Door status determination device, door status determination system, and mobile body equipped with door status determination device

Abstract

In the present invention, for an elevator, a marker having identification information corresponding to each of the elevator halls on a plurality of floors is disposed at each of the elevator halls on the plurality of floors at a position that can be visually recognized from inside the car while the elevator door is open and that cannot be visually recognized from inside the car while the elevator door is closed. This door state determination device acquires an in-car image captured by a camera installed on a mobile object that can get on and off the elevator, determines the door open / closed state of the elevator door according to whether an image of the marker is included in the in-car image, extracts identification information from the marker when an image of the marker is included in the in-car image, and determines the floor on which the elevator door is open on the basis of the identification information.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a door state determination device that determines the state of an elevator door, a door state determination system, and a moving body equipped with the door state determination device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a technology related to a control system for an autonomous mobile robot that uses an elevator. In the control system of this technology, a door status signal indicating the open / closed status of the elevator doors is transmitted from a signal transmitting means provided in the elevator. When the autonomous mobile robot receives the door status signal indicating that the doors are open and receives a disembarking instruction from a disembarking instruction means, the autonomous mobile robot drives a drive motor to disembark from the elevator. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 5449952 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the technology of Patent Document 1, the elevator control device determines the open / closed state of the doors and transmits the signal to the autonomous robot via communication. Therefore, in the technology of Patent Document 1, the autonomous robot needs to communicate with the elevator control device in order to grasp the open / closed state of the doors.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made to solve the problems described above, and aims to provide a technology that allows a moving object inside the elevator car to determine the state of the elevator doors and the floor on which the doors are open, without communicating with an elevator control device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The door status determination device disclosed herein is a door status determination device that determines the status of elevator doors from inside the cage of an elevator moving between multiple floors, and is equipped with: a camera that is mounted on a moving body that can get on and off the elevator and captures images of the inside of the cage, an acquisition unit that acquires images of the inside of the cage captured by the camera, a door open / close determination unit that determines the open / closed state of the elevator doors based on whether or not an image of the marker is included in the image of the inside of the cage; an extraction unit that extracts identification information from the marker if the image of the marker is included in the image of the inside of the cage; and a floor determination unit that determines the floor on which the elevator doors are open based on the identification information, when a marker having identification information corresponding to each of the landings of the multiple floors is located in a position that is visible from inside the cage when the elevator doors are open, but not visible from inside the cage when the elevator doors are closed. The markers of the present disclosure are arranged at different positions on each of the plurality of floors, and the extraction unit extracts the identification information from the positions of the markers. Alternatively, the markers of the present disclosure are arranged on the landing doors of each of the plurality of floors, and the door opening / closing determination unit is configured to determine that the elevator doors are fully open when the image of the marker is included in the image inside the car and the marker is determined to be stationary.

[0007] The moving body of the present disclosure is equipped with the door state determination device described above.

[0008] In addition, the door status determination system of the present disclosure includes the above-mentioned marker and the door status determination device. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the technology disclosed herein, it becomes possible for a moving object inside the car to determine the state of the elevator doors and the floor on which the doors are open, without communicating with an elevator control device. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of a door state determination system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of marker placement. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a door state determination system. [Figure 4]2 is a functional block diagram showing functions realized by a processor of the control device executing a program. FIG. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flowchart of a routine executed by the control device when determining the elevator door state and the floor on which the door is open. [Figure 6] 13A and 13B are diagrams showing modified examples of the marker attachment positions. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a modification of the hardware resources of the control device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, elements common to the various drawings are given the same reference numerals, and duplicated explanations will be omitted.

[0012] Embodiment 1. Overview of door status determination system Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of a door state determination system according to the present embodiment. A door state determination system 50 according to the present embodiment is a device for determining the open / closed state of the doors and the landing floor of an elevator 100. The elevator 100 is installed in a facility consisting of a building having multiple floors.

[0013] A hoistway 3 for an elevator 100 is provided in a facility. The hoistway 3 is a long space in the vertical direction spanning multiple floors. A landing 4 for the elevator 100 is provided on each floor of the facility. The landing 4 is a location adjacent to the hoistway 3. A landing door 40 is provided at the landing 4 on each floor. The landing door 40 is a door that separates the landing 4 from the hoistway 3.

[0014] The elevator 100 includes a car 1 and a control panel 6. The car 1 is a device that transports passengers and others inside the car between multiple floors by traveling up and down in a hoistway 3. The car 1 includes car doors 2. When the car 1 stops at a floor, the car doors 2 open and close in conjunction with the hall doors 40 of the hall 4 of that floor so that passengers can get on and off at the hall 4 and the car 1 of that floor. In the following description, the car doors 2 and the hall doors 40 that open and close in conjunction with the car doors 2 are referred to as "elevator doors."

[0015] The control panel 6 is a device that controls the operation of the elevator 100. The operation of the elevator 100 controlled by the control panel 6 includes, for example, opening and closing of doors, management of registered calls, and running of the car 1 in response to calls.

[0016] The door state determination system 50 according to the present embodiment includes a door state determination device 10 including a camera 12 and a control device 20, and a marker 30. The camera 12 is mounted on a moving body 8. The moving body 8 is, for example, a device that moves in a facility in which an elevator 100 is installed. The moving body 8 is, for example, a small robot or mobility having an autonomous traveling function. The moving body 8 uses the elevator 100, for example, to move in the facility. There is no limitation on the autonomous traveling function of the moving body 8. The camera 12 is disposed in a position where an image can be captured from the moving body 8 in the car 1 in the direction of the car door 2.

[0017] The marker 30 is, for example, a marker to which identification information for identifying a floor of the elevator 100 is assigned, and is attached to each landing 4 of the elevator 100. The marker 30 includes, for example, a code image in which identification information for identifying the corresponding floor is encoded. Examples of such a code image include a one-dimensional barcode and a two-dimensional barcode. The marker 30 is arranged at each landing 4 at a position that is visible from inside the car 1 when the elevator doors are open, and is not visible from inside the car 1 when the elevator doors are closed.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of the arrangement of the marker 30. In FIG. 2, markers 30A, 30B, and 30C are illustrated as examples of the arrangement of the marker 30. The marker 30A is arranged on a mating surface 401 at the end of the landing door 40 in the door closing direction. The mating surface 401 is a surface that is not visible from inside the car 1 when the landing door 40 is in a door closed state, and is visible from inside the car 1 when the landing door 40 is in a door open state. There is no limitation on the arrangement of the marker 30A in the up-down direction. For example, the marker 30A can be made less noticeable by arranging it at a position higher than the eye level of users of the elevator 100.

[0019] The marker 30B is disposed on the side of the upper surface 421 of the threshold 42 of the landing door 40. The upper surface 421 of the threshold 42 is a surface that is not visible from inside the car 1 when the landing door 40 is in a door-closed state, and is visible from inside the car 1 when the landing door 40 is in a door-open state. There is no limitation on the arrangement of the marker 30B in the door opening / closing direction of the landing door 40. For example, it is preferable that the marker 30B is disposed on the side closest to the landing door 40 among the upper surface 421 of the threshold 42 that is exposed when the landing door 40 is fully opened. According to such an arrangement, the marker 30B is not visible from inside the car 1 when the landing door 40 is in the middle of opening, and is visible from inside the car 1 when the landing door 40 is fully opened.

[0020] The marker 30C is disposed on the side of a side surface 422 of the threshold 42 of the landing door 40 on the car 1 side. The side surface 422 of the threshold 42 is a surface that is not visible from inside the car 1 when the car door 2 is in a closed state, and is visible from inside the car 1 when the car door 2 is in an open state. There is no limitation on the arrangement of the marker 30C in the door opening / closing direction of the car door 2. For example, the marker 30C is preferably disposed on the side of the side surface 422 of the threshold 42 that is exposed when the car door 2 is fully open, closest to the car door 2. According to such an arrangement, the marker 30C is not visible from inside the car 1 when the car door 2 is in the middle of opening, and is visible from inside the car 1 when the car door 2 is fully open.

[0021] When the moving object 8 is in the car 1, the camera 12 captures an image of the front. The image captured by the camera 12 at this time is hereinafter referred to as an “inside car image.” The inside car image is sent from the camera 12 to the control device 20 as needed.

[0022] The control device 20 determines whether the elevator doors are open or closed and the floor on which the doors are open based on the received image of the inside of the car. The control device 20 is mounted on the mobile object 8 together with the camera 12. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the control device 20 may be located in a remote server connected via a communication network.

[0023] The control device 20 acquires the car interior image transmitted by the camera 12. This process is hereinafter referred to as the "acquisition process." If the image of the marker 30 is included in the car interior image, it can be determined that the elevator doors are open. Therefore, the control device 20 determines whether the elevator doors are open or closed depending on whether the image of the marker 30 is included in the car interior image. This process is hereinafter referred to as the "door open / close determination process."

[0024] Furthermore, when an image of a marker 30 is included in the car interior image, the control device 20 extracts identification information from the car interior image. This process is hereinafter referred to as "extraction process." The identification information extracted by the extraction process includes information on the floor on which the marker 30 is installed. The control device 20 then determines the floor on which the door has opened based on the extracted identification information. This process is hereinafter referred to as "floor determination process."

[0025] Furthermore, the control device 20 judges whether the moving object 8 can disembark based on the judgment result in the judgment process. This process is called the "disembarkation permission judgment process." In the disembarkation permission judgment process, if the judgment process judges that the elevator doors are open, the control device 20 judges that the moving object 8 can disembark. On the other hand, if the judgment process judges that the elevator doors are closed, the control device 20 judges that the moving object 8 cannot disembark.

[0026] According to the door status determination device 10 described above, when the image inside the car captured by the camera 12 mounted on the moving object 8 includes an image of the marker 30, it is possible to determine the open state of the elevator doors and the floor on which the doors are open. This allows the moving object 8 riding in the car 1 to determine the open door state of the elevator 100 and the floor of the hall 4 on which the doors are open, without communicating with the elevator 100.

[0027] 2. Configuration of the door state determination device 10 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a door state determination system 50. The door state determination system 50 includes a marker 30 and a door state determination device 10. The door state determination device 10 includes a camera 12 and a control device 20. The control device 20 has a function of a processing device as a computer. Typically, the control device 20 includes at least one processor 200 and at least one memory 210 coupled to the processor 200. The memory 210 stores at least one program 220 executable by the processor 200 and various data 230 associated therewith.

[0028] The processor 200 executes the program 220 to realize various processes by the processor 200. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing functions realized by the processor 200 of the control device 20 executing the program 220. As shown in FIG. 4, the processor 200 includes an acquisition unit 201, a door opening / closing determination unit 202, an extraction unit 203, a floor determination unit 204, and an alighting permission determination unit 205. The acquisition unit 201 is a functional block for executing an acquisition process for acquiring an image inside the car. The door opening / closing determination unit 202 is a functional block for executing a door opening / closing determination process for determining the door opening / closing state of the elevator door. The extraction unit 203 is a functional block for executing an extraction process for extracting identification information. The floor determination unit 204 is a functional block for executing a floor determination process for determining the floor of the hall 4 whose door is open. The alighting permission determination unit 205 is a functional block for executing a alighting permission determination process for determining the alighting permission of the moving body 8.

[0029] 3. Specific processing executed by the door state determination device 10 Hereinafter, a method for the control device 20 to determine the door state of the elevator 100 and the floor of the hall 4 whose door is open will be described with reference to a flowchart. Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a routine executed by the control device 20 when determining the door state of the elevator 100 and the floor whose door is open. The routine shown in Fig. 5 is repeatedly executed in the processor 200 of the control device 20 at control intervals while the moving object 8 is in the car 1.

[0030] The process of step S100 corresponds to the acquisition process executed in the acquisition unit 201. Specifically, in step S100, an image of the inside of the car captured by the camera 12 is acquired. The acquired image of the inside of the car is stored as data 230 in the memory 210.

[0031] The processing of steps S102, S104, and S106 corresponds to the door opening / closing determination processing executed in the door opening / closing determination unit 202. In step S102, using a known image analysis method, it is determined whether or not an image of the marker 30 is included in the car interior image. As a result, if the determination in step S102 is not established, it is determined that the marker 30 is not visible from within the car 1, and the process proceeds to step S104. On the other hand, if the determination in step S102 is established, it is determined that the marker 30 is visible from within the car 1, and the process proceeds to step S106.

[0032] In step S104, it is determined that the elevator doors are closed, and the process proceeds to step S112. On the other hand, in step S106, it is determined that the elevator doors are open, and the process proceeds to step S108.

[0033] The process of step S108 corresponds to the extraction process executed in the extraction unit 203. Specifically, in step S108, identification information is extracted from the marker 30 included in the car interior image. The identification information extracted here is a code image. The extracted identification information is stored as data 230 in the memory 210. After the extraction process is executed, the process proceeds to step S110.

[0034] The process of step S110 corresponds to a floor determination process executed in the floor determination unit 204. Specifically, in step S110, the current floor whose door is open is determined. Here, floor information linked to the extracted identification information is read, and the current floor of the car 1 is determined. After the determination process of step S110 is executed, the process proceeds to step S112.

[0035] The process of step S112 corresponds to an alighting determination process executed in the alighting permission determination unit 205. Specifically, in step S112, when the elevator door is open, it is determined that the moving object 8 is alighting permitted. On the other hand, when the elevator door is closed, it is determined that the moving object 8 is alighting prohibited.

[0036] According to the door state determination device 10 as described above, it becomes possible to determine the door state of the car 1 in which the moving object 8 is riding and the current floor without communicating with the elevator.

[0037] 4. Modifications of this embodiment The door state determination system 50 of this embodiment may be modified as follows.

[0038] 4-1. Marker 30 Fig. 6 is a diagram showing a modified example of the affixing position of the marker 30. Fig. 6 illustrates markers 30E, 30F, 30G, and 30H as examples of the arrangement of the marker 30. The marker 30E is arranged on a side surface 443 of the upper frame of the jamb 44 of the landing 4, which is on the landing door side. The marker 30F is arranged on an inner surface 441 of the vertical frame of the jamb 44 of the landing 4. The marker 30G is arranged on a lower surface 442 of the upper frame of the jamb 44 of the landing 4. In particular, it is desirable that the markers 30E, 30F, and 30G are all arranged at positions that are not visible from inside the car 1 when the landing door 40 and the car door 2 are in the middle of opening, and are visible from inside the car 1 when the landing door 40 and the car door 2 are in a fully open state.

[0039] The identification information of the marker 30 is not limited to the code image. In other words, even if the marker 30 does not include a code image, for example, the position, number, or interval of the markers 30 on each floor may be made different, and these may be used as unique identification information.

[0040] The marker 30H is an example of the marker 30 that does not include a code image. The marker 30H is an example of a door stop rubber that is arranged on the mating surface 40a of the door closing direction end of the landing door 40. In other words, the marker 30H as the door stop rubber may be differentiated in position, number, or interval, and these may be used as unique identification information.

[0041] The code image of the marker 30 may include the specification information of the elevator 100 together with the unique identification information. Such specification information may include, for example, any one of the width dimension of the elevator door, the height dimension, the length x width x height dimension as the inside dimensions of the car 1, the passenger capacity or maximum weight, and the elevator number information. Such specification information may be useful information for the moving object 8 when using the elevator 100.

[0042] 4-2. Camera 12 There are no other limitations on the camera 12, so long as it is mounted on the moving object 8 and has a resolution capable of capturing an image at a level that allows the code image to be recognized.

[0043] 4-3.Control device 20 The configuration of the alighting permission determination unit 205 and the alighting permission determination process executed by the alighting permission determination unit 205 are not essential.

[0044] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a modified example of the hardware resources of the control device 20. In the example shown in Fig. 7, the control device 20 includes a processing circuit 250 including, for example, a processor 200, a memory 210, and dedicated hardware 240. Fig. 7 shows an example in which a part of the functions of the control device 20 is realized by the dedicated hardware 240. All of the functions of the control device 20 may be realized by the dedicated hardware 240. As the dedicated hardware 240, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a combination thereof can be adopted.

[0045] When the marker 30 is placed on the hall door 40, the control device 20 may determine that the elevator doors are fully open when it is determined that the marker 30 included in the car interior image is stationary. In this case, in the door opening / closing determination process, the control device 20 monitors the change over time in the position of the marker 30 included in the car interior image, and determines that the marker 30 is stationary when there is no more change over time. According to this determination process, it is possible to determine the open state of the elevator doors separately as being partially open and being fully open. [Explanation of symbols]

[0046] 10 Door status determination device, 2 Cage door, 3 Hoistway, 4 Landing, 6 Control panel, 8 Moving body, 10 Door status determination device, 12 Camera, 20 Control device, 30, 30A, 30B, 30C, 30E, 30F, 30G, 30H Marker, 40 Landing door, 40a Joint surface, 42 Threshold, 44 Three-sided jamb, 50 Door status determination device system, 100 Elevator, 200 Processor, 201 Acquisition unit, 202 Door opening / closing determination unit, 203 Extraction unit, 204 Floor determination unit, 205 Exit possibility determination unit, 210 Memory, 220 Program, 230 Data, 240 Dedicated hardware, 250 Processing circuit, 401 Joint surface, 421 Top, 422 side, 441 inside, 442 bottom, 443 side facing the landing door

Claims

1. A door status determination device that determines the status of an elevator door from inside an elevator car moving between multiple floors, When a marker having identification information corresponding to each of the landings of the plurality of floors is arranged at a position that is visible from inside the elevator car when the elevator doors are open and is not visible from inside the elevator car when the elevator doors are closed, A camera mounted on a moving body capable of getting on and off the elevator and capturing an image of the inside of the car; An acquisition unit that acquires an image of the inside of the car captured by the camera; a door opening / closing determination unit that determines whether the elevator doors are open or closed based on whether the image of the marker is included in the image inside the car; an extraction unit that extracts the identification information from the marker when the image of the marker is included in the image inside the car; A floor determination unit that determines a floor on which the elevator door is open based on the identification information; Equipped with The markers are arranged at different positions on each of the plurality of floors, The extraction unit extracts the identification information from the position of the marker. A door status determination device characterized by the above.

2. The door state determination device according to claim 1 , wherein the marker is arranged on a landing door at each of the plurality of floors.

3. The door state determination device according to claim 1, wherein the marker is arranged on an upper surface side of a threshold of a landing door at each of the plurality of floors.

4. The door state determination device according to claim 1, wherein the marker is arranged on a side of a threshold of a landing door at each of the plurality of floors.

5. A door status determination device for determining the status of an elevator door from inside an elevator car moving between multiple floors, comprising: When a marker having identification information corresponding to each of the landings of the plurality of floors is arranged at a position that is visible from inside the elevator car when the elevator doors are open and is not visible from inside the elevator car when the elevator doors are closed, A camera mounted on a moving body capable of getting on and off the elevator and capturing an image of the inside of the car; An acquisition unit that acquires an image of the inside of the car captured by the camera; a door opening / closing determination unit that determines whether the elevator doors are open or closed based on whether the image of the marker is included in the image inside the car; an extraction unit that extracts the identification information from the marker when the image of the marker is included in the image inside the car; and a floor determination unit that determines the floor at which the elevator door is open based on the identification information, The marker is arranged on a landing door at each of the plurality of floors, The door opening / closing determination unit is When the image of the marker is included in the image of the inside of the car, if it is determined that the marker is stationary, it is determined that the elevator door is fully open. A door state determination device configured as described above.

6. The marker includes a code image in which the identification information is encoded, The extraction unit extracts the identification information from the code image of the marker.

6. The door state determination device according to claim 5.

7. The markers are arranged at different positions on each of the plurality of floors, The extraction unit extracts the identification information from the position of the marker.

6. The door state determination device according to claim 5.

8. The elevator further includes an alighting permission / prohibition determination unit that determines whether the moving object is alighting permission or not based on the open / closed state of the elevator doors determined by the door opening / closing determination unit. The door state determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The identification information includes at least one of the following: the width dimension of the elevator door, the height dimension of the elevator door, the inside dimension of the car, the passenger capacity of the car, and the elevator number information. The door state determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. A marker according to any one of claims 1 to 7; The door state determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, A door status determination system comprising:

11. A moving body equipped with the door state determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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