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

Abstract

To improve the operation efficiency of an elevator used by both people and autonomous mobile bodies. [Solution] An elevator control system of an embodiment includes a distribution unit that, when the elevator is crowded, distributes multiple cars into one or more first cars that can only be boarded by people and one or more second cars that can be boarded by autonomous moving bodies, and a normal operation control unit that, when the elevator is crowded, performs group management control to assign the first car closest to the departure floor to the one or more first cars, does not perform group management control for the one or more second cars, and controls the operation of the one or more second cars within a stopping floor limit range, which is a predetermined range of floors at which the cars can stop.

Description

[Technical field]

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

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

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

[0004] However, in such conventional technology, the autonomous mobile body or the elevator side often designates in advance the car number in which the autonomous mobile body will board. In other words, in the conventional technology, the current situation such as the number of passengers in the elevator car or the call registration floor is not determined, so the elevator instructed to operate in conjunction with the autonomous mobile body will start moving to the departure designated by the autonomous mobile body in an unmanned state after responding to the registered hall call or destination floor call. Recently, buildings have become taller and there are many floors to stop at, so if the departure floor designated by the autonomous mobile body is significantly far from the floor where the car is unmanned, the car will operate for a long time without a person, and the operation efficiency of the elevator will decrease. In addition, since the car number of the elevator that can respond to the call designated by the autonomous mobile body is designated, depending on the timing of the call, the autonomous mobile body will also have to wait for a long time, and the operation efficiency of the elevator will decrease. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] An elevator control system of an embodiment is an elevator control system comprising: an elevator control device that controls an elevator in which an autonomous moving body that can move autonomously can board a plurality of cars; and an elevator server that is connected to the elevator control device via a network and controls the raising and lowering of the cars. The elevator control system further comprises: a distribution unit that, when the elevator is crowded, distributes the plurality of cars into one or more first cars that only people can board, and one or more second cars that the autonomous moving body can board; and a normal operation control unit that, when the elevator is crowded, performs group management control to assign the first car that is closest to the departure floor to the one or more first cars, does not perform the group management control to the one or more second cars, and controls the operation of the one or more second cars within a stopping floor limit range that is a predetermined range of floors at which the cars can stop. [Brief description of the drawings]

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

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

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

[0009] Each of the elevators 2A and 2B includes a car 50A, 50B in each of the hoistways 20A and 20B. In addition, each of the hoistways 20A and 20B includes a hoist and a counterweight (not shown). The car 50A, 50B and the counterweight are supported so as to be able to rise and fall on a pair of guide rails (not shown) erected in the hoistways 20A and 20B, respectively, and rise and fall via ropes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[0021] An in-house server (not shown) is installed in the monitoring center 400. The in-house server is a server installed in an affiliated company of the elevator 11, and collects information required for maintenance management and remote monitoring of the elevator 2 from the elevators 2A and 2B. This allows a maintenance person to deal with the occurring malfunction by referring to the information required for maintenance management collected in the in-house server of the monitoring center 400 when a function or service is executed through the elevator cloud 200, and it is also possible to access the in-house server of the monitoring center 400 as necessary to refer to building and elevator information, or for the maintenance person to obtain information required for elevator management.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[0033] The control unit 120 is composed of a hardware processor (CPU). The control unit 120 mainly includes a normal operation control unit 121, a robot-linked operation control unit 122, a distribution unit 125, and a congestion state determination unit 127, as shown in FIG.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[0067] 9 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which the car 5 of the elevator 2 is in operation when the elevator 2 is crowded in the embodiment. Fig. 9(a) shows a state in normal operation, and Fig. 9(b) shows a state in which the elevator 2 is in operation in conjunction with a robot.

[0068] At the time when the process of S203 is executed, as shown in Fig. 9(a), elevator cars 5 of elevators 2 No. 4 and No. 5 are removed from group management control and become robot-priority elevators. And, for No. 4, the range of floors 1 to 10, which are the lower floors, is the limit range of floors where it can stop, and the range of floors 11 to 20, which are the upper floors, is the limit range of floors where it cannot stop. For No. 5, the range of floors 11 to 20, which are the upper floors, is the limit range of floors where it can stop, and the range of floors 1 to 10, which are the lower floors, is the limit range of floors where it cannot stop.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[0079] As shown in the example of FIG. 11(a), the waiting floors for the cars 5 of the elevators 2 of the first to fifth elevators 2 are distributed to the first, fifth, tenth, fifteenth, and twentieth floors, respectively.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[0089] In this embodiment, the stop floors of the elevator car 5 of the elevator 2 capable of robot-linked operation are limited by the stop floor limit range, so that even if the floor where the robot 500 becomes unmanned is the furthest from the departure floor of the destination floor call from the robot 500, the unmanned movement time is reduced to half of all floors, and unnecessary movement time can be reduced. For example, in the elevator 2 of a 20-story building, if the stop floor limit range is set to the 1st to 10th floors, when a destination floor call from the robot 500 occurs on the 2nd floor, the corresponding elevator 2 is at least between the 1st and 10th floors, so the unmanned movement time is only 10 floors at most. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the robot transportation efficiency of the robot 500 can be improved.

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

[0091] Therefore, according to this embodiment, by limiting the floors at which the car 5 of the elevator 2 that can be linked with a robot stops during crowded times and allocating them among multiple elevators, the time that the elevator 2 is unmanned can be reduced, and the operating efficiency of the elevator 2 used by both people and the robot 500 can be improved.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[0100] For example, the congestion status determination unit 127, the allocation unit 125, or all or part of the processing unit performing group management control may be provided in the server 210 of the elevator cloud 200, and all or part of the congestion status determination process, allocation process, or group management control process may be executed by the server 210. In this case, it is only necessary to configure the server 210 to transmit instructions to the control panel 100 of each elevator 2 according to the results of each process. With this configuration, the processing on the control panel 100 side can be simplified.

[0101] (Variation 2) In the above embodiment, the congestion status is judged to determine the busy and quiet times, but it is also possible to set busy and quiet times in advance based on the past operation status of the elevator 2, and to separate the processing for busy times from the processing for quiet times based on the time periods. For example, the starting time, lunch break time, and finishing time of work can be set as busy times, and the rest can be set as quiet times. In this case, confusion among people can be reduced by predetermining the time period.

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

[0103] As an example, in response to demands such as lunchbox delivery at lunchtime, basements of department stores and restaurants at night, and garbage disposal, the range of stop floors can be changed so that higher floors are set as the range of stop floors during the day and lower floors are set as the range of stop floors during the night. In this case, the stop floors used by the robot 500 change depending on the demand during the time period, so that the robot 500 can be stopped only on floors near floors with demand, thereby improving the efficiency of transportation of the robot 500. (Variation 4) When multiple elevator cars 5 of the elevator 2 capable of being linked with the robot can be prepared for each limited floor, the robot linkage operation control unit 122 may be configured to use group management control to select the elevator car 5 of the elevator 2 that can reach the departure floor the fastest when a destination floor call is made for the robot 500.

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

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

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

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

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

[0109] The elevator control program executed by the control panel 100 according to the above-mentioned embodiments and modified examples may be configured to be provided by recording it on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, or a digital versatile disk (DVD) in an installable or executable format.

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

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

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

[0113] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be 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 modifications are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0114] 1... elevator control system, 2, 2A, 2B... elevator, 3... building, 4, 4A, 4B... operation panel, 5A... user, 7, 7A, 7B... camera, 8, 8A, 8B... load sensor, 20, 20A, 20B... elevator shaft, 50, 50A, 50B... car, 100, 100A, 100B... control panel (elevator control device), 120, 211, 311, 501... control unit, 102, 212, 312, 502... communication unit, 11 0,220,320,510...memory unit, 111...robot management DB, 121...normal operation control unit, 122...robot linked operation control unit, 125...distribution unit, 127...crowding status judgment unit, 150,150A,150B...controller, 160...control room, 200...elevator cloud, 210...server, 300...robot cloud, 310...server, 500,500A,500B,500C...robot, 503...drive unit.

Claims

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

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

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

3. The elevator control system of claim 2.

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

4. The elevator control system of claim 3.

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

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

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

8. The normal operation control unit, in cooperation with the other elevator control devices, controls the waiting floors of the plurality of cars to be distributed among floors from the lowest floor to the highest floor when the elevator is not busy. The elevator control device according to claim 7.

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

9. The elevator control device according to claim 8.

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

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

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