Prediction control method and system for elevator group

Abstract

The invention discloses a forecast control method and system for an elevator group, and the method comprises the following steps: 1, respectively calculating the waiting time of each elevator in response to an outbound call when the outbound call of a certain floor and a certain direction is registered; 2, on the basis of the waiting time, scheduling conflict punishment values of all the elevators responding to the outbound call are calculated; 3, the waiting time penalty value of each elevator responding to the outbound call is calculated; fourthly, comprehensive penalty values of all the elevators responding to the outbound call are calculated; and 5, the elevator with the minimum comprehensive penalty value is selected as a forecast elevator, a forecast device, located on the floor, of the forecast elevator acts in the direction, the forecast elevator is assigned to respond to the outbound call, and the first step is executed again. The system complexity is reduced through a quantitative scheduling conflict punishment mechanism, the problem that a non-forecast elevator arrives earlier than a forecast elevator and responds to an outbound call is solved, the forecast accuracy is improved, the scheduling conflict occurrence probability is reduced, and the elevator waiting experience of passengers is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of elevator applications, and in particular relates to a forecast control method and system for an elevator group. Background Art

[0002] In existing elevator group control systems, when a passenger registers an outbound call at the elevator lobby on a specific floor, the system typically uses notification devices in each elevator within the group to prompt the passenger to wait outside the hall door of the designated elevator. However, in practice, it's common for an unassigned elevator to arrive and respond to the outbound call before the designated elevator, resulting in a scheduling conflict and impacting the passenger experience.

[0003] For example, suppose an outgoing call is registered on a certain floor (called the first outgoing call); the elevator group control system immediately assigns an elevator (called the first forecast elevator) to respond to the first outgoing call based on the principle of shortest waiting time, and generates a forecast signal for the elevator at the floor where the first outgoing call is located; the first forecast elevator immediately starts to run to the floor where the first outgoing call is located; before the first forecast elevator arrives at the floor where the first outgoing call is located, suppose a new forward outgoing call (called the second outgoing call) is registered on the middle floor between the current floor of the first forecast elevator and the floor where the first outgoing call is located, since the waiting time for the second outgoing call of the first forecast elevator is the shortest at this time, the elevator group control system immediately assigns the first forecast elevator to the floor where the first outgoing call is located. The elevator first responds to the second call, stops at the floor where the second call is located, and opens its door in response. At this point, the waiting time for the first elevator to respond to the first call will be increased by one elevator stop and door opening / closing time. Therefore, when the elevator group control system detects that the waiting time required for another elevator to respond to the first call is less than the waiting time for the first elevator to respond to the first call, it immediately cancels the first elevator's forecast signal for the floor where the first call is located, reassigns the first call to another elevator (called the second elevator), and has it send a forecast signal for the floor where the first call is located. The second elevator then travels to the floor where the first call is located and responds to the first call. Finally, passengers waiting at the first floor need to move due to the change in forecast elevators (first elevator → second elevator), which is particularly inconvenient for passengers with limited mobility.

[0004] The reason for the above scheduling conflicts is that the existing elevator group control system mainly assigns elevators to respond to outbound calls based on the principle of shortest current waiting time, failing to take into account new outbound calls that may be generated in the future and achieve optimal assignment within a certain time span.

[0005] The elevator group control prediction station system and its use method proposed by the Chinese patent with the publication number CN111762643A control the output of the pre-destination light according to the change of the real-time pulse number of the elevator. The elevator arrival indication device proposed by the Chinese patent with the publication number CN102883983 A uses the light-on state of the light-emitting mechanism arranged at the elevator door to inform the passengers of the arrival of the elevator and the opening and closing of the door. However, the above-mentioned documents do not consider the dispatch conflict situation and give countermeasures.

[0006] Some elevator group control technologies use the method of predicting passenger flow to improve the accuracy of assignment. For example, the method of controlling the elevator group to generate a virtual passenger flow situation proposed by the Chinese patent with the publication number CN1301232A obtains a virtual passenger flow situation according to statistical data and / or statistical prediction, and uses simulation to generate each event in the virtual passenger flow, which is used as the basis for calculating the cost of a specific elevator for each call to be assigned, and the best elevator serving the call is selected according to the cost. When selecting the elevator responding to the call, the above-mentioned document virtually predicts the passenger flow situation in the future period of time to obtain the best elevator. The method proposed based on the above-mentioned document for prediction control can reduce the probability of dispatch conflict, but the statistics and simulation need to consume a lot of storage and computing capacity, which puts high requirements on the hardware resources of the group control system.

[0007] In summary, the existing elevator group prediction control method lacks effective measures for dispatch conflicts, and the assignment method based on passenger flow prediction has high requirements on hardware resources. Therefore, it is urgent to propose a new elevator group prediction control method and system. SUMMARY

[0008] To solve the defects in the prior art, the present application provides an elevator group prediction control method, which solves the problem of non-predicted elevators arriving earlier than predicted elevators and responding to outside calls through a quantitative dispatch conflict punishment mechanism, improves prediction accuracy, and reduces the probability of dispatch conflict.

[0009] To solve the above technical problems, the present application provides the following technical solutions:

[0010] The first object of the present application provides an elevator group prediction control method, comprising the following steps:

[0011] Step one: when an outside call in a certain direction at a certain floor is registered, calculate the waiting time of each elevator responding to the outside call, and go to step two;

[0012] Step two: based on the waiting time, calculate the dispatch conflict punishment value of each elevator responding to the outside call, and go to step three;

[0013] Step three: calculate the waiting time punishment value of each elevator responding to the outside call, and go to step four;

[0014] Step four: calculate the comprehensive penalty value of each elevator responding to the call, and go to step five;

[0015] Step five: select the elevator with the minimum comprehensive penalty value as the predicted elevator, make the predicted elevator move in the direction of the call, and make the predicted elevator respond to the call; return to step one.

[0016] Preferably, in the step two, the formula for calculating the dispatch conflict penalty value of each elevator responding to the call is:

[0017]

[0018] Wherein, E i is the dispatch conflict penalty value of the i-th elevator responding to the call; M is the total number of elevators in the elevator group; S is the elevator set satisfying the following conditions: the j-th elevator has an in-car instruction or a call assignment at the floor in front of the call along the direction of the call, and the running direction is consistent with the direction of the call; T i is the waiting time of the i-th elevator responding to the call; T j is the waiting time of the j-th elevator responding to the call; K is the upper limit constant of the ratio, when , the contribution value of the j-th elevator is not taken into account when calculating E i , and the following formula is used for calculation:

[0019]

[0020] Wherein, Δt is the single intermediate stop time increment, which is a preset constant including acceleration and deceleration, door opening and closing, and passenger entering and exiting time; T ref is the reference waiting time, which is a constant preset according to the characteristics of building passenger flow.

[0021] Preferably, in the step three, the formula for calculating the waiting time penalty value of each elevator responding to the call is:

[0022] W i = T i / max 1≤j≤M T j , 1≤i≤M (2);

[0023] Wherein, W i is the waiting time penalty value of the i-th elevator responding to the call.

[0024] Preferably, in the step four, the formula for calculating the comprehensive penalty value of each elevator responding to the call is:

[0025] V i = (α×E i)+(β×W i ), 1≤i≤M (3);

[0026] Among them, V i is the comprehensive penalty value of the i-th elevator, and α and β are weight coefficients that satisfy α+β=1.

[0027] Preferably, the calculation formulas for α and β are:

[0028]

[0029] Where 0≤ρ≤1, ρ is the historical average load factor, which is defined as the average ratio of the actual load to the rated load of all elevators in the elevator group within a preset time period. The length of the time period is set based on the passenger flow fluctuation characteristics of the elevator service, the system timeliness requirements, and the data stability requirements to balance the impact of short-term fluctuations on the load factor calculation.

[0030] Preferably, the length of the time period is 1-10 minutes.

[0031] A second object of the present invention is to provide a forecast control system for an elevator group, comprising a group control device, an elevator control device, an outside call device, and a forecast device, wherein the group control device includes a forecast control module and a group management module; the forecast control module includes a scheduling conflict penalty value calculation unit for each elevator, a waiting time penalty value calculation unit for each elevator, a comprehensive penalty value calculation unit for each elevator, and a forecast elevator selection unit;

[0032] The group control device is connected to each of the elevator control devices via a communication bus A;

[0033] Each of the elevator control devices is connected to the corresponding outbound call device via a communication bus B;

[0034] The outbound calling device is connected to the forecasting device via an I / O interface.

[0035] Preferably, the group management module regularly sends the status data and outbound call registration data of each elevator to the forecast control module;

[0036] The forecast control module sends a forecast control signal to the group management module at regular intervals.

[0037] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0038] When the forecast device is configured, the present invention introduces a scheduling conflict penalty value E i and the waiting time penalty value W i Constitutes the comprehensive penalty value V i , V iThe smallest elevator is used as the predicted elevator. This method reduces system complexity by quantifying the penalty mechanism for scheduling conflicts, solving the problem of unpredicted elevators arriving and responding to outbound calls earlier than predicted elevators, and effectively reducing the probability of scheduling conflicts. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] Figure 1 It is a flow chart of a predictive control method for an elevator group according to the present invention;

[0040] Figure 2 It is a system diagram of a predictive control system for an elevator group according to the present invention;

[0041] In the figure: 1. Group control device; 11. Forecast control module; 12. Group management module; 2. Elevator control device; 3. Outbound call device; 4. Forecast device;

[0042] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of embodiment 1 of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the preferred embodiments described herein are only used to illustrate and explain the present invention, and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0044] First, the scheduling conflict is quantified and a calculation formula for the scheduling conflict penalty value is designed.

[0045] When an outbound call is registered from a certain direction on a certain floor, assuming that the i-th elevator responds to the outbound call and that another elevator in the elevator group, such as the j-th elevator, may be reassigned to respond to the outbound call in the future, the j-th elevator contributes to the dispatch conflict penalty for the i-th elevator responding to the outbound call. A constant base value K is set for the contribution value.

[0046] When the jth elevator responds to the outbound call, the waiting time T j The waiting time T for the i-th elevator to respond to the outbound call i The smaller the ratio is, the greater the possibility of reassigning the j-th elevator in the future, and thus the greater the contribution value is. Conversely, the smaller the contribution value is. For this purpose, a variable part is set for the contribution value:

[0047] When T j With T i When the ratio of is too large, the j-th elevator is not reassigned, and the j-th elevator is excluded from the calculation of the dispatch conflict penalty value of the i-th elevator responding to the outbound call, that is, the contribution value of the j-th elevator to the dispatch conflict penalty value of the i-th elevator responding to the outbound call is set to 0. To this end, let the reference value K be the T of the j-th elevator included in the statistics. j With T iThe upper limit of the ratio.

[0048] In summary, assuming that in the future other elevators in the elevator group are reassigned, for example, the jth elevator responds to the outbound call, resulting in the i-th elevator responding to the outbound call. The scheduling conflict penalty value e ij It can be expressed as:

[0049]

[0050] Among them, e ij is the contribution of the scheduling conflict penalty value of reassigning the j-th elevator to the i-th elevator responding to the outbound call; M is the total number of elevators in the elevator group; T i T is the waiting time for the i-th elevator to respond to the outbound call; j is the waiting time for the j-th elevator to respond to the outbound call; K is the upper limit constant of the ratio, which indicates the T of the j-th elevator included in the statistics j With T i The upper limit of the ratio, that is, when Seasonal ij = 0 (excluding the contribution of the jth elevator). The calculation formula of K is:

[0051]

[0052] Δt is the incremental time for a single stop (including acceleration and deceleration, door opening and closing, and passenger entry and exit). According to Section 4.2.3 of the elevator industry's authoritative technical guide, "Building Transportation Systems" (CIBSE Guide D), the typical time for elevator acceleration and deceleration plus door opening and closing is 8 seconds, and the typical time for a single passenger entry and exit is 1.2 seconds (calculated based on two passengers), totaling 10.4 seconds. Therefore, the preset baseline value for Δt is 10.4 seconds.

[0053] T ref The reference waiting time is a constant preset according to the building passenger flow characteristics. According to Section 3.2.5 of CIBSE Guide D, the average waiting time achieved by a group control system with good service quality is no more than 20 seconds. For this reason, T is preset. ref The baseline value is 20 seconds. Note: The above preset values ​​can be adjusted in actual implementation based on elevator performance and building passenger flow characteristics.

[0054] Given the uncertainty of the operating status of each elevator in the elevator group due to future passenger operations, it is necessary to limit the selection range of the jth elevator. That is, the jth elevator must be reassigned by the group control system to respond to the outbound call. This requires that the jth elevator, based on its current status, must pass the floor where the outbound call is located in the future, and its operating direction when passing the outbound call floor is consistent with the direction of the outbound call. Specifically, according to the elevator operating rules, the requirement is met when the jth elevator has an in-car instruction or outbound call assignment on the floor ahead of the outbound call floor in the outbound call direction, which is expressed as:

[0055] j∈S;

[0056] Among them, S is a set of elevators that meet the following conditions: the j-th elevator has an in-car instruction or an outbound call assignment at the floor ahead of the outbound call in the direction of the outbound call, and the running direction is consistent with the outbound call direction.

[0057] The contribution value e of all elevators in the set S (except the i-th elevator) ij Sum and get the penalty value E for the scheduling conflict of the i-th elevator i Calculation formula:

[0058]

[0059] Among them, E i is the scheduling conflict penalty value for the i-th elevator responding to the outbound call.

[0060] e ij Substituting the expression into the above formula, we get:

[0061]

[0062] Secondly, design the calculation formula of the waiting time penalty value:

[0063]

[0064] Finally, the elevator is assigned to respond to the outbound call based on the comprehensive penalty value composed of the weighted combination of the scheduling conflict penalty value and the waiting time penalty value. The calculation formula is as follows:

[0065] V i =(α×E i )+(β×W i ), 1≤i≤M (3).

[0066] The weight coefficients α and β satisfy α+β=1, and are dynamically adjusted according to the historical average load rate ρ: when ρ increases, α decreases and β increases; conversely, when α increases, β decreases. For this purpose, the relationship is set as:

[0067] α / β=1-ρ;

[0068] get a = β (1 - p),

[0069] Substitute a + β = 1, get β (1 - p) + β = 1,

[0070] Combine like terms, get β (2 - p) = 1,

[0071] So

[0072]

[0073] Then

[0074]

[0075] At the same time, according to the elevator working characteristics, the historical average load rate p satisfies 0 ≤ p ≤ 1, thus deducing

[0076]

[0077] Embodiment 1

[0078] Please refer to Figure 3 , this embodiment assumes that the elevator group has 3 elevators, all equipped with prediction devices, at a certain time, passengers have registered an up call at 11th floor, at this time, the 3 elevators are located at 6th floor, 5th floor and 2nd floor respectively, and the 2nd elevator and the 3rd elevator have registered in-car instructions at 13th floor and 14th floor respectively above the 11th floor.

[0079] Please refer to Figure 1 , this embodiment provides a prediction control method for an elevator group, comprising the following steps:

[0080] S1: calculate the waiting time T of each elevator responding to the 11th floor up call i (The calculation method is a known technology: the distance from the current position of the elevator to the call floor divided by the nominal speed, plus the number of stop floors before arrival multiplied by the single stop door opening and closing time). This embodiment sets: T1 = 15 seconds, T2 = 16 seconds, T3 = 20 seconds;

[0081] S2: based on formula (1), calculate the scheduling conflict penalty value of each elevator responding to the 11th floor up call. In this embodiment: the total number of elevators M = 3; the 2nd and 3rd elevators have in-car instructions at floors above the 11th floor (all need to go up through the 11th floor), so the set S = {2, 3}.

[0082] This embodiment uses the reference values of Δt and T ref to calculate the K value:

[0083]

[0084] The dispatch conflict penalty value for the first elevator responding to the 11th floor upbound call needs to be calculated by accumulating the contribution values ​​of all elevators in the set S except the first elevator. The calculation formula is:

[0085]

[0086] The dispatch conflict penalty value for the second elevator responding to the 11th floor upbound call needs to be calculated by accumulating the contribution values ​​of all elevators in the set S except the second elevator. The calculation formula is:

[0087]

[0088] The dispatch conflict penalty value for the third elevator responding to the 11th floor upbound call needs to be calculated by accumulating the contribution values ​​of all elevators in the set S except the third elevator. The calculation formula is:

[0089]

[0090] S3: Based on formula (2), calculate the waiting time penalty value of each elevator responding to the 11th floor up call. 1≤j≤3 T j =T3. The calculation formula is:

[0091] W1=T1 / T3=15 / 20=0.75;

[0092] W2=T2 / T3=16 / 20=0.8;

[0093] W3=T3 / T3=20 / 20=1.

[0094] S4: Based on formula (3), calculate the comprehensive penalty value of each elevator responding to the up call on the 11th floor. Set the average load rate of the previous 5 minutes ρ = 0.75, and calculate the weight coefficient according to formula (4):

[0095]

[0096] The calculation formulas for the comprehensive penalty values ​​of each elevator responding to the 11-floor up call are:

[0097] V1=(α×E1)+(β×W1)=(0.2×0.64)+(0.8×0.75)=0.128+0.6=0.728; V2=(α×E2)+(β×W2)=(0.2×0.27 )+(0.8×0.8)=0.054+0.64=0.694; V3=(α×E3)+(β×W3)=(0.2×0.72)+(0.8×1)=0.144+0.8=0.944.

[0098] S5: Select the elevator with the smallest comprehensive penalty value as the forecast elevator (in this embodiment, the second elevator, V2 = 0.694), control the forecast device on the 11th floor of this elevator (the second elevator) to light up the up direction indicator, and assign it to respond to the outbound call on the 11th floor. Return to S1.

[0099] In this embodiment, although the waiting time of the second elevator is not the smallest, its scheduling conflict penalty value is much lower than that of other elevators, so its comprehensive penalty value is the smallest.

[0100] Example 2

[0101] This embodiment provides a forecast control system for an elevator group, comprising a group control device 1, an elevator control device 2, an outside call device 3, and a forecast device 4. The group control device 1 comprises a forecast control module 11 and a group management module 12. The forecast control module 11 comprises a scheduling conflict penalty value calculation unit 111 for each elevator, a waiting time penalty value calculation unit 112 for each elevator, a comprehensive penalty value calculation unit 113 for each elevator, and a forecast elevator selection unit 114.

[0102] The group control device 1 is connected to each of the elevator control devices 2 via a communication bus A;

[0103] Each of the elevator control devices 2 is connected to the corresponding outbound call device 3 via a communication bus B;

[0104] The outbound calling device 3 is connected to the forecasting device 4 via an I / O interface.

[0105] The group management module 12 regularly sends the status data and outbound call registration data of each elevator to the forecast control module 11; the forecast control module 11 regularly sends forecast control signals to the group management module 12. The status data includes the running direction, the floor, the door opening and closing status, etc.

[0106] The present invention introduces a penalty mechanism for quantifying scheduling conflicts, reduces system complexity, improves forecast accuracy, reduces the probability of scheduling conflicts, and brings a better waiting experience for passengers.

[0107] Finally, it should be noted that the above descriptions are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art will be able to modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments or substitute equivalents for some of the technical features. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention shall be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A predictive control method for an elevator group, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Step 1: When an outbound call from a certain direction on a certain floor is registered, the waiting time for each elevator to respond to the outbound call is calculated and the process goes to step 2. Step 2: Based on the waiting time, calculate the scheduling conflict penalty value of each elevator responding to the outbound call, and then proceed to step 3; Step 3: Calculate the waiting time penalty value of each elevator responding to the outbound call, and then proceed to step 4; Step 4: Calculate the comprehensive penalty value of each elevator responding to the outbound call, and proceed to step 5; Step 5: Selecting the elevator with the smallest comprehensive penalty value as the forecast elevator, causing the forecast device of the forecast elevator located at the said floor to move in the said direction, and causing the forecast elevator to respond to the said outbound call; Return to step 1.

2. The predictive control method for an elevator group according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step 2, the calculation formula for the dispatch conflict penalty value of each elevator responding to the outbound call is: Among them, E i is the dispatch conflict penalty value for the i-th elevator responding to the outbound call; M is the total number of elevators in the elevator group; S is the set of elevators that meet the following conditions: the j-th elevator has an in-car instruction or outbound call assignment at the floor ahead of the floor where the outbound call is located along the outbound call direction, and its running direction is consistent with the outbound call direction; T i T is the waiting time for the i-th elevator to respond to the outbound call; j is the waiting time for the jth elevator to respond to the outbound call; K is the upper limit constant of the ratio, when When calculating E i The contribution value of the jth elevator is not included and is calculated according to the following formula: Where Δt is the increment of a single stop time, which is a preset constant that includes acceleration and deceleration, door opening and closing, and passenger entry and exit time; T ref It is the reference waiting time, which is a constant preset according to the building passenger flow characteristics.

3. The predictive control method for an elevator group according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step 3, the calculation formula for the waiting time penalty value of each elevator responding to the outbound call is: W i =T i / max 1≤j≤M T j ,1≤i≤M (2); Among them, W i is the waiting time penalty value for the i-th elevator to respond to the outbound call.

4. The predictive control method for an elevator group according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step 4, the calculation formula for the comprehensive penalty value of each elevator responding to the outbound call is: In i =(α×E i )+(β×W i ), 1≤i≤M (3); Among them, V i is the comprehensive penalty value of the i-th elevator, and α and β are weight coefficients that satisfy α+β=1.

5. The predictive control method for an elevator group according to claim 4, characterized in that: The calculation formulas for α and β are: Where 0≤ρ≤1, ρ is the historical average load factor, which is defined as the average ratio of the actual load to the rated load of all elevators in the elevator group within a preset time period. The length of the time period is set based on the passenger flow fluctuation characteristics of the elevator service, the system timeliness requirements, and the data stability requirements to balance the impact of short-term fluctuations on the load factor calculation.

6. The predictive control method for an elevator group according to claim 5, characterized in that: The time period is 1-10 minutes in length.

7. A prediction control system for an elevator group, characterized in that: The invention comprises a group control device (1), an elevator control device (2), an outbound call device (3), and a forecast device (4), wherein the group control device (1) comprises a forecast control module (11) and a group management module (12); the forecast control module (11) comprises a scheduling conflict penalty value calculation unit (111) for each elevator, a waiting time penalty value calculation unit (112) for each elevator, a comprehensive penalty value calculation unit (113) for each elevator, and a forecast elevator selection unit (114); The group control device (1) is connected to each of the elevator control devices (2) via a communication bus A; Each of the elevator control devices (2) is connected to the corresponding outbound call device (3) via a communication bus B; The outbound calling device (3) is connected to the forecasting device (4) via an I / O interface.

8. The predictive control system for an elevator group according to claim 7, characterized in that: The group management module (12) regularly sends the status data and outbound call registration data of each elevator to the forecast control module (11); The forecast control module (11) sends a forecast control signal to the group management module (12) at regular intervals.

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