Elevator control system, control method, and control device

Abstract

To allow a robot to get on a car without generating useless calls as much as possible.SOLUTION: The robot management device determines (A) whether or not there is a boarding space for the robot in a car based on an image obtained by photographing by a camera installed in the car when the robot is moved between floors from a current floor to a destination floor by using an elevator. When it is determined in the determination (A) that "there is a boarding space", an assignment request for the robot is transmitted to the control device of the elevator by setting the current floor of the robot as the departure floor and setting the same direction as the moving direction of the car at that time as the destination direction. On the other hand, when the robot management device determines that "there is no boarding space" in the determination (A), the robot management device performs the determination (A) again based on a new image obtained by imaging by the camera without performing the allocation request, and repeatedly performs the determination (A) until it becomes possible to determine that "there is a boarding space".SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a control technique for moving a robot between floors using an elevator. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, robots have been increasingly used for various tasks in buildings (cleaning, monitoring, transportation, etc.) (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Accordingly, elevators are increasingly being used to move robots between floors in buildings, and there are an increasing number of cases where both users and robots use elevators. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7380793 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In an elevator where platform buttons (buttons that specify the destination direction) are installed at each floor, when a user presses a platform button at a floor, the car will arrive at that floor in the direction indicated by the platform button. However, not only the user who pressed the platform button but also other users heading in the same direction as the user will board the car. For this reason, it is difficult to predict how many users will board at any given time. Therefore, in an environment where such an elevator is used by both users and robots, the following problems may arise.

[0005] When a hall call for a robot is assigned to a car, depending on the elevator usage situation, there may be a situation where a passenger boards the car at an intermediate floor before the car arrives at the robot's boarding floor (current floor) in the direction of the robot's destination floor, leaving no space for the robot to board. If there is no more space for the robot to board in this way, the robot cannot board even if the car arrives at the robot's boarding floor, and the car's stop at that floor becomes a waste. In other words, the hall call for the robot becomes a wasted call. Furthermore, depending on the elevator usage situation, such a situation may be repeated, in which case it may take a long time for the robot to be able to board the car.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to allow a robot to board a car while minimizing unnecessary calls. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A robot management device according to the present invention has the following configuration (Aspect 1). When a robot is moved between floors using an elevator from a current floor to a destination floor, the robot management device makes a determination (A) based on an image captured by a camera installed in the elevator car to determine whether there is space for the robot in the elevator car. If the robot management device determines in determination (A) that there is space for the robot in the elevator car, the robot management device makes an allocation request for the robot by sending information to the elevator control device, with the current floor of the robot as the departure floor and the direction of the elevator car's movement at that time as the destination direction, thereby causing the control device to allocate the robot to a elevator car with the departure floor and destination direction as a single hall call. On the other hand, if the robot management device determines in determination (A) that there is no space for the robot in the elevator car, the robot management device does not make an allocation request, but makes determination (A) again based on a new image captured by the camera, and repeats determination (A) until it determines that there is space for the robot in the elevator car.

[0008] According to the above-mentioned aspect 1, when it is confirmed that there is boarding space for the robot in the car, even if the direction of movement of the car at that time is opposite to the forward direction from the robot's current floor to the robot's destination floor, the car can be stopped at the robot's current floor while moving in the opposite direction. This increases the opportunities for the robot to board the car. Furthermore, by making an allocation request after confirming that there is boarding space for the robot in the car, it becomes less likely that a hall call assigned to the car in accordance with the request will be an unnecessary call. Therefore, it becomes possible to increase the opportunities for the robot to board the car without generating unnecessary calls as much as possible.

[0009] The robot management device according to the above-mentioned aspect 1 may have the following configuration (aspect 2). After making the allocation request, the robot management device may further make a determination (B) as to whether the situation inside the elevator car has changed to a situation where there is no boarding space, based on a new image captured by a camera. Then, if the robot management device determines in determination (B) that the situation has "changed," it may cause the control device to cancel the allocation of the hall call to the robot.

[0010] According to the above-mentioned aspect 2, when it is determined that a hall call from a robot will be a useless call if it is left as is, the control device can cancel the allocation of that hall call to a car, thereby making it possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of useless calls. In other words, it becomes possible to stop the car at the robot's current floor (boarding floor) in a situation where the robot can reliably board (a situation where there is boarding space).

[0011] The robot management device according to the above-mentioned aspect 1 or 2 may have the following configuration (aspect 3). If the destination direction transmitted in the allocation request is the same as the forward direction from the robot's current floor to the robot's destination floor, the robot management device may then, when the robot has completed boarding the car, transmit a car call registration request for the robot to the control device, with the robot's destination floor as the destination floor. On the other hand, if the destination direction transmitted in the allocation request is the opposite direction to the forward direction, the robot management device may transmit a car call registration request for the robot to the control device, with the robot's destination floor as the destination floor, when the direction of movement of the car reverses and becomes the forward direction after the robot has boarded the car.

[0012] In an elevator, when the moving direction of a car is reversed, a control (reset control) is generally performed to erase the car calls that remain registered in that car. Even when such a reset control is performed, according to the above-mentioned aspect 3, it is possible to have the control device execute the registration of car calls for the robot at an appropriate timing so that the car calls are not erased by the reset control.

[0013] A first control system according to the present invention is a control system applicable to an elevator in which lightable hall buttons for specifying a destination direction are installed on each floor, and has the following configuration (Aspect A). The control system comprises an elevator control device and a robot management device according to any of Aspects 1 to 3 above. When a user presses a hall button on any floor, the control device lights up the button and assigns a hall call to a car, with the floor on which the button is installed as the departure floor and the direction indicated by the button as the destination direction.

[0014] In the control system according to the above aspect A, when the control device receives an allocation request for a robot from the robot management device and allocates a hall call, the control device may control the hall button at the current floor of the robot not to light up until the user presses the button (aspect 4).

[0015] Here, if a user who has arrived at the platform is facing the direction in which they are heading, and the platform button for that direction is lit, they will not press that button again. Therefore, if the control device assigns a platform call to the robot and then lights up the platform button for the same direction as the destination direction indicated by the platform call, a user who arrives in the same direction as the destination direction Kc will wait at the platform without pressing the platform button. Therefore, if the control device cancels the platform call for the robot in this situation, a user waiting at the platform to head in the same direction will be left without a platform call.

[0016] On the other hand, according to the above-mentioned aspect 4, when a platform call is assigned to a robot, it is possible to prevent a situation in which users who are heading in the same direction as the destination indicated by the platform call end up waiting at the platform without anyone pressing the platform button.

[0017] In the control system according to the above aspect A, when the control device receives an allocation request for a robot from the robot management device and allocates a hall call, the control device may not immediately light up the hall button at the robot's current floor, but may control the button to light up when the elevator starts to respond to the hall call or when a user has pressed the button before that (aspect 5).

[0018] According to the above-mentioned aspect 5, after a platform call is assigned to a robot, the platform button for the same direction as the destination direction indicated by the platform call can be kept dark until a user presses the button, only for a limited period during which the assignment of the platform call may be canceled. In this case, as in the above-mentioned aspect 4, it is possible to prevent a situation in which users who are heading in the same direction as the destination direction indicated by the platform call of the robot wait at the platform without anyone pressing the platform button.

[0019] A robot management method according to the present invention has the following configuration (Aspect 6). In the robot management method, when a robot is moved between floors using an elevator from a current floor to a destination floor, a determination (A) is made as to whether or not there is space for the robot in the elevator car based on an image captured by a camera installed in the elevator car. If the determination (A) determines that there is space for the robot to board, a request for allocation of the robot is made by sending information to the elevator control device, with the robot's current floor as the departure floor and the same direction as the elevator car's current movement as the destination direction, thereby causing the control device to assign the robot to a elevator car with the departure floor and destination direction as a single hall call. On the other hand, if the determination (A) determines that there is no space for the robot to board, the request for allocation is not made, and the determination (A) is made again based on a new image captured by the camera, and the determination (A) is repeated until it is determined that there is space for the robot to board.

[0020] A robot according to the present invention has the following configuration (Aspect 7). When the robot travels between floors in an elevator from a current floor to a destination floor, the robot makes a decision (A) based on an image captured by a camera installed in the elevator car to determine whether there is boarding space for the robot in the elevator car. If the robot determines in decision (A) that there is boarding space, the robot requests a hall call assignment for the robot itself, with the robot's current floor as the departure floor and the direction of the elevator car's current movement as the destination direction, by transmitting this information to the elevator control device, thereby causing the control device to assign the departure floor and destination direction to a hall call. On the other hand, if the robot determines in decision (A) that there is no boarding space, the robot does not make an assignment request, but instead makes decision (A) again based on a new image captured by the camera, and repeats decision (A) until it determines that there is boarding space.

[0021] In either of the above-mentioned aspects 6 and 7, as in the above-mentioned aspect 1, it is possible to increase the opportunities for the robot to board the elevator car while minimizing the occurrence of unnecessary calls.

[0022] A second control system according to the present invention is a control system applicable to elevators and has the following configuration (Aspect 8). The control system includes an elevator control device and a robot management device. When using an elevator to move a robot from a current floor to a destination floor, the robot management device requests the robot to be assigned a hall call by transmitting the robot's current floor to the control device. When the control device receives the robot assignment request from the robot management device, it determines (A) whether there is boarding space for the robot in the car based on an image captured by a camera installed in the car. If the control device determines in determination (A) that "boarding space is available," it assigns a hall call to the car, with the robot's current floor as the departure floor and with the destination direction being the same as the direction of travel of the car at that time. On the other hand, if the control device determines in decision (A) that "there is no boarding space," it does not assign a hall call, but instead makes decision (A) again based on a new image obtained by photographing with the camera, and repeats decision (A) until it can determine that "there is boarding space."

[0023] According to the above-mentioned aspect 8, as with the above-mentioned aspect 1, it is possible to increase the opportunities for a robot to board a car. Also, by assigning a hall call to the robot only after confirming that there is boarding space for the robot in the car, the hall call is less likely to be a useless call. Therefore, it is possible to increase the opportunities for a robot to board a car while minimizing the occurrence of useless calls.

[0024] The control system according to the above-mentioned aspect 8 may have the following configuration (aspect 9). After allocating a hall call to the robot, the control device may further determine (B) whether the situation inside the car has changed to a situation where there is no boarding space, based on a new image captured by the camera. Then, if the control device determines in determination (B) that the situation has "changed," it may cancel the allocation of the hall call to the robot.

[0025] According to the above-mentioned aspect 9, it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of unnecessary calls, as in the above-mentioned aspect 2. In other words, it is possible to stop the elevator car at the robot's current floor (boarding floor) in a situation where the robot can reliably board (a situation where there is boarding space).

[0026] The control system according to the above-mentioned aspect 8 or 9 may have the following configuration (aspect 10). When the destination direction indicated by the hall call is the same as the forward direction from the robot's current floor to the robot's destination floor, the robot management device may subsequently, when the robot has boarded the car, send a car call registration request for the robot to the control device, with the robot's destination floor as the destination floor. On the other hand, when the destination direction indicated by the hall call is opposite to the forward direction, the robot management device may, after the robot has boarded the car, send a car call registration request for the robot to the control device, with the robot's destination floor as the destination floor, when the direction of movement of the car reverses and becomes the forward direction. Then, when the control device receives the registration request, it may register the destination floor as a car call in the car.

[0027] According to the above-mentioned aspect 10, as in the above-mentioned aspect 3, it is possible to register a car call for a robot at an appropriate timing so that the car call is not erased by the reset control.

[0028] The control system according to any one of the above aspects 8 to 10 may be applied to an elevator in which lightable hall buttons for specifying a destination direction are installed on each floor, and in that case, the control system may have the following configuration (Aspect B): When a user presses a hall button on any floor, the control device may light up the button and assign a hall call to the elevator car, with the floor on which the button is installed as the departure floor and the direction indicated by the button as the destination direction.

[0029] In the control system according to the above aspect B, when the control device receives an allocation request for a robot and allocates a hall call, the control device may control the hall button at the current floor of the robot not to light up until the user presses the button (aspect 11).

[0030] According to the above-mentioned aspect 11, as in the above-mentioned aspect 4, when a platform call is assigned to a robot, it is possible to prevent a situation in which users who are heading in the same direction as the destination indicated by the platform call end up waiting at the platform without anyone pressing the platform button.

[0031] In the control system according to the above aspect B, when the control device receives an allocation request for a robot and allocates a hall call, the control device may not immediately light up the hall button at the robot's current floor, but may control the button to light up when the elevator starts to respond to the hall call or when a user has pressed the button before that (aspect 12).

[0032] According to the above-mentioned aspect 12, similar to the above-mentioned aspect 5, after a platform call is assigned to a robot, the platform button for the same direction as the destination direction indicated by the platform call can be kept dark until a user presses the button, only for a limited period during which the assignment of the platform call may be canceled. Therefore, similar to the above-mentioned aspect 11, when a platform call is assigned to a robot, it is possible to prevent a situation in which users who are heading in the same direction as the destination direction indicated by the platform call wait at the platform without anyone pressing the platform button. [Effects of the Invention]

[0033] According to the present invention, it is possible to have a robot board a car while minimizing unnecessary calls. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0034] [Figure 1]1 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of an elevator according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 1A and 1B are conceptual diagrams illustrating examples of robot management data, allocation request management data, and registration request management data used in an embodiment. [Figure 3] 1A and 1B are conceptual diagrams illustrating examples of (A) device management data for the first operation unit, (B) device management data for the second operation unit, (C) hall call management data and car call management data for users, and (D) hall call management data and car call management data for robots, all of which are used in the embodiment. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an allocation request process executed in the embodiment. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an allocation process executed in the embodiment. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing a boarding command process executed in the embodiment. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing a registration request process executed in the embodiment. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing a registration process executed in the embodiment. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing a dismount command process executed in the embodiment. [Figure 10] 10 is a flowchart showing an allocation request process executed in a first modified example. [Figure 11] 10 is a flowchart showing an allocation request process executed in a second modified example. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram illustrating hall call management data used in place of assignment request management data in a fourth modified example. [Figure 13] 13 is a flowchart showing allocation request processing executed in a fourth modified example. [Figure 14] 13 is a flowchart showing an allocation process executed in a fourth modified example. [Figure 15] 13 is a flowchart showing an allocation process executed in a fifth modified example. [Figure 16]13 is a flowchart showing an allocation process executed in a sixth modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0035] [1] Implementation [1-1] Overall structure of the elevator FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of an elevator according to an embodiment. In this embodiment, the elevator is equipped with one car G, which is used not only by passengers but also by a robot H that performs various tasks (cleaning, monitoring, transport, etc.) in the building where the elevator is installed. A first operating unit 1 is installed at the landing of each elevator floor, allowing the user to specify a destination direction Kc, and a second operating unit 2 is installed inside the car G, allowing the user to specify a destination floor Fd. In addition to these components, the elevator also includes a robot management device 3 and an elevator control device 4.

[0036] In this embodiment, in order to allow the robot H to board the elevator car G while minimizing unnecessary calls, a control system that makes this possible is constructed using a robot management device 3 and an elevator control device 4. The configuration of each part will be specifically described below.

[0037] <1st operation section> On floors other than the terminal floors, i.e., the top floor and the bottom floor, the first operation unit 1 includes a hall button (up button) for specifying an upward direction as the destination direction Kc, and a hall button (down button) for specifying a downward direction as the destination direction Kc. On the other hand, on the top floor, the first operation unit 1 includes only a hall button (down button) for specifying a downward direction, and on the bottom floor, it includes only a hall button (up button) for specifying an upward direction.

[0038] When a user operates the first operating unit 1 at a hall (by pressing the hall button) to specify their own destination direction Kc, the destination direction Kc is transmitted to the elevator control device 4. As a result, a request for allocation of a hall call X (hereinafter referred to as "hall call Xg") for the user is made to the elevator control device 4 (allocation request from the user). At this time, in order to make the elevator control device 4 recognize that the operated operating unit is the first operating unit 1, device information Pd1 for distinguishing the operated operating unit from other operating units, devices, etc. is also transmitted to the elevator control device 4.

[0039] <Second operation section> The second operation unit 2 includes a plurality of destination buttons, each of which corresponds to a plurality of floors to which the elevator of this embodiment can guide the user.

[0040] When a user operates the second operation unit 2 in the car G (by pressing any of the destination buttons) to specify their destination floor Fd, the destination floor Fd is transmitted to the elevator control device 4. As a result, a registration request for a car call Yg for the user (hereinafter referred to as "car call Yg") is made to the elevator control device 4 (registration request from the user). At this time, in order to make the elevator control device 4 recognize that the operated operation unit is the second operation unit 2, device information Pd2 for distinguishing the operation unit from other operation units and devices is also transmitted to the elevator control device 4.

[0041] <Robot management device> The robot management device 3 is a device that centrally manages the robots H used in the building where the elevator of this embodiment is installed.

[0042] In this embodiment, the robot management device 3 knows the current floor Fx of each robot H. When each robot H needs to move between floors, it transmits the destination floor Fy to the robot management device 3. At this time, the robot H also transmits robot information Ph to the robot management device 3 to identify itself from other robots H, so that the robot management device 3 can recognize which robot H has transmitted the destination floor Fy.

[0043] When the robot management device 3 receives a destination floor Fy and robot information Ph from any robot H, it requests the elevator control device 4 to allocate a hall call X (hereinafter referred to as a "hall call Xh") for that robot H at an appropriate timing to minimize the occurrence of unnecessary calls (allocation request processing, see FIG. 4). Thereafter, when a car G arrives at the current floor Fx of the robot H in response to the hall call Xh, the robot management device 3 causes the robot H to board the car G (boarding command processing, see FIG. 6). Then, at an appropriate timing after the boarding is completed, it requests the elevator control device 4 to register a car call Y (hereinafter referred to as a "car call Yh") for that robot H (registration request processing, see FIG. 7). Then, when the car G arrives at the destination floor Fy of the robot H, the robot management device 3 causes the robot H to disembark from the car G (disembark command processing, see FIG. 9). Details of these processes will be described later.

[0044] Specifically, the robot management device 3 includes a storage unit 31 and a control unit 32 (see FIG. 1).

[0045] The storage unit 31 is a part configured with storage devices such as ROM and RAM, and stores information necessary for the control processing performed by the robot management device 3. In this embodiment, the storage unit 31 stores robot management data Dp and request management data Dq as such information.

[0046] The robot management data Dp is a database for managing, for each robot H, a plurality of pieces of information related to that robot H in association with each other.

[0047] The request management data Dq includes allocation request management data Dq1 and registration request management data Dq2. Here, the allocation request management data Dq1 is data for managing information on allocation requests for the robot H. The registration request management data Dq2 is data for managing information on registration requests for the robot H.

[0048] 2(A) is a conceptual diagram illustrating robot management data Dp used in this embodiment. In the robot management data Dp, for each robot H, the robot information Ph and current floor Fx of that robot H, and the destination of the robot H when it moves between floors are recorded in a mutually associated state. Here, the current floor Fx associated with each robot H is the floor on which that robot H is located, and is updated each time that robot H moves between floors. Furthermore, the destination associated with each robot H is the destination floor Fy transmitted by that robot H for moving between floors, and the destination floor Fy is erased when that robot H has finished disembarking at that floor.

[0049] As a result, when the robot management device 3 receives robot information Ph from each robot H together with the destination floor Fy, it becomes possible to identify the current floor Fx of that robot H from the robot information Ph. In this embodiment, the current floor Fx of that robot H is used as the departure floor Fc (boarding floor) when that robot H moves between floors using an elevator car G. Furthermore, by referring to the movement destination associated with the robot information Ph of each robot H, if the movement destination has the destination floor Fy recorded, the robot management device 3 can determine that the robot H is moving between floors and can also ascertain which floor that movement destination is, and on the other hand, if the movement destination has not the destination floor Fy recorded, it can determine that the robot H is deployed at the current floor Fx.

[0050] FIG. 2(B) is a conceptual diagram illustrating the assignment request management data Dq1 used in this embodiment. In the assignment request management data Dq1, each time an assignment request for a robot H is made to the elevator control device 4, the robot information Ph for that robot H and the information transmitted to the elevator control device 4 in the assignment request (in this embodiment, the departure floor Fc and the destination direction Kc from that floor) are recorded in a mutually associated state. The example of FIG. 2(B) shows a case in which two directions, "upward" and "downward," are associated as information indicating the destination direction Kc, and the direction transmitted as the destination direction Kc of the two directions is set to "ON," while the other direction is set to "OFF." Then, the assignment request information for each robot H is deleted from the assignment request management data Dq1 when a request to register a car call Yh for that robot H is made to the elevator control device 4 (see step S410 in FIG. 7).

[0051] 2(C) is a conceptual diagram illustrating the registration request management data Dq2 used in this embodiment. In the registration request management data Dq2, each time a registration request for a robot H is made to the elevator control device 4, the robot information Ph of the robot H and the information (destination floor Fd in this embodiment) transmitted to the elevator control device 4 in the registration request are recorded in a mutually associated state. The registration request information for each robot H is then deleted from the registration request management data Dq2 when the robot H has completely disembarked at the destination floor Fy indicated by the information (see step S606 in FIG. 9).

[0052] The control unit 32 is a part that is responsible for executing the control processes (including allocation request processing, boarding command processing, registration request processing, and dismounting command processing) performed by the robot management device 3. Specifically, the control unit 32 is composed of processing devices such as a CPU and an MPU, and executes a control program installed in the robot management device 3 to realize the execution of its own control processes in software. Note that, before being installed in the robot management device 3, this control program may be stored in a readable state on a portable storage medium (e.g., a flash memory, etc.), or may be stored in a downloadable state on another server, etc. Furthermore, the control processes performed by the robot management device 3 are not limited to being realized in software by executing a program, but may also be realized in hardware by a processing circuit built into the robot management device 3.

[0053] <Elevator control device> The elevator control device 4 is a device that controls the operation of the car G. In this embodiment, when the elevator control device 4 receives an allocation request from a user at a hall or the robot management device 3, it allocates the hall call X ("Xg" in the case of an allocation request from a user, and "Xh" in the case of an allocation request from the robot management device 3) to the car G (allocation process; see FIG. 5), and then causes the car G to perform a response operation to the hall call X (response process). Details of the allocation process will be described later.

[0054] Furthermore, when the elevator control device 4 receives a registration request from a user in the car G or from the robot management device 3, it registers the car call Y ("Yg" in the case of a registration request from the user, and "Yh" in the case of a registration request from the robot management device 3) in the car G (registration processing; see FIG. 8), and then causes the car G to execute a response operation to the car call Y (response processing). Details of the registration processing will be described later.

[0055] Furthermore, in this embodiment, in order to allow the robot H to board the elevator car G while minimizing unnecessary elevator calls, the elevator control device 4 performs processing to make this possible in cooperation with the robot management device 3. Specifically, the processing is as follows.

[0056] A camera 20 is installed in the car G to take pictures of the inside of the car (see FIG. 1), and the elevator control device 4 can, in response to a request from the robot management device 3, return an image Qg obtained by photographing the inside of the car G with the camera 20 to the robot management device 3. In addition, in response to a request from the robot management device 3, the elevator control device 4 can return elevator information Pe that it currently knows (such as the operating status of the car G and the usage status of the elevator) to the robot management device 3.

[0057] Specifically, the elevator control device 4 includes a storage unit 41 and a control unit 42 (see FIG. 1).

[0058] The storage unit 41 is a part configured with storage devices such as ROM and RAM, and stores information necessary for the control processing performed by the elevator control device 4. In this embodiment, the storage unit 41 stores device management data Dr, hall call management data Dx, and car call management data Dy as such information.

[0059] The device management data Dr includes device management data Dr1 for the first operation unit 1 and device management data Dr2 for the second operation unit 2. Here, the device management data Dr1 is a database for managing, for each first operation unit 1, multiple pieces of information related to that operation unit by linking them together. The device management data Dr2 is a database for managing, for each second operation unit 2, multiple pieces of information related to that operation unit by linking them together.

[0060] The hall call management data Dx includes hall call management data DxG for users and hall call management data DxH for the robot H. Furthermore, the car call management data Dy includes car call management data DyG for users and car call management data DyH for the robot H. Here, the hall call management data DxG and the car call management data DyG are data for managing information on hall calls Xg and car calls Yg for users, respectively. The hall call management data DxH and the car call management data DyH are data for managing information on hall calls Xh and car calls Yh for the robot H, respectively.

[0061] 3(A) is a conceptual diagram illustrating device management data Dr1 used in this embodiment for the first operation unit 1. In the device management data Dr1, for each first operation unit 1, device information Pd1 of that operation unit and the installation floor Fs are recorded in a mutually associated state.

[0062] As a result, when the elevator control device 4 receives device information Pd1 together with the destination direction Kc from any of the first operation units 1, it becomes possible to identify the installation floor Fs of the first operation unit 1 (the operation unit that specified the destination direction Kc) from the device information Pd1. In this embodiment, the installation floor Fs of the first operation unit 1 is used as the departure floor Fc (boarding floor) of the user who specified the destination direction Kc by operating that operation unit.

[0063] 3(B) is a conceptual diagram illustrating the device management data Dr2 for the second operation unit 2 used in this embodiment. In the device management data Dr2, for each second operation unit 2, device information Pd2 of that operation unit and car information Pg of the car G in which that operation unit is installed are recorded in a mutually associated state. In this embodiment, since there is one car G, only one set of information about the second operation unit 2 installed in that car G is recorded in the device management data Dr2.

[0064] As a result, when the elevator control device 4 receives the device information Pd2 together with the destination floor Fd from the second operation unit 2, it becomes possible to identify the car G in which the second operation unit 2 is installed (the car G for which the destination floor Fd has been specified) from the device information Pd2. Therefore, when registering the destination floor Fd received from the second operation unit 2 as a car call Yg, the elevator control device 4 can identify the car G to which it should be registered.

[0065] FIG. 3(C) is a conceptual diagram illustrating the hall call management data DxG and car call management data DyG for users used in this embodiment.

[0066] In the hall call management data DxG (see the left diagram in Figure 3(C)), each elevator floor and each direction in which the car G can move from that floor are associated with an allocation status that indicates whether or not a hall call Xg with the pair of floors and directions as the departure floor Fc and destination direction Kc has been assigned to the car G (in other words, whether or not a user has pressed the hall button for that direction at that floor).The example in Figure 3(C) shows a case in which the allocation status for each direction from each floor is updated to "ON" when a hall call Xg with the pair of floors and directions as the departure floor Fc and destination direction Kc has been assigned, and is updated to "OFF" when the hall call Xg is deleted.

[0067] Furthermore, in the car call management data DyG (see the right diagram in Figure 3(C)), each elevator floor is associated with a registration status that indicates whether or not a car call Yg with that floor as the destination floor Fd has been registered for the car G (in other words, whether or not a user has pressed the destination button for that floor).The example in Figure 3(C) shows a case in which the registration status for each floor is updated to "ON" when a car call Yg with that floor as the destination floor Fd is registered, and is updated to "OFF" when that car call Yg is deleted.

[0068] FIG. 3(D) is a conceptual diagram illustrating hall call management data DxH and car call management data DyH for robot H used in this embodiment.

[0069] In the hall call management data DxH (see the upper diagram of FIG. 3(D)), each time a hall call Xh is assigned to a robot H, the robot information Ph of the robot H and the departure floor Fc and destination direction Kc indicated by the hall call Xh are recorded in a mutually associated state. In the example of FIG. 3(D), two directions, "upward" and "downward," are associated as information indicating the destination direction Kc, and a case is shown in which the direction indicated by the hall call Xh as the destination direction Kc of the two directions is set to "ON," while the other direction is set to "OFF." The information on the hall call Xh for each robot H is then deleted from the hall call management data DxH (deletion of the hall call Xh) when the hall call Xh has completed its role (for example, when a car G arrives at the departure floor Fc indicated by the hall call Xh in the destination direction Kc indicated by the hall call Xh).

[0070] Furthermore, in the car call management data DyH (see the lower diagram of Figure 3(D)), each time a car call Yh for a robot H is registered, the robot information Ph for that robot H and the destination floor Fd indicated by that car call Yh are recorded in a mutually associated state. Then, the information on the car call Yh for each robot H is deleted from the car call management data DyH (deletion of the car call Yh) when that car call Yh has completed its role (for example, when a car G arrives at the destination floor Fd indicated by that car call Yh).

[0071] The control unit 42 is a part that is responsible for executing the control processes (including allocation processes, registration processes, and response processes) performed by the elevator control device 4. Specifically, the control unit 42 is composed of a processing device such as a CPU or an MPU, and executes a control program installed in the elevator control device 4 to realize the execution of its own control processes in software. Note that, before being installed in the elevator control device 4, this control program may be stored in a readable state on a portable storage medium (e.g., a flash memory, etc.), or may be stored in a downloadable state on another server, etc. Furthermore, the control processes performed by the elevator control device 4 are not limited to being realized in software by executing a program, but may also be realized in hardware by a processing circuit built into the elevator control device 4.

[0072] [1-2] Control process executed by elevator [1-2-1] Allocation request processing performed by the robot management device 4 is a flowchart showing the allocation request process executed in this embodiment. This allocation request process is started each time the robot management device 3 receives a destination floor Fy and robot information Ph from any robot H. Here, the robot H that transmitted this information will be referred to as the "target robot Hk." Furthermore, the information received by the robot management device 3 at that time (including the destination floor Fy and robot information Ph) will be collectively referred to as the "received information Pr1."

[0073] When the allocation request process starts, the robot management device 3 uses the robot management data Dp (see FIG. 2(A)) to find robot information Ph recorded therein that matches the robot information Ph in the received information Pr1, and then extracts the current floor Fx associated with it (step S101). Furthermore, the robot management device 3 records the destination floor Fy in the received information Pr1 as the movement destination in the robot management data Dp, in association with the found robot information Ph. This records in the robot management data Dp that the target robot Hk is currently moving between floors toward the destination floor Fy. The example in FIG. 2(A) shows a case where a robot H, whose robot information Ph is "H-01," has transmitted the destination floor Fy, "eighth floor," as the movement destination in order to move between floors from the current floor Fx, "third floor."

[0074] Next, the robot management device 3 obtains an image Qg taken by the camera 20 of the interior of the car G from the elevator control device 4 in order to grasp the situation inside the car G at that time (current time) (step S102). Specifically, the robot management device 3 requests the elevator control device 4 to return the image Qg. In response to the request from the robot management device 3, the elevator control device 4 returns the image Qg obtained by taking a picture of the interior of the car G with the camera 20 at that time, and the robot management device 3 receives the image Qg.

[0075] Furthermore, in step S102, the robot management device 3 also acquires information on the moving direction Kg of the car G at that time (current time) (hereinafter referred to as "moving direction Kgt") from the elevator control device 4. Specifically, as will be described later (see the explanation of the boarding command processing), the robot management device 3 acquires elevator information Pe (such as the operating status of the car G and the usage status of the elevator) from the elevator control device 4 at any time. Therefore, in step S102, the robot management device 3 extracts the moving direction Kgt of the car G from the elevator information Pe at that time (current time).

[0076] After step S102, the robot management device 3 determines whether or not there is a space for the target robot Hk to board in the car G, based on the image Qg acquired in step S102 (step S103).

[0077] As an example, the robot management device 3 recognizes a user in the car G through image analysis and estimates the size of the available space excluding the user. At this time, if the robot management device 3 detects through image analysis that the user is carrying large luggage, it may estimate the size of the available space by further excluding the luggage. Then, the robot management device 3 determines whether there is enough space for the target robot Hk in the car G by determining whether the estimated space is equal to or larger than the space required for the target robot Hk to board. At this time, the space required for the target robot Hk to board may be a fixed value set so that any robot H can board, or a value set for each robot H according to its size, shape, etc.

[0078] Here, elevators generally have a control system that uses a load sensor or the like to detect full occupancy. However, even if this control does not detect full occupancy, a situation may arise in which the robot H cannot board the car G depending on the size or shape of the robot. In other words, a situation may arise in the car G where there is free space for a user to board, but not enough free space for the robot H to board. Even in such a case, by making the determination in step S103 based on the image Qg as described above, it becomes possible to accurately determine whether or not there is free space for the robot H to board.

[0079] If the robot management device 3 determines in step S103 that "boarding space is available (Yes)," it requests the elevator control device 4 to allocate a hall call Xh for the target robot Hk (step S104). Specifically, the robot management device 3 sets the current floor Fx extracted in step S101 (the current floor Fx of the target robot Hk) as the departure floor Fc, and sets the same direction as the movement direction Kgt (the movement direction Kg of the car G at that time) obtained in step S102 as the destination direction Kc, and transmits this information together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk to the elevator control device 4. Then, the robot management device 3 records the information (robot information Ph, departure floor Fc, destination direction Kc) transmitted to the elevator control device 4 as allocation request information in the allocation request management data Dq1 in a mutually associated state (see FIG. 2(B)). 2(B) shows the case where the movement direction Kgt acquired in step S102 for the target robot Hk, whose robot information Ph is "H-01," is "upward." After step S104, the robot management device 3 ends the allocation request process.

[0080] On the other hand, if the robot management device 3 determines in step S103 that "there is no boarding space (No)", it does not make an allocation request for the target robot Hk (step S104), but returns to step S102, acquires a new image Qg and movement direction Kgt at that time from the elevator control device 4, and then makes the determination in step S103 again.The robot management device 3 then repeats the processing of steps S102 and S103 until it can determine in step S103 that "there is boarding space (Yes)".

[0081] According to this allocation request process, when it is confirmed that there is boarding space for the target robot Hk in the car G, even if the moving direction Kg of the car G at that time is the opposite direction Kt to the forward direction Ks from the target robot Hk's current floor Fx to the target floor Fy of the target robot Hk, the car G can be stopped at the target robot Hk's current floor Fx while moving in the opposite direction Kt. This increases the opportunities for the target robot Hk to board the car G. Furthermore, by making an allocation request after confirming that there is boarding space for the target robot Hk in the car G, the hall call Xh assigned to the car G in accordance with the request is less likely to be an unnecessary call. Therefore, it is possible to increase the opportunities for the target robot Hk to board the car G while minimizing the occurrence of unnecessary calls.

[0082] [1-2-2] Allocation process performed by elevator control device 5 is a flowchart showing the allocation process executed in this embodiment. This allocation process is started when a request for allocation of a hall call X is made to the elevator control device 4 from a user (first operation unit 1) or the robot management device 3.

[0083] Hereinafter, the information received by the elevator control device 4 for each allocation request will be collectively referred to as "received information Pr2." Specifically, if the allocation request is a request from a user (first operation unit 1) (a request to allocate a hall call Xg for the user), this received information Pr2 will be a set of information including the destination direction Kc and device information Pd1, and if the allocation request is a request from the robot management device 3 (a request to allocate a hall call Xh for the robot H), the received information Pr2 will be a set of information including the departure floor Fc, the destination direction Kc, and robot information Ph.

[0084] When the allocation process begins, the elevator control device 4 determines whether the received allocation request is from a user (first operating unit 1) or a robot management device 3 by determining whether the device information Pd1 or the robot information Ph is included in the received information Pr2 (step S200).

[0085] If the elevator control device 4 determines in step S200 that the device information Pd1 is included, it can determine that the received allocation request is a request from the user (first operation unit 1). In this case, the elevator control device 4 first uses the device management data Dr1 to find the device information Pd1 recorded therein that matches the device information Pd1 in the received information Pr2, extracts the corresponding installation floor Fs, and sets the installation floor Fs as the user's departure floor Fc. Then, the elevator control device 4 combines the departure floor Fc and the destination direction Kc in the received information Pr2 into one hall call Xg, and assigns the hall call Xg to the car G (step S201). Then, the elevator control device 4 reflects the information of the hall call Xg (departure floor Fc and destination direction Kc) in the hall call management data DxG (see the left diagram in Figure 3(C)). After that, the elevator control device 4 terminates the allocation process.

[0086] On the other hand, if the elevator control device 4 determines in step S200 that the "robot information Ph" is included, it can determine that the received allocation request is a request from the robot management device 3. In this case, the elevator control device 4 treats the departure floor Fc and destination direction Kc in the received information Pr2 as one hall call Xh and allocates the hall call Xh to the car G (step S202). Then, the elevator control device 4 records the information of the hall call Xh (the departure floor Fc and the destination direction Kc) in the hall call management data DxH in association with the robot information Ph in the received information Pr2 (see the upper diagram in Figure 3(D)). After that, the elevator control device 4 ends the allocation process.

[0087] [1-2-3] Boarding command processing by the robot management device FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the boarding command process executed in this embodiment.

[0088] In this embodiment, the robot management device 3 constantly acquires elevator information Pe (such as the operating status of the car G and the usage status of the elevator) from the elevator control device 4. Specifically, the robot management device 3 constantly requests the elevator control device 4 to return the elevator information Pe at that time, and receives the elevator information Pe returned from the elevator control device 4 in response to the request. Furthermore, based on the acquired elevator information Pe, the robot management device 3 constantly grasps the current position and movement direction Kg (including the departure direction Kx from the stopping floor) of the car G. Therefore, when the car G arrives at a certain floor, the robot management device 3 can grasp this and can also identify the floor number of the arrival floor Fg at that time and the next departure direction Kx from the arrival floor Fg.

[0089] When the robot management device 3 determines that the car G has arrived at a certain floor, it starts the boarding command process of Fig. 6 and the disembarking command process of Fig. 9, which will be described later, to allow the robot H to board and disembark at the arrival floor Fg as necessary. Note that in some cases, it may be necessary to have two robots H (the robot H at the landing and the robot H in the car G) board and disembark at the same arrival floor Fg. Therefore, even in such a case, in order to allow the two robots H to board and disembark smoothly, the robot management device 3 may first execute the disembarking command process (see Fig. 9), and then execute the boarding command process (see Fig. 6) after the disembarking command process is completed.

[0090] When the boarding command process is started, the robot management device 3 determines whether or not it is necessary to board the robot H at the arrival floor Fg. Specifically, the robot management device 3 first determines whether or not the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is likely to correspond to a stop for boarding the robot H (i.e., a stop in response to the hall call Xh for the robot H. More specifically, a stop at the departure floor Fc indicated by the hall call Xh in the destination direction Kc indicated by the hall call Xh), by determining whether or not the arrival floor Fg of the car G matches any of the departure floors Fc recorded in the allocation request management data Dq1 (see FIG. 2(B)) (in other words, the departure floor Fc transmitted in the allocation request (= the current floor Fx of the robot H)) (step S301).

[0091] If the robot management device 3 determines that there is no match (No) in step S301, it can determine that the stopping of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is not a stop to board the robot H. In this case, the robot management device 3 terminates the boarding command processing because there is no need to board the robot H at the arrival floor Fg.

[0092] If the robot management device 3 determines that there is a "match (Yes)" in step S301, it can determine that there is a possibility that the stopping of the car G at the arrival floor Fg corresponds to a stop to board the robot H. However, because this determination does not take into consideration the direction, it cannot be determined from this determination alone that the stopping of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is a stop to board the robot H.

[0093] Therefore, in order to determine whether the stop of the elevator G at the arrival floor Fg is a stop to allow the robot H to board, the robot management device 3 sets the allocation request corresponding to the departure floor Fc that was determined to be "matching (Yes)" in step S301 as the target request, and by referring to the information of the target request recorded in the allocation request management data Dq1, further determines whether the departure direction Kx of the elevator G from the arrival floor Fg matches the destination direction Kc sent in the target request (step S302).

[0094] If the robot management device 3 determines that there is a "match (Yes)" in step S302, it can determine that the elevator G has stopped at the arrival floor Fg (here, the departure floor Fc indicated by the elevator call Xh) in the destination direction Kc indicated by the elevator call Xh for the robot H, and therefore it can identify that the stopping of the elevator G at the arrival floor Fg is a stop to allow the robot H to board.

[0095] On the other hand, if the robot management device 3 determines that there is no match (No) in step S302, it can determine that the stopping of the elevator car G at the arrival floor Fg is not a stop to board the robot H. In this case, too, the robot management device 3 terminates the boarding command processing because there is no need to board the robot H at the arrival floor Fg.

[0096] According to this processing (steps S301 and S302), the robot management device 3 can determine whether the elevator car G has arrived at the departure floor Fc in response to the hall call Xh of the robot H without notification from the elevator control device 4.

[0097] If the robot management device 3 determines that there is a match (Yes) in step S302, it identifies the robot H that is the target of boarding using the robot information Ph (see Figure 2(B)) corresponding to the target request, in order to have the robot H board the elevator car G, and instructs the robot H (here, this robot H will be referred to as the "target robot Hk") to board the elevator car G (step S303).

[0098] As a result, the target robot Hk starts boarding the car G in response to a command from the robot management device 3, and when boarding is complete, notifies the robot management device 3 of the completion of boarding. Meanwhile, after step S303, the robot management device 3 determines whether boarding of the target robot Hk into the car G is complete by determining whether or not a boarding completion notification has been received from the target robot Hk (step S304). Furthermore, the robot management device 3 repeatedly executes step S304 until it can determine "completed (Yes)" in step S304.

[0099] If the robot management device 3 determines "completed (Yes)" in step S304, it transmits a boarding completion signal Sx to the elevator control device 4 to notify that the boarding of the target robot Hk has been completed, along with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk (step S305). When the elevator control device 4 receives the boarding completion signal Sx, it causes the car G to depart from the arrival floor Fg after the doors have been closed.

[0100] Thereafter, the robot management device 3 transitions from the boarding command process to the registration request process (see FIG. 7) described below in order to request the elevator control device 4 to register the car call Yh for the target robot Hk at an appropriate timing.

[0101] [1-2-4] Registration request processing performed by the robot management device Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the registration request process executed in this embodiment. Here, too, the allocation request corresponding to the departure floor Fc determined to be "matched (Yes)" in step S301 of Fig. 6 will be called the target request, and the robot H targeted by the target request will be called the target robot Hk.

[0102] In the registration request process, in order to determine the timing for requesting registration of a car call Yh for the target robot Hk, the robot management device 3 first extracts the current floor Fx and destination floor Fy of the target robot Hk from the robot management data Dp (see Figure 2(A)) using the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk, and then determines the direction from the current floor Fx to the destination floor Fy as the forward direction Ks for the target robot Hk (step S400).

[0103] Next, the robot management device 3 extracts the destination direction Kc sent in the target request from the allocation request management data Dq1 (see Figure 2(B)) as the departure direction Kx of the elevator G from the arrival floor Fg (here, the current floor Fx of the target robot Hk), and then determines whether the destination direction Kc is the same direction as the forward direction Ks determined in step S400 (the forward direction Ks for the target robot Hk) (step S401).

[0104] If the robot management device 3 determines in step S401 that the robots are heading in the same direction (Yes), it can determine that the target floor Fy of the target robot Hk is in that direction. In this case, the robot management device 3 immediately (in other words, almost at the same time as the target robot Hk finishes boarding at the arrival floor Fg) requests the elevator control device 4 to register a car call Yh for the target robot Hk (step S410). Specifically, the robot management device 3 sets the target floor Fy of the target robot Hk, extracted when determining the forward direction Ks in step S400, as the destination floor Fd, and transmits this information together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk to the elevator control device 4. The robot management device 3 then records the information (robot information Ph, destination floor Fd) transmitted to the elevator control device 4 as registration request information in the registration request management data Dq2 in a mutually associated state (see FIG. 2(C)). The example in Figure 2(C) shows a case in which for a target robot Hk whose robot information Ph is "H-01", "floor 8" is extracted from the robot management data Dp (see Figure 2(A)) as its destination floor Fy and recorded as the destination floor Fd.

[0105] Furthermore, in step S410, the robot management device 3 erases the information of the target request (allocation request for the target robot Hk) whose role has been completed by executing the registration request from the allocation request management data Dq1. After that, the robot management device 3 ends the registration request process.

[0106] On the other hand, if the robot management device 3 determines in step S401 that the destination direction Kc (i.e., the departure direction Kx of the car G) sent in the focus request is the opposite direction Kt to the forward direction Ks for the target robot Hk, and therefore, the destination floor Fy for the target robot Hk is not in that direction.

[0107] In this case, in order for the car G to reach the destination floor Fy of the target robot Hk, it is necessary for the car G to reverse its movement direction Kg to the forward direction Ks at some floor after departing in the reverse direction Kt from the arrival floor Fg.

[0108] Here, in an elevator, when the moving direction Kg of the car G reverses, a control (hereinafter referred to as "reset control") is generally performed to erase the car call Y that remains registered for the car G at that time. For this reason, if the robot management device 3 determines "not in the same direction (Yes)" in step S401 and immediately requests the registration of a car call Yh for the target robot Hk, the car call Yh will remain registered until the moving direction Kg of the target car Gk reverses, and will be erased (reset) by the reset control.

[0109] Therefore, in this embodiment, if the robot management device 3 determines in step S401 that the directions are not the same (Yes), it requests the elevator control device 4 to register the car call Yh at an appropriate time so that the car call Yh is not erased by the reset control. Specifically, the robot management device 3 determines whether the moving direction Kg of the car G has reversed based on the elevator information Pe (step S402). The robot management device 3 repeats step S402 until it determines that the direction has reversed (Yes) in step S402. If the robot management device 3 determines that the direction has reversed (Yes) in step S402, it proceeds to step S410 and requests the elevator control device 4 to register the car call Yh for the target robot Hk.

[0110] According to this type of registration request processing, even when the reset control described above is performed, it is possible to have the elevator control device 4 register the car call Yh for the target robot Hk at an appropriate timing so that the car call Yh is not erased by the reset control.

[0111] [1-2-5] Registration process performed by elevator control device 8 is a flowchart showing the registration process executed in this embodiment. This registration process is started when a user (second operation unit 2) or the robot management device 3 requests the elevator control device 4 to register a car call Y.

[0112] Hereinafter, the information received by the elevator control device 4 for each registration request will be collectively referred to as "received information Pr3." Specifically, if the registration request is a request from a user (second operation unit 2) (a request to register a car call Yg for the user), this received information Pr3 will be a set of information including the destination floor Fd and device information Pd2, and if the registration request is a request from the robot management device 3 (a request to register a car call Yh for the robot H), this received information Pr3 will be a set of information including the destination floor Fd and robot information Ph.

[0113] When the registration process begins, the elevator control device 4 determines whether the received registration request is from a user (second operation unit 2) or a robot management device 3, by determining whether the device information Pd2 or the robot information Ph is included in the received information Pr3 (step S500).

[0114] If the elevator control device 4 determines in step S500 that the "device information Pd2" is included, it can determine that the received registration request is a request from the user (second operation unit 2). In this case, the elevator control device 4 registers the destination floor Fd in the received information Pr3 as a car call Yg in the car G (step S501). Then, the elevator control device 4 reflects the information of the car call Yg (destination floor Fd) in the car call management data DyG (see the right diagram in Figure 3(C)). Thereafter, the elevator control device 4 ends the registration process.

[0115] On the other hand, if the elevator control device 4 determines in step S500 that the "robot information Ph" is included, it can determine that the received registration request is a request from the robot management device 3. In this case, the elevator control device 4 registers the destination floor Fd in the received information Pr3 as a car call Yh in the car G (step S502). Then, the elevator control device 4 records the information of the car call Yh (destination floor Fd) in the car call management data DyH in association with the robot information Ph in the received information Pr3 (see the lower diagram in Figure 3(D)). Thereafter, the elevator control device 4 ends the registration process.

[0116] [1-2-6] Disembarkation command processing by the robot management device 9 is a flowchart showing the dismounting command process executed in this embodiment. When the dismounting command process is started, the robot management device 3 determines whether or not it is necessary to dismount the robot H at the arrival floor Fg. Specifically, the robot management device 3 first determines whether or not the car G's stop at the arrival floor Fg is a stop for the robot H to dismount (i.e., a stop in response to a car call Yh for the robot H. More specifically, a stop at the destination floor Fd indicated by the car call Yh). The robot management device 3 first determines whether or not the arrival floor Fg of the car G matches any of the destination floors Fd recorded in the registration request management data Dq2 (see FIG. 2(C)) (in other words, the destination floor Fd (= the destination floor Fy of the robot H) transmitted in the registration request) (step S601).

[0117] If the robot management device 3 determines "no match" in step S601, it can determine that the stopping of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is not a stop to allow the robot H to disembark. In this case, the robot management device 3 terminates the disembarkation command processing because there is no need for the robot H to disembark at the arrival floor Fg.

[0118] On the other hand, if the robot management device 3 determines that there is a match (Yes) in step S601, it can use that determination to determine that the stopping of the elevator G at the arrival floor Fg is a stop to allow the robot H to disembark.

[0119] According to this processing (step S601), the robot management device 3 can determine whether the elevator car G has arrived at the destination floor Fd in response to the elevator car call Yh of the robot H without notification from the elevator control device 4.

[0120] If the robot management device 3 determines that the results are "matched (Yes)" in step S601, it refers to the registration request management data Dq2 (see Figure 2(C)) to identify the robot H that is the target of disembarking by the robot information Ph corresponding to the destination floor Fd that was determined to be "matched (Yes)" in step S601, in order to have the robot H disembark into the elevator G, and commands the robot H (here, this robot H will be referred to as the "target robot Hk") to disembark from the elevator G (step S602).

[0121] As a result, the target robot Hk starts dismounting from the car G in response to a command from the robot management device 3, and when dismounting is complete, notifies the robot management device 3 of the dismounting completion. Meanwhile, after step S602, the robot management device 3 determines whether or not it has received a notification of dismounting completion from the target robot Hk, thereby determining whether or not dismounting of the target robot Hk from the car G is complete (step S603). Furthermore, the robot management device 3 repeatedly executes step S603 until it can determine "completed (Yes)" in step S603.

[0122] If the robot management device 3 determines that the process is completed (Yes) in step S603, it sends a dismounting completion signal Sy to the elevator control device 4 along with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk to notify the elevator control device 4 that the target robot Hk has dismounted (step S604).

[0123] Furthermore, the robot management device 3 updates the current floor Fx of the target robot Hk in the robot management data Dp with the destination floor (destination floor Fy) associated with the current floor Fx, and erases the destination floor Fy recorded there from the destination (step S605). The robot management device 3 also erases information about the registration request (registration request for the target robot Hk) whose role has been completed by the target robot Hk dismounting from the registration request management data Dq2 (step S606). Thereafter, the robot management device 3 terminates the dismount command process.

[0124] According to this control process, it becomes possible to move the robot H between floors while minimizing unnecessary calls.

[0125] [2] Variation [2-1] First modified example As in the embodiment described above, even if an allocation request is made after confirming that there is boarding space for the target robot Hk in the car G using the allocation request process of FIG. 4, a user may board the car at an intermediate floor before the car G arrives at the target robot Hk's current floor Fx (boarding floor), leaving no boarding space for the target robot Hk. If there is no boarding space for the target robot Hk in this way, even if the car G arrives at the target robot Hk's current floor Fx (boarding floor), the target robot Hk cannot board, and the car G's stop at that floor will be wasted. In other words, the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk will be a wasted call. Therefore, the allocation request process performed by the robot management device 3 may be modified as appropriate to the following process.

[0126] 10 is a flowchart showing the allocation request process executed in Modified Example 1. In the allocation request process of this modified example, after step S104 (allocation request), the robot management device 3 determines, based on the elevator information Pe acquired from the elevator control device 4 at any time, whether the current elevator situation allows cancellation of the hall call Xh (the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk) allocated by the elevator control device 4 in response to the allocation request in step S104, and determines whether the car G has started responding to the hall call Xh (step S110).

[0127] If the robot management device 3 determines "not started (No)" in step S110, it can determine that the current elevator situation is such that the hall call Xh can be canceled. In this modification, the robot management device 3 utilizes the period when the elevator is in such a situation to have the elevator control device 4 cancel the hall call Xh as appropriate, thereby making it possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of unnecessary calls. Specifically, this is as follows.

[0128] The robot management device 3 first determines whether or not there has been a change in the status of the vacant space in the car G. Here, the status of the vacant space in the car G may change when the car G stops at any floor.

[0129] Therefore, the robot management device 3 determines whether the car G has stopped at any floor based on the elevator information Pe (step S111A). If the robot management device 3 determines in step S111A that the car G has not stopped (No), the process returns to step S110. On the other hand, if the robot management device 3 determines in step S111A that the car G has stopped at any floor (Yes), the robot management device 3 acquires from the elevator control device 4 a new image Qg of the inside of the car G taken by the camera 20 at that time, in order to newly grasp the situation inside the car G at that time when passengers have finished getting on and off at that floor and the doors have closed (step S111B).

[0130] Next, the robot management device 3 determines whether the situation in the car G has changed to one in which there is no boarding space, based on the new image Qg acquired in step S111B, in order to determine whether the situation requires cancellation of the hall call Xh (step S112). As an example, the robot management device 3 determines whether the size of the available space in the car G estimated by image analysis has become smaller than the size required for the target robot Hk to board.

[0131] If the robot management device 3 determines "changed (Yes)" in step S112, it can determine that the target robot Hk can no longer be loaded into the car G, and therefore that a situation has arisen in which the hall call Xh needs to be canceled. In this case, the robot management device 3 sends a cancellation signal Sc to the elevator control device 4 to instruct the elevator control device 4 to cancel the allocation of the hall call Xh to the target robot Hk (step S113). At this time, the robot management device 3 sends the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk together with the cancellation signal Sc to the elevator control device 4 so that the elevator control device 4 knows which robot H needs to have the hall call Xh assigned to it canceled.

[0132] When the elevator control device 4 receives the cancellation signal Sc and the robot information Ph from the robot management device 3, it deletes the information of the hall call Xh corresponding to the robot information Ph from the hall call management data DxH (deletion of the hall call Xh).

[0133] According to this processing, when it is determined that the hall call Xh of the target robot Hk will be a useless call if left as is, the elevator control device 4 can cancel the allocation of the hall call Xh to the car G, thereby reliably preventing the occurrence of useless calls. In other words, it becomes possible to stop the car G at the current floor Fx (boarding floor) of the target robot Hk in a situation where the target robot Hk can reliably board (a situation where there is boarding space).

[0134] After step S113, the robot management device 3 returns to step S102 to make a new allocation request for the target robot Hk, and repeats the process from step S102.

[0135] On the other hand, if the robot management device 3 determines that the process has started (Yes) in step S110, it can determine that the current elevator situation does not allow cancellation of the hall call Xh. In this case, the robot management device 3 ends the allocation request process without transmitting a cancellation signal Sc (step S113).

[0136] Furthermore, if the robot management device 3 determines that "no change" has occurred in step S112, it can determine that the situation inside the car G remains such that the target robot Hk can board. In this case, the robot management device 3 returns to step S110 and performs the process from step S110 again. The robot management device 3 then repeatedly executes the processes of steps S110 to S112 until it determines that "started" in step S110 (No) or "changed" in step S112 (Yes).

[0137] [2-2] Second variant In the above-described embodiment, the allocation request process performed by the robot management device 3 may be modified as appropriate to the following process.

[0138] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the allocation request process executed in the second modified example. In this modified example, if the robot management device 3 determines in step S103 that "there is no boarding space (No)," it determines whether a car call Yg of a user whose destination floor Fd is the current floor Fx (boarding floor) of the target robot Hk is registered in the car G based on the elevator information Pe acquired at that time (step S105). Here, if the robot management device 3 determines that "the car call Yg is registered (Yes)" in step S105, it can determine that stopping the car G at the current floor Fx of the target robot Hk is not wasted because the user will disembark at that floor even if the target robot Hk cannot board at that floor. Therefore, if the robot management device 3 determines that "the car call Yg is registered (Yes)" in step S105, it proceeds to step S104 and requests the elevator control device 4 to allocate a hall call Xh for the target robot Hk.

[0139] On the other hand, if the robot management device 3 determines in step S105 that the target robot Hk is "not registered (No)", it does not make an allocation request for the target robot Hk (step S104), but returns to step S102, acquires a new image Qg and movement direction Kgt at that time from the elevator control device 4, and then makes the determination in step S103 again.The robot management device 3 then repeats the processes of steps S102, S103, and S105 until it can determine in step S103 that "boarding space is available (Yes)" or can determine in step S105 that "the robot is registered (Yes)".

[0140] Furthermore, in this modification, the boarding command process (see FIG. 6) performed by the robot management device 3 may be modified as appropriate to the following process.

[0141] In this modified example, when the robot management device 3 determines that an allocation request made in a situation where there is no boarding space (an allocation request made in step S104 after determining that it is "registered (Yes)" in step S105) becomes the target request and determines that it matches (Yes) in step S302, it obtains from the elevator control device 4 a new image Qg taken by the camera 20 of the inside of the car G at that time in order to newly grasp the situation inside the car G at the time when the user has completed disembarking, and determines based on that image Qg whether there is boarding space for the target robot Hk inside the car G.

[0142] If the robot management device 3 determines that "boarding space is available" in the above judgment, it proceeds to step S303 and commands the target robot Hk to board the car G. On the other hand, if the robot management device 3 determines that "boarding space is not available", it sends a boarding cancellation signal to cancel the boarding to the elevator control device 4 together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk. When the elevator control device 4 receives the boarding cancellation signal, it deletes the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk without registering the corresponding car call Yh.

[0143] According to this processing, the target robot Hk can be allowed to board the car G according to the situation at the time (i.e., when there is a boarding space) without wasting the time that the target robot Hk stops in the car G at the current floor Fx (boarding floor). As a result, the target robot Hk can be allowed to board the car G efficiently.

[0144] Incidentally, the processing of this modified example can also be applied to the first modified example described above.

[0145] [2-3] Third variant In any of the above-described embodiments to the second variant, when the robot management device 3 determines that "boarding space is available (Yes)" in step S103 of the allocation request processing and makes an allocation request for the target robot Hk in step S104, it may then determine whether or not a platform call Xg of a user whose departure floor Fc and destination direction Kc are the same floor and in the same direction as those of the allocation request has been assigned to the elevator G until the elevator G arrives at the departure floor Fc sent in the allocation request.

[0146] If the robot management device 3 determines that the target robot Hk is "assigned," it can determine that there is a risk that the target robot Hk will not be able to board the current floor Fx (boarding floor) of the target robot Hk because a user will also be boarding. Therefore, if the robot management device 3 determines that the above assignment request for the target robot Hk is a target request in the boarding command process (see FIG. 6) and that the result is "match (Yes)" in step S302, the robot management device 3 may obtain a new image Qg of the inside of the car G taken by the camera 20 at the time when the user has completed boarding from the elevator control device 4, and determine whether there is a boarding space for the target robot Hk in the car G based on the image Qg.

[0147] If the robot management device 3 determines that "boarding space is available" in the above judgment, it may proceed to step S303 and instruct the target robot Hk to board the car G. On the other hand, if the robot management device 3 determines that "boarding space is not available" in the judgment, it may send a boarding cancellation signal to cancel the boarding to the elevator control device 4 together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk. When the elevator control device 4 receives the boarding cancellation signal, it can delete the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk without registering the corresponding car call Yh.

[0148] This type of processing makes it possible to avoid situations in which elevator operation is stalled due to the target robot Hk detecting a user in the elevator car G but being unable to board (in other words, the target robot Hk being in a deadlock state).

[0149] [2-4] Fourth Variation In the above-described embodiment, the control system may be modified as appropriate so that the timing of allocation of the hall call Xh to the robot H is determined on the elevator control device 4 side. This will be specifically described below.

[0150] <Robot management device> In this modification, hall call management data Dq3 is stored in place of the allocation request management data Dq1 in the memory unit 31 of the robot management device 3. Here, this hall call management data Dq3 is data for managing information (allocation information) on allocations made by the elevator control device 4 for the robot H. Specifically, information with the same content as the information in the hall call management data DxH (see the upper diagram in FIG. 3(D)) stored in the memory unit 41 of the elevator control device 4 is recorded in the hall call management data Dq3.

[0151] FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram illustrating hall call management data Dq3 used in place of the assignment request management data Dq1 in the fourth modified example. In the hall call management data Dq3, assignment information (robot information Ph of robot H and the departure floor Fc and destination direction Kc indicated by the hall call Xh) transmitted from the elevator control device 4 is recorded in a mutually associated state each time the elevator control device 4 assigns a hall call Xh for a robot H. In the example of FIG. 12, similar to the example in the upper diagram of FIG. 3(D), two directions, "upward" and "downward," are associated as information indicating the destination direction Kc, and one of the two directions indicated by the hall call Xh as the destination direction Kc is set to "ON," while the other direction is set to "OFF." The hall call Xh information for each robot H in the hall call management data Dq3 is erased when a request to register a car call Yh for that robot H is made to the elevator control device 4.

[0152] <Allocation request processing performed by the robot management device> Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing the allocation request process executed in the fourth modified example. In the allocation request process of this modified example, the robot management device 3 performs the same process (step S121) as step S101 in Fig. 4, and then requests the elevator control device 4 to allocate a hall call Xh for the target robot Hk (step S122). Specifically, the robot management device 3 transmits the current floor Fx extracted in step S121 (the current floor Fx of the target robot Hk) to the elevator control device 4 together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk.

[0153] When the elevator control device 4 receives the allocation request, it performs the allocation process described below (see Figure 14) to allocate the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk at an appropriate timing to minimize the occurrence of unnecessary calls, and transmits information about the allocation (allocation information) to the robot management device 3 (see step S224 in Figure 14).

[0154] Therefore, after step S122, the robot management device 3 determines whether or not allocation information for the target robot Hk has been received from the elevator control device 4 (step S123). Furthermore, the robot management device 3 repeatedly executes step S123 until it can determine "received (Yes)" in step S123.

[0155] If the robot management device 3 determines "received (Yes)" in step S123, it records the received allocation information (robot information Ph of the target robot Hk and the departure floor Fc and destination direction Kc indicated by the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk) in association with each other in the hall call management data Dq3 (step S124). Thereafter, the robot management device 3 ends the allocation request process.

[0156] <Allocation process performed by elevator control device> 14 is a flowchart showing the allocation process executed in the fourth modified example. In this modified example, if the allocation request that triggers the start of this allocation process is a request from the robot management device 3 (a request to allocate a hall call Xh for robot H), the received information Pr2 from the robot management device 3 will be a set of information including the current floor Fx and robot information Ph.

[0157] If the elevator control device 4 determines in step S200 that the robot information Ph is included, it determines the appropriate timing for allocating the hall call Xh to the robot H (here, this robot H will be referred to as the "target robot Hk") identified by the robot information Ph, in order to minimize the occurrence of unnecessary calls.

[0158] Specifically, the elevator control device 4 first acquires an image Qg of the inside of the car G taken by the camera 20 in order to grasp the situation inside the car G at that time (current time) (step S221). Furthermore, in order to grasp the moving direction Kgt of the car G at that time (current time), the elevator control device 4 extracts that information from the elevator information Pe that it grasps.

[0159] After step S221, the elevator control device 4 determines whether there is enough space for the target robot Hk in the car G based on the image Qg acquired in step S221 (step S222). As an example, the elevator control device 4 determines whether there is enough space for the target robot Hk in the car G by determining whether the size of the available space in the car G estimated by image analysis is equal to or larger than the size required for the target robot Hk to board. At this time, the size required for the target robot Hk to board may be a fixed value set so that any robot H can board, or a value set for each robot H according to its size, shape, etc.

[0160] By making the determination in step S222 based on the image Qg in this way, it becomes possible to accurately determine whether or not there is a space for the robot H to ride.

[0161] If the elevator control device 4 determines in step S222 that "boarding space is available (Yes)," it sets the current floor Fx (the current floor Fx of the target robot Hk) in the received information Pr2 as the departure floor Fc, and sets the same direction as the movement direction Kgt (the movement direction Kg of the car G at that time) acquired in step S221 as the destination direction Kc, and then sets these (the departure floor Fc and the destination direction Kc) as one hall call Xh and assigns this hall call Xh to the car G (step S223). Then, the elevator control device 4 records the information of the hall call Xh (the departure floor Fc and the destination direction Kc) in the hall call management data DxH in association with the robot information Ph in the received information Pr2 (see the upper diagram of FIG. 3(D)).

[0162] After step S223, the elevator control device 4 transmits information about the allocation performed in step S222 (allocation information) to the robot management device 3 (step S224). Specifically, the elevator control device 4 transmits the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk and the departure floor Fc and destination direction Kc indicated by the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk to the robot management device 3. Thereafter, the elevator control device 4 ends the allocation process.

[0163] On the other hand, if the elevator control device 4 determines in step S222 that "there is no boarding space (No)," it does not assign a hall call Xh to the target robot Hk (step S223), but returns to step S221, acquires a new image Qg and movement direction Kgt at that time, and then makes the determination in step S222 again.The elevator control device 4 then repeats the processes of steps S221 and S222 until it can determine in step S222 that "there is boarding space (Yes)."

[0164] According to this allocation process, when it is confirmed that there is boarding space for the target robot Hk in the car G, even if the moving direction Kg of the car G at that time is the opposite direction Kt to the forward direction Ks of the target robot Hk, the car G can be stopped at the current floor Fx of the target robot Hk while moving in the opposite direction Kt. This increases the opportunities for the target robot Hk to board the car G. Furthermore, by allocating the hall call Xh after confirming that there is boarding space for the target robot Hk in the car G, the hall call Xh is less likely to be a wasted call. Therefore, it is possible to increase the opportunities for the target robot Hk to board the car G while minimizing the occurrence of wasted calls.

[0165] <Boarding command processing and registration request processing performed by the robot management device> In the boarding command processing and registration request processing of this modified example, the robot management device 3 performs the boarding command processing of Fig. 6 and the registration request processing of Fig. 7 by using the hall call management data Dq3 (see Fig. 12) instead of the allocation request management data Dq1. Specifically, when performing these processes, the robot management device 3 determines in step S301 of Fig. 6 whether the arrival floor Fg of the car G matches any of the departure floors Fc recorded in the hall call management data Dq3, and uses the hall call Xh corresponding to the departure floor Fc that is determined to match (Yes) in step S301 as the target call instead of the target request. As a result, even in this modified example, it is possible to register the car call Yh for the target robot Hk at an appropriate time so that the car call Yh is not erased by reset control.

[0166] [2-5] Fifth variant Even if allocation is performed after confirming that there is boarding space for the target robot Hk in the car G by the allocation process of FIG. 14 as in the fourth modified example described above, a user may board the car at an intermediate floor before the car G arrives at the target robot Hk's current floor Fx (boarding floor), leaving no boarding space for the target robot Hk. If there is no boarding space for the target robot Hk in this way, even if the car G arrives at the target robot Hk's current floor Fx (boarding floor), the target robot Hk cannot board, and the car G's stop at that floor will be wasted. In other words, the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk will be a wasted call. Therefore, the allocation process performed by the elevator control device 4 may be modified as appropriate to the following process.

[0167] 15 is a flowchart showing the allocation process executed in Modified Example 5. In the allocation process of this modified example, after step S224 (transmission of allocation information), the elevator control device 4 determines whether the current elevator situation is such that the hall call Xh allocated in step S223 (the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk) can be canceled, based on the elevator information Pe that it has, and determines whether the car G has started responding to the hall call Xh (step S230).

[0168] If the elevator control device 4 determines "not started (No)" in step S230, it can determine that the current elevator situation is such that the hall call Xh can be canceled. In this modification, the elevator control device 4 uses the period when the elevator is in such a situation to cancel the hall call Xh as appropriate, thereby making it possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of unnecessary calls. Specifically, this is as follows.

[0169] The elevator control device 4 first determines whether or not there has been a change in the status of the vacant space inside the car G. Here, the status of the vacant space inside the car G may change when the car G stops at any floor.

[0170] Therefore, the elevator control device 4 determines whether the car G has stopped at any floor based on the elevator information Pe (step S231A). If the elevator control device 4 determines "not stopped (No)" in step S231A, it returns to step S230. On the other hand, if the elevator control device 4 determines "stopped (Yes)" at any floor in step S231A, it acquires a new image Qg of the inside of the car G taken by the camera 20 at that time when passengers have finished getting on and off at that floor and the doors have closed, in order to newly grasp the situation inside the car G at that time (step S231B).

[0171] Next, the elevator control device 4 determines whether the situation in the car G has changed to one in which there is no boarding space, based on the new image Qg acquired in step S231B, in order to determine whether the situation requires cancellation of the hall call Xh (step S232). As an example, the elevator control device 4 determines whether the size of the available space in the car G estimated by image analysis has become smaller than the size required for the target robot Hk to board.

[0172] If the elevator control device 4 determines that "changed (Yes)" in step S232, it can determine that it is no longer possible to board the target robot Hk in the car G, and therefore that a situation has arisen in which it is necessary to cancel the hall call Xh. In this case, the elevator control device 4 cancels the allocation of the hall call Xh to the target robot Hk (step S233).

[0173] Furthermore, the elevator control device 4 transmits a cancellation notification signal Sd to the robot management device 3 to notify the robot management device 3 that the allocation of the hall call Xh to the target robot Hk has been canceled (step S234). At this time, the elevator control device 4 transmits the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk together with the cancellation notification signal Sd to the robot management device 3 so that the robot management device 3 knows which robot H the allocation of the hall call Xh to has been canceled. Thereafter, the elevator control device 4 ends the allocation process.

[0174] When the robot management device 3 receives the cancellation notification signal Sd and the robot information Ph from the elevator control device 4, it deletes the allocation information (information of the hall call Xh) corresponding to the robot information Ph from the hall call management data Dq3. In this case, the robot management device 3 performs the allocation request process (see FIG. 13) again for the robot H identified by the received robot information Ph.

[0175] According to this processing, when it is determined that the hall call Xh of the target robot Hk will be a useless call if left as is, it is possible to cancel the allocation of the hall call Xh to the car G, thereby reliably preventing the occurrence of useless calls. In other words, it becomes possible to stop the car G at the current floor Fx (boarding floor) of the target robot Hk in a situation where the target robot Hk can reliably board (a situation where there is boarding space).

[0176] If the elevator control device 4 determines that the process has started (Yes) in step S230, it can determine that the current elevator situation does not allow cancellation of the hall call Xh. In this case, the elevator control device 4 ends the allocation process without canceling the hall call Xh (step S233).

[0177] Furthermore, if the elevator control device 4 determines that "no change" has occurred in step S232, it can determine that the situation inside the car G remains such that the target robot Hk can board. In this case, the elevator control device 4 returns to step S230 and performs the process from step S230 again. The elevator control device 4 then repeatedly executes the processes of steps S230 to S232 until it determines that "started" in step S230 (No) or "changed" in step S232 (Yes).

[0178] [2-6] Sixth Variation In the above-described fourth modified example, the allocation process performed by the elevator control device 4 may be modified as appropriate to the following process.

[0179] FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the allocation process executed in the sixth modified example. In this modified example, if the elevator control device 4 determines in step S222 that "there is no boarding space (No)," it determines whether a car call Yg of a user with the target robot Hk's current floor Fx (boarding floor) as the destination floor Fd is registered in the car G based on the elevator information Pe at that time (step S225). Here, if the elevator control device 4 determines that "it is registered (Yes)" in step S225, it can determine that stopping the car G at the target robot Hk's current floor Fx will not be wasted even if the target robot Hk cannot board at that floor because the user will disembark at that floor. Therefore, if the elevator control device 4 determines that "it is registered (Yes)" in step S225, it proceeds to step S223 and allocates the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk to the car G.

[0180] On the other hand, if the elevator control device 4 determines in step S222 that the target robot Hk is "not registered (No)," it returns to step S221 without allocating a hall call Xh to the target robot Hk (step S223), acquires a new image Qg and movement direction Kgt at that time, and then makes the determination in step S222 again.The elevator control device 4 then repeats the processes of steps S221, S222, and S225 until it can determine in step S222 that "boarding space is available (Yes)" or can determine in step S225 that "the robot is registered (Yes)."

[0181] Furthermore, in this modification, the boarding command process (see FIG. 6) performed by the robot management device 3 may be modified as appropriate to the following process.

[0182] In this modified example, when a hall call Xh made in a situation where there is no boarding space (a hall call Xh that is determined to be "registered (Yes)" in step S225 of Figure 16 and assigned in step S223) becomes a target call and the robot management device 3 determines that there is a "match (Yes)" in step S302, the robot management device 3 obtains an image Qg taken by the camera 20 of the inside of the car G at that time from the elevator control device 4 in order to grasp the situation inside the car G at the time when the passenger has completed disembarking, and determines based on the image Qg whether there is boarding space for the target robot Hk inside the car G.

[0183] If the robot management device 3 determines that "boarding space is available" in the above judgment, it proceeds to step S303 and commands the target robot Hk to board the car G. On the other hand, if the robot management device 3 determines that "boarding space is not available", it sends a boarding cancellation signal to cancel the boarding to the elevator control device 4 together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk. When the elevator control device 4 receives the boarding cancellation signal, it deletes the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk without registering the corresponding car call Yh.

[0184] According to this processing, the target robot Hk can be allowed to board the car G according to the situation at the time (i.e., when there is a boarding space) without wasting the time that the target robot Hk stops in the car G at the current floor Fx (boarding floor). As a result, the target robot Hk can be allowed to board the car G efficiently.

[0185] Incidentally, such processing of this modified example can also be applied to the fifth modified example described above.

[0186] [2-7] 7th variant In any of the fourth to sixth variants described above, when the elevator control device 4 determines that "boarding space is available (Yes)" in step S222 of the allocation process and allocates a hall call Xh for the target robot Hk in step S223, the robot management device 3 may then determine whether a hall call Xg of a user whose departure floor Fc and destination direction Kc are the same floor and in the same direction as the hall call Xh has been allocated to the car G before the car G arrives at the departure floor Fc indicated by the hall call Xh.

[0187] If the robot management device 3 determines that the target robot Hk is "assigned," it can determine, based on that determination, that there is a risk that the target robot Hk will not be able to board the current floor Fx (boarding floor) of the target robot Hk because a user will also be boarding. Therefore, if the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk becomes the target call in the boarding command processing (see FIG. 6) and the determination is "matched (Yes)" in step S302, the robot management device 3 may obtain an image Qg of the inside of the car G taken by the camera 20 at that time from the elevator control device 4 in order to grasp the situation inside the car G at the time the user has completed boarding, and may determine, based on the image Qg, whether there is boarding space for the target robot Hk in the car G.

[0188] If the robot management device 3 determines that "boarding space is available" in the above judgment, it may proceed to step S303 and instruct the target robot Hk to board the car G. On the other hand, if the robot management device 3 determines that "boarding space is not available" in the judgment, it may send a boarding cancellation signal to cancel the boarding to the elevator control device 4 together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk. When the elevator control device 4 receives the boarding cancellation signal, it can delete the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk without registering the corresponding car call Yh.

[0189] This type of processing makes it possible to avoid situations in which elevator operation is stalled due to the target robot Hk detecting a user in the elevator car G but being unable to board (in other words, the target robot Hk being in a deadlock state).

[0190] [2-8] Eighth Variation In the first and fifth modified examples described above, until the car G starts responding to the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk, each time the car G stops at a floor, a determination is made based on a new image Qg as to whether the situation inside the car G has changed to one where there is no boarding space (steps S110 to S112 in FIG. 10, steps S230 to S232 in FIG. 15), and if the determination is "changed (Yes)," the allocation of the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk is canceled at that timing (step S113 in FIG. 10, step S233 in FIG. 15). On the other hand, if the hall call Xh is left unchanged rather than canceled, the situation inside the car G may return to one where there is boarding space depending on the situation of passengers getting on and off at another stopping floor before the car G starts responding to the hall call Xh.

[0191] Therefore, in both the first and fifth modified examples, it may be determined whether the situation inside the car G has changed to a situation where there is no boarding space, based on the new image Qg, only immediately before the car G starts to respond to the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk. Here, "immediately before the car G starts to respond to the hall call Xh" means the period from when the departure floor Fc indicated by the hall call Xh becomes a candidate for the next stop floor of the car G until when it is determined as the next stop floor.

[0192] According to this processing, even if the situation inside the car G becomes one in which there is no boarding space, if the situation later returns to one in which there is boarding space, the allocation of the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk can be left as is, and as a result, there is no need to redo the request to allocate the hall call Xh for the target robot Hk.

[0193] [2-9] 9th variant In any of the above-described embodiments and modifications, the hall button included in the first operation unit 1 on each floor may be a button that can be illuminated. When a user presses a hall button at any floor, the elevator control device 4 may illuminate the button and assign a hall call Xg to the car G, with the floor Fs on which the button is installed as the departure floor Fc and the direction indicated by the button as the destination direction Kc. On the other hand, when the elevator control device 4 receives an assignment request for a robot H from the robot management device 3 and assigns a hall call Xh, the elevator control device 4 may control the button not to illuminate until a user presses the hall button at the current floor Fx of the robot H.

[0194] Here, if the hall button for the direction in which the user is heading is lit, the user who has arrived at the hall will not press that button again. Therefore, if the elevator control device 4 assigns hall call Xh to robot H and then lights up the hall button for the same direction as the destination direction Kc indicated by the hall call Xh, a user who arrives in the same direction as the destination direction Kc will wait at the hall without pressing the hall button. Therefore, if the elevator control device 4 cancels hall call Xh for robot H in this situation, a user waiting at the hall to head in the same direction will be left without a hall call Xg.

[0195] On the other hand, according to the ninth variant, when a platform call Xh is assigned to a robot H, it is possible to prevent a situation in which users heading in the same direction as the destination direction Kc indicated by the platform call Xh end up waiting at the platform without anyone pressing the platform button.

[0196] [2-10] 10th Variation In the above-mentioned ninth variant, when the elevator control device 4 receives an allocation request for the robot H from the robot management device 3 and allocates the hall call Xh, it may not immediately light up the hall button at the current floor Fx of the robot H, but may control the button to light up when the car G starts to respond to the hall call Xh or when a user presses the button before that.

[0197] According to the tenth modified example, after a hall call Xh has been assigned to the robot H, the hall button for the same direction as the destination direction Kc indicated by the hall call Xh can be kept dark until a user presses the button, only during the period when the assignment of the hall call Xh may be canceled. In this case, as in the above ninth modified example, it is possible to prevent a situation in which users who are heading in the same direction as the destination direction Kc indicated by the hall call Xh of the robot H wait at the hall without anyone pressing the hall button.

[0198] [2-11] 11th Variation In any of the above-described embodiments and modifications, each robot H may be modified as appropriate to execute the control processes (including allocation request process, boarding command process, registration request process, and disembarking command process) performed by the robot management device 3 on behalf of the robot management device 3. In this case, each robot H communicates with the elevator control device 4 without going through the robot management device 3. This allows each robot H to use the elevator autonomously while cooperating with the elevator control device 4.

[0199] The above-described embodiments and modifications should be considered to be illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined not by the above-described embodiments and modifications, but by the claims. Furthermore, the scope of the present invention is intended to include all modifications that are equivalent to the scope of the claims and fall within the scope thereof.

[0200] From the above-described embodiments and modifications, the subject matter of the invention is not limited to the elevator control system, the robot management device 3, and the robot H, but may also include the control processes (including the control methods corresponding to the control processes) and part or all of the programs executed by them individually. Also, part or all of the above-described elevators may be extracted as the subject matter of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0201] 1 1st operation section 2 2nd operation section 3. Robot Management Device 4 Elevator control device G car H Robot X Platform call Y Cage call 20 Camera 31, 41 Storage section 32, 42 Control section DP Robot Management Data Dq Request Management Data Dr. Device management data Dx Hall call management data Dy Cage call management data Fc Departure Floor Fd Destination floor Fg Arrival Floor Fs Installation floor Fx current floor Fy Destination Floor Hk Target Robot Kc destination direction Kg Moving direction Ks forward Kt reverse direction Kx Departure direction Pe Elevator Information Pg Basket Information Ph Robot Information Qg images Sc Cancellation signal Sd Cancel notification signal Sx ride completion signal Sy exit completion signal Xg, Xh hall call Yg, Yh cage call Dq1 Allocation request management data Dq2 registration request management data Dq3 Hall call management data Dr1, Dr2 equipment management data DxG, DxH Hall call management data DyG, DyH car call management data Kgt Moving direction Pd1, Pd2 device information Pr1, Pr2, Pr3 received information

Claims

1. When the robot is moved between floors using an elevator from a current floor to a destination floor, a determination is made (A) as to whether or not there is a space for the robot in the elevator based on an image captured by a camera installed in the elevator; If it is determined in the determination (A) that there is a boarding space, an allocation request for the robot is made by sending information to the elevator control device, with the current floor of the robot as the departure floor and the same direction as the moving direction of the car at that time as the destination direction, thereby causing the control device to execute allocation to the car with the departure floor and the destination direction as one hall call; If the robot management device determines in the judgment (A) that there is no boarding space, it does not make the allocation request, but instead makes the judgment (A) again based on a new image obtained by photographing with the camera, and repeats the judgment (A) until it can determine that there is boarding space.

2. After making the allocation request, a determination (B) is further made as to whether or not the situation inside the elevator car has changed to a situation where there is no boarding space, based on a new image obtained by photographing the camera; 2. The robot management device according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined in said determination (B) that there has been a change, said control device is caused to cancel the allocation of said hall call to said robot.

3. If the destination direction transmitted in the allocation request is the same as the forward direction from the current floor to the destination floor, then, when the robot has completed boarding the elevator car, a car call registration request for the robot is transmitted to the control device with the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor; A robot management device as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein if the destination direction transmitted in the allocation request is opposite to the forward direction, after the robot boards the elevator, when the direction of movement of the elevator reverses to the forward direction, a request to register a car call for the robot is transmitted to the control device with the robot's destination floor as the destination floor.

4. A control system applicable to elevators in which lightable landing buttons for specifying destination directions are installed on each floor, a control device for the elevator; The robot management device according to claim 1 or 2; Equipped with The control device When a user presses the hall button at any floor, the button is lit and a hall call is assigned to the car, with the floor on which the button is installed as the departure floor and the direction indicated by the button as the destination direction. On the other hand, when the allocation request for the robot is received from the robot management device and the hall call is allocated, the elevator control system does not light up the hall button at the robot's current floor until the user presses the button.

5. A control system applicable to elevators in which lightable landing buttons for specifying destination directions are installed on each floor, a control device for the elevator; The robot management device according to claim 1 or 2; Equipped with The control device When a user presses the hall button at any floor, the button is lit and a hall call is assigned to the car, with the floor on which the button is installed as the departure floor and the direction indicated by the button as the destination direction. On the other hand, when the allocation request for the robot is received from the robot management device and the hall call is allocated, the elevator control system does not immediately light up the hall button at the robot's current floor, but then lights up the button when the elevator car starts to respond to the hall call or when a user has pressed the button before that.

6. When the robot is moved between floors using an elevator from a current floor to a destination floor, a determination is made (A) as to whether or not there is a space for the robot in the elevator based on an image captured by a camera installed in the elevator; If it is determined in the determination (A) that there is a boarding space, an allocation request for the robot is made by sending information to the elevator control device, with the current floor of the robot as the departure floor and the same direction as the moving direction of the car at that time as the destination direction, thereby causing the control device to execute allocation to the car with the departure floor and the destination direction as one hall call; In this robot management method, when it is determined in the judgment (A) that there is no boarding space, the allocation request is not made, and the judgment (A) is made again based on a new image obtained by photographing with the camera, and the judgment (A) is repeated until it can be determined that there is boarding space.

7. When a passenger uses an elevator to move between floors from the current floor to the destination floor, a determination is made (A) as to whether or not there is space for the passenger in the elevator based on an image captured by a camera installed in the elevator. If it is determined in the determination (A) that there is boarding space, the elevator sends a request for allocation of a hall call to the elevator control device, with its current floor as the departure floor and the same direction as the moving direction of the car at that time as the destination direction, thereby causing the control device to allocate the departure floor and the destination direction to the car as one hall call, When it is determined in the judgment (A) that there is no boarding space, the robot does not make the allocation request, but instead makes the judgment (A) again based on a new image obtained by photographing with the camera, and repeats the judgment (A) until it can determine that there is boarding space.

8. an elevator control device; a robot management device that, when using the elevator to move a robot from a current floor to a destination floor, requests the robot to be assigned a hall call by transmitting the robot's current floor to the control device; Equipped with The control device When the allocation request for the robot is received from the robot management device, a determination is made (A) as to whether or not there is a space for the robot in the elevator car based on an image obtained by photographing with a camera installed in the elevator car; When it is determined in the determination (A) that there is boarding space, a hall call is assigned to the car, with the current floor as the departure floor and the direction of travel of the car at that time as the destination direction, When it is determined in the judgment (A) that there is no boarding space, the elevator control system does not assign the hall call, but instead makes the judgment (A) again based on a new image obtained by photographing with the camera, and repeats the judgment (A) until it can be determined that there is a boarding space.

9. The control device After assigning the hall call to the robot, a determination is further made (B) as to whether or not the situation inside the elevator car has changed to a situation where there is no boarding space, based on a new image obtained by photographing the camera; 9. The elevator control system according to claim 8, wherein when it is determined in said determination (B) that there has been a change, the allocation of said hall call to said robot is canceled.

10. The robot management device If the destination direction indicated by the hall call is the same as the forward direction from the current floor to the destination floor, then, when the robot has completed boarding the car, a car call registration request for the robot is sent to the control device with the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor; If the destination direction indicated by the hall call is the opposite direction to the forward direction, after the robot gets into the car, when the moving direction of the car reverses and becomes the forward direction, a car call registration request for the robot is transmitted to the control device with the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor; The elevator control system according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the control device, when receiving the registration request, registers the destination floor as a car call in the car.

11. Each floor of the elevator is provided with a landing button that can be illuminated to specify a destination direction, The control device When a user presses the hall button at any floor, the button is lit and a hall call is assigned to the car, with the floor on which the button is installed as the departure floor and the direction indicated by the button as the destination direction. On the other hand, when the allocation request for the robot is received and the hall call is allocated, the hall button at the current floor of the robot is not lit until a user presses the hall button.

12. Each floor of the elevator is provided with a landing button that can be illuminated to specify a destination direction, The control device When a user presses the hall button at any floor, the button is lit and a hall call is assigned to the car, with the floor on which the button is installed as the departure floor and the direction indicated by the button as the destination direction. On the other hand, when the allocation request for the robot is received and the hall call is allocated, the hall button at the current floor of the robot is not immediately lit, but is thereafter lit when the car starts to respond to the hall call or when a user has pressed the button before that.

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