Access control is a throughput problem and a security problem at once
An access point has to do two opposite things at the same time. It must let authorised vehicles and people through fast enough to clear a peak-hour queue, and it must stop everyone else.
The drive choice changes with the venue. A toll lane needs a barrier boom that opens in about 0.3 seconds so traffic does not back up onto the highway. A car park barrier needs induction loops that catch a tailgating vehicle before it slips through on someone else's ticket. An AFC fare gate at a metro station needs a non-contact flap that cycles in 0.3 seconds for a commuter crush, in both directions. A perimeter barrier on an industrial site needs a span up to 6 metres and climb-over prevention. Each of these runs continuous duty for years, outdoors, and has to fail in a predictable, safe state when the power drops.
DNH supplies Magnetic Autocontrol barriers, gates, turnstiles and toll systems, and Parvalux geared motors for OEM-built access hardware, across Southern Africa.
Common challenges
Gates and barriers must clear crowds and traffic without forming queues.
One authorised pass must not let a second vehicle or person slip through.
Drives run continuous outdoor duty for years without maintenance windows.
Access points must behave predictably through load-shedding and faults.
Products and solutions
DNH supplies complete Magnetic Autocontrol access systems and the Parvalux motors that OEMs build into their own access hardware.
Vehicle barriers, parking barriers, toll barriers, pedestrian gates and turnstiles, and ticketing terminals
Complete vehicle barriers, pedestrian gates, AFC fare gates, turnstiles, and toll barriers for airports, car parks, public transport, toll plazas, public buildings, and industrial perimeters. Opening times from 0.3 seconds, induction-loop detection of tailgating vehicles, optional climb-over prevention up to a 6 metre span, and modular controls that interface with common ticketing and access systems.
Airports & aviation terminals | Public transport hubs | Toll & traffic management | Parking & car parks | Public buildings | Trade & industrial sites
AC, brushed DC, and brushless DC geared motors and gearboxes
The motion components inside access control hardware built by OEMs: security barriers, swipe-card and proximity entry points, revolving and sliding security doors, and car park barriers, plus door drives for train, bus, and elevator doors on transit systems. Each motor sized to the mechanism's torque, duty cycle, and envelope.
Public transport hubs | Public buildings | Trade & industrial sites | Parking & car parks
Proven in the field
Gautrain station access control gates
Magnetic Autocontrol | Rapid rail transit, South Africa
DNH supplied access control gate hardware for Gautrain, South Africa's rapid rail network, where fare gates have to move millions of commuters through the stations every month while controlling paid access. The gates open and close without pause through the morning and evening peaks, clear passengers fast enough to keep platforms from crowding, and stop a second traveller tailgating through on one fare. DNH worked the specification with the manufacturer so the gate hardware matched the network's throughput and fare-control requirements.
Magnetic AFC gates in metro networks
Magnetic Autocontrol | Public transport hubs
Magnetic MPR pedestrian fare gates are installed in high-volume metro networks worldwide, including 350 MPR gates at Dubai Metro and 300 MPR gates at Delhi Metro. The MPR flap opens in about 0.3 seconds, runs in both directions, and works with any ticket system, letting it check fares automatically through a rush-hour crowd. Rollouts of several hundred gates per network, in service since 2009, show the gate holding up under sustained daily throughput.
Magnetic barriers at major airports
Magnetic Autocontrol | Airports & aviation terminals
Magnetic vehicle and pedestrian systems run at major international airports, including 300 Access barriers and 400 Parking Pro barriers at Frankfurt Airport and 28 immigration gates at Dubai Airport Terminal 3. The Parking Pro opens in up to 1.3 seconds and uses induction loops to catch a tailgating vehicle, while immigration gates hold a secure passage for every traveller. The Frankfurt barriers have been in service since 2005, across two decades of continuous airport duty.
Magnetic Toll barriers on highways
Magnetic Autocontrol | Toll & traffic management
Magnetic Toll barriers process high-speed traffic on tolled highways worldwide, including 116 Toll Pro2 barriers on the Ohio Turnpike and 80 Toll Pro2 barriers on the East Klang Valley Expressway, with the MHTMR drive opening in as little as 0.3 seconds. After a boom strike the barrier re-engages automatically or by hand and the lane keeps running, instead of staying down until a repair crew arrives — which is what a high-throughput toll plaza demands.
