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Escalators transport millions of people every day – on their way to work, while shopping or travelling. They are in operation daily, irrespective of whether they are being used to their full capacity or not. Continuous operation ensures that people are transported efficiently from one floor to the next. This also means, however, that a lot more energy is used than is actually needed.

Escalators can be equipped with simple photocells to detect people and switch to slow speed mode when the escalator is not actually being used. However, the photocells are also activated when people simply pass by the escalator.

CEDES’ TOF/Start uses its TOF (Time of Flight) technology to distinguish if a person is walking through the detection zone is actually walking towards the escalator to use it, or simply passing by. This very reliable direction-recognition feature sets it apart from the competition and makes it ideal for busy public concourses.

At a C&A store right in the middle of a large shopping mall in the Spanish town of La Coruña, CEDES once again impressed thanks to its intelligent technology.

The Swiss company Schindler was commissioned by the shopping mall management to modernise an escalator without “slow speed”. Schindler decided not only to replace the entire control unit and the converter but also the still commonly used photocells with a TOF/Start sensor.

Cesar Serrablo, project manager at Schindler, says: “The improvement is clearly that TOF/Start detects whether a person really wants to use the escalator, accelerates it and the person can step onto the escalator safely and conveniently.”

He adds: “By installing the sensor, we were able to reduce power consumption, and by ignoring cross-traffic - people just passing by the escalator - we can expect further cost reductions and the entire escalator works more efficiently.”

Based on the positive experiences with TOF/Start, the shopping mall management decided to modernise a further five escalators.