Control system for robot-linked elevator

Abstract

To formulate and present countermeasures for failure modes that occur at the steps of getting on and off an elevator when a robot uses the elevator to move between floors of a building.SOLUTION: A control system for robot-linked elevators includes an autonomous mobile body that moves autonomously within a building, and a control unit that controls the operation of the elevator installed within the building while communicating with the autonomous mobile body. When a disembarking failure of the autonomous mobile body occurs, the control unit prioritizes execution of a passenger call service for another floor, and when a new passenger call service request occurs while executing the passenger call service for the other floor, the control unit automatically returns the elevator to the floor where the disembarking failure has occurred after completing execution of the new passenger call service, and when the elevator passes through the floor where the disembarking failure has occurred, the control unit stops the elevator at the floor where the disembarking failure has occurred to execute disembarking of the autonomous mobile body, and then moves the elevator to the floor where the new passenger call service is requested.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technology for controlling the coordination of a robot and an elevator system, which establishes and presents countermeasures for failure modes that may occur when providing a robot with a floor movement service in a building using an elevator. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art In various buildings constructed for residential, business, and commercial purposes, elevators are provided so that people entering and leaving the building can move smoothly between floors.

[0003] Typically, an elevator is composed of an elevator car that moves along a vertical shaft formed inside a building, a mechanical unit consisting of a motor unit that generates power to raise and lower the elevator car and a hoist, and a control unit that controls the operation of the elevator.

[0004] In recent years, services using robots within buildings have become more common, and the need for elevators to allow robots to move between floors within buildings is increasing.

[0005] For example, many robots have been developed and put into practical use that move around buildings to carry items, clean, guide customers, and perform other tasks. Robots that have been commercialized to date can move horizontally in hallways or rooms with flat floors without difficulty, but when a robot moves from one floor to another to perform work on multiple floors, it needs a means of moving between floors.

[0006] Currently, elevators are considered the optimal means for robots to move between floors, and various interlocking control techniques between the robot and the elevator system have been developed to efficiently move the robot to its destination floor.

[0007] Meanwhile, in the past, to ensure human safety, there were controls in place to prevent robots and humans from riding in the same elevator, but in recent years, as the use of service robots within buildings has expanded, there have been many cases where robots and humans are required to ride in the same elevator.

[0008] In this type of riding method, there is a great need to prevent the convenience and service quality of passengers from being reduced due to the service for the robot. However, since the service for robots, which are having an increasingly positive impact on real life, cannot be delayed indefinitely, a balanced interlocking control technology that improves the elevator service quality for both humans and robots is required. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0009] [Patent Document 1] Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2021-0049566 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0010] When a robot uses an elevator to move between floors of a building, the process begins with the robot calling the elevator, then boarding the elevator when it arrives at the departure floor, and then moving to the destination floor and getting off.

[0011] At this time, the robot boards and disembarks in a step-by-step manner while transmitting and receiving signals between the elevator control unit that controls the operation of the elevator and the robot. The specific steps and processes are as follows.

[0012] When the robot remotely calls an elevator, the elevator controller assigns a specific elevator car to the call and moves the assigned car to the departure floor.

[0013] When the assigned elevator arrives at the departure floor, the elevator control unit opens the door and sends a "boarding permission" signal to the robot to inform it that it is ready to board. Upon receiving the boarding permission signal, the robot starts the boarding action of getting into the elevator car, and once the robot has started the boarding action, it continues to send a "boarding" signal to the elevator control unit until the boarding is complete to inform it that the boarding action is in progress. Once the robot has completed boarding the elevator car, it sends a "boarding completion" signal to the elevator control unit, and only when it has received the boarding completion signal from the robot does the elevator control unit close the door and move the elevator car to the robot's destination floor.

[0014] The process of the robot getting off the elevator car is carried out in a similar manner. When the elevator car carrying the robot arrives at the destination floor, the elevator control unit opens the door and sends a "disembarkation permission" signal to the robot, notifying it that it is ready to disembark. Upon receiving the disembarkation permission signal, the robot begins the disembarking action of getting off the elevator car, and once the robot has started the disembarking action, it continues to send a "disembarking" signal to the elevator control unit until disembarkation is complete, notifying it that the disembarking action is in progress. Once disembarkation is complete, the robot sends a "disembarkation complete" signal to the elevator control unit, and only when it has received the disembarkation completion signal from the robot does the elevator control unit close the door and allow the elevator car to provide other services.

[0015] Meanwhile, as the above-mentioned service procedure is performed step by step, failure modes may occur at each step. For example, failures may occur when the assigned elevator car arrives at the departure floor but the robot is not at the boarding / alighting area, when a signal regarding boarding / alighting is not received from the robot, or when the robot cannot alight from the elevator for some reason. However, in the past, no specific countermeasures were established for such failure modes, and when a failure mode occurred, the elevator manager simply assessed the situation and took appropriate measures.

[0016] In particular, conventionally, when a "boarding" or "disembarking" signal is received from the robot indicating that the boarding or disembarking action has begun, the elevator door close button (DCB) is disabled and the door is fixed open until a "boarding completed" or "disembarking completed" signal is received from the robot. However, if a failure occurs for some reason during the robot's boarding or disembarking procedure and the door close button continues to be disabled (the door is fixed open) and the operation of the elevator car is interrupted, this causes a delay in service for passengers riding with the robot or passengers waiting on other floors, resulting in inconvenience.

[0017] Furthermore, if the robot fails to disembark, the door close button will be disabled (the door will be fixed open) and the elevator car will stop operating until the robot has completely disembarked, causing great inconvenience to passengers riding with it.

[0018] Even if the elevator doors are closed when the robot has failed to disembark, the robot that has failed to disembark may remain trapped inside the elevator car, or may disembark at a floor different from the destination floor at which it intended to disembark.

[0019] If the robot fails to disembark and its operation ends inside the elevator car, a human must come and retrieve the robot in person, which is inconvenient. If the robot disembarks on a floor other than the destination floor, the robot may lose its way because the floor data it recognizes is different from the structure of the floor.

[0020] In addition, if a robot gets off at another floor, in order to reach its original destination floor again, it must repeat the entire process of calling an elevator at the floor where it got off and moving to the next floor, which results in delays to the robot's service.

[0021] The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and aims to provide a robot-linked elevator control system that establishes and presents specific countermeasures when a failure mode occurs during the progress of the elevator boarding / alighting procedure by a robot, particularly when the robot has started boarding or alighting but has not received a signal indicating completion of boarding or alighting, thereby preventing long delays in passenger service and significantly improving the overall serviceability and operation efficiency of the elevator system linked and controlled with a robot.

[0022] The present invention also provides a control system for a robot-linked elevator that prevents a decrease in the quality of service for elevator users and a decrease in the robot's work efficiency when a robot has completed boarding the elevator and arrived at the destination floor but is unable to disembark for some reason, i.e., when the robot fails to disembark.

[0023] The technical problems of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned technical problems, and other technical problems not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description. [Means for solving the problem]

[0024] In order to achieve the above object, in one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control system for a robot-linked elevator, comprising: an autonomous mobile body that moves autonomously within a building; and an elevator control unit that communicates with the autonomous mobile body to control the operation of an elevator installed within the building and the elevator door when the autonomous mobile body gets on and off the elevator, wherein, when the autonomous mobile body uses the elevator to move between floors of a building, when a failure mode occurs corresponding to one of the following cases: a "boarding" signal indicating the start of boarding the elevator is received from the autonomous mobile body, and then a "boarding completed" signal indicating the completion of boarding the elevator is not received from the autonomous mobile body; and a "disembarking" signal indicating the completion of disembarking from the elevator is not received from the autonomous mobile body, and then a "disembarking completed" signal indicating the completion of disembarking from the elevator is received from the autonomous mobile body, and then a "disembarking" signal indicating the start of disembarking from the elevator is received from the autonomous mobile body, then a "disembarking completed" signal indicating the completion of disembarking from the elevator is not received from the autonomous mobile body.

[0025] The elevator control unit may release the disablement of the door close button on a condition that the autonomous moving object is not detected within a door zone of the elevator.

[0026] The elevator control may un-disable a door close button but not automatically close the elevator doors.

[0027] Meanwhile, in another aspect of the present invention to achieve the above object, a control method for a robot-linked elevator includes an autonomous moving body that moves autonomously within a building, and an elevator control unit that communicates with the autonomous moving body to control the operation of an elevator installed within the building and the elevator door when the autonomous moving body gets on and off the elevator, the control method comprising the steps of: the autonomous moving body that has been permitted to board by the elevator control unit starts a boarding operation in the assigned elevator, and transmits a boarding signal to the elevator control unit while the boarding operation is in progress; the autonomous moving body completes boarding the assigned elevator and transmits a boarding completion signal to the elevator control unit; the elevator control unit moves the assigned elevator in which the autonomous moving body has completed boarding to a destination floor of the autonomous moving body; and The method includes the steps of: after the assigned elevator arrives at the destination floor, the autonomous moving body that has been permitted to disembark by the elevator control unit starts a disembarking operation from the assigned elevator and transmits a disembarking signal to the elevator control unit while the disembarking operation is in progress; and the autonomous moving body completes disembarking from the assigned elevator and transmits a disembarking completion signal to the elevator control unit, wherein when a failure mode occurs that corresponds to either a case where the boarding completion signal is not received after the autonomous moving body receives a boarding signal, or a case where the disembarking completion signal is not received after the autonomous moving body receives a disembarking signal, the elevator control unit cancels the disablement of a door close button of the elevator after a predetermined time has elapsed since the boarding signal or the disembarking signal was received from the autonomous moving body.

[0028] The elevator control unit may release the disablement of the door close button on a condition that the autonomous moving object is not detected within a door zone of the elevator.

[0029] The elevator control may un-disable a door close button but not automatically close the elevator doors. Effect of the Invention

[0030] The present invention establishes and presents specific countermeasures for failure modes that may occur during the robot's boarding and alighting procedures when the robot uses an elevator to move between floors of a building, particularly in a situation where the robot starts boarding or alighting but does not receive a signal indicating completion of boarding or alighting. This enables smooth operation of the elevator system without long-term service delays even when a failure mode occurs, and has the effect of significantly improving the overall serviceability and operation efficiency of the elevator system controlled in conjunction with the robot.

[0031] Furthermore, in the case where a robot has completed its ride in the elevator and arrived at the destination floor but is unable to disembark for some reason, i.e., the robot fails to disembark, the present invention controls the robot and the elevator system in conjunction with each other so that the robot can automatically return to the floor where it failed to disembark after providing priority service in response to a call from a passenger on another floor and then disembark, thereby preventing a decline in the quality of service for elevator users while also allowing the robot to efficiently carry out its tasks.

[0032] The effects of the present invention are not limited to those described above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0033] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a control system for a robot-linked elevator according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a process in which an autonomous moving body according to the present invention uses an elevator to move between floors of a building. [Diagram 3] 1 is a flowchart showing a method for controlling an elevator when an autonomous moving body according to the present invention fails to disembark. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0034] The details of the objectives, technical configuration, and operation and effects of the present invention can be more clearly understood from the detailed description of the present invention based on the accompanying drawings.

[0035] The terms used in this specification are merely used to describe certain embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. For example, terms such as "comprise" or "include" used in this specification should not necessarily be interpreted as including all of the components or steps described in the present specification, but should be interpreted as not including some of the components or steps, or as including additional components or steps. Furthermore, the singular expressions used in this specification include the plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0036] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail using preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below are provided to enable those skilled in the art to easily understand the technical concept of the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. It is obvious that the embodiments of the present invention can be applied in various ways by those skilled in the art.

[0037] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a control system for a robot-linked elevator according to the present invention.

[0038] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a process in which an autonomous moving body according to the present invention uses an elevator to move between floors of a building. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing a method for controlling an elevator when an autonomous moving body according to the present invention fails to get off the elevator.

[0039] Referring to FIG. 1, the robot-linked elevator control system of the present invention includes an autonomous moving body 10 that moves autonomously within a building, and an elevator control unit 20 that controls the operation of an elevator installed in the building by communicating with the autonomous moving body 10, and can implement linked control between the autonomous moving body 10 and the elevator.

[0040] The autonomous mobile body 10 in the present invention is a collective term for all mobile devices, including robots, that can move autonomously within a building without human operation. For example, the autonomous mobile body 10 may be a service robot that performs tasks such as transporting goods such as home delivery, cleaning, and customer guidance, and can provide necessary services to customers within the building by linking with a robot management system (not shown) that controls and manages all the robots that move within the building.

[0041] The autonomous mobile body 10 can communicate with an elevator control unit 20 that controls the operation of the elevator, and the autonomous mobile body 10 can move between floors of a building through interlocking control with the elevator control unit 20. The autonomous mobile body 10 can transmit and receive signals related to elevator calls, destination floor registration, boarding and alighting operations, etc., to the elevator control unit 20, which will be described in more detail later.

[0042] The communication between the autonomous moving body 10 and the elevator control unit 20 and the robot management system can be realized using wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), WiFi (registered trademark), CAN, WAN, or the like, or wired communication.

[0043] The autonomous mobile body 10 can recognize the space within a building and move autonomously using self-position estimation technology (SLAM: Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) based on information collected using Lidar, short-range sensors, ultrasonic sensors, cameras, etc.

[0044] In addition, the autonomous mobile body 10 can store information regarding the interior / exterior structure of the building and the location of the elevator within the building in its own database, and can use an internal algorithm to determine the optimal distance and travel route from the current location to the elevator, calculated in real time using self-location estimation technology.

[0045] The elevator control unit 20 controls the overall operation and behavior of the elevator, and assigns the optimal elevator car to calls input from each floor in the building, including passenger button input, remote calls, or calls received from the autonomous mobile body 10, and controls the assigned elevator car to move to the floor where the call was input.

[0046] The elevator control unit 20 can be configured to include a call receiving unit 21 that receives and processes elevator call signals generated by passengers or the autonomous moving body 10; an allocation unit 22 that determines and allocates the optimal elevator car from multiple elevator cars installed in the building in response to the received call signal; a boarding and alighting control unit 23 that controls the boarding and alighting operations of the autonomous moving body 10 relative to the elevator car; and a driving control unit 24 that controls the driving of the elevator car.

[0047] The elevator control unit 20 provides a service of allocating the most suitable elevator car in response to button input or remote call by passengers and moving the elevator car. Since this can be achieved using conventional well-known technology, the following description will focus on the control related to the autonomous moving body 10.

[0048] The call receiving unit 21 can receive a request to board an elevator from the autonomous moving body 10. Information included in the request to board an elevator includes information on a departure floor where the autonomous moving body 10 is currently located and information on a destination floor to which the autonomous moving body 10 is to move, and may further include information on the travel time required for the autonomous moving body 10 to arrive at a boarding / deboarding station, weight, volume, purpose of elevator use, and the like.

[0049] When the allocation unit 22 receives a request for an autonomous moving body 10 to board an elevator, it performs a correlation analysis between the traffic volume in the building and the location information of multiple available elevator cars and the autonomous moving body 10, and determines and allocates the most efficient elevator car.

[0050] More specifically, the allocation unit 22 detects status information regarding the occupancy rate or remaining capacity of multiple elevator cars operating within the building, and extracts an available elevator car that the autonomous moving body 10 can board based on information such as the weight and volume of the autonomous moving body 10 contained in the boarding request information received from the autonomous moving body 10.

[0051] Then, the optimal elevator car is assigned taking into consideration the extracted positions of available elevator cars and the position of the autonomous moving body 10. At this time, in addition to the information on the call floor for which the autonomous moving body 10 has requested boarding, information on the time required for the autonomous moving body 10 to move from its current position to the boarding / alighting area can also be taken into consideration in order to select the optimal car.

[0052] In addition, instead of the autonomous mobile body 10 calculating its own position information by itself, the autonomous mobile body may further be provided with a position collection unit (not shown) for tracking the position of the autonomous mobile body 10 within a floor in real time based on a signal emitted by the autonomous mobile body 10, and calculating the time required for the autonomous mobile body 10 to move from its current position to the boarding / disembarking area.

[0053] The boarding and alighting control unit 23 manages and controls the overall operations related to boarding and alighting from the elevator car assigned to the autonomous moving body 10 that has requested to board the elevator.

[0054] For example, when the autonomous mobile body 10 is moving to a platform, it transmits a "moving" signal to the boarding / alighting control unit 23, and when it has already arrived at the platform, it transmits a "waiting" signal to inform the boarding / alighting control unit 23 that it is waiting at the platform. The boarding / alighting control unit 23 then determines whether the autonomous mobile body 10 can board the elevator based on the information received from the autonomous mobile body 10, and if it determines that the autonomous mobile body 10 can board the elevator, it transmits a signal to the autonomous mobile body 10 to instruct the autonomous mobile body 10 to board the elevator car.

[0055] In addition, in relation to the disembarking operation of the autonomous mobile body 10, the boarding / alighting control unit 23 instructs the autonomous mobile body 10 to disembark from the elevator car when the autonomous mobile body 10 arrives at the destination floor after completing boarding the elevator car.

[0056] In order to realize the boarding and alighting operations of the autonomous mobile body 10 getting on and off the elevator car, the boarding and alighting control unit 23 can be linked to a door control unit 25 that controls the opening and closing of the doors of the elevator car stopped at a service floor and the doors of the corresponding boarding and alighting area.

[0057] The travel control unit 24 controls the travel operation of raising and lowering the elevator car in a vertical elevator shaft formed inside the building, and performs control such as driving the hoist motor to start the elevator car traveling and driving the brake to stop the elevator car.

[0058] In addition, in this embodiment, the driving control unit 24 controls the operation of the elevator car by generating a command signal to move the elevator car assigned in response to a boarding request from the autonomous mobile body 10 to the floor where the autonomous mobile body 10 is located, or by generating a command signal to move the elevator car in which the autonomous mobile body 10 is riding to the destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10.

[0059] The process in which the autonomous moving body 10 uses an elevator to move between floors in a building will be described below in sequence according to a series of steps with reference to FIG.

[0060] The autonomous moving body 10 can remotely call an elevator car by wireless or wired communication with the elevator control unit 20. When the autonomous moving body 10 needs to move between floors in a building, it transmits a "boarding request" signal to the elevator control unit 20 to request the elevator car to be called.

[0061] The call receiving unit 21 of the elevator control unit 20 receives a "boarding request" signal from the autonomous moving body 10, and the allocation unit 22 allocates an optimal elevator car from among multiple available elevator cars, taking into consideration the information included in the "boarding request" signal and the location information of elevator cars available in the building, etc. The allocation unit 22 provides the autonomous moving body 10 with information on the allocated elevator car and its corresponding boarding and alighting spot.

[0062] The autonomous moving body 10 receives information about a platform corresponding to the assigned elevator car, moves to the platform, and periodically reports the moving status to the elevator control unit 20 during the movement. In addition, when the autonomous moving body 10 arrives at the platform, it transmits a signal notifying that it is waiting at the platform.

[0063] The elevator control unit 20 can detect whether the autonomous moving body 10 has arrived at a landing corresponding to the assigned elevator car. Here, whether the autonomous moving body 10 has arrived at the landing can be determined based on the position information acquired by the autonomous moving body 10 itself using a self-location estimation technique as described above or the position information of the autonomous moving body 10 collected by a position collection unit (not shown) of an additional autonomous moving body.

[0064] When the autonomous moving body 10 is detected at a boarding / alighting station, the boarding / alighting control unit 23 of the elevator control unit 20 opens the door of the elevator car assigned to the autonomous moving body 10 and transmits a “boarding permission” signal to the autonomous moving body 10.

[0065] On the other hand, if the autonomous mobile body 10 arrives later than the elevator car, and if the predicted arrival time of the autonomous mobile body 10 is equal to or less than a predetermined set value, the elevator car and the doors of the platform are controlled to wait in an open state until the autonomous mobile body 10 arrives, and if the arrival of the autonomous mobile body 10 is delayed beyond a predetermined set time, a signal to cancel the current call is transmitted to the autonomous mobile body 10. The autonomous mobile body 10 that receives the cancellation signal calls the elevator again, and the elevator control unit 20 further assigns an optimal car for the re-call of the autonomous mobile body 10 and controls the elevator car to run to the service floor.

[0066] The autonomous mobile body 10 that receives the "boarding permission" signal from the boarding / alighting control unit 23 executes the boarding action of getting into the assigned elevator car. The autonomous mobile body 10 continuously transmits the "boarding" signal to the boarding / alighting control unit 23 from the start of the boarding action to the completion of the boarding action to notify that the boarding action is in progress. The boarding / alighting control unit 23, in cooperation with the door control unit 25, controls the doors not to close while the autonomous mobile body 10 is passing through the elevator entrance / exit.

[0067] When the autonomous moving body 10 has completed boarding inside the elevator car, the autonomous moving body 10 transmits a “boarding completed” signal indicating the completion of boarding to the boarding / alighting control unit 23.

[0068] When the elevator control unit 20 receives a “boarding completed” signal from the autonomous moving body 10, it closes the elevator doors, automatically registers the destination floor of the autonomous moving body 10, and executes control to move the elevator car to the destination floor of the autonomous moving body 10.

[0069] When the elevator car arrives at the destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10, the elevator control unit 20 opens the doors of the elevator car and the boarding and alighting area at the arrival floor (destination floor), and the boarding and alighting control unit 23 sends a “disembarkation permission” signal to the autonomous mobile body 10 instructing the autonomous mobile body 10 to disembark.

[0070] The autonomous mobile body 10 that has received the "permission to disembark" signal executes the disembarking operation to disembark from the elevator. At this time, the autonomous mobile body 10 can continuously transmit the "disembarking" signal to the boarding / alighting control unit 23 from the start to the completion of the disembarking operation to inform the boarding / alighting control unit 23 that the disembarking operation is in progress, and the boarding / alighting control unit 23 controls the door not to close while the autonomous mobile body 10 passes through the elevator doorway in cooperation with the door control unit 25.

[0071] When the autonomous moving body 10 completes disembarking from the elevator car, the autonomous moving body 10 transmits a “disembarking completed” signal indicating completion of disembarking to the boarding / alighting control unit 23.

[0072] When the elevator control unit 20 receives a “disembarkation completed” signal from the autonomous moving body 10, the elevator control unit 20 closes the elevator doors and ends the floor movement service for the autonomous moving body 10.

[0073] Meanwhile, in the course of executing the series of processes as described above, various problems may occur when getting on and off the autonomous moving body 10. For example, there are the following five cases.

[0074] 1) When the elevator car assigned in response to a call for the autonomous mobile body 10 arrives at the call floor, the waiting state of the platform for the autonomous mobile body 10 is not recognized, i.e., when a boarding request (call) for the autonomous mobile body 10 is made and the elevator car assigned in response to the call arrives at the departure floor, but a waiting signal for the platform is not received from the autonomous mobile body 10.

[0075] 2) When the autonomous moving body 10 does not start boarding until a predetermined time after the elevator car assigned in response to a call for the autonomous moving body 10 arrives at the call floor, i.e., when the elevator control unit 20 receives a waiting signal for a boarding station from the autonomous moving body 10 and transmits a boarding permission signal to the autonomous moving body 10, but does not receive a boarding signal from the autonomous moving body 10.

[0076] 3) When the autonomous moving body 10 recognizes that it is boarding the assigned elevator car but does not proceed to the next step of completing the boarding, i.e., when a boarding signal is received from the autonomous moving body 10 but a boarding completion signal is not received.

[0077] 4) When the elevator car in which the autonomous moving body 10 has completed boarding has arrived at the destination floor, but the autonomous moving body 10 does not start disembarking until a predetermined time has elapsed, i.e., when a boarding completion signal is received from the autonomous moving body 10 and the elevator car carrying the autonomous moving body 10 has arrived at the destination floor, the elevator control unit 20 transmits a disembarking permission signal to the autonomous moving body 10, but does not receive a disembarking signal from the autonomous moving body 10.

[0078] 5) When it is recognized that the autonomous moving body 10 is disembarking from the elevator car, but the next step of disembarking is not completed, i.e., when a signal indicating disembarking is in progress is received from the autonomous moving body 10 but a signal indicating disembarking is complete is not received.

[0079] As described above, among the failure modes that occur in each step, cases "3) and 5)" in particular are failure modes that occur after the autonomous moving body 10 notifies the elevator car that it is getting on or off, and therefore include cases in which the autonomous moving body 10 fails or rolls over while getting on or off the elevator car and cannot proceed with the getting on or off operation. Therefore, since there is a possibility that the autonomous moving body 10 is located within the elevator door zone, more proactive countermeasures must be taken.

[0080] However, even if a signal indicating that boarding or disembarking is complete is not received from the autonomous mobile body 10, this does not mean that the autonomous mobile body 10 has malfunctioned or rolled over, but rather that due to a communication problem between the autonomous mobile body 10 and the elevator control unit 20 while the autonomous mobile body 10 is boarding / disembarking, it may not be possible to recognize that the autonomous mobile body 10 has completed boarding or disembarking.

[0081] Therefore, the present invention establishes and presents specific countermeasures to failure modes in which a boarding completion or disembarking completion signal is not received from the autonomous moving body 10, including cases that occur due to simple communication problems as described above.

[0082] On the other hand, the countermeasures described below can be set to respond differently depending on whether the elevator used by the autonomous moving body 10 is set to a "shared mode" in which robots and humans can ride together, or a "robot-only mode" in which only the robot can use it.

[0083] In addition, the robot-linked elevator control system according to the present invention can set the elevator door open waiting time to a predetermined time value. Here, the "elevator door open waiting time" refers to the time the door waits in an open state. In other words, it can refer to the time from when the door is completely open to just before the door starts to close, excluding the time required for the door opening and closing operations.

[0084] In particular, the control system for the robot-linked elevator of the present invention can operate the elevator door open waiting time with two set values ​​depending on the elevator setting mode: a "general open waiting time" for general passengers (human passengers) to board and disembark, and a "robot open waiting time" for autonomous moving bodies (robots) 10 to board and disembark.

[0085] The "general open waiting time" is a normal setting value applied when opening and closing the elevator doors when the autonomous moving body 10 is not scheduled to be used. When the general open waiting time is applied, the elevator doors can be kept fully open for a short period of time (e.g., about 2 to 4 seconds) and then switched to a closed state.

[0086] The "robot open waiting time" is a setting value applied when the elevator door is opened and closed when the autonomous moving body 10 gets on and off, and can be set to a time value (e.g., 40 seconds) longer than the general open waiting time. The general open waiting time and the robot open waiting time are arbitrary setting values ​​that can be changed depending on the elevator door entry and exit environment, etc.

[0087] In addition, the "elevator door" to which the general opening waiting time and the robot opening waiting time are applied can be understood as a concept including both the elevator car door and the landing door, and the setting of the door opening time and the control of the door opening and closing can be performed by the door control unit 25 as described above.

[0088] In the following, the control logic corresponding to the method of responding to the occurrence of a failure mode in which a "boarding completed" or "disembarking completed" signal is not received from the autonomous moving body 10 will be described for each setting mode of the elevator.

[0089] I. If you don't receive a boarding completion signal A. Steady-state operation First, to compare with the response in the failure mode, the operation in the steady state will be briefly described. If the autonomous mobile body 10 receives a boarding signal and then a boarding completion signal from the autonomous mobile body 10, it means that the autonomous mobile body 10 has successfully boarded inside the elevator car, so the elevator control unit 20 closes the elevator door and starts the elevator car to the destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10.

[0090] B. How to deal with shared ride mode When receiving a boarding signal from the autonomous moving body 10, the elevator control unit 20 disables a door close button (DCB) and keeps the elevator doors open. However, if a problem occurs with boarding the autonomous moving body 10 in this state, and the elevator car is kept waiting until a boarding completion signal is received from the autonomous moving body 10, this may cause great inconvenience to other passengers.

[0091] Therefore, in the present invention, if a boarding completion signal is not received from the autonomous moving body 10 until a predetermined time (preferably the robot's opening waiting time) has elapsed after receiving a boarding signal from the autonomous moving body 10, the door close button is released from being disabled, and the door can be closed by the passenger pressing the door close button.

[0092] However, in this case, since a signal indicating that the autonomous moving body 10 is aboard has been received, there is a possibility that the autonomous moving body 10 is present within the elevator door zone, so the elevator doors are not automatically closed even after a predetermined time or the robot's open waiting time has elapsed. In other words, the door close button is released from being disabled, but the elevator doors are not automatically closed, in order to prevent damage caused by the doors closing if the autonomous moving body 10 is present within the elevator door zone.

[0093] The elevator doors do not close automatically, but the door close button is released from its disabled state, allowing other passengers using the elevator to check whether they are in a position to close the doors, and if so, to operate the door close button to close the doors and send the elevator car to another floor.

[0094] However, in this case, the disablement of the door close button can be released only under the condition that it is determined that the autonomous moving body 10 is not present in the elevator door zone using a monitoring device (e.g., a camera or an object detection sensor) installed in the elevator door zone. If the autonomous moving body 10 is detected in the elevator door zone, the disablement of the door close button is not released.

[0095] In addition, the elevator control unit 20 can release the disablement of the elevator door close button as a predetermined time passes, and can also directly close the elevator door if the autonomous moving body 10 or other objects are not detected in the elevator door zone by the monitoring device. However, in this case, the elevator door zone must be in a clean state in which not only the autonomous moving body 10 but also other objects are not detected.

[0096] C. Robot-only mode Similarly, in the robot-only mode, when a signal indicating that the autonomous moving body 10 is on board is received, the elevator control unit 20 disables the door close button and keeps the elevator doors open.

[0097] However, since the robot-only mode is a mode that is not used by either human passengers or passengers, the door can remain open while the door close button remains disabled even if a signal indicating that boarding has been completed for the autonomous moving body 10 is not received until a specified time has elapsed.

[0098] In this case, fault processing of the autonomous mobile body 10 can be performed as necessary, and after the fault processing of the autonomous mobile body 10 is completed, the elevator control unit 20 receives a specific command from the robot management system that manages the autonomous mobile body 10 to disable the door close button, close the elevator doors, and depart the elevator car to provide service at another floor.

[0099] II. If the disembarkation signal is not received A. Steady-state operation When a signal indicating that the autonomous mobile body 10 is disembarking is received and then a signal indicating that disembarking is complete is received, this means that the autonomous mobile body 10 has successfully disembarked from the elevator car, so the elevator control unit 20 can close the elevator doors and end the transportation service to the floor of the autonomous mobile body 10.

[0100] B. How to deal with shared ride mode The method of response in this case can be the same as that in the case where the boarding completion signal is not received. When the signal that the autonomous moving body 10 is disembarking is received, the elevator control unit 20 disables the door close button and keeps the elevator door open. However, even in this case, having the elevator car wait until the disembarking completion signal is received from the autonomous moving body 10 may cause great inconvenience to other passengers. Therefore, the present invention can cancel the disablement of the door close button and close the door by the passenger's input if the disembarking completion signal is not received until a predetermined time (preferably the robot's open waiting time) has elapsed after receiving the signal that the autonomous moving body 10 is disembarking.

[0101] However, in this case, since a disembarking signal has been received from the autonomous moving body 10, there is a possibility that the autonomous moving body 10 is present within the elevator door zone, so the elevator doors will not be automatically closed even after a specified time or the robot's waiting time for opening has elapsed.

[0102] The elevator doors are not automatically closed, but the door close button is released from its disabled state, allowing other passengers using the elevator to check whether or not they are in a position to close the doors, and if so, to operate the door close button to close the doors and allow the elevator car to depart to another floor.

[0103] However, at this time, the disablement of the door close button can be released only under the condition that it is determined that the autonomous moving body 10 is not present in the elevator door zone using a monitoring device (e.g., a camera or an object detection sensor, etc.) installed in the elevator door zone. If the autonomous moving body 10 is detected within the elevator door zone, the disablement of the door close button is not released.

[0104] In addition, the elevator control unit 20 can release the disablement of the elevator door close button as a predetermined time passes, and can also directly close the elevator door if the autonomous moving body 10 or other objects are not detected in the elevator door zone by the monitoring device. However, in this case, the elevator door zone must be in a clean state in which not only the autonomous moving body 10 but also other objects are not detected.

[0105] C. Robot-only mode The method of response in this case can be the same as that in the case where the boarding completion signal is not received. Similarly, in the robot-only mode, when a signal that the autonomous moving body 10 is disembarking is received, the elevator control unit 20 disables the door close button and keeps the elevator doors open.

[0106] However, since the robot-only mode is a mode that is not used by human passengers either, the door can remain open while the door close button remains disabled even if a signal indicating disembarkation is complete is not received from the autonomous moving body 10 until a specified time has elapsed.

[0107] In this case, fault processing of the autonomous mobile body 10 can be performed as necessary, and after the fault processing of the autonomous mobile body 10 is completed, the elevator control unit 20 can receive a specific command from the robot management system that manages the autonomous mobile body 10 to disable the door close button, close the elevator doors, and depart the elevator car to service another floor.

[0108] If a "boarding completed" or "disembarking completed" signal is not received from the autonomous moving body 10, the response method for each elevator setting mode is summarized in Table 1 below.

[0109] [Table 1]

[0110] As described above, the robot-linked elevator control system of the present invention is characterized by the fact that when a failure occurs during the robot's boarding / alighting procedure while the robot is using the elevator to move between floors in a building, in particular when the robot starts boarding or alighting but a signal indicating boarding or alighting completion is not received, the system establishes a response procedure to control the elevator doors under specified conditions and release the open lock (release the disablement of the door close button), thereby effectively preventing elevator service delays and enabling efficient operation.

[0111] Meanwhile, an elevator set to a shared mode handles calls from both robots and general users, so the operation of the elevator must be controlled taking into consideration the service efficiency for both objects.

[0112] In the present invention, when an autonomous mobile body 10 completes its ride in the elevator car and arrives at the destination floor, but an "alighting failure" occurs in which the autonomous mobile body 10 is unable to alight at the destination floor, the elevator control logic is configured as follows to prevent a degradation in service for passengers riding in the elevator car and to prevent a decline in the efficiency of the autonomous mobile body 10's task execution.

[0113] A typical example of a failure to disembark from the autonomous moving body 10 is as follows. The autonomous moving body 10 arrives at the destination floor, but does not receive data corresponding to a signal permitting disembarking, and misses the disembarking timing. The autonomous moving body 10 recognizes that it has arrived at the destination floor, but it is physically impossible for the passenger to disembark due to congestion in the elevator, mischief by passengers, or items the passengers are carrying. When the autonomous moving body 10 is about to get off, a passenger in the elevator car presses the door close button, causing the door to close before the autonomous moving body 10 gets off. When the destination floor designation registered by the autonomous mobile body 10 is cancelled for some reason and the autonomous mobile body 10 does not stop at the destination floor.

[0114] The control system for the robot-linked elevator of the present invention, when an autonomous mobile body 10 that has completed boarding the elevator car as described above fails to disembark at the destination floor, memorizes the current floor (the floor where disembarkation failed) when a passenger call service for another floor is requested in the elevator car, switches the elevator doors to a closed state, prioritizes the passenger call service for the other floor, and controls the autonomous mobile body 10 to automatically return to the destination floor where the autonomous mobile body 10 originally intended to disembark, so that the autonomous mobile body 10 can disembark.

[0115] In addition, if a disembarkation failure of the autonomous mobile body 10 occurs and a new passenger call service request occurs while passenger call service to other floors is being prioritized, the elevator car will be moved to the destination floor where the autonomous mobile body 10 originally intended to disembark only after all services for the newly registered calls have been completed and there are no more calls to other floors.

[0116] In other words, when a disembarking failure of the autonomous mobile body 10 occurs, the control system of the robot-linked elevator according to the present invention controls the elevator car to return to the original destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10, provided that after all requests for passenger call services already registered, as well as requests for new passenger call services that arise during the execution of the already registered passenger call services after the disembarking failure of the autonomous mobile body 10 occurs, are completed, and no other requests for passenger call services occur.

[0117] However, if the traffic path of the elevator car moving to provide service to the floor where the new call has occurred passes through the disembarking destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10, the elevator car can be controlled to first stop at the disembarking destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10 and then move to the new call floor after the autonomous mobile body 10 has disembarked.

[0118] If the floor where the new call originates is the same as the disembarking destination floor of the autonomous moving body 10, the autonomous moving body 10 may disembark when it stops at that floor.

[0119] In the present invention, when an alighting failure occurs in the autonomous mobile body 10, the service that is given priority can be limited to a call service request by a human passenger. In other words, even if a call service request by another autonomous mobile body exists or occurs anew when an alighting failure occurs in the autonomous mobile body 10, this is not applicable to the present invention.

[0120] In the above, "request for passenger call service" not only includes a request for a service to call an elevator car to a particular floor by pressing a button at the boarding / alighting area of ​​another floor or by remote calling, but also includes a case where a passenger already in the elevator car presses a button inside the car to specify another floor as the destination floor.

[0121] On the other hand, when the robot is in the elevator boarding / alighting mode, the elevator control unit 20 usually sets the elevator door in a state where control is temporarily disabled. Specifically, when the elevator control unit 20 issues a "boarding permission" or "alighting permission" command to the robot, the elevator door closing is disabled and the door is kept fixed open until a "boarding completion" or "alighting completion" signal is received from the robot.

[0122] However, if the door remains open and fixed until a “disembarkation completed” signal is received from the autonomous mobile body 10 despite the occurrence of a disembarkation failure in which the autonomous mobile body 10 is unable to disembark at the destination floor as described above, this will cause great inconvenience to general passengers riding in the elevator car.

[0123] Therefore, the present invention provides a system that can release the open lock of the elevator doors under specified conditions when an autonomous moving body 10 fails to disembark, and can give priority to passenger call services for other floors.

[0124] First, if the autonomous mobile body 10 searches for a disembarking route using a camera or spatial detection sensor installed in the autonomous mobile body 10 and determines that disembarking is not possible at the destination floor, the autonomous mobile body 10 generates a “disembarking cancellation” signal and transmits it to the boarding and alighting control unit 23.

[0125] In addition, if a monitoring device such as a spatial recognition camera installed in the elevator car detects a situation in which the autonomous mobile body 10 is unable to disembark, the autonomous mobile body 10 sends a “disembarkation canceled” signal to the boarding / alighting control unit 23.

[0126] Then, if the elevator door closes for some reason when a "disembarking" signal is received from the autonomous moving body 10 but no "disembarking completed" signal is received, or if a "disembarking" signal is received from the autonomous moving body 10 but a "disembarking completed" signal is not received until the already set disembarking time limit for the autonomous moving body 10 has elapsed, the boarding / alighting control unit 23 can generate a "disembarking cancellation" signal by itself. Here, the disembarking time limit for the autonomous moving body 10 can be set arbitrarily and can be changed according to the size of the elevator, the specifications of the autonomous moving body 10, etc.

[0127] When the autonomous mobile body 10 sends a "disembarkation canceled" signal to the boarding / alighting control unit 23, or when the boarding / alighting control unit 23 itself generates a "disembarkation canceled" signal, the elevator control unit 20 stores information about the current floor, i.e., the information about the floor where the autonomous mobile body 10 failed to disembark, in memory, and then releases the open fix of the elevator doors, switches the doors to a closed state, and can depart the elevator car to perform passenger service at another floor.

[0128] Then, after performing both the call service for passengers already registered at other floors and the call service for newly registered passengers, the elevator control unit 20 can control the elevator car to return to the destination floor where the autonomous mobile body 10 originally intended to disembark.

[0129] When the elevator car, which has completed all passenger services for other floors, returns to the disembarking destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10, a signal permitting disembarkation is transmitted to the autonomous mobile body 10 while keeping the elevator door open for a predetermined time, as in the existing disembarking procedure, to guide the autonomous mobile body 10 to disembark.

[0130] On the other hand, if a disembarkation failure occurs for the autonomous mobile body 10 but no request for passenger call service for other floors occurs, the elevator doors are kept open and the system waits until a "disembarkation completion" signal is received from the autonomous mobile body 10.

[0131] In other words, in a situation where the autonomous mobile body 10 is in the process of disembarking and the completion of disembarking is not recognized, if there is no request for passenger call service for other floors even after the specified disembarking time limit has elapsed, the elevator doors at the current disembarking floor can be kept open to provide continuous opportunities for the autonomous mobile body 10 to disembark.

[0132] The control method for the robot-linked elevator according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0133] 3, the robot-linked elevator control method according to the present invention includes a step (S10) of calling an elevator car in response to a boarding request from the autonomous mobile body 10, a step (S20) of the autonomous mobile body 10 arriving at the boarding platform of the departure floor (call floor), a step (S30) of the autonomous mobile body 10 boarding an assigned elevator car at the boarding platform of the departure floor, a step (S40) of the elevator car carrying the autonomous mobile body 10 moving from the departure floor and arriving at the destination floor, a step (S50) of instructing the autonomous mobile body 10 to disembark from the elevator car, a step (S60) of detecting whether or not disembarkation of the autonomous mobile body 10 is completed, a step (S70) of checking whether or not a disembarkation cancellation signal for canceling disembarkation of the autonomous mobile body 10 is received if a disembarkation completion signal of the autonomous mobile body 10 is not received, and a step (S70) of checking whether or not there is a request for a passenger call service for another floor if a disembarkation cancellation signal of the autonomous mobile body 10 is received. The method may include a step of: storing information about the current floor where the disembarking failure of the autonomous mobile body 10 occurred in memory when there is a request for a passenger call service for another floor (S90); preferentially executing the passenger call service for the other floor (S100); confirming that a request for a new passenger call service has occurred while executing the passenger call service for the other floor, and if such a request is confirmed, executing the passenger call service for the relevant floor (S110); returning the elevator car carrying the autonomous mobile body 10 to the disembarking failure floor stored in memory under the condition that no further new passenger call service requests are generated (S120); opening the elevator doors when the elevator arrives at the disembarking failure floor and again instructing the autonomous mobile body 10 to disembark (S130); the autonomous mobile body 10 completing the disembarking (S140); and the autonomous mobile body 10 ending the movement service for the floor (S150).

[0134] The characteristics of each step can be easily understood by referring to the interlocking control portion between the autonomous moving body 10 and the elevator system and the control logic portion when the autonomous moving body 10 fails to disembark, so specific details will be omitted.

[0135] In step S60, if a signal indicating that the autonomous moving body 10 has completed disembarking is received normally, it is recognized that the autonomous moving body 10 has moved between floors using the elevator normally, and the service is terminated (S150).

[0136] In step S80, if a request for passenger call service for other floors is not confirmed, the autonomous mobile body 10 can be guided to disembark (S81) while keeping the elevator doors open at the current floor, and if a request for passenger call service for other floors occurs, the next step (S90) can be proceeded to.

[0137] The robot-linked elevator control system according to the present invention described above can be implemented by a computer or a server equipped with a program that executes a process of processing signals received from the autonomous moving body 10 and the elevator control unit 20 and generating and outputting corresponding commands. In addition, it can include a recording medium in which data is stored and recorded during the process, and examples of the recording medium include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage device, etc.

[0138] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains that the present invention can be modified or changed in various forms without departing from the technical gist of the present invention. Therefore, such modifications or changes should be understood to fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0139] 10: Autonomous Mobile Vehicle 20: Elevator control unit 21: Call receiving unit 22: Allocation section 23: Boarding and alighting control unit 24: Driving control unit 25: Door control unit

Claims

1. an autonomous mobile body that moves autonomously within a building; an elevator control unit that controls operation of an elevator installed in the building while communicating with the autonomous moving body; Equipped with The elevator control unit includes: When a passenger fails to disembark from the autonomous moving body, a passenger call service for another floor is preferentially executed; When a new passenger call service request occurs during the execution of the passenger call service for the other floor, the elevator is automatically returned to the floor where the disembarkation failure occurred after the execution of the new passenger call service is completed; When the elevator passes through the floor where the disembarking failure occurred when executing the new passenger call service, the elevator is stopped at the floor where the disembarking failure occurred, and the autonomous moving body is disembarked, and then the elevator is moved to the floor where the new passenger call service is requested. Control system for robot-linked elevators.

2. In the robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 1, The elevator control unit, when the disembarkation failure of the autonomous moving body occurs, stores the floor where the disembarkation failure occurred in a memory, and after preferentially executing a passenger call service for the other floor, automatically returns the elevator to the floor where the disembarkation failure occurred and re-executes the disembarkation of the autonomous moving body. Control system for robot-linked elevators.

3. In the robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 1, The elevator control unit includes: a call receiving unit that receives a call request for the elevator from the autonomous moving body; an allocation unit that determines and allocates an optimal elevator in response to the call request of the autonomous moving body; A travel control unit that controls the travel of the elevator. Control system for robot-linked elevators.

4. In the robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 1, The elevator control unit includes a boarding / alighting control unit that controls the operation of the autonomous moving body in the elevator, The boarding / alighting control unit transmits a "disembarking permission" signal to the autonomous moving body when the elevator arrives at the destination floor. Control system for robot-linked elevators.

5. In the robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 4, The autonomous moving body is When the "disembarkation permission" signal is received from the boarding / alighting control unit, the disembarking operation from the elevator is started; Transmitting a "disembarking" signal to the boarding / alighting control unit from the start of the disembarking operation to the completion of the disembarking operation, When the disembarking operation is completed, a signal of "disembarking completion" is transmitted to the boarding / disembarking control unit. Control system for robot-linked elevators.

6. In the robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 5, The elevator control unit includes a door control unit that opens and closes elevator doors in cooperation with the boarding / alighting control unit, The door control unit controls the elevator doors not to close while the "disembarking" signal is received by the boarding / alighting control unit. Control system for robot-linked elevators.

7. 7. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 6, When the boarding / alighting control unit cancels the alighting command of the autonomous moving body by a “alighting cancellation” signal, The door control unit releases the door open lock of the elevator. Control system for robot-linked elevators.

8. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 7, When the boarding / alighting control unit cancels the alighting command of the autonomous moving body by a “alighting cancellation” signal, When the autonomous moving body determines by itself that it is not possible to get off the elevator, When a monitoring device detects a situation in which it is impossible for the autonomous moving body to disembark from the elevator, If a predetermined time has elapsed without receiving the "dismounting completed" signal after the "dismounting in progress" signal has been received from the autonomous moving body, At least one of the following applies: Control system for robot-linked elevators.

9. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 7, The "cancel alighting" signal is, The boarding / alighting control unit receives the information from the autonomous moving body, or The boarding / alighting control unit generates the boarding / alighting control signal by itself. Control system for robot-linked elevators.

10. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 7, When the "alighting cancellation" signal is generated and there is a request for a passenger call service for the other floor, the elevator control unit switches the elevator door to a closed state and starts the elevator to provide the passenger call service for the other floor. Control system for robot-linked elevators.

11. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 7, When the "disembarkation cancellation" signal is generated and there is no request for a passenger call service for the other floors, the elevator control unit continues to provide disembarkation opportunities for the autonomous moving body while maintaining the elevator door in an open state. Control system for robot-linked elevators.

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