Elevator control device, elevator system, elevator control method, and storage medium

Abstract

An elevator control device, an elevator system, an elevator control method, and a storage medium. It is possible to suppress the influence on people and autonomous mobile bodies when a precursory failure occurs, and to suppress the reduction in the transport efficiency of the elevator to people and autonomous mobile bodies. A group management panel as an elevator control device is provided with: a mobile body landing call registration section (112) that registers a landing call input by an autonomous mobile body (30), that is, a mobile body call; a passenger landing call registration section (111) that registers a landing call input by a passenger (20), that is, a passenger call; a failure precursor determination section (141) that determines the presence or absence and the content of a failure precursor for each of a plurality of cars; and an elevator allocation section (120) that allocates a car for a mobile body call and a passenger call. The elevator allocation section (120) determines, for a car for which a failure precursor is determined to be present by the failure precursor determination section (141), which of a passenger call and a mobile body call to allocate the car to, in accordance with the content of the failure precursor.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to elevator control devices, elevator systems, elevator control methods, and storage media storing elevator control programs. Background Technology

[0002] It is known that in an elevator group management control device that has a group management device for group management and control of multiple elevators and an elevator monitoring device for monitoring the operating status of each elevator to detect fault signs, i.e., early signs, the group management device will reduce the call priority of the elevator that detects the early signs to the last place (for example, see Patent Document 1).

[0003] Existing technical documents

[0004] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-114458 Summary of the Invention

[0005] Thus, the technology shown in Patent Document 1 lowers the call priority to the last position for elevator cars that detect signs of malfunction. However, depending on the nature of the detected malfunction, it may not significantly affect the boarding and alighting of autonomous mobile bodies, such as mobile robots. In such cases, in the technology shown in Patent Document 1, the transport of autonomous mobile bodies by the car that detects signs of malfunction is also suppressed, thus reducing the elevator's transport efficiency for autonomous mobile bodies. On the other hand, conversely, depending on the nature of the detected malfunction, cases may also be considered where it has little impact on passenger boarding and alighting but a significant impact on the boarding and alighting of autonomous mobile bodies. In such cases, in the technology shown in Patent Document 1, the elevator's transport efficiency for passengers is reduced.

[0006] This invention is proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems. The purpose of this invention is to provide an elevator control device, elevator system, elevator control method, and elevator control program that can suppress the impact of a malfunction with warning signs on passengers and autonomous moving bodies, and can suppress the reduction in the elevator's transport efficiency for passengers and autonomous moving bodies.

[0007] The elevator control device of the present invention is an elevator control device for controlling an elevator having multiple cars, comprising: a moving body call registration unit that registers floor calls input by an autonomous moving body, i.e., moving body calls; a passenger call registration unit that registers floor calls input by passengers, i.e., passenger calls; a fault prediction determination unit that determines the presence and content of fault predictions for each of the multiple cars; and an allocation unit that allocates cars to the moving body calls and the passenger calls, wherein the allocation unit, for a car determined by the fault prediction determination unit to have a fault prediction, determines whether to allocate the car to the passenger call or the moving body call based on the content of the fault prediction.

[0008] The elevator system of the present invention includes the elevator control device and the autonomous moving body described above.

[0009] The elevator control method of the present invention is executed by a computer of an elevator control device that controls an elevator having multiple cars. The elevator control method includes: a moving body call registration step, registering floor calls input by an autonomous moving body (i.e., moving body calls); a passenger call registration step, registering floor calls input by passengers (i.e., passenger calls); a fault prediction determination step, determining the presence and content of fault predictions for each of the multiple cars; and an allocation step, allocating cars to the moving body calls and the passenger calls. In the allocation step, for a car determined by the fault prediction determination step to have a fault prediction, the allocation of that car to either the passenger call elevator or the moving body call elevator is determined based on the content of the fault prediction.

[0010] The storage medium of the present invention stores an elevator control program, which is used to cause the computer of the elevator control device to execute the elevator control method described above.

[0011] Invention Effects

[0012] The elevator control device, elevator system, elevator control method, and elevator control program according to the present invention have the following effects: they can suppress the impact on passengers and autonomous moving bodies when a fault with warning occurs, and they can suppress the reduction in the elevator's transport efficiency for passengers and autonomous moving bodies. Attached Figure Description

[0013] Figure 1 This is a diagram schematically showing the overall structure of the elevator system according to Embodiment 1.

[0014] Figure 2 This is a block diagram showing the structure of the elevator control device according to Embodiment 1.

[0015] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating an example of the malfunction warning signs in the elevator control device of Embodiment 1 and the determination of their impact on passengers and autonomous moving bodies.

[0016] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing in the elevator control device of Embodiment 1.

[0017] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating an example of the structure that implements the function of the elevator control device of Embodiment 1.

[0018] Label Explanation

[0019] 10: Hoistway; 11: Car; 20: Passenger; 30: Autonomous moving body; 41: Passenger floor call button; 42: Moving body floor call button; 100: Group management panel; 101: Processor; 102: Memory; 103: Dedicated hardware; 111: Passenger floor call registration department; 112: Moving body floor call registration department; 120: Elevator distribution department; 130: Each car control department; 141: Fault prediction determination department; 142: Impact determination department. Detailed Implementation

[0020] The elevator control device, elevator system, elevator control method, and elevator control program for implementing the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, identical or equivalent parts are labeled with the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions are simplified or omitted as appropriate. Furthermore, in the following description, for convenience, the positional relationships of the various structures are sometimes shown based on the illustrated states. Moreover, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments; free combinations of embodiments, arbitrary modifications of the constituent elements of each embodiment, or arbitrary omissions of the constituent elements of each embodiment are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0021] Implementation Method 1

[0022] Reference Figures 1 to 5 The following describes Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Figure 1 It is a diagram that schematically shows the overall structure of the elevator system. Figure 2 This is a block diagram showing the structure of the elevator control device. Figure 3 This diagram illustrates an example of how to determine the warning signs of a malfunction in an elevator control system and its potential impact on passengers and autonomous moving parts. Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing in an elevator control device. Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a structure that implements the function of an elevator control device.

[0023] The elevator control device of this embodiment controls an elevator with multiple cars. Figure 1 An example of an elevator, which is the object of control of the elevator control device of this embodiment, is shown schematically. As shown in the figure, the elevator has multiple cars 11. In the building where the elevator is installed, there is a number of shafts 10 equal to the number of cars 11. The multiple cars 11 are each arranged in their respective shafts 10, which can be moved up and down freely.

[0024] Passengers 20 and autonomous mobile bodies 30 can each board and alight from multiple cars 11. The autonomous mobile body 30 is, for example, a mobile robot, capable of moving autonomously. The cars 11 rise and fall within the shaft 10, transporting one or both of the passengers 20 and the autonomous mobile bodies 30 between multiple floors of the building.

[0025] At each floor where the elevator car 11 can stop, there are passenger call buttons 41 and mobile elevator call buttons 42. Passenger call buttons 41 are used by passengers 20 to register their calls. Mobile elevator call buttons 42 are used by autonomous mobile vehicles 30 to register their calls. Both passenger call buttons 41 and mobile elevator call buttons 42 have an upward and a downward direction button, respectively. The upward direction button is used to register a call to the floor where the button is located, requesting the elevator 11 to travel in the upward direction. The downward direction button is used to register a call to the floor where the button is located, requesting the elevator 11 to travel in the downward direction. Furthermore, the passenger call buttons 41 and mobile elevator call buttons 42 at the upper and lower floors only need to have one of the necessary upward or downward direction buttons.

[0026] Figure 1 The group management panel 100 shown is an example of an elevator control device that controls an elevator with multiple cars 11. The group management panel 100 manages the multiple cars 11 as a single group. Next, referring to... Figure 2 This describes the structure of the group management disk 100 in this embodiment. For example... Figure 2 As shown, the group management panel 100 includes a passenger floor elevator call registration department 111, a moving body floor elevator call registration department 112, an elevator distribution department 120, and a car control department 130.

[0027] The group management panel 100 is communicatively connected to the passenger call buttons 41 and the mobile call buttons 42 on each floor. When passenger 20 operates the passenger call button 41, a call registration request signal is output from the operated passenger call button 41. The call registration request signal output from the passenger call button 41 is input to the group management panel 100. The passenger call registration unit 111 of the group management panel 100 registers calls to floors where the passenger call button 41 is located, wherein the passenger call button 41 is the output source of the call registration request signal input to the group management panel 100. Thus, the passenger call registration unit 111 registers the call input by passenger 20. In this invention, the call input by passenger 20 is also referred to as a "passenger call". The passenger call registration unit 111 registers passenger calls.

[0028] When the autonomous mobile unit 30 operates the mobile unit's floor call button 42, a call registration request signal is output from the operated mobile unit's floor call button 42. The call registration request signal output from the mobile unit's floor call button 42 is input to the group management panel 100. The mobile unit's floor call registration unit 112 of the group management panel 100 registers floor calls to floors where the mobile unit's floor call button 42 is located, wherein the mobile unit's floor call button 42 is the output source of the call registration request signal input to the group management panel 100. Thus, the mobile unit's floor call registration unit 112 registers floor calls input by the autonomous mobile unit 30. In this invention, floor calls input by the autonomous mobile unit 30 are also referred to as "mobile unit calls." The mobile unit's floor call registration unit 112 registers mobile unit calls.

[0029] As described above, in the elevator control device of this embodiment, it is possible to process floor calls (passenger calls) input by passenger 20 and floor calls (mobile calls) input by autonomous mobile unit 30 separately. Furthermore, passenger call registration is not limited to operating the passenger floor call button 41 located at each floor. In addition, passenger 20 can also register passenger calls by operating their own smartphone, smartwatch, or other terminal device. In this case, the terminal device held by passenger 20 may have a dedicated application pre-installed. Passenger 20 can perform the call registration operation using the terminal device executing the dedicated application. Then, when passenger 20 performs the call registration operation on the terminal device, the terminal device sends a call registration request signal to the group management panel 100.

[0030] Furthermore, the registration of elevator calls by mobile entities is not limited to operation of the elevator call button 42 at the landing station for mobile entities. In addition, for example, autonomous mobile entities 30 can also be configured to directly register elevator calls. In this case, autonomous mobile entity 30 can communicate with the group management panel 100. Communication between autonomous mobile entity 30 and group management panel 100 can be wireless. Then, autonomous mobile entity 30 directly sends an elevator call registration request signal to group management panel 100.

[0031] The elevator allocation unit 120 determines from among multiple cars 11 which cars 11 will be assigned to the registered landing calls, specifically passenger calls registered by the passenger landing call registration unit 111 and moving body calls registered by the moving body landing call registration unit 112. The determination of which car 11 to assign to a landing call is performed as follows: First, the elevator allocation unit 120 calculates an allocation evaluation value for each car 11 based on its operating status. This allocation evaluation value is calculated, for example, using the waiting time until the car 11 responding to the registered landing call arrives, the load on the car 11, etc. Then, the elevator allocation unit 120 compares the calculated allocation evaluation values ​​for each car 11 and determines the car 11 with the highest allocation evaluation value as the car 11 assigned to the landing call. In this way, the elevator allocation unit 120 assigns cars 11 to both moving body calls and passenger calls.

[0032] Each car control unit 130 controls the operation of multiple cars 11. Each car control unit 130 is provided in a corresponding manner to each of the multiple cars 11. That is, the same number of car control units 130 as there are cars 11. Each car control unit 130 controls the movement of its corresponding car 11. For example, if the car 11 assigned to a landing call is determined by the elevator allocation unit 120, then each car control unit 130 controlling that car 11 causes that car 11 to move to the floor where the landing call was registered in response to the registered landing call.

[0033] like Figure 2 As shown, the group management panel 100 of this embodiment also includes a fault prediction determination unit 141. The fault prediction determination unit 141 determines the presence or absence of fault predictions for each of the multiple cars 11. In addition, for the car 11 determined to have a fault prediction, the fault prediction determination unit 141 also determines the content of the fault prediction. The fault prediction determination unit 141 can use known methods to determine the presence or absence of fault predictions and their content for each car 11. Specifically, the content of the fault predictions determined by the fault prediction determination unit 141 may include, for example, malfunctions of car equipment installed in the car 11 (not shown), such as destination floor buttons, door open buttons, door close buttons, and car interior lighting; leveling abnormalities when the car 11 stops at a floor; the inability of the car 11 to open its doors; and the inability of the car 11 to move.

[0034] Therefore, in the elevator control device of this embodiment, the elevator allocation unit 120 determines, based on the content of the fault warning, whether to allocate the car 11, which the fault warning determination unit 141 determines has a fault warning, to passenger calls or moving body calls. For example, a malfunction in the car's equipment has a significant impact on the passenger 20's boarding and alighting, while its impact on the autonomous moving body 30's boarding and alighting is relatively minor. Therefore, the elevator allocation unit 120 prioritizes allocating the moving body call to the car 11, which the fault warning determination unit 141 determines has a fault warning, over passenger calls.

[0035] On the other hand, if a leveling anomaly occurs in car 11, a deviation will occur between the floor of car 11 and the floor of the landing when car 11 stops at a floor, forming a step. While the extent of this step varies, it has a significant impact on the boarding and alighting of the autonomous moving body 30, compared to a relatively minor impact on the boarding and alighting of passengers 20. Therefore, the elevator allocation unit 120 prioritizes passenger calls for cars 11 that are determined by the fault prediction unit 141 to have signs of a leveling anomaly, compared to calls from the moving body.

[0036] Furthermore, depending on the model of the autonomous moving body 30, some can travel even on areas with steps, while others have difficulty traveling on such areas. Therefore, the elevator allocation unit 120 can also consider the model of the autonomous moving body 30 that has registered a moving body call when allocating the car 11. For example, for a car 11 that is determined by the fault prediction unit 141 to have a leveling abnormality, the elevator allocation unit 120 will prioritize assigning a moving body call registered by an autonomous moving body 30 that can travel even on areas with steps, compared to a moving body call registered by an autonomous moving body 30 that has difficulty traveling on areas with steps.

[0037] When the car 11 cannot open its doors, passengers 20 and autonomous moving parts 30 become trapped and unable to exit the car 11. Furthermore, when the car 11 cannot move, it cannot be used. Therefore, the elevator allocation unit 120 can exclude cars 11 that the fault prediction unit 141 determines to have signs that the car 11 cannot open its doors or move from the allocation list, and will not allocate either passenger calls or moving part calls.

[0038] According to the elevator control device configured as described above, the system determines whether the car 11, which is deemed to have a malfunction warning, should be assigned to passenger calls or passenger vehicle calls based on the content of the malfunction warning. This suppresses the impact of a malfunction with warning signs on passengers 20 and autonomous vehicles 30, and effectively utilizes the car 11 with the malfunction warning to prevent a decrease in the elevator's transport efficiency for passengers 20 and autonomous vehicles 30. In particular, by prioritizing autonomous vehicles 30 based on the malfunction warning and considering the impact on passengers 20, the number of times passengers 20 ride the car 11 with the malfunction warning is reduced, passengers 20 are less affected by the malfunction, and by prioritizing autonomous vehicles 30, an efficient elevator that effectively utilizes the car 11 can be obtained.

[0039] like Figure 2 As shown, the group management panel 100 in this embodiment may also include an impact determination unit 142. The impact determination unit 142 determines the impact that the malfunction indication of the car 11, as determined by the malfunction indication determination unit 141, will have on the passenger 20 and the autonomous moving body 30. Here, the impact of the malfunction indication of the car 11 on the passenger 20 and the autonomous moving body 30 refers to the impact that the passenger 20 and the autonomous moving body 30 will suffer due to the malfunction if the malfunction indication actually occurs. Then, the elevator allocation unit 120 allocates the car 11 to the moving body calls and passenger calls based on the determination result of the impact determination unit 142. By including such an impact determination unit 142, the car 11 can be allocated more appropriately to the moving body calls and passenger calls based on the content of the malfunction indication.

[0040] The impact determination unit 142 can also determine whether the passenger 20 and the autonomous moving body 30 will have difficulty boarding or alighting the car 11 due to the malfunction warning determination unit 141's determination of the malfunction warning. In this case, the elevator allocation unit 120 can prioritize allocating the car 11 that the impact determination unit 142 determines is difficult for the passenger 20 to board or alight to the moving body's call, compared to passenger calls. This reduces the impact on the passenger 20 when a malfunction with warning signs occurs, and allows for the effective use of the car 11 determined to have malfunction warning signs to transport the autonomous moving body 30.

[0041] Furthermore, the elevator allocation unit 120 can also exclude cars 11 that the impact determination unit 142 determines are difficult for the autonomous moving body 30 to board or alight from the allocation targets for calls to moving bodies. Thus, in the event of a malfunction with foreshadowing, the adverse effects of the malfunction on the autonomous moving body 30 can be suppressed.

[0042] Here, as Figure 1As shown, there can be multiple autonomous mobile units 30. In this example, let n be a natural number, and there be n autonomous mobile units 30. In this case, the impact determination unit 142 can also determine individually for each of the multiple autonomous mobile units 30 the impact of the malfunction omens of the car 11 determined by the malfunction omens determination unit 141, and whether it will be difficult to board or alight the car 11. However, since it is assumed that autonomous mobile units 30 of the same model will be affected by malfunction omens in the same way, the impact determination unit 142 can also determine for each model of autonomous mobile unit 30 the impact of the malfunction omens of the car 11 determined by the malfunction omens determination unit 141 on the autonomous mobile unit 30.

[0043] Next, refer to Figure 3 This diagram illustrates an example of the determination made by the impact determination unit 142 and the elevator allocation unit 120 using the determination result of the impact determination unit 142 to allocate the car 11 to the floor call. The diagram shows the impact determination result on the passenger 20 and the autonomous moving body 30 corresponding to the content of the fault indication determination of the car 11 determined by the fault indication determination unit 141.

[0044] In this diagram, as an example of the fault warning signs for the car 11 determined by the fault warning sign determination unit 141, fault warning sign A, fault warning sign B, fault warning sign C, and no warning sign are shown. Fault warning sign A is the situation where the fault warning sign determination unit 141 determines that the car 11 has the aforementioned fault warning signs for the equipment inside the car. Fault warning sign B is the situation where the fault warning sign determination unit 141 determines that the car 11 has the aforementioned leveling abnormality warning signs. Fault warning sign C is the situation where the fault warning sign determination unit 141 determines that the car 11 has the aforementioned warning signs of being unable to open the door or being unable to move. Furthermore, "no warning sign" means that the fault warning sign determination unit 141 determines that the car 11 has no fault warning signs.

[0045] In this diagram, the severity level is used to indicate the magnitude of the impact on passenger 20 and autonomous vehicle 30 corresponding to the malfunction warning information. The severity level ranges from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest), with 11 levels in total. Furthermore, severity level 0 indicates no impact.

[0046] In this example, a penalty value is set based on the level of the disaster. Then, the elevator allocation unit 120 uses an evaluation value (hereinafter also referred to as the "correction evaluation value") obtained by multiplying the allocation evaluation value by the penalty value for the car 11 that is determined by the fault indication determination unit 141 to have fault indications to allocate to the floor call elevator.

[0047] At this time, the elevator allocation unit 120 applies a penalty point value corresponding to the disaster level of passenger 20 to passenger elevator calls. Then, the elevator allocation unit 120 applies a penalty point value corresponding to the disaster level of autonomous moving body 30 to moving body elevator calls. Furthermore, when determining the disaster level, i.e., the penalty point value, for each model of autonomous moving body 30, moving body elevator calls are also differentiated according to each model of autonomous moving body 30.

[0048] The penalty value is set, for example, in the range of 0 to 10.0. When the penalty value is 1.0, the correction evaluation value does not change from the allocation evaluation value before multiplying by the penalty value. That is, a penalty value of 1.0 indicates no impact on the allocation of car 11 to the landing call elevator. When the penalty value is less than 1.0, the correction evaluation value is less than the allocation evaluation value before multiplying by the penalty value. That is, in this case, the priority of allocating car 11 to the landing call elevator decreases. On the other hand, when the penalty value is greater than 1.0, the correction evaluation value is greater than the allocation evaluation value before multiplying by the penalty value. That is, in this case, the priority of allocating car 11 to the landing call elevator increases. In particular, when the penalty value is the maximum of 10.0, car 11 is allocated with the highest priority to the landing call elevator. Furthermore, when the penalty value is 0.0, the correction evaluation value is 0.0. In this case, car 11 will not be allocated to the landing call elevator. That is, car 11 is excluded from the allocation targets for the landing call elevator.

[0049] In this way, the impact determination unit 142 determines the severity level of each car 11 based on the presence and content of fault warnings determined by the fault warning determination unit 141, reflecting the respective impacts on passengers 20 and autonomous moving bodies 30. Then, the elevator allocation unit 120, based on whether the floor call is a passenger call or a moving body call, uses a penalty value set according to the severity level determined by the impact determination unit 142 to correct the allocation evaluation value and decide the car 11 to be allocated to the floor call. Thus, the elevator allocation unit 120 can allocate cars 11 to moving body calls and passenger calls based on the determination results of the impact determination unit 142.

[0050] right Figure 3 The specific example shown will be explained in detail. In this example, it is assumed that the autonomous moving body 30 includes model A and model B. First, for car 11, which is determined by the fault prediction unit 141 to have no fault prediction, the impact prediction unit 142 determines that the disaster level is 0 (the lowest, i.e., no impact) for all passengers 20, autonomous moving body 30 (model A), and autonomous moving body 30 (model B). Then, based on the determination result of the impact prediction unit 142, for car 11 with no fault prediction, the penalty value for passenger calls and moving body calls is set to 1.0. That is, the allocation evaluation value does not change, and the allocation priority for floor calls is not changed.

[0051] Next, regarding the car 11 with fault indication content A, that is, the car 11 that is determined by the fault indication determination unit 141 to have the above-mentioned fault indication of the equipment in the car, the determination result of the influence determination unit 142 is as follows.

[0052] • Passenger 20 has a disaster level of 10 (the highest).

[0053] • The disaster level of Autonomous Mobile Entity 30 (Type A) is 0 (the lowest, i.e., no impact).

[0054] • The disaster level of Autonomous Mobile Entity 30 (Type B) is 0 (the lowest, i.e., no impact).

[0055] Based on the determination result of the impact determination unit 142, for car 11 with fault warning content A, the penalty value for passenger calls is set to 0.0. That is, car 11 with fault warning content A is excluded from the allocation of passenger calls. On the other hand, for car 11 with fault warning content A, the penalty value for moving body calls is set to 10.0 in both model A and model B. That is, car 11 with fault warning content A is preferentially allocated to moving body calls.

[0056] Furthermore, for car 11 with fault warning content B, that is, car 11 determined by fault warning determination unit 141 to have leveling abnormality warning, the determination result of influence determination unit 142 is as follows. In this example, the autonomous moving body 30 of model A does not have the function of crossing steps, while the autonomous moving body 30 of model B has the function of crossing steps.

[0057] The disaster level for passenger 20 is 5.

[0058] • The disaster level of Autonomous Mobile Entity 30 (Type A) is 10 (the highest).

[0059] • The disaster level of Autonomous Mobile Entity 30 (Type B) is 0 (the lowest, i.e., no impact).

[0060] Based on the determination result of the impact determination unit 142, for car 11 with fault warning content B, the penalty value for passenger calls is set to 0.5. That is, the allocation priority for passenger calls of car 11 with fault warning content B is lower than that of car 11 without fault warning. Furthermore, for car 11 with fault warning content B, the penalty value for moving body calls of model A is set to 0.0. That is, car 11 with fault warning content B is excluded from the allocation of moving body calls of model A. On the other hand, for car 11 with fault warning content B, the penalty value for moving body calls of model B is set to 10.0. That is, car 11 with fault warning content B is preferentially allocated to moving body calls of model B.

[0061] Then, for car 11 with fault warning content C, that is, car 11 determined by fault warning determination unit 141 to have the aforementioned warnings of not being able to open the door and not being able to move, impact determination unit 142 determines that the disaster level is 10 (highest) for all passengers 20, autonomous moving body 30 (model A), and autonomous moving body 30 (model B). Therefore, based on the determination result of impact determination unit 142, for car 11 with fault warning content C, the penalty value for passenger calls and moving body calls is set to 0.0. That is, it is excluded from the allocation objects for both passenger calls and moving body calls, i.e., all floor calls.

[0062] Next, refer to Figure 4 Here is an example of the processing flow of the group management panel 100 configured as described above. First, in step S1, when a passenger 20 or autonomous moving body 30 registers a floor call, in other words, when a passenger calls a floor call is registered through the passenger floor call registration unit 111 or a moving body calls a floor call through the moving body floor call registration unit 112, the group management panel 100 then performs the cyclical processing of steps S2 to S9 on each car 11.

[0063] In this case, for example, each car 11 is pre-assigned a consecutive number. This consecutive number may also be, for example, the machine number representing the car 11. Then, the group management panel 100 increments the consecutive number of the car 11 that is being processed in the loop by 1 each time the processing of steps S2 to S9 is completed, and performs the loop processing until the processing of steps S2 to S9 is finally completed for all cars 11.

[0064] Next, the processing steps S2 to S9 will be explained. Furthermore, in the following explanation, the car 11 designated by the aforementioned consecutive numbers as the object of the current cycle processing will be simply referred to as the object car 11. First, in step S3, the fault prediction determination unit 141 determines the presence and content of fault predictions for the object car 11. Then, if it is determined that a fault prediction exists for the object car 11, the group management panel 100 proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, if it is determined that there are no fault predictions for the object car 11, the group management panel 100 proceeds to step S7.

[0065] In step S4, the influence determination unit 142 confirms whether the fault symptom determination unit 141 has determined that multiple fault symptoms exist for the target car 11. Then, if no multiple fault symptoms are determined for the target car 11, that is, if only one fault symptom is determined for the target car 11, the group management panel 100 proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, if multiple fault symptoms are determined for the target car 11, the group management panel 100 proceeds to step S6.

[0066] In step S5, the impact determination unit 142 sets a penalty value based on the fault warning content of the target car 11 determined by the fault warning determination unit 141 in step S3 and whether the floor call registered in step S1 is a passenger call or a moving body call. After step S5, the group management panel 100 then proceeds to the processing in step S8.

[0067] In step S6, the influence determination unit 142, for each of the multiple fault warning contents of the car 11 identified by the fault warning determination unit 141 in step S3, first determines the penalty value corresponding to whether the floor call registered in step S1 is a passenger call or a moving body call. Then, the penalty value closest to 0.0 among the determined penalty values ​​is set as the penalty value. After step S6, the group management panel 100 proceeds to the processing in step S8.

[0068] In step S7, the impact determination unit 142 sets the penalty value to 1.0, indicating no impact. After step S7, the group management disk 100 then proceeds to step S8.

[0069] In step S8, the elevator allocation unit 120 uses the penalty value set in steps S5, S6, or S7 to correct the allocation evaluation value. That is, the elevator allocation unit 120 calculates the corrected evaluation value by multiplying the allocation evaluation value by the penalty value.

[0070] After completing steps S2 to S9 for all cars 11, the loop process exits, and the group management panel 100 proceeds to step S10. In step S10, the elevator allocation unit 120 compares the correction evaluation values ​​of each car 11 calculated in step S8, and determines the car 11 with the highest correction evaluation value as the car 11 assigned to the floor call registered in step S1. When step S10 is completed, the series of processes ends.

[0071] Alternatively, the elevator system can be composed of an elevator including the group management panel 100 (which is the elevator control device of the present invention) and a car 11, as well as an autonomous moving body 30. According to such an elevator system, by determining whether the car 11, which is determined to have a fault indication, should be assigned to either passenger calls or moving body calls based on the content of the fault indication, the impact on passengers 20 and the autonomous moving body 30 when a fault with indication occurs can be suppressed. Furthermore, the car 11, which is determined to have a fault indication, can be used effectively to suppress the reduction in the elevator's transport efficiency for passengers 20 and the autonomous moving body 30.

[0072] Figure 5 This figure illustrates an example of the structure that implements the functions of the group management disk 100 in this embodiment. The functions of the group management disk 100 are implemented, for example, by a processing circuit. The processing circuit may also include a processor 101 and a memory 102. The processing circuit may also be dedicated hardware 103. A portion of the processing circuit may be formed as dedicated hardware 103, and this processing circuit may also include a processor 101 and a memory 102. In the example shown in this figure, a portion of the processing circuit is formed as dedicated hardware 103. Furthermore, in the example shown in this figure, the processing circuit also includes a processor 101 and a memory 102.

[0073] A portion of the processing circuitry, consisting of at least one dedicated hardware 103, may be a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programming processor, a parallel programming processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a combination thereof. When the processing circuitry includes at least one processor 101 and at least one memory 102, the functionality of the group management disk 100 is implemented through software, firmware, or a combination of both.

[0074] Software and firmware are described as programs and stored in memory 102. Processor 101 implements the functions of each part by reading and executing the programs stored in memory 102. Processor 101 is also called CPU (Central Processing Unit), central processing unit, processing unit, arithmetic unit, microprocessor, microcomputer, or DSP. Memory 102 is, for example, non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as RAM, ROM, flash memory, EPROM, and EEPROM, or disk, floppy disk, optical disk, compact optical disk (CD), mini disk, and DVD.

[0075] In this way, the processing circuit of the group management disk 100 can implement the various functions of the group management disk 100 through hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. When the processing circuit of the group management disk 100 has at least a processor 101 and a memory 102, the processor 101 in the group management disk 100 executes the program stored in the memory 102, and the hardware and software of the group management disk 100 cooperate to realize the functions of each part of the group management disk 100.

[0076] Furthermore, the elevator control method of this embodiment is executed by a computer of the elevator control device, namely the group management panel 100, which controls an elevator having multiple cars 11. As described above, the elevator control method of this embodiment includes at least a moving body call registration step, a passenger call registration step, a fault prediction determination step, and an allocation step. In the moving body call registration step, floor calls input by the autonomous moving body 30 are registered, i.e., moving body calls. In the passenger call registration step, floor calls input by the passenger 20 are registered, i.e., passenger calls. In the fault prediction determination step, the presence and content of fault predictions are determined for each of the multiple cars 11. In the allocation step, cars 11 are allocated for moving body calls and passenger calls. Then, in the allocation step, based on the content of the fault prediction, it is determined whether the car 11 determined to have a fault prediction by the fault prediction determination step will be allocated to either the passenger call or the moving body call.

[0077] The elevator control program of this embodiment is used to cause the computer of the elevator control device, namely the group management panel 100, which controls an elevator having multiple cars 11, to execute the elevator control method described above. Furthermore, the storage medium of this embodiment stores such an elevator control program.

[0078] Furthermore, the elevator of the present invention is not limited to a structure in which the operation is controlled by a single group management panel 100. The elevator can also be controlled by multiple devices working together.

[0079] Furthermore, in this invention, the various embodiments can be combined arbitrarily without departing from the spirit of the invention. Hereinafter, examples of various aspects of the invention are summarized and recorded as appendices.

[0080] (Postscript 1)

[0081] An elevator control device for controlling an elevator having multiple cars, wherein the elevator control device comprises:

[0082] The mobile elevator call registration department registers elevator calls at different floors entered by autonomous mobile vehicles.

[0083] The passenger elevator call registration department registers elevator calls entered by passengers at different floors.

[0084] The fault prediction unit determines the presence and content of fault predictions for each of the multiple cars; and

[0085] The distribution unit allocates the elevator car to the moving body's elevator call and the passenger's elevator call.

[0086] The allocation unit, for a car that is determined by the fault symptom determination unit to have a fault symptom, decides, based on the content of the fault symptom, whether to allocate the car to the passenger call elevator or the moving body call elevator.

[0087] (Postscript 2)

[0088] According to the elevator control device described in Appendix 1, wherein...

[0089] The elevator control device also includes an impact determination unit, which determines the impact of the malfunction signs of the car, as determined by the malfunction warning determination unit, on the passengers and the autonomous moving body.

[0090] The allocation unit allocates the elevator car to the moving body elevator call and the passenger elevator call based on the determination result of the influence determination unit.

[0091] (Note 3)

[0092] According to the elevator control device described in Appendix 2, wherein...

[0093] The impact determination unit determines whether the passenger and the autonomous mobile body will have difficulty boarding or alighting the car due to the malfunction omens of the car determined by the malfunction omens determination unit.

[0094] (Postscript 4)

[0095] According to the elevator control device described in Appendix 3, wherein...

[0096] The allocation unit will prioritize the mobile body call elevator over the passenger call elevator, based on the impact determination unit's determination of the car that the passenger has difficulty boarding or alighting.

[0097] (Note 5)

[0098] According to the elevator control device described in Appendix 3 or 4, wherein...

[0099] The allocation unit will exclude cars that the autonomous mobile body determines are difficult to board or alight from the allocation of calls for the mobile body.

[0100] (Note 6)

[0101] According to any one of Appendices 2 to 5, the elevator control device wherein...

[0102] The impact determination unit determines, according to each model of the autonomous mobile body, the impact that the fault signs of the car determined by the fault sign determination unit will have on the autonomous mobile body.

[0103] (Note 7)

[0104] An elevator system, wherein the elevator system comprises:

[0105] The elevator control device described in any one of Appendices 1 to 6; and

[0106] The autonomous mobile body.

[0107] (Postscript 8)

[0108] An elevator control method is executed by a computer of an elevator control device that controls an elevator having multiple cars, wherein the elevator control method includes:

[0109] The steps for registering elevator calls by a mobile vehicle are as follows: registering elevator calls at different floors input by an autonomous mobile vehicle.

[0110] The passenger elevator call registration process involves registering the elevator call information entered by the passenger at the specified floor.

[0111] The fault warning determination step involves determining the presence and content of fault warnings for each of the multiple car models; and

[0112] The allocation step involves allocating the elevator car to both the moving body's elevator call and the passenger's elevator call.

[0113] In the allocation step, for a car that is determined to have a fault indication through the fault indication determination step, the car is allocated to either the passenger call elevator or the moving body call elevator based on the content of the fault indication.

[0114] (Note 9)

[0115] According to the elevator control method described in Appendix 8, wherein...

[0116] The elevator control method further includes an impact determination step, in which the impact of the malfunction signs of the car determined by the malfunction sign determination step on the passengers and the autonomous moving body is determined.

[0117] In the allocation step, the car is allocated to the moving body elevator call and the passenger elevator call based on the determination result of the influence determination step.

[0118] (Postscript 10)

[0119] An elevator control program is provided for causing the computer of the elevator control device to execute the elevator control method described in Appendix 8 or 9.

Claims

1. An elevator control device for controlling an elevator having multiple cars, wherein, The elevator control device includes: The mobile elevator call registration department registers elevator calls at different floors entered by autonomous mobile vehicles. The passenger elevator call registration department registers elevator calls entered by passengers at different floors. The fault prediction unit determines the presence and content of fault predictions for each of the multiple cars. as well as The distribution unit allocates the elevator car to the moving body's elevator call and the passenger's elevator call. The allocation unit, for a car that is determined by the fault symptom determination unit to have a fault symptom, decides, based on the content of the fault symptom, whether to allocate the car to the passenger call elevator or the moving body call elevator.

2. The elevator control device according to claim 1, wherein, The elevator control device also includes an impact determination unit, which determines the impact of the malfunction signs of the car, as determined by the malfunction warning determination unit, on the passengers and the autonomous moving body. The allocation unit allocates the elevator car to the moving body elevator call and the passenger elevator call based on the determination result of the influence determination unit.

3. The elevator control device according to claim 2, wherein, The impact determination unit determines whether the passenger and the autonomous mobile body will have difficulty boarding or alighting the car due to the malfunction omens of the car determined by the malfunction omens determination unit.

4. The elevator control device according to claim 3, wherein, The allocation unit will prioritize the mobile body call elevator over the passenger call elevator, based on the impact determination unit's determination of the car that the passenger has difficulty boarding or alighting.

5. The elevator control device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein, The allocation unit will exclude cars that the autonomous mobile body determines are difficult to board or alight from the allocation of calls for the mobile body.

6. The elevator control device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein, The impact determination unit determines, according to each model of the autonomous mobile body, the impact that the fault signs of the car determined by the fault sign determination unit will have on the autonomous mobile body.

7. An elevator system, wherein, The elevator system has the following features: The elevator control device according to claim 1 or 2; and The autonomous mobile body.

8. An elevator control method, executed by a computer of an elevator control device for controlling an elevator having multiple cars, wherein, The elevator control method includes: The steps for registering elevator calls by a mobile vehicle are as follows: registering elevator calls at different floors input by an autonomous mobile vehicle. The passenger elevator call registration process involves registering the elevator call information entered by the passenger at the specified floor. The fault warning determination step involves determining the presence and content of fault warnings for each of the multiple car models; and The allocation step involves allocating the elevator car to both the moving body's elevator call and the passenger's elevator call. In the allocation step, for a car that is determined to have a fault indication through the fault indication determination step, the car is allocated to either the passenger call elevator or the moving body call elevator based on the content of the fault indication.

9. The elevator control method according to claim 8, wherein, The elevator control method further includes an impact determination step, in which the impact of the malfunction signs of the car determined by the malfunction sign determination step on the passengers and the autonomous moving body is determined. In the allocation step, the car is allocated to the moving body elevator call and the passenger elevator call based on the determination result of the influence determination step.

10. A storage medium storing an elevator control program for causing a computer of the elevator control device to execute the elevator control method of claim 8 or 9.

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