable performance and flexible adaptability of domestically produced inverters in complex operating conditions. Looking ahead, STEP will continue to deepen its technological expertise in specialized industry segments, delivering higher-value and more dependable drive solutions to the smart parking industry—and indeed the entire logistics automation sector—through ongoing product innovation and solution optimization. Together with our customers, we will jointly create a smarter, more efficient new era.

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market@stepelectric.com

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