Elevator system

Abstract

To support people with mobility difficulties who use elevators. [Solution] An elevator system according to one embodiment includes a camera capable of photographing the landing from inside the elevator car, a projector capable of projecting an image from inside the elevator car toward the landing, projection control means for controlling the operation of the projector, user detection means for detecting users in the landing based on the image captured by the camera, and user attribute determination means for determining whether the detected users belong to the attributes of a vulnerable road user or a non-vulnerable road user. If the detected users include a user who belongs to the attributes of a vulnerable road user, the projection control means controls the projector to project an image containing movement information to support vulnerable road users onto the landing floor of the predetermined floor while the elevator car door is open at the predetermined floor.

Description

Technical Field

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[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to an elevator system.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, a technique has been devised to discriminate the attributes of users who use a predetermined facility from an image captured by a camera and project guidance information suitable for the attributes of the users (for example, guidance information indicating a movement route to a place estimated as a candidate destination of the user) onto the floor surface of the facility.

[0003] By the way, as a request from a vulnerable road user such as a wheelchair user who uses an elevator, there is a request to be able to know in which direction to proceed safely after getting off the elevator.

[0004] In the above-described technique, although guidance information is projected in consideration of the attributes of the users, information focused on vulnerable road users is not projected. Also, in the above-described technique, guidance information is not projected in conjunction with the operation of the elevator.

[0005] Therefore, the realization of a new technique capable of sufficiently supporting vulnerable road users who use an elevator is desired.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] The problem that this invention aims to solve is to provide an elevator system that can support vulnerable road users. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] An elevator system according to one embodiment includes a camera capable of photographing the landing from inside the elevator car, a projector capable of projecting an image from inside the elevator car toward the landing, projection control means for controlling the operation of the projector, user detection means for detecting users in the landing based on the image captured by the camera, and user attribute determination means for determining whether the detected users belong to the attributes of a vulnerable road user or a non-vulnerable road user. If the detected users include a user belonging to the attributes of a vulnerable road user, the projection control means controls the projector to project an image containing movement information to support the vulnerable road user onto the landing floor of the predetermined floor while the elevator car door is open on the predetermined floor. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of an elevator system according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows an example of an image projected by the projector in the same embodiment. [Figure 3] Figure 3 shows the image captured by the camera in the same embodiment, divided into blocks. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows an example of the data structure of floor information in the same embodiment. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the elevator system in the same embodiment. [Figure 6] Figure 6 shows another schematic configuration example of the elevator system in the same embodiment. [Figure 7] Figure 7 shows an example of the data structure of floor information in a modified example. [Figure 8] Figure 8 shows an example of an image projected by the projector in the modified example. [Figure 9] Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the elevator system in the modified example. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the disclosure is merely an example, and the invention is not limited by the contents described in the embodiments below. Modifications that a person skilled in the art can easily conceive are naturally included within the scope of the disclosure. In order to make the explanation clearer, the size, shape, etc. of each part may be schematically represented in the drawings with modifications from the actual embodiments. In some cases, the same reference numerals are used for corresponding elements in multiple drawings, and detailed explanations are omitted.

[0011] Figure 1 shows a schematic example of an elevator system according to one embodiment. While this explanation uses a single elevator car as an example, the configuration is similar for multiple elevator cars.

[0012] The elevator system according to this embodiment has a function to support vulnerable road users, which detects users boarding the elevator car, determines whether the detected user belongs to the category of a vulnerable road user or a non-vulnerable road user, and, if the detected user belongs to the category of a vulnerable road user, projects information to support that vulnerable road user onto the landing floor or the elevator car door.

[0013] In this embodiment, wheelchair users, users with white canes, and users with extremely slow walking speeds (for example, users whose walking speed is below a predetermined threshold (for example, 11 m / min or less)) are defined as users belonging to the attributes of vulnerable road users, and all other users are defined as users belonging to the attributes of non-vulnerable road users. In the following description, users belonging to the attributes of vulnerable road users may be simply referred to as vulnerable road users, and users belonging to the attributes of non-vulnerable road users may be simply referred to as non-vulnerable road users.

[0014] A camera 12 is installed above the entrance / exit of the car 11. Specifically, the camera 12 is installed with its lens portion facing downward, or toward the landing side or the car side, inside a curtain board 11a that covers the upper part of the entrance / exit of the car 11.

[0015] The camera 12 has, for example, a wide-angle lens or a fisheye lens, and continuously captures images at several frames per second (for example, 30 frames / second). The camera 12 is always activated and captures a predetermined range L1 including the landing side and the car side. The images captured by the camera 12 are, for example, subjected to image processing by an image processing apparatus 20 described later at a predetermined timing, and the images subjected to the image processing are stored in the image processing apparatus 20. Note that the installation location of the camera 12 does not have to be above the entrance / exit of the car 11 as long as it can capture the above-described predetermined range L1.

[0016] At the landing 15 of each floor, a landing door 14 is installed at the arrival opening of the car 11. The landing door 14 engages with the car door 13 when the car 11 arrives and opens and closes. Note that the power source (door motor) is on the car side, and the landing door 14 only opens and closes following the car door 13.

[0017] Inside the car 11, a projector 16 (for example, a projector or the like) is installed with its lens portion facing the landing side. The projector 16 projects an image or video toward the landing direction under the control of an elevator control apparatus 30.

[0018] The projector 16 projects, for example, an image including movement information for a traffic vulnerable person to safely move on a predetermined floor onto the floor surface of the landing 15 or the car door 13. The movement information is information that at least indicates a direction recommended as the traveling direction of a traffic vulnerable person getting off at a predetermined floor (hereinafter referred to as the recommended traveling direction).

[0019] Here, referring to FIG. 2, an example of an image projected by the projector 16 onto the floor surface of the landing 15 or the car door 13 will be described.

[0020] Figure 2(a) shows a case where an image containing only one piece of movement information indicating the recommended direction of travel is projected. According to the image shown in Figure 2(a), it is possible to inform vulnerable road users that "it is safe to move to the right on the floor in question." The term "the floor in question" refers to the current stopping floor when the projection location of the image containing the movement information is the floor surface of the landing 15, and to the next stopping floor when the projection location of the image containing the movement information is the car door 13.

[0021] Figure 2(b) shows a projected image containing a single piece of movement information, including the recommended direction of travel, the floor number, the presence or absence of stairs, and the presence or absence of steps. According to the image shown in Figure 2(b), it is possible to inform people with mobility difficulties that "on the 7th floor, if you move to the right, you can travel along a passage that has no stairs and no steps."

[0022] Figure 2(c) shows a projected image containing two pieces of movement information, each indicating the recommended direction of travel, the floor number, the presence or absence of stairs, the presence or absence of steps, and the width of the passageway. According to the image shown in Figure 2(c), it is possible to inform vulnerable road users that "on the 7th floor, if you move to the right, you can move along a passageway with no stairs, no steps, and a width of 2m" and "on the 7th floor, if you move straight ahead, you can move along a passageway with no stairs, a 3cm step, and a width of 1.5m."

[0023] Furthermore, when an image containing multiple pieces of movement information is projected, it is desirable that the movement information indicating the safest direction of travel is emphasized more than the other movement information in that image. For example, in the image shown in Figure 2(c), by changing the size (thickness) and color of the arrow indicating the recommended direction of travel, the movement information corresponding to the right direction, where there is no stairs or steps and the passage is 2m wide, is emphasized more than the movement information corresponding to the front direction, where there are no stairs but there is a 3cm step and the passage is 1.5m wide. This allows vulnerable road users to intuitively determine the safest direction of travel.

[0024] Let's return to the explanation of Figure 1. Each image (video) continuously captured by camera 12 is analyzed and processed in real time by image processing device 20. Note that in Figure 1, for convenience, the image processing device 20 is shown removed from the elevator car 11; however, in reality, the image processing device 20 is housed together with camera 12 inside the skirt panel 11a.

[0025] The image processing device 20 comprises a storage unit 21 and a processing unit 22. The storage unit 21 consists of a memory device such as RAM. The storage unit 21 has a buffer area for temporarily storing data necessary for processing by the processing unit 22. The memory unit 21 sequentially stores images captured by the camera 12. The memory unit 21 stores images that have undergone pre-processing, such as distortion correction, scaling, and cropping, as a pre-processing step for the images captured by the camera 12. The memory unit 21 may also store images in their unprocessed state.

[0026] The processing unit 22 has the function of using images captured by the camera 12 to detect users in the landing 15 (and inside the elevator car 11), determining whether the detected users belong to the category of vulnerable road users or non-vulnerable road users, and notifying the elevator control device 30 if any vulnerable road users are among the detected users.

[0027] As shown in Figure 1, the processing unit 22 includes a user detection unit 23 and a user attribute determination unit 24. The user detection unit 23 and the user attribute determination unit 24 included in the processing unit 22 may be implemented by a CPU (not shown) of the image processing device 20 executing a program (i.e., software), by hardware such as an IC (Integrated Circuit), or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0028] The user detection unit 23 uses images captured by the camera 12 to detect users in the boarding area 15 (and inside the elevator car 11). Specifically, as shown in Figure 3, the user detection unit 23 divides the images captured by the camera 12 into numerous blocks and performs motion detection processing to detect moving blocks (motion blocks) from among the blocks by focusing on changes in the color information (for example, changes in brightness values) of each block. According to this motion detection processing, users appearing in the image are detected as a collection of motion blocks.

[0029] Furthermore, the user detection unit 23 may detect users not by the motion detection process described above, but by, for example, SSD (Single Shot Multibox Detector), which is one of the image recognition methods using supervised learning. In this case, the user detection unit 23 can efficiently detect users in the boarding area 15 (and inside the elevator car 11), including their location, from newly captured images by pre-training images of users in the boarding area 15 (and inside the elevator car 11) as training data.

[0030] The user attribute determination unit 24 uses the images captured by the camera 12 to determine (estimate) whether each user detected by the user detection unit 23 belongs to the attributes of a vulnerable road user or a non-vulnerable road user. As described above, the user attribute determination unit 24 determines that wheelchair users, users with white canes, and users with extremely slow walking speeds belong to the attributes of a vulnerable road user, and determines that all other users belong to the attributes of a non-vulnerable road user.

[0031] Specifically, the user attribute determination unit 24 determines that a user is a wheelchair user and belongs to the category of a person with mobility impairments if a wheelchair is detected by the SSD described above from an image in which a user has been detected by the user detection unit 23. In this case, the user attribute determination unit 24 can efficiently detect wheelchairs, including their position, from newly captured images by pre-training images containing various types of wheelchairs as training data. Here, we have described the case in which the user attribute determination unit 24 detects a wheelchair using SSD, which is one of the image recognition methods using supervised learning. However, the method of detecting a wheelchair is not limited to this, and for example, a wheelchair may be detected using an image recognition method using unsupervised learning, or a wheelchair may be detected using other image recognition methods.

[0032] Furthermore, if the user attribute determination unit 24 detects a white cane using the SSD described above from an image in which a user has been detected by the user detection unit 23, it determines that the user is a user with a white cane and belongs to the category of a user with mobility impairments. In this case, the user attribute determination unit 24 can efficiently detect white canes, including their position, from newly captured images by pre-training images containing various types of white canes as training data. Although this explanation describes the case where the user attribute determination unit 24 detects a white cane using the SSD described above, the method of detecting a white cane is not limited to this. For example, a white cane may be detected using an image recognition method using unsupervised learning, or by using other image recognition methods.

[0033] Furthermore, the user attribute determination unit 24 calculates the user's walking speed (movement speed) based on the image detected by the user detection unit 23. If the calculated walking speed is below a preset threshold (for example, 11 m / min or less), the unit determines that the user is a user with an extremely slow walking speed and belongs to the category of a vulnerable road user. The user's walking speed is calculated, for example, based on the amount of movement per unit time of the user detected by the user detection unit 23.

[0034] If the user attribute determination unit 24 detects that there is a person with mobility impairment among the users detected by the user detection unit 23, it sends a notification to the elevator control device 30 indicating that there is a person with mobility impairment boarding the elevator car 11.

[0035] The elevator control device 30 consists of a computer equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. The elevator control device 30 controls the raising and lowering of the elevator car 11 and the operation of various equipment installed inside the elevator car 11. The elevator control device 30 includes a door opening / closing control unit 31, a building information storage unit 32, and a projection control unit 33.

[0036] The door opening / closing control unit 31 controls the opening and closing of the car door 13 when the elevator car 11 arrives at the landing 15. Specifically, the door opening / closing control unit 31 opens the car door 13 when the elevator car 11 arrives at the landing 15, and closes the door if the user detection unit 23 does not detect a user for a predetermined period of time (for example, 3 seconds), or if a door closing button provided on an operation panel (not shown) inside the elevator car 11 is pressed.

[0037] However, if the door opening / closing control unit 31 receives notification from the image processing device 20 that there is a person with mobility impairment boarding the elevator car 11, it will extend the door opening time of the elevator car door 13 compared to normal (for example, by 5 seconds longer than normal) and control the door closing speed of the elevator car door 13 to be slower than normal (for example, to half the normal speed). It is desirable that this control be continued until the direction of travel of the elevator car 11 reverses (or until all passengers disembark from the elevator car 11 and the elevator car 11 enters a standby state).

[0038] The building information storage unit 32 stores floor information that shows the structure of each floor of the building in which the elevator car 11 is installed. Here, the floor information will be explained in detail with reference to Figure 4.

[0039] Figure 4 shows an example of the data structure of floor information. As shown in Figure 4, floor information is information that links together information about the floor number, direction, steps, tactile paving, visibility, average population density, and passage width.

[0040] Information regarding the number of floors indicates the floor number. The directional information indicates the direction as seen from inside the elevator car 11 towards the boarding area 15. Information regarding steps indicates whether there are stairs, whether there are steps other than stairs, and whether there is a slope (including ramps). Furthermore, if stairs are present, the height of each step is indicated, and if steps are present, the height of each step is indicated. Information regarding tactile paving indicates whether or not tactile paving is present. Forecast information indicates the degree of the outlook (e.g., good, average, poor, etc.). Information regarding average population density shows the average population density. Information regarding aisle width indicates the aisle width.

[0041] For example, according to floor information f1 shown in Figure 4, if you alight from elevator car 11 on the "7th floor," to the "right" there is no stairs or steps, there is a slope, there are tactile paving blocks, the visibility is "good," the average population density is "X people," and there is a passageway with a width of "2m."

[0042] Furthermore, according to the floor information f2 shown in Figure 4, when alighting from elevator car 11 on the "7th floor," there are "no" stairs or slopes in the "straight ahead," there is a "3cm" step, there are "no" tactile paving blocks, visibility is "good," the average population density is "Y people," and there is a passageway with a width of "1.5m."

[0043] Furthermore, according to the floor information f3 shown in Figure 4, if you alight from elevator car 11 on the "7th floor," to the "left" there is a staircase with a height of "15 cm" per step, no steps or slopes, tactile paving, normal visibility, an average population density of "Z people," and a passageway with a width of "2 m."

[0044] Furthermore, it is desirable that the building information storage unit 32 stores floor information for each floor, corresponding to the right, front, and left directions, as floor information indicating the structure of each floor of the building in which the elevator car 11 is installed. In addition, the building information storage unit 32 may also store map information showing the floor map of each floor of the building in which the elevator car 11 is installed.

[0045] The projection control unit 33 controls the operation of the projector 16. More specifically, when the projection control unit 33 receives notification from the image processing device 20 that there is a person with mobility impairment boarding the elevator car 11, it controls the projector 16 to project an image containing movement information corresponding to the destination floor of the elevator car 11 onto the floor of the landing 15 or the elevator car door 13 until the direction of travel of the elevator car 11 reverses (or until all passengers disembark from the elevator car 11 and the elevator car 11 enters a waiting state).

[0046] Specifically, when the image processing device 20 receives notification that there is a person with mobility impairment boarding the elevator car 11, the projection control unit 33 first checks the elevator call registered for the elevator car 11 and obtains all the floor information corresponding to the destination floor included in the elevator call from the building information storage unit 32. Note that "the destination floor included in the elevator call registered for the elevator car 11" may simply be referred to as "the destination floor registered for the elevator car 11".

[0047] Next, the projection control unit 33 performs a process to select a predetermined number of floor information from the acquired floor information for each destination floor registered in the elevator car 11. Specifically, the projection control unit 33 selects the same number of floor information from the acquired floor information for each destination floor registered in the elevator car 11 as the number of movement information items to be included in the image projected by the projector 16, according to the priority described later.

[0048] Priority: Presence of stairs > Presence of steps > Pathway width > Presence of tactile paving > Average population density > Visibility First, the projection control unit 33 refers to the information regarding steps included in each of the multiple floor information units corresponding to the predetermined target floor that have been acquired, and prioritizes selecting the floor information unit that indicates there are no stairs. If the number of floor information units selected at this point (the first point in time) is the same as the number of movement information units to be included in the image projected by the projector 16, the projection control unit 33 determines the direction indicated by the selected floor information unit as the recommended direction of travel for people with mobility impairments, and generates an image containing the movement information corresponding to the selected floor information unit, and outputs this image to the projector 16.

[0049] On the other hand, if the number of floor information selected at the first time point described above is not the same as the number of movement information included in the image projected by the projector 16, or more specifically, if the number of floor information selected at the first time point described above is greater than the number of movement information included in the image projected by the projector 16, the projection control unit 33 refers to the information on steps included in each of the selected floor information and preferentially selects floor information that indicates there are no steps.

[0050] Furthermore, if the number of floor information selected at the first point in time described above is less than the number of movement information to be included in the image projected by the projector 16, the projection control unit 33 refers to the information regarding steps included in each of the unselected floor information corresponding to a predetermined target floor and preferentially selects floor information that indicates there are no steps.

[0051] Furthermore, if the number of floor information items selected at this point (second point in time) is the same as the number of movement information items to be included in the image projected by the projector 16, the projection control unit 33 determines the direction indicated by the selected floor information as the recommended direction of travel for vulnerable road users, and generates an image containing the movement information corresponding to the selected floor information, and outputs this image to the projector 16.

[0052] If the number of floor information items selected at the second point described above is not equal to the number of movement information items to be included in the image projected by the projector 16, the projection control unit 33 refers to the information regarding the aisle width and performs a similar process. Thereafter, the projection control unit 33 repeatedly performs the same process according to the priority described above until the number of selected floor information items is equal to the number of movement information items to be included in the image projected by the projector 16.

[0053] As described above, the projection control unit 33 generates an image that includes movement information corresponding to the selected floor information. For example, if the image projected by the projector 16 is set to include only one piece of movement information indicating the recommended direction of travel, the projection control unit 33 generates an image (for example, the image shown in Figure 2(a)) that includes an arrow as movement information corresponding to the direction indicated by the selected piece of floor information, and outputs this to the projector 16.

[0054] As another example, if the image projected by the projector 16 is set to include one piece of movement information indicating the recommended direction of travel, the floor number, whether there are stairs, and whether there are steps, the projection control unit 33 generates an image (for example, the image shown in Figure 2(b)) that includes an arrow corresponding to the direction indicated by the selected piece of floor information, and characters indicating the floor number, whether there are stairs, and whether there are steps, as movement information, and outputs this to the projector 16.

[0055] As yet another example, if the image projected by the projector 16 is set to include two pieces of movement information indicating the recommended direction of travel, the floor number, whether there are stairs, whether there are steps, and the width of the passageway, the projection control unit 33 generates an image (for example, the image shown in Figure 2(c)) that includes arrows corresponding to the directions indicated by the two selected pieces of floor information, and characters indicating the floor number, whether there are stairs, whether there are steps, and the width of the passageway as movement information, and outputs this to the projector 16.

[0056] In this description, the projection control unit 33 generates an image containing movement information corresponding to the selected floor information. However, the projection control unit 33 is not limited to this. It may also acquire an image corresponding to the selected floor information from a storage device (not shown) that pre-stores images containing one piece of movement information corresponding to each piece of floor information (for example, the images shown in Figures 2(a) and 2(b)) and images containing multiple pieces of movement information corresponding to multiple pieces of floor information (for example, the image shown in Figure 2(c)), and output this image to the projector 16.

[0057] Although not shown in Figure 1, the elevator control device 30 may further include a notification control unit in addition to the parts 31 to 33 described above.

[0058] The notification control unit broadcasts an announcement via speakers (not shown) installed inside the elevator car 11 and at the landing 15, for example, before an image containing movement information is projected, informing the passenger that an image containing movement information will be projected. Specifically, before an image containing movement information is projected, the notification control unit broadcasts an audio announcement such as, "We will now introduce a safe route for moving between floors," or "Please do not stand in front of the door as an image will be projected."

[0059] Furthermore, the notification control unit broadcasts announcements regarding the content of the movement information, for example, while an image containing movement information is being projected, via speakers (not shown) installed inside the elevator car 11 and at the landing 15. Specifically, while an image containing movement information is being projected, the notification control unit broadcasts voice announcements such as, "If you wish to use the step-free route on the 7th floor, please proceed to the right."

[0060] Next, an example of the operation of the elevator system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in Figure 5. Here, it will be described that the image processing device 20 acquires images captured by the camera 12 in a time series and stores these acquired images sequentially in the storage unit 21. Furthermore, here we will describe the case in which the projector 16 projects an image onto the floor surface of the landing 15 while the car door 13 is open (for example, between the completion of opening the car door 13 and the start of closing the door).

[0061] When the elevator car 11 arrives at any floor (Yes in step S1), the door opening / closing control unit 31 of the elevator control device 30 opens the car door 13 (step S2).

[0062] When the elevator car door 13 opens, the user detection unit 23 of the image processing device 20 determines whether or not there is a user at the landing 15 based on the image captured by the camera 12 (in other words, it detects the presence or absence of a user) (step S3).

[0063] In step S3, if it is determined that there are no users at landing 15 (step S3 No.), the elevator system operates the elevator car 11 as usual. Specifically, depending on the elapsed time since users were no longer detected, or in response to the pressing of a door-closing button on a control panel (not shown), when the car doors 13 are fully closed, the elevator system departs the elevator car 11 toward the next destination floor, thus ending the series of operations here.

[0064] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that there is a user at the boarding area 15 (Yes in step S3), the user attribute determination unit 24 determines, based on the image captured by the camera 12, whether the predetermined user detected by the user detection unit 23 belongs to the attributes of a vulnerable road user or a non-vulnerable road user (step S4).

[0065] Next, the user attribute determination unit 24 determines whether or not it has determined the attributes of all users detected by the user detection unit 23 (step S5). If, in the process of step S5, it is determined that the attributes of all users have not been determined (No. in step S5), the user attribute determination unit 24 executes the process of step S4 described above for users whose attributes have not yet been determined, and determines the attributes of those users.

[0066] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that the attributes of all users have been determined (Yes in step S5), the user attribute determination unit 24 determines whether or not a vulnerable road user is included among the users detected by the user detection unit 23 (step S6). If it is determined in step S6 that a vulnerable road user is not included (No in step S6), the elevator system operates the elevator car 11 as usual. Specifically, the elevator system, depending on the elapsed time since users were no longer detected, or in response to the pressing of a door-closing button on a control panel (not shown), departs the elevator car 11 toward the next destination floor once the car door 13 is fully closed, thus ending the series of operations here.

[0067] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S6 that a person with mobility impairment is present (Yes in step S6), the user attribute determination unit 24 sends a notification to the elevator control device 30 that there is a person with mobility impairment boarding the elevator car 11. When the projection control unit 33 of the elevator control device 30 receives a notification from the image processing device 20 that there is a person with mobility impairment boarding the elevator car 11, it retrieves all the floor information corresponding to the destination floor registered for the elevator car 11 from the building information storage unit 32 (step S7).

[0068] Next, the projection control unit 33 selects the same number of floor information items to be included in the image projected onto the floor surface of the landing 15 from the floor information for a predetermined destination floor acquired in step S7 (step S8). Note that the process in step S8 is performed sequentially for all destination floors registered in the elevator car 11.

[0069] Subsequently, the projection control unit 33 generates an image containing movement information corresponding to the floor information selected in step S8, and outputs the image to the projector 16 (step S9). The process in step S9 is performed sequentially for all destination floors registered in the elevator car 11.

[0070] When the car door 13 closes and the elevator car 11 departs for the next destination floor (step S10), and the elevator car 11 arrives at the destination floor and the car door 13 opens (step S11), the projector 16 begins to project an image corresponding to the destination floor onto the floor of the landing 15 (step S12).

[0071] When the elevator car door 13 begins to close, the projector 16 stops projecting the image onto the floor of the landing 15 (step S13), and ends the series of operations here.

[0072] The processes in steps S10 to S13 are repeated until the direction of travel of car 11 reverses (or until all passengers disembark from car 11 and car 11 enters a standby state). Furthermore, if a new car call is registered before the direction of travel of car 11 reverses (or until all passengers disembark from car 11 and car 11 enters a standby state), the processes in steps S7 to S9 are executed for the destination floor included in that car call.

[0073] Furthermore, while this explanation describes the case where the projector 16 projects an image onto the floor surface of the landing 15, when the projector 16 projects an image onto the elevator car door 13, the projector 16 projects an image corresponding to the next destination floor onto the elevator car door 13 while the elevator car door 13 is closing (for example, during the processing of steps S10 and S11, that is, between the completion of closing the elevator car door 13 and the start of opening the door).

[0074] As described above, the elevator system according to this embodiment detects users on the landing 15 based on images captured by the camera 12, determines whether the detected users belong to the attributes of vulnerable road users or non-vulnerable road users, and if a user belonging to the attributes of vulnerable road users is included among the detected users, an image including movement information that at least indicates the direction in which vulnerable road users can move safely on that predetermined floor is projected onto the landing floor of that predetermined floor while the car door 13 is open on that predetermined floor, as information to support vulnerable road users.

[0075] According to this, it is possible to inform vulnerable road users, such as wheelchair users, users with white canes, and users with extremely slow walking speeds, of the safe direction they can move on a designated floor.

[0076] The designated floor may be the floor where a person with mobility impairment disembarks, or it may be the destination floor registered in the elevator car 11 when a user detected from the landing 15 is determined to belong to the category of a person with mobility impairment.

[0077] Furthermore, the elevator system according to this embodiment includes a building information storage unit 32 that stores floor information indicating the structure of each floor of the building in which the elevator car 11 is installed. In addition, if the elevator system according to this embodiment detects a user who is a person with mobility impairments among the users detected from the landing 15, it acquires floor information indicating the structure of the destination floor that is registered in the elevator car 11, selects floor information from the acquired floor information that indicates a direction in which the person with mobility impairments can safely move to the predetermined destination floor, according to a predetermined priority, and projects an image including movement information corresponding to the selected floor information onto the landing floor of the predetermined destination floor.

[0078] According to this, it is possible to project an image that includes movement information indicating a direction favorable to people with mobility difficulties, using general information such as floor information that shows the structure of each floor of the building in which the elevator car 11 is installed.

[0079] Furthermore, in this embodiment, if the detected users include a user with the attributes of a person with mobility impairment, the elevator system repeatedly projects images containing movement information corresponding to predetermined floors where the elevator car 11 will sequentially stop onto the landing floor of each predetermined floor until the direction of the elevator car 11 reverses. Therefore, it can reliably support a person with mobility impairment even without tracking their movements (i.e., even if it is unknown which floor the person with mobility impairment will disembark at).

[0080] However, if the detected users include a user with the attributes of a person with mobility impairment, the elevator system according to this embodiment may follow the movement of the person with mobility impairment and project an image containing movement information corresponding to the destination floor only at the destination floor included in the car call registered by the person with mobility impairment (i.e., only at the floor where the person with mobility impairment disembarks). Alternatively, if the detected users include a user with the attributes of a person with mobility impairment, the elevator system according to this embodiment may follow the movement of the person with mobility impairment and repeatedly project an image containing movement information corresponding to the next destination floor until it is detected that the person with mobility impairment has disembarked from the elevator car 11. According to these embodiments, it is possible to reduce the number of times an image is projected compared to the embodiment in which the image is projected repeatedly until the destination direction of the elevator car 11 is reversed.

[0081] In this embodiment, a configuration in which the camera 12 and the projector 16 are provided separately has been described, but a configuration in which a single device is provided that integrates the shooting function of the camera 12 and the projection function of the projector 16 is also acceptable.

[0082] Furthermore, although the projector 16 is provided inside the elevator car 11 in this embodiment, if the projection destination of the image by the projector 16 is limited to the floor surface of the landing 15, the projector 16 may be provided on the landing 15 side (for example, on the landing ceiling or landing wall).

[0083] Furthermore, although this embodiment describes an elevator control device 30 that includes a building information storage unit 32, the building information storage unit 32 may be provided separately from the elevator control device 30. For example, the building information storage unit 32 may be provided as a server device installed in a predetermined room (e.g., a manager's room) within the building where the elevator car 11 is installed, or it may be provided as a cloud server on the internet.

[0084] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the projector 16 projects an image containing movement information onto the floor of the landing 15 to inform vulnerable persons of the safe direction to move to the next destination floor. However, this is not limited to this, and for example, as shown in Figure 6, instead of the projector 16, a display device 17 may be installed (embedded) under the floor of the landing 15, and an image containing movement information may be displayed on the display device 17 to inform vulnerable persons of the safe direction to move to the next destination floor. In this case, the elevator control device 30 is connected to the display device 17 in a communicative manner and includes a display control device 34 instead of the projection control device 33. The display control device 34 performs the same processing as the projection control device 33 to generate an image containing movement information and then transmits the image to the display device 17. The same effects as described above can be obtained with this configuration as well.

[0085] The following describes some variations. (modified version) This modified version differs from the above-described embodiment in that, if the user detection unit 23 does not detect any vulnerable road users, the projector 16 projects an image intended for non-vulnerable road users. Furthermore, this modified version differs from the above-described embodiment in that the floor information stored in the building information storage unit 32 further includes information about stores, and the information included in the image projected by the projector 16 further indicates the store names of stores located in the corresponding direction. Below, we will mainly explain the differences from the above-described embodiment, and omit explanations of points that are the same as the above-described embodiment.

[0086] Figure 7 shows an example of the data structure of floor information related to this modified example. As shown in Figure 7, the floor information in this modified version includes information on the number of floors, direction, steps, tactile paving, visibility, average population density, and aisle width, as well as additionally, information on stores. The store information indicates the store name.

[0087] For example, according to the floor information f1' shown in Figure 7, if you alight from elevator car 11 on the "7th floor," to the "right" there are "no" stairs or steps, there is a slope, there are "braille blocks," the view is "good," the average population density is "X people," there is a passageway with a width of "2m," and there is an "AA bookstore."

[0088] Furthermore, according to the floor information f2' shown in Figure 7, when alighting from elevator car 11 on the "7th floor," there are "no" stairs or slopes in the "straight ahead," there is a "3cm" step, there are "no" tactile paving blocks, visibility is "good," the average population density is "Y people," there is a passageway with a width of "1.5m," and there is a "BB Electronics Store."

[0089] Furthermore, according to the floor information f3' shown in Figure 7, if you alight from elevator car 11 on the "7th floor," to the "left" there is a staircase with a height of "15 cm" per step, no steps or slopes, tactile paving, normal visibility, an average population density of "Z people," a passageway with a width of "2 m," and a "CC clothing store."

[0090] Figure 8 shows an example of an image projected by the projector 16 onto the floor of the landing 15 or the elevator car door 13 in this modified example. Figure 8(a) shows an image for people with mobility impairments, and Figure 8(b) shows an image for people without mobility impairments.

[0091] Figure 8(a) shows a case where an image is projected that includes two pieces of movement information, each indicating the recommended direction of travel, the floor number, the presence or absence of stairs, the presence or absence of steps, the width of the passageway, and the name of the store. According to the image shown in Figure 8(a), it is possible to inform people with mobility difficulties that "on the 7th floor, if you go to the right, there are no stairs, no steps, a passageway with a width of 2m, and BB Electronics Store" and "on the 7th floor, if you go straight ahead, there are no stairs, a step of 3cm, a passageway with a width of 1.5m, and AA Bookstore".

[0092] Figure 8(b) shows a projected image containing three pieces of information: the direction of travel, the floor number, and the store name. The image for non-mobility-disabled people differs from the image for mobility-disabled people in that, instead of showing a recommended direction of travel like the image for mobility-disabled people, it shows the names of stores located in each direction (all directions) as useful information for non-mobility-disabled people. According to the image shown in Figure 8(b), it is possible to inform non-mobility-disabled people that "on the 7th floor, if you go to the right there is BB Electronics, if you go straight there is AA Bookstore, and if you go to the left there is CC Clothing Store."

[0093] While this explanation describes cases where the names of stores located in each direction are included in images intended for non-transportation-disadvantaged individuals, the explanation is not limited to this. Images intended for non-transportation-disadvantaged individuals may also include the average population density corresponding to each direction, advertisements promoting stores located in each direction, etc.

[0094] Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the elevator system according to this modified example. Here, it is assumed that the image processing device 20 acquires images captured by the camera 12 in a time series and stores these acquired images sequentially in the storage unit 21. Furthermore, this explanation describes the case in which the projector 16 projects an image onto the floor surface of the landing 15 while the car door 13 is open (for example, between the completion of opening the car door 13 and the start of closing the door).

[0095] First, steps S21 to S26 are executed, which are similar to the processes in steps S1 to S6 shown in Figure 5. In the process of step S26, if it is determined that a person with mobility impairment is present (Yes in step S26), the user attribute determination unit 24 sends a notification to the elevator control device 30 that there is a person with mobility impairment who will be riding in the elevator car 11 (in other words, a notification that a person with mobility impairment will be riding in the elevator car 11). When the projection control unit 33 of the elevator control device 30 receives the notification from the image processing device 20 that a person with mobility impairment will be riding in the elevator car 11 (step S27), it retrieves all the floor information corresponding to the destination floor registered for the elevator car 11 from the building information storage unit 32 (step S28).

[0096] Next, the projection control unit 33 selects the same number of floor information items from the floor information for a predetermined destination floor acquired in step S28 as the number of movement information items to be included in the image for vulnerable persons projected onto the floor surface of the landing 15 (step S29). Note that the process in step S29 is performed sequentially for all destination floors registered in the elevator car 11.

[0097] Subsequently, the projection control unit 33 generates an image for people with mobility impairments that includes movement information corresponding to the floor information selected in step S29, and outputs the image to the projector 16 (step S30). The process in step S30 is performed sequentially for all destination floors registered in the elevator car 11.

[0098] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S26 that no vulnerable road users are included (No. in step S26), the user attribute determination unit 24 sends a notification to the elevator control device 30 that only non-vulnerable road users will be riding in the elevator car 11. When the projection control unit 33 of the elevator control device 30 receives the notification from the image processing device 20 that only non-vulnerable road users will be riding in the elevator car 11 (step S31), it retrieves all the floor information corresponding to the destination floor registered in the elevator car 11 from the building information storage unit 32 (step S32).

[0099] Subsequently, the projection control unit 33 generates an image for non-mobility-impaired persons that includes information corresponding to the floor information for a predetermined target floor acquired in the processing of step S32, and outputs the image to the projector 16 (step S33). The processing of step S33 is performed sequentially for all target floors registered in the elevator car 11.

[0100] After processing in step S30 or S33, the car door 13 closes and the elevator car 11 departs for the next destination floor (step S34). When the elevator car 11 arrives at the destination floor and the car door 13 opens (step S35), the projector 16 begins projecting an image corresponding to the destination floor onto the floor of the landing 15 (step S36).

[0101] When the elevator car door 13 begins to close, the projector 16 stops projecting the image onto the floor of the landing 15 (step S37), and ends the series of operations here.

[0102] The processes in steps S34 to S37 are repeatedly executed until the direction of travel of car 11 reverses (or until all passengers disembark from car 11 and car 11 enters a standby state). Furthermore, if a new car call is registered during the period until the direction of travel of car 11 reverses (or until all passengers disembark from car 11 and car 11 enters a standby state), the processes in steps S27 to S30 or steps S31 to S33 are executed for the destination floor included in that car call.

[0103] Furthermore, if initially only non-disabled persons board the elevator car 11, but a disabled person boards the elevator car 11 at an intermediate floor, the processing in steps S27 to S30 is executed for the destination floor registered in the elevator car 11 at the time the disabled person boards the elevator car 11. This makes it possible to project images for non-disabled persons before a disabled person boards the elevator car 11 (i.e., when only non-disabled persons are on the elevator car 11), and to project images for disabled persons after a disabled person boards the elevator car 11.

[0104] In this explanation, we have described the case where the projector 16 projects an image onto the floor surface of the landing 15. However, when the projector 16 projects an image onto the elevator car door 13, the projector 16 projects an image corresponding to the next destination floor onto the elevator car door 13 while the door 13 is closing (for example, during the processing of steps S34 and S35, that is, between the completion of closing the elevator car door 13 and the start of opening the door).

[0105] According to the modified version described above, it is possible to provide useful information not only to those with limited mobility but also to those without.

[0106] Furthermore, the projection control unit 33 may control the projector 16 to project specific images, such as images to inform users that controlled operation will be implemented (or that controlled operation will be implemented), in addition to images for vulnerable road users and images for non-vulnerable road users.

[0107] According to the embodiment described above, it is possible to provide an elevator system that can support people with mobility difficulties who use elevators.

[0108] While several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as in the claims of the invention and its equivalents. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0109] 11... elevator car, 11a... skirting board, 12... camera, 13... car door, 14... landing door, 15... landing, 16... projector, 17... display device, 20... image processing device, 21... memory unit, 22... processing unit, 23... user detection unit, 24... user attribute determination unit, 30... elevator control device, 31... door opening / closing control unit, 32... building information memory unit, 33... projection control unit, 34... display control unit.

Claims

1. A camera that can take pictures of the boarding area from inside the elevator car, A projector capable of projecting images from inside the elevator car toward the boarding area, Projection control means for controlling the operation of the projector, A user detection means for detecting users at the boarding area based on images captured by the aforementioned camera, The system includes a user attribute determination means for determining whether the detected user belongs to the attributes of a vulnerable road user or a non-vulnerable road user, The projection control means is If the detected users include a user who belongs to the category of a person with mobility impairment, the projector is controlled to project an image containing mobility information to support the person with mobility impairment onto the landing floor of the predetermined floor while the elevator car door is open on the predetermined floor. Elevator system.

2. The aforementioned movement information indicates at least one direction in which the person with mobility impairment can move safely on the predetermined floor. The elevator system according to claim 1.

3. The aforementioned designated floor is the floor where the person with mobility impairment disembarks. The elevator system according to claim 1.

4. The aforementioned predetermined floor is the destination floor registered in the elevator when the detected user is determined to belong to the attributes of a person with limited mobility. The elevator system according to claim 1.

5. The building further comprises a building information storage means that stores floor information indicating the structure of each floor of the building in which the aforementioned elevator car is installed, The projection control means is If the detected users include users belonging to the attributes of persons with mobility impairments, floor information indicating the structure of the destination floor registered in the elevator car is obtained from the building information storage means. An image containing movement information corresponding to the acquired floor information is output to the projector. When the elevator car arrives at the next destination floor, the projector is controlled to project an image containing the movement information onto the landing floor of the next destination floor while the elevator car doors are open. The elevator system according to claim 1.

6. The floor information, as information relating to the structure of each floor of the building, indicates the direction when looking from inside the elevator car to the landing, the presence or absence of steps in that direction, the presence or absence of tactile paving in that direction, the degree of visibility in that direction, the average population density in that direction, and the width of the passageway in that direction. The elevator system according to claim 5.

7. The projection control means is From the acquired floor information, select floor information indicating the direction in which the person with mobility impairment can safely move to a predetermined destination floor. The projector outputs an image to the projector that includes movement information corresponding to the selected floor information. The elevator system according to claim 6.

8. The projection control means is Based on the priority order indicated by the floor information, which is in descending order of presence or absence of steps, passage width, presence or absence of tactile paving, average population density, and degree of visibility, floor information indicating a direction in which a person with mobility impairment can safely move to the predetermined destination floor is selected from the acquired floor information. The elevator system according to claim 7.

9. The projection control means is If the detected users include users who belong to the category of vulnerable road users, the projector is controlled to project images containing the movement information onto the floor of the landings on predetermined floors where the elevator car sequentially stops, until the elevator car reverses its direction of travel. The elevator system according to claim 1.

10. The projection control means is While the elevator car door is closed, the projector is controlled to project an image containing the movement information onto the elevator car door. The elevator system according to claim 1.

11. The projection control means is If none of the detected users belong to the category of persons with mobility impairments, the projector is controlled to project an image containing information useful to persons without mobility impairments onto the landing floor of the predetermined floor. The elevator system according to claim 1.

12. The system further includes notification control means that broadcasts an announcement indicating that an image containing the movement information will be projected before the image containing the movement information is projected, and broadcasts an announcement regarding the content of the movement information while the image containing the movement information is being projected. The elevator system according to claim 1.

13. Users belonging to the aforementioned category of vulnerable road users include wheelchair users, users with white canes, and users whose walking speed is below a predetermined threshold. Users belonging to the attribute of non-transportation-disadvantaged persons are users other than users belonging to the attribute of transportation-disadvantaged persons. The elevator system according to claim 1.

Images