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

Abstract

To improve operation efficiency of an elevator used by both a person and an autonomous movable body.SOLUTION: This elevator control system comprises: a division unit that divides a plurality of cars into one or a plurality of first cars allowing only people to board and one or a plurality of second cars allowing autonomous movable bodies to board during congestion at an elevator; and a normal operation control unit that executes, during the congestion, group management control for allocating the first car closest to a departure floor to one or a plurality of first cars, and executes, without executing group management control for one or a plurality of second cars, operation control within a stop floor limit range which is a predetermined stoppable floor range for one or a plurality of second cars.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an elevator control system, an elevator control device, and an elevator control method. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent elevator control systems, autonomous mobile objects such as robots that perform various tasks such as delivery services, cleaning, and security are operated in conjunction with the elevator car to travel to their destination floors. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6696101 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 6812500 [Patent Document 3] Patent No. 6635337 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in such conventional technologies, the autonomous mobile body or the elevator often pre-designates the car number that the autonomous mobile body will board. In other words, conventional technologies do not determine the current status of the elevator car, such as the number of passengers and the registered call floor. Therefore, an elevator instructed to operate in conjunction with an autonomous mobile body responds to registered hall calls and destination floor calls, and then begins moving to the departure point designated by the autonomous mobile body in an unmanned state. Recently, buildings have become taller and there are more floors to stop at. Therefore, if the departure floor designated by the autonomous mobile body is significantly far from the floor where the car becomes unmanned, the car will operate unmanned for a long time, reducing the elevator's operational efficiency. Furthermore, because the elevator car number that can respond to the call designated by the autonomous mobile body is designated, depending on the timing of the call, the autonomous mobile body may have to wait for a long time, reducing the elevator's operational efficiency. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] An elevator control system according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises an elevator control device that controls an elevator capable of carrying autonomously moving bodies capable of moving autonomously in a plurality of cars, and an elevator server that is connected to the elevator control device via a network and controls the raising and lowering of the cars. The system also comprises a distribution unit that, when the elevator is crowded, distributes the plurality of cars into one or more first cars that can only carry people and one or more second cars that can carry the autonomous moving bodies, and a normal operation control unit that, when the elevator is crowded, performs group management control to assign the first car closest to the departure floor to the one or more first cars, and does not perform group management control on the one or more second cars, and controls the operation of the one or more second cars within a predetermined range of floors at which they can stop. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0006] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of an elevator control system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a control panel according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of the robot management DB according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a server in the elevator cloud according to the embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a server in a robot cloud according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the robot according to the embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of an elevator control process according to the embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for the congestion process according to the embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which an elevator car is in operation when the elevator car is crowded in the embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for off-hour processing according to the embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which an elevator car is in operation during off-peak hours in the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment) 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an elevator control system 1 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the elevator control system 1 of this embodiment mainly includes control panels 100A and 100B provided for each of a plurality of elevators 2A and 2B, controllers 150A and 150B provided for each of the plurality of elevators 2A and 2B, a control room 160, a server 210 in an elevator cloud 200, a server 310 in a robot cloud 300, and a monitoring center 400.

[0008] In this embodiment, a plurality of elevators 2A and 2B are installed in a building 3 such as an office building or an apartment building. In the example of Fig. 1, only two elevators 2A and 2B are shown, but in reality, three or more elevators are present.

[0009] Elevators 2A, 2B each have a car 50A, 50B in their respective hoistways 20A, 20B. Additionally, each hoistway 20A, 20B also has a hoisting machine and a counterweight (not shown). The cars 50A, 50B and the counterweight are supported so as to be able to rise and fall freely on a pair of guide rails (not shown) erected in each of the hoistways 20A, 20B, and move up and down via ropes.

[0010] In addition to the user 5A, robots 500A and 500B as autonomous moving bodies can also ride in the cars 50A and 50B.

[0011] The cars 50A and 50B are provided with operation panels 4A and 4B, cameras 7A and 7B, and load sensors 8A and 8B. The operation panels 4A, 4B receive various operations from users and issue various notifications to the elevator car 50. The operation panels 4A, 4B are provided with push buttons, non-contact sensors, speakers, LCD displays, etc. (none of which are shown) for specifying destination floors and opening and closing the doors of the elevator cars 50A, 50B. The operation panels 4A, 4B are also connected to the control panels 100A, 100B by wire or wirelessly. When users 5A, 5B press the destination floor push button or when a non-contact sensor detects the push button, a destination floor call is sent to the control panels 100A, 100B.

[0012] Here, the destination floor call is an operation performed by a user or the robot 500 in the car 50 to direct the car 50 to a desired destination floor. The destination floor call includes the destination floor.

[0013] A platform call is an operation performed by a platform user or the robot 500 to make the car 50 heading in either the up or down direction arrive at the platform. The platform call includes the destination direction and the floor where the platform call was made.

[0014] Cameras 7A and 7B photograph the interiors of cars 50A and 50B and send the captured images to control panels 100A and 100B. When the doors of cars 50A and 50B are open at the platform, cameras 7A and 7B are capable of capturing images of the platform and send the captured images to control panels 100A and 100B.

[0015] The load sensors 8A and 8B are provided on the bottom of the cars 50A and 50B and detect the weight of the car 50. When a user 5A or a robot 500A or 500B is inside the car 50A or 50B, the load sensors 8A and 8B detect the weight of the car 50 itself, as well as the weight of the user 5A and the robot 500A or 500B. The load sensors 8A and 8B send the detected weights as detection signals to the control panels 100A and 100B.

[0016] Control panels 100A and 100B and controllers 150A and 150B are provided inside the elevator shafts 20A and 20B, respectively. The control panels 100A and 100B are connected wirelessly or by wire to operation panels 4A and 4B provided on the cars 50A and 50B.

[0017] The control panels 100A and 100B control the operation of the cars 50A and 50B in the elevators 2A and 2B, respectively. The control panels 100A and 100B are connected to the controllers 150A and 150B, respectively, by wire or wirelessly. The control panels 100A and 100B will be described in detail later.

[0018] Each of the controllers 150A, 150B is connected to a server 210 in the elevator cloud 200 via a network. The controllers 150A, 150B are intermediary devices that control communication between the control panels 100A, 100B and the server 210 and have an interface function and a hub function for intermediating various signals exchanged between the control panels 100A, 100B and the server 210. Each of the controllers 150A, 150B is configured as a computer that includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc.

[0019] The manager of building 3 is present in control room 160 and issues various instructions to control panels 100A and 100B. The manager of control room 160 also receives various instructions from control panels 100A and 100B by email or the like via a PC or terminal device.

[0020] The server 210 in the elevator cloud 200 issues various control instructions to the control panels 100A and 100B via the controllers 150A and 150B for the cars 50A and 50B of the elevators 2A and 2B, and receives various requests and data from the control panels 100A and 100B via the controllers 150A and 150B. The server 210 in the elevator cloud 200 is connected to a monitoring center 400 (an in-house server) and a server 310 in the robot cloud 300 via a network.

[0021] An in-house server (not shown) is installed in the monitoring center 400. The in-house server is a server installed in an affiliated company of the elevator 11, and collects information necessary for maintenance management and remote monitoring of the elevator 2 from the elevators 2A and 2B. This allows maintenance personnel to deal with the malfunction by referring to the information necessary for maintenance management collected in the in-house server of the monitoring center 400. Furthermore, when functions or services are executed through the elevator cloud 200, the in-house server of the monitoring center 400 can be accessed as needed to refer to building and elevator information, or the maintenance personnel can obtain information necessary for elevator management.

[0022] The server 310 of the robot cloud 300 receives various requests and various data from the server 210 of the elevator cloud 200. The server 310 of the robot cloud 300 is connected to multiple robots 500A, 500B, and 500C in the building 3 via a network, and transmits various instructions to each of the multiple robots 500A, 500B, and 500C. The server 210 of the elevator cloud 200 and the server 310 of the robot cloud 300 will be described in detail later.

[0023] The number of elevators is not limited, and three or more elevators are installed in building 3. Therefore, the number of elevator shafts 20A, 20B, cars 50A, 50B, control panels 100A, 100B, and controllers 150A, 150B also varies depending on the number of elevators 2A, 2B. Here, when the multiple elevators 2A, 2B, the multiple elevator shafts 20A, 20B, the multiple cars 50A, 50B, the multiple control panels 100A, 100B, and the multiple controllers 150A, 150B are not distinguished from one another, they are referred to as elevator 2, elevator shaft 20, car 50, control panel 100, and controller 150. When the operation panels 4A, 4B, cameras 7A, 7B, and load sensors 8A, 8B are not distinguished from one another, they are referred to as operation panel 4, camera 7, and load sensor 8.

[0024] Next, the control panel 100 will be described. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the control panel 100 according to the embodiment. The control panel 100 is an example of an elevator control device. The control panel 100 has a typical computer configuration, and as shown in FIG. 2, mainly comprises a control unit 120, a communication unit 102, and a storage unit 110.

[0025] 2, the control panel 100 is connected to the load sensor 8 and the camera 7 by wire or wirelessly. As described above, the load sensor 8 (8A, 8B) is provided in the car 50. The camera 7 is provided near the ceiling of the car 50 so as to be able to capture images of the interior of the car 50 and, when the door of the car 50 is open, the landing.

[0026] The storage unit 110 is a storage medium (i.e., a memory device) such as a ROM or RAM. The storage unit 110 stores a robot management database 111 (hereinafter referred to as the "robot management DB111"), a stop floor limit range, and setting information.

[0027] The robot management DB 111 is a database for managing the robots 500 that use the elevator 2. The robot management DB 111 is a database that associates a robot ID with a riding state. Here, the robot ID is information for identifying the robot 500. The riding state is information that indicates whether the robot 500 with the robot ID is currently riding in the car 50.

[0028] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the robot management DB 111 according to the embodiment. The example of Fig. 3 shows that the robot 500 with the robot ID "A001" is currently riding in the car 50. It also shows that the robot 500 with the robot ID "A002" is not currently riding in the car 50 (for example, it is at the boarding area).

[0029] The robot 500 notifies the server 310 in the robot cloud 300 of its own status together with its robot ID at regular intervals or when the riding status changes, and stores the status in the robot management DB 111. The server 310 in the robot cloud 300 that receives the notification then notifies the control panel 100 of the robot ID and the current riding status via the server 210 in the elevator cloud 200 and the controller 150, and the control unit 120 registers the robot ID and the current riding status in the record of the corresponding robot ID in the robot management DB 111.

[0030] Returning to FIG. 2, the stop floor limit range stored in the memory unit 110 is a range in which the car 5 can stop when the elevator 2 is crowded and the car 5 is dedicated to the robot. For example, the stop floor limit range is set in advance as a range in which the car 5 can stop, such as the 1st to 10th floors, the 10th to 20th floors, etc. Therefore, the car 5 cannot stop outside the stop floor limit range.

[0031] In addition, the setting information stored in the memory unit 110 is information indicating whether the car 5 is set as a car that only people can ride in, or as a car that the robot 500 can ride in.

[0032] The communication unit 102 is made up of a communication device having a predetermined communication protocol, and performs communication processing between the control panel 100 and the controller 150. The communication unit 102 also transmits and receives various instructions and notifications to and from the mobile terminal or PC of the manager of the control room 160.

[0033] The control unit 120 is made up of a hardware processor (CPU). As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 120 mainly includes a normal operation control unit 121, a robot-linked operation control unit 122, a distribution unit 125, and a congestion status determination unit 127.

[0034] The congestion status determination unit 127 determines whether the congestion status of the elevator 2 is busy or quiet, based on the operation status of the elevator 2. Specifically, the congestion status determination unit 127 cooperates with the control panels 100 of other elevators 2 to determine that the elevator 2 is busy when the operation rate of the elevator 2 is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, and that the elevator 2 is quiet when the operation rate of the elevator 2 is lower than the predetermined threshold. Here, the predetermined threshold is, for example, 80%, but is not limited to this.

[0035] The congestion status determination unit 127 cooperates with the control panels 100 of other elevators 2, for example, by inquiring of all other control panels 100 as to whether the car 5 is moving up or down or on standby, and acquires the response. The congestion status determination unit 127 also determines whether the car 5 of its own elevator 2 is moving up or down or on standby. The congestion status determination unit 127 then calculates the ratio of control panels 100 controlling cars 5 moving up or down to all control panels 100, including itself, as the operating rate.

[0036] When the congestion status determination unit 127 determines that the elevator 2 is in a crowded state, the allocation unit 125 works in cooperation with the control panels 100 of other elevators 2 to allocate the multiple cars 5 into one or more cars 5 that only people can board (sometimes referred to as "first cars" or "other cars") 5 and one or more cars 5 that robots 500 can board (sometimes referred to as "second cars" or "robot priority cars") 5.

[0037] The distribution unit 125 cooperates with the control panels 100 of the other elevators 2, and inquires of all the other control panels 100, for example, as setting information, whether the car 5 is set as a car 5 that only people can ride in or a car 5 that the robot 500 can ride in, and obtains a reply to the inquiry. Then, the control panel 100 distributes between the first car 5 and the second car based on the replies from the other control panels 100 and its own setting information.

[0038] The normal operation control unit 121 controls the normal operation. Normal operation is an operation in which only a person is on board the car 5, without a robot on board. In this embodiment, when the congestion state determination unit 127 determines that the elevator 2 is in a crowded state, the normal operation control unit 121 performs group management control on one or more first cars 5 as normal operation in cooperation with the control panels 100 of other elevators 2. Furthermore, as normal operation, the normal operation control unit 121 does not perform group management control on one or more second cars 5, but performs operation control on one or more second cars 5 within the stopping floor limit range defined in the memory unit 110.

[0039] Here, group management control refers to control for allocating the car 5 closest to a departure floor such as a floor where a call for the car 5 is made. In this embodiment, the normal operation control unit 121 performs group management control in cooperation with the other control panels 100 by, for example, inquiring of the control panels 100 of other elevators 2 about the departure floor and the current position and elevation status of the car 5 and receiving the response.

[0040] When the congestion status determination unit 127 determines that the elevator 2 is in an off-peak state, the normal operation control unit 121, in cooperation with the control panels 100 of other elevators 2, performs control to distribute the waiting floors (sometimes referred to as "return floors") where multiple cars 5 are waiting, from the lowest floor to the top floor, as normal operation. Then, the normal operation control unit 121 performs the above-mentioned group management control in this waiting state.

[0041] The robot interlocking operation control unit 122 controls the robot interlocking operation. Robot-linked driving is driving in which the robot 500 rides in the car 5. Robot-linked driving includes robot-only driving in which no person rides in the car 5, and non-robot-only driving in which a person can ride in the car 5. Robot-linked driving is sometimes referred to as robot driving.

[0042] In this embodiment, when the congestion status determination unit 127 determines that the elevator 2 is in a congested state, and the communication unit 102 receives a destination floor call including the departure floor and destination floor specified by the robot 500 from the server 210 of the elevator cloud 200 via the controller 150, the robot linked operation control unit 122 operates in cooperation with the control panel 100 of another elevator to assign one or more second cars (one or more cars that the robot 500 can board) based on the departure floor, move the assigned second car to the departure floor, and then move it to the destination floor, as robot linked operation.

[0043] Here, when elevator 2 is crowded, the robot linked operation control unit 122 moves the second car to a destination floor outside the stopping floor restriction range, regardless of whether the destination floor belongs to the stopping floor restriction range of car 5 or whether it exists or not, in other words, even if the destination floor belongs to the stopping floor restriction range.

[0044] Furthermore, when the congestion status determination unit 127 determines that the elevator 2 is in an off-peak state, and the communication unit 102 receives a destination floor call including the departure floor and destination floor specified by the robot 500 from the server 210 of the elevator cloud 200 via the controller 150, the robot linked operation control unit 122 operates in cooperation with the control panels 100 of other elevators 2 as robot linked operation, and assigns a car 5 by the above-mentioned group management control.

[0045] Next, the server 210 in the elevator cloud 200 will be described. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the server 210 in the elevator cloud 200 according to the embodiment. The server 210 mainly includes a control unit 211, a communication unit 212, and a storage unit 220 as a general computer configuration.

[0046] The storage unit 220 is a storage medium (memory device) such as a ROM, a RAM, etc. The storage unit 220 stores various programs.

[0047] The communication unit 212 is made up of a communication device having a predetermined communication protocol, and performs communication processing between the server 210 and the controller 150 and communication processing between the server 210 and the server 310 in the robot cloud 300 .

[0048] In this embodiment, the communication unit 212 receives information including the robot ID, the departure floor, and the destination floor specified by the robot 500 from the server 310 of the robot cloud 300. In addition, the communication unit 212 transmits the destination floor call generated by the control unit 211 to the controller 150.

[0049] The control unit 211 is composed of a hardware processor (CPU). When the communication unit 212 receives information including the robot ID, departure floor, and destination floor specified by the robot 500 from the server 310 of the robot cloud 300, the control unit 211 generates a destination floor call including the departure floor and destination floor.

[0050] Next, the server 310 in the robot cloud 300 will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the server 310 in the robot cloud 300 according to the embodiment. The server 310 mainly includes a control unit 311, a communication unit 312, and a storage unit 320, as a typical computer configuration.

[0051] The storage unit 320 is a storage medium (memory device) such as a ROM, a RAM, etc. The storage unit 320 stores various programs.

[0052] The communication unit 312 is made up of a communication device having a predetermined communication protocol, and performs communication processing between the server 310 and the server 210 in the elevator cloud 200 , and communication processing between the server 310 and the robot 500 .

[0053] In this embodiment, the communication unit 312 receives information from the robot 500, including the robot ID, departure floor, and destination floor specified by the robot 500, and transmits the information to the server 210 of the elevator cloud 200.

[0054] The control unit 311 is made up of a hardware processor (CPU) and controls various processes relating to the elevator of the robot 500.

[0055] Next, the robot 500 will be described. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a robot 500 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the robot 500 mainly includes a camera 506, various sensors 505, a control unit 501, a communication unit 502, a driving unit 503, and a storage unit 510.

[0056] The camera 506 captures images of the surroundings of the robot 500 and transmits the captured images to the server 310 of the robot cloud 300. The robot 500 may be configured to further transmit the captured images to the control panel 100.

[0057] The various sensors 505 include, but are not limited to, a human sensor, an acceleration sensor, a load sensor, and the like.

[0058] The storage unit 510 is a storage medium (memory device) such as a ROM, a RAM, etc. The storage unit 510 stores various programs.

[0059] The communication unit 502 is made up of a communication device having a predetermined communication protocol, and performs communication processing between the robot 500 and the server 310 in the robot cloud 300 . In this embodiment, the communication unit 502 transmits information including the robot ID, the departure floor, and the destination floor to the server 310 in the robot cloud 300. The communication unit 502 also receives instructions to wait at a platform or to stop operation from the server 310 in the robot cloud 300.

[0060] The driving unit 503 drives the robot 500 to move. The control unit 501 is made up of a hardware processor (CPU). During normal operation of the elevator 2, the control unit 501 reads and executes various programs from the storage unit 510, thereby performing various operations in the elevator 2.

[0061] In this embodiment, when getting on the car 5 of the elevator 2, the control unit 501 generates information including the robot ID, the departure floor, and the destination floor. In addition, the control unit 501 controls the driving of the driving unit 503 according to an instruction from the server 310 in the robot cloud 300, thereby performing travel control.

[0062] The above configuration of the robot 500 is an example, and the robot 500 may further include an audio output unit such as a speaker and an input unit such as a touch panel.

[0063] Next, an elevator control process performed by the control panel 100 of the elevator control system 1 of this embodiment configured as above will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of an elevator control process according to the embodiment. First, the congestion status determination unit 127 of the control panel 100 determines the congestion status of the elevator 2 using the method described above (S101). Then, the congestion status determination unit 127 determines whether the elevator 2 is congested or not (S102). If it is determined that the elevator 2 is congested (S102: Yes), the control unit 120 of the control panel 100 executes congested time processing (S103). On the other hand, if it is determined that the elevator 2 is not congested, that is, is in an off-peak state (S102: No), the control unit 120 of the control panel 100 executes off-peak time processing (S104). Then, the processing ends.

[0064] Next, the crowded time processing in S103 will be described in detail. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for the congestion process according to the embodiment. First, when the elevator is crowded, the allocating unit 125 of the control panel 100 cooperates with the control panels 100 of other elevators 2 to separate some of the multiple cars 5 from group management control and assign them to robot-priority cars as second cars 5 that the robot 500 can board (S201). That is, the allocating unit 125 allocates the multiple cars 5 to first cars 5 that only people can board (i.e., other cars) and second cars 5 that the robot 500 can board (i.e., robot-priority cars). The control panel 100 of the allocated elevator 2 stores in the memory unit 110 which car 5 the robot 5 is assigned to.

[0065] Next, the normal operation control unit 121 determines whether the car 5 it controls is the second car, i.e., a robot priority car, by referring to the memory unit 110 (S202). If the car 5 it controls is not a robot priority car, i.e., if it is another car (S202: No), the normal operation control unit 121 continues group management control and sets the car as a car reserved for people who do not accept robot-linked operation (other car) (S213). The normal operation control unit 121 performs normal operation (S214). Then, the process returns to the caller.

[0066] In S202, if the car 5 that it controls is a robot priority car (S202: Yes), the normal operation control unit 121 refers to the stopping floor limit range in the memory unit 110 and switches to operation within the stopping floor limit range for the assigned car 5 (S203).

[0067] 9A and 9B are diagrams showing an example of the operating state of the elevator car 5 of the elevator 2 during congestion in the embodiment. Fig. 9A shows the state during normal operation, and Fig. 9B shows the state during robot-linked operation.

[0068] At the time the processing of S203 is executed, as shown in Figure 9(a), elevator cars 5 of elevators 4 and 5 are removed from group management control and become robot-priority elevators. Furthermore, elevator No. 4 has a restricted stopping floor range within which it can stop, which is the lower floors from 1 to 10, and a range within which it cannot stop, which is the upper floors from 11 to 20. For elevator No. 5, a restricted stopping floor range within which it can stop, which is the upper floors from 11 to 20, and a range within which it cannot stop, which is the lower floors from 1 to 10, as shown in Figure 9(a).

[0069] Returning to FIG. 8, next, the communication unit 102 determines whether or not a destination floor call for the robot 500 has been received (S204). If a destination floor call for the robot 500 has not been received (S204: No), the normal operation control unit 121 performs normal operation within the stop floor limit range (S212). Then, the process returns to the call source.

[0070] In S204, if a destination floor call for the robot 500 is received (S204: Yes), the robot linked operation control unit 122 determines the elevator car 5 closest to the departure floor included in the destination floor call (S205).

[0071] Returning to FIG. 8, next, the robot-linked operation control unit 122 determines whether or not a person is present in the car 5 from the image captured by the camera 7 or the like (S206).

[0072] If there is a person in the car 5 (S206: Yes), the robot-linked operation control unit 122 responds to the destination floor call in the car 5 (without responding to subsequent hall calls), and moves the car 5 to the destination floor of the destination floor call of the robot 500 (S207). Here, the robot-linked operation control unit 122 moves the car 5 to the destination floor regardless of whether the destination floor falls within the car 5's stop floor restriction range.

[0073] In the example of Fig. 9(b), the departure floor of the destination floor call from the robot 500 is floor 2, and the destination floor is floor 15. Therefore, the robot interlocking operation control unit 122 assigns the No. 4 elevator, which is closest to the No. 2 floor, which is the departure floor, and moves the car 5 of the No. 4 elevator to the 15th floor, even though the No. 4 elevator's destination floor, 15th floor, does not fall within the stop floor restriction range of the No. 4 elevator.

[0074] Returning to FIG. 8, if it is determined in S206 that no person is present in the car 5 (S206: No), the process of S207 is not executed. Then, the robot interlocking operation control unit 122 performs the robot interlocking operation (S208).

[0075] Next, the robot linked operation control unit 122 determines whether or not the robot 500 is present in the car 5 from the image captured by the camera 7 (S209). If the robot 500 is present in the car 5 (S209: Yes), the control panel 100 checks the server 310 of the robot cloud 300 via the server 210 of the elevator cloud 200 to determine whether or not an error has occurred, and determines whether or not to output an alarm (S210). Then, if an error has occurred, the control panel 100 outputs an alarm in the car 5.

[0076] In S209, if the robot 500 is not present in the car 5 (S209: No), the process of S210 is not executed. Next, the robot linked operation control unit 122 ends the robot linked operation (S211), and the process returns to the caller.

[0077] Next, the off-hour processing in S104 will be described in detail. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for off-hour processing according to the embodiment. The normal operation control unit 121 of the control panel 100 performs group management control of all elevator cars 5, and stops the elevator cars 5 at the waiting floors on all floors in a distributed manner (S301). All elevator cars 5 are now in a state where they can be operated in conjunction with the robot.

[0078] Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the operating state of the car 5 of the elevator 2 during off-peak hours in the embodiment. Fig. 11(a) shows the state during normal operation, and Fig. 11(b) shows the state during robot-linked operation.

[0079] As shown in the example of FIG. 11(a), the waiting floors for the cars 5 of the elevators 2 of Nos. 1 to 5 are distributed to the 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th floors, respectively.

[0080] Next, the communication unit 102 determines whether or not it has received a destination floor call for the robot 500 (S302). If the communication unit 102 has not received a destination floor call for the robot 500 (S302: No), the normal operation control unit 121 performs normal operation (S314), and the process returns to the call source.

[0081] In S302, if the communication unit 102 receives a destination floor call for the robot 500 (S302: Yes), the robot-linked operation control unit 122 determines whether or not an unmanned car 5, which is an unmanned elevator car 5, exists in cooperation with other control panels 100 (S303). If an unmanned car does not exist (S303: No), the robot-linked operation control unit 122 sends an instruction to the robot 500 to wait temporarily via the server 210 of the elevator cloud 200 and the server 310 of the robot cloud 300, and waits for an unmanned car to become available (S304).

[0082] In S303, if an unmanned elevator exists (S303: Yes), the robot-linked operation control unit 122, in cooperation with the control panel 100 of the other elevator 2, determines the elevator car 5 (referred to as the "robot-linked elevator") to be operated in robot-linked operation from among the waiting unmanned elevators whose waiting floor is closest to the departure floor in the destination floor call of the robot 500 (S305).

[0083] The robot-linked operation control unit 122 determines whether the car 5 it controls is a robot-linked car (S306). If the car 5 it controls is not a robot-linked car (S306: No), the normal operation control unit 121 continues group management control and sets the car to a car number (other car number) reserved for people who do not accept robot-linked operation (S312). Then, the normal operation control unit 121 performs normal operation (S313), and the process returns to the caller.

[0084] In S306, if the car 5 controlled by itself is a robot-linked car (S306: Yes), the robot-linked operation control unit 122 moves the car 5 controlled by itself as a robot-linked car to the departure floor specified by the destination floor call of the robot 500 (S307). Then, the robot-linked operation control unit 122 performs robot-linked operation (S308).

[0085] In the example of Fig. 11(b), the departure floor of the destination floor call from the robot 500 is floor 15. Therefore, the robot interlocking operation control unit 122 assigns the No. 4 vehicle, which is closest to the 15th floor, which is the departure floor, i.e., the No. 4 vehicle waiting on the 15th floor in this example.

[0086] Returning to Fig. 10, next, the robot interlocking operation control unit 122 determines whether or not the robot 500 is present in the car 5 from the image captured by the camera 7 (S309). If the robot 500 is present in the car 5 (S309: Yes), the control panel 100 checks the server 310 of the robot cloud 300 via the server 210 of the elevator cloud 200 to determine whether or not an error has occurred, and determines whether or not to output an alarm (S310). Then, if an error has occurred, the control panel 100 outputs an alarm in the car 5.

[0087] In S309, if the robot 500 is not present in the car 5 (S309: No), the process of S310 is not executed. Next, the robot linked operation control unit 122 ends the robot linked operation (S311), and the process returns to the caller.

[0088] As described above, the control panel 100 of the elevator control system 1 according to this embodiment includes another control panel 100, a server 219 of the elevator cloud 200, a communication unit 102 capable of communicating with the other control panels 100, a distribution unit 125 which, when the elevator 2 is crowded, cooperates with the other control panels 100 to distribute the multiple cars 5 into one or more first cars that can only accommodate people and one or more second cars that can accommodate robots, and a normal operation control unit 121 which, when the elevator 2 is crowded, cooperates with the other control panels 100 to perform group management control to assign the first car closest to the departure floor to one or more first cars, and does not perform the group management control for one or more second cars, but controls the operation of the one or more second cars within a predetermined range of floors at which they can stop.

[0089] In this embodiment, by limiting the stopping floors of the car 5 of the elevator 2 capable of robot-linked operation within a stop floor limit range, even if the unmanned floor is the furthest from the departure floor of the destination floor call from the robot 500, the unmanned floor will be half of all floors, thereby reducing wasted travel time. For example, in an elevator 2 in a 20-story building, if the stop floor limit range is set to floors 1 to 10, when a destination floor call from the robot 500 is made on the second floor, the corresponding elevator 2 will be at least between floors 1 and 10, so the unmanned travel time will be a maximum of only 10 floors. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the robot transportation efficiency of the robot 500 can be improved.

[0090] In addition, in this embodiment, when elevator 2 is crowded, the robot priority elevator is separated from group management control, so people are not thrown around, and a decrease in the efficiency of elevator 2 in transporting people can be suppressed.

[0091] Therefore, according to this embodiment, by limiting the floors at which the elevator car 5 of the robot-linkable elevator 2 stops during crowded times and allocating it among multiple elevators, the unmanned movement time of the elevator 2 can be reduced, and the operating efficiency of the elevator 2 used by both people and robots 500 can be improved.

[0092] In addition, in this embodiment, when elevator 2 is crowded, the locations of the elevator cars 5 of elevators that have a restricted stopping floor range and are linked to the robot are concentrated in one place, thereby limiting the range in which robot 500 travels when the elevator hall is crowded, making it easier to predict the movements of robot 500.

[0093] Furthermore, when the control panel 100 of the elevator control system 1 according to this embodiment is congested, and the communication unit 102 receives a destination floor call from the server 210 of the elevator cloud 200, including the departure floor and destination floor specified by the robot 500, the control panel 100 is equipped with a robot linked operation control unit 122 that, in cooperation with other control panels 1000, assigns one or more second cars based on the departure floor, moves the assigned second car to the departure floor, and moves the second car to the destination floor regardless of whether the destination floor falls within the stop floor restriction range.

[0094] Therefore, according to this embodiment, when a destination floor call is received from the robot 500, the elevator 2 in robot-linked operation assigns the car 5 closest to the departure floor, and moves the assigned car 5 to the destination floor regardless of the destination floor's stop floor limit range, i.e., even if the destination floor is outside the stop floor limit range. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the operation efficiency of the elevator 2 used by both people and the robot 500 can be further improved.

[0095] Furthermore, in the control panel 100 of the elevator control system 1 according to this embodiment, when the elevator 2 is not busy, the normal operation control unit 121 cooperates with other control panels 100 to control the distribution of waiting floors for multiple cars from the lowest floor to the top floor.

[0096] Therefore, according to this embodiment, when the elevator 2 is quiet, the robot 500 can cooperate with all elevators, which is more efficient than limiting the elevators that can be used. That is, in this embodiment, the waiting floors are dispersed, which makes it possible to shorten the arrival time of the unmanned car 5 at any departure floor. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to further improve the operation efficiency of the elevator 2 that is used by both people and the robot 500.

[0097] Furthermore, in the control panel 100 of the elevator control system 1 according to this embodiment, the robot-linked operation control unit 122 further cooperates with other control panels 100 to allocate a car 5 by group management control when the communication unit 102 receives a destination floor call from the server 210 of the elevator cloud 200 during off-peak hours. Therefore, according to this embodiment, in robot-linked operation, group management control is performed during off-peak hours, so that the operating efficiency of the elevator 2 used by both people and robots 500 can be further improved.

[0098] Furthermore, the control panel 100 of the elevator control system 1 according to this embodiment includes a congestion status determination unit 127 that determines whether the elevator is crowded or not, based on the operation status of the elevator 2. Therefore, according to this embodiment, appropriate operation control can be achieved by determining the congestion status of the elevator 2 in real time, and therefore the operation efficiency of the elevator used by both people and the robot 500 can be further improved.

[0099] (Variation 1) In the above embodiment, various modifications are possible. In the above embodiment, the congestion status determination process by the congestion status determination unit 127, the elevator 2 car 5 allocation process by the allocation unit 125, and the group management control process by the normal operation control unit 121 and the robot-linked operation control unit 122 are all performed by the control panel 100 in cooperation with the control panels 100 of other elevators 2, but this is not limited to this.

[0100] For example, all or part of the congestion status determination unit 127, the allocation unit 125, or the processing unit that performs group management control may be provided in the server 210 of the elevator cloud 200, and all or part of the congestion status determination process, allocation process, or group management control process may be executed by the server 210. In this case, instructions may be sent from the server 210 to the control panel 100 of each elevator 2 according to the results of each process. Such a configuration makes it possible to simplify the processing on the control panel 100 side.

[0101] (Variation 2) In the above embodiment, the congestion status is judged to determine whether the times are busy or not, but it is also possible to configure the system so that busy and not-busy times are determined in advance based on the past operation status of the elevator 2, and the processing for busy times and the processing for not-busy times are separated into those time periods. For example, the start time, lunch break time, and end time of work can be set as busy times, and the rest can be set as not-busy times. In this case, it is possible to prevent confusion among people by setting a time period in advance.

[0102] (Variation 3) In the above embodiment, the stop floor limit range is predetermined, but is not limited to this. For example, depending on the property to which the elevator 2 is adapted, the floors in the stop floor limit range may be dynamically changed depending on the time of day.

[0103] As an example, in response to demand for lunchbox delivery at lunchtime, the basement of a department store or a restaurant at night, garbage disposal, etc., the range of restricted stopping floors can be changed so that higher floors are allowed to stop during the day, and lower floors are allowed to stop at night. In this case, the stopping floors used by robot 500 change depending on the demand during the time period, so by allowing robot 500 to stop only on floors near floors with demand, it is possible to improve the efficiency of transportation by robot 500. (Variation 4) If multiple elevator cars 5 of the robot-linkable elevator 2 can be prepared for each limited floor, the robot-linked operation control unit 122 may be configured to use group management control to select the elevator car 5 of the elevator 2 that can reach the departure floor the fastest when a call for the destination floor of the robot 500 is made.

[0104] In this case, when a destination floor call for the robot 500 is made, the waiting time of the robot 500 can be shortened by calculating the "car number that can reach the destination floor called for the robot 500 the fastest after responding to the car call."

[0105] (Other variations) The robot-linked operation control unit 122 may be configured to specify a car number of a car 5 that can be operated in tandem with the robot when crowded, which is next to the car number. In this case, it is possible to minimize the change in the movement pattern of the robot 500 to the boarding area for each floor.

[0106] When elevator 2 is not crowded with people and there are only a limited number of floors with a large number of calls from robot 500, the normal operation control unit 112 can be configured to vary the allocation of waiting floors depending on the timing.

[0107] When the elevator 2 is crowded, if the car 5 is within the stopping floor limit range after the robot-linked operation and a destination floor call from the next robot 500 is waiting, the robot-linked operation control unit 122 may be configured to continue the robot-linked operation as is.

[0108] The elevator control program executed by the control panel 100 according to the above embodiment and the modified example is provided in a state that it is pre-installed in a ROM or the like.

[0109] The elevator control program executed by the control panel 100 according to the above embodiments and modifications may be configured to be provided by being recorded in an installable or executable file format on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk).

[0110] Furthermore, the elevator control program executed by the control panel 100 according to the above embodiment and modified example may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network.

[0111] Furthermore, the elevator getting-on / off program executed by the robot 500 according to the above embodiment and modifications may be configured to be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

[0112] The elevator control program executed by the control panel 100 in the above-mentioned embodiment and modified example has a modular structure including each of the above-mentioned functional units (communication unit 102, normal operation control unit 121, robot-linked operation control unit 122, distribution unit 125, and congestion status determination unit 127), and in terms of actual hardware, the CPU reads and executes the elevator control program from the above-mentioned ROM, thereby loading each of the above-mentioned units onto the main memory device and generating each of the functional units onto the main memory device.

[0113] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as defined in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0114] 1...Elevator control system, 2, 2A, 2B...Elevator, 3...Building, 4, 4A, 4B...Operation panel, 5A...User, 7, 7A, 7B...Camera, 8, 8A, 8B...Load sensor, 20, 20A, 20B...Hoistway, 50, 50A, 50B...Car, 100, 100A, 100B...Control panel (elevator control device), 120, 211, 311, 501...Control unit, 102, 212, 312, 502...Communication unit, 11 0, 220, 320, 510...Memory unit, 111...Robot management DB, 121...Normal operation control unit, 122...Robot linked operation control unit, 125...Distribution unit, 127...Congestion status determination unit, 150, 150A, 150B...Controller, 160...Control room, 200...Elevator cloud, 210...Server, 300...Robot cloud, 310...Server, 500, 500A, 500B, 500C...Robot, 503...Drive unit.

Claims

1. An elevator control system comprising: an elevator control device that controls an elevator in which an autonomous moving body that can move autonomously in a plurality of cars can ride; and an elevator server that is connected to the elevator control device via a network and controls the elevation and descent of the cars; a distribution unit that distributes the plurality of cars to one or more first cars that only people can board and one or more second cars that the autonomous moving body can board when the elevator is crowded; a normal operation control unit that, in the case of congestion, performs group management control to assign the first car closest to a departure floor to the one or more first cars, does not perform group management control to the one or more second cars, and performs operation control for the one or more second cars within a stop floor limit range, which is a predetermined range of floors at which the second cars can stop; An elevator control system comprising:

2. an autonomous mobile body interlocking operation control unit that, when receiving a destination floor call including a departure floor and a destination floor specified by the autonomous mobile body during the crowded period, assigns a second car from among the one or more second cars based on the departure floor, moves the assigned second car to the departure floor, and performs control to move to the destination floor regardless of whether the destination floor falls within the stop floor restriction range; The elevator control system of claim 1 further comprising:

3. The normal operation control unit performs control to distribute the waiting floors of the plurality of elevator cars to floors from the lowest floor to the highest floor when the elevator is not busy.

3. The elevator control system of claim 2.

4. The autonomous mobile body linked operation control unit further allocates the elevator car by the group management control when the destination floor call is received during the off-peak period.

4. The elevator control system of claim 3.

5. a congestion status determination unit that determines whether the congestion status of the elevator is the crowded time or the quiet time based on the operation status of the elevator; The elevator control system according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising:

6. An elevator control device that controls an elevator in which an autonomous moving body that can move autonomously in a plurality of cars can ride, Another elevator control device, an elevator server connected to the elevator control device via a network and controlling the elevation and descent of the elevator car, and a communication unit capable of communication; a distribution unit that, when the elevator is crowded, cooperates with the other elevator control device to distribute the plurality of cars to one or more first cars that only people can ride in and one or more second cars that the autonomous moving body can ride in; a normal operation control unit that, in the case of congestion, cooperates with the other elevator control devices to perform group management control of allocating a first car that is closest to a departure floor to the one or more first cars, and does not perform the group management control to the one or more second cars, and performs operation control for the one or more second cars within a stop floor limit range that is a predetermined range of floors at which the second cars can stop; An elevator control device comprising:

7. an autonomous mobile body interlocking operation control unit that, when the communication unit receives from the elevator server a destination floor call including a departure floor and a destination floor specified by the autonomous mobile body during the crowded period, cooperates with the other elevator control device to assign a second car from among the one or more second cars based on the departure floor, moves the assigned second car to the departure floor, and moves the second car to the destination floor regardless of whether the destination floor falls within the stop floor restriction range; The elevator control device of claim 6 further comprising:

8. When the elevator is not busy, the normal operation control unit cooperates with the other elevator control devices to perform control to distribute the waiting floors of the plurality of cars to floors from the lowest floor to the top floor. The elevator control device according to claim 7.

9. The autonomous mobile object interlocking operation control unit further allocates the elevator car by the group management control in cooperation with the other elevator control devices when the communication unit receives the destination floor call from the elevator server during the off-peak period. The elevator control device according to claim 8.

10. a congestion status determination unit that determines whether the congestion status of the elevator is the crowded time or the quiet time based on the operation status of the elevator; The elevator control device according to claim 8 or 9, further comprising:

11. An elevator control method executed in an elevator control system including an elevator control device that controls an elevator in which an autonomous mobile body that can move autonomously in a plurality of cars can ride, and an elevator server that is connected to the elevator control device via a network and controls the elevation and descent of the cars, When the elevator is crowded, allocating the plurality of cars to one or more first cars that only people can board and one or more second cars that the autonomous moving body can board; When the train is crowded, performing group management control to assign the first car closest to a departure floor to the one or more first cars, not performing group management control to the one or more second cars, and performing operation control to the one or more second cars within a stop floor limit range, which is a predetermined range of floors at which the second cars can stop; An elevator control method comprising:

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