Robot management device, robot, and program

Abstract

To mitigate the lengthening of the user's boarding time that may occur when the user and the robot board the elevator car together. 【Solution means】 The robot management device is a device that manages robots used within a building where an elevator is installed. When moving the robot from the boarding floor to the destination floor using the elevator car, as a request for allocating a landing call for the robot, when making a request to the elevator control device for allocating a normal landing call with the boarding floor and destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and the destination floor respectively, by sending a cancel signal to the control device within a subsequent predetermined period, the control device can cancel the allocation of the normal landing call to be executed in the allocation request.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a control technology for a robot using an elevator.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, robots have been increasingly used for various tasks (such as cleaning, monitoring, and transportation) in buildings (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Along with this, the use of elevators for inter-floor movement of robots in buildings has been increasing, and the number of cases where both users and robots use the elevator has been increasing.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] On the other hand, robots take more time to board and alight than users. For this reason, in an environment where a robot and a user use an elevator together, if the robot boards on an intermediate floor during the transportation of the user, or if the robot alights on an intermediate floor during the transportation of the user, the user will be forced to wait in the car until the boarding and alighting of the robot are completed. Thus, when a user and a robot share the same car, there is a risk that the user's boarding time until reaching their destination floor will be prolonged.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to alleviate the prolongation of the user's boarding time that may occur when a user and a robot share the same car.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The robot management device according to the present invention is a device that manages robots used in a building where an elevator is installed, and has the following configuration (Aspect 1). When the robot management device moves a robot from the boarding floor to the destination floor using the elevator car, as a request for allocating a landing call for the robot, when a request for allocating a normal landing call with the boarding floor and the destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and the destination floor respectively is sent to the elevator control device, in a subsequent predetermined period, when the elevator control device allocates a landing call for a user, regarding the boarding floor and the destination floor of the robot and the departure floor and the destination direction indicated by the landing call for the user, (1) the forward direction from the boarding floor of the robot to the destination floor of the robot is the same as the destination direction of the user, (2) the car arrives at the boarding floor of the robot before arriving at the departure floor of the user, (3) there is a departure floor of the user between the boarding floor of the robot and the destination floor of the robot, and (4) the destination floor of the robot is different from the end floor located in the forward direction with respect to the boarding floor of the robot, it is determined whether each of these conditions is satisfied. Then, when the robot management device determines that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within a predetermined period, by sending a cancel signal to the elevator control device, the control device can cancel the allocation of the normal landing call executed in the allocation request.

[0007] According to the above Aspect 1, within a predetermined period, assuming that the response to the normal landing call is executed as it is, when it is found that a situation may occur where the user has to experience the robot getting off at an intermediate floor while moving in the car, the elevator device can cancel the allocation of the normal landing call.

[0008] Specifically, if conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied, assuming that the normal response to the landing call is executed as it is, the user may experience a situation where, after boarding the car, depending on the positional relationship between the floor where the user gets off and the floor where the robot gets off (= the destination floor), the robot gets off at an intermediate floor before the user gets off. Therefore, according to the above-described aspect 1, when all of conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within a predetermined period, in order to prevent the user from experiencing the robot getting off during the movement in the car, as one of the processes for this purpose, the elevator device can be made to cancel the assignment of the normal landing call. As a result, the user does not have to experience the robot getting off during the movement in the car. As a result, it becomes possible to alleviate the lengthening of the user's boarding time.

[0009] The robot management device according to the above-described aspect 1 may, after making a request for assignment of a normal landing call to the elevator control device, use the period until the stop of the car at the departure floor indicated by the normal landing call is determined as a predetermined period, and determine whether or not conditions (1) to (4) are respectively satisfied during the predetermined period (aspect 2).

[0010] According to the above-described aspect 2, it becomes possible to determine whether or not conditions (1) to (4) are respectively satisfied during the period in which the elevator control device can cancel the assignment of the normal landing call.

[0011] The robot management device according to the above-described aspect 1 or 2 may have the following configuration (Aspect 3). When the robot management device determines that all of the above conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within a predetermined period, after or before transmitting a cancel signal to the elevator control device, newly, as a request for assignment of a first landing call for the robot, a request for assignment of a landing call with the boarding floor of the robot as the departure floor and the end floor located in the forward direction with respect to the boarding floor as the destination floor, and as a request for assignment of a second landing call for the robot, a request for assignment of a landing call with the end floor as the departure floor and the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor may be made to the elevator control device.

[0012] According to the above aspect 3, since the car can be moved to the end floor on the premise that condition (4) is satisfied, it becomes possible to pass the destination floor of the robot with the robot boarding the car. Therefore, it becomes possible to let the user get off the elevator before the robot between the floors up to the end floor. As a result, the user does not have to experience the robot getting off the elevator during the movement in the car. As a result, it becomes possible to alleviate the prolongation of the user's boarding time.

[0013] Also, according to the above aspect 3, by making a request for assignment of a first landing call with the end floor, where the moving direction of the car will always reverse, as the destination floor, it becomes unnecessary to generate useless control such as stopping the car at an intermediate floor where no one gets on or off only to pass the destination floor of the robot.

[0014] Furthermore, according to the above aspect 3, by making a request for assignment of a second landing call, even after the car has passed the destination floor of the robot, when the car moves in the reverse direction (the direction opposite to the forward direction) from the end floor, the car can be stopped in the reverse direction at the destination floor of the robot, and as a result, it becomes possible to let the robot get off at the destination floor.

[0015] The robot management device according to the above aspect 3 may further have the following configuration (Aspect 4). The robot management device may make a request for allocating a landing call for the robot by transmitting to the elevator control device the departure floor and the destination floor or the destination direction necessary for the allocation of the landing call. Further, when the car arrives at the stop floor, the robot management device makes a determination (A1) as to whether or not the arrival floor of the car matches any of the departure floors transmitted in the allocation request. If it is determined in the determination (A1) that the arrival floor matches any of the departure floors, the matching allocation request is set as the first target request, and using the departure floor and the destination floor, or the destination direction transmitted in the first target request, after setting the direction from the departure floor to the destination floor or the destination direction as the conveyance direction of the robot, the robot management device may make a determination (B1) as to whether or not the departure direction of the car from the arrival floor matches the conveyance direction. Further, when it is determined in the determination (B1) that the direction matches the conveyance direction of the robot, the robot management device may make a determination (C1) as to whether or not the departure floor transmitted in the first target request matches the boarding floor of the robot. When it is determined in the determination (C1) that the departure floor matches the boarding floor of the robot, the robot management device transmits a door open extension signal to the elevator control device, commands the robot to board the car, and then, when the boarding of the robot is completed, transmits a boarding completion signal to the elevator control device. On the other hand, when it is determined in the determination (C1) that the departure floor does not match the boarding floor of the robot, the robot management device may transmit a boarding completion signal as a dummy signal to the elevator control device without transmitting a door open extension signal to the elevator control device and without commanding the robot to board the car.

[0016] According to the above aspect 4, by the robot management device itself making the determinations (A1) and (B1), it is possible to identify, without notification from the elevator control device, that the car has arrived at the departure floor in response to a landing call for the robot (any one of a normal landing call, a first landing call, and a second landing call).

[0017] Therefore, when the robot management device determines "match" in determination (C1), based on this determination, it can be determined that the car has arrived at its boarding floor in response to a normal landing call or a first landing call with the boarding floor of the robot as the departure floor. In this case, the robot management device transmits a door opening extension signal to the elevator control device. As a result, it is possible to cause the control device to execute the door opening extension necessary for the robot to board the car and to recognize that a boarding completion signal will be transmitted from the robot management device when the boarding of the robot is completed.

[0018] On the other hand, when the robot management device determines "not match" in determination (C1), based on this determination, it can be determined that the car has arrived at a different floor (moreover, a floor that is not the destination floor of the robot) as the departure floor in response to a second landing call. Here, after the car responds to the first landing call, it will arrive at the departure floor indicated by the second landing call with the robot on board. Therefore, there is no need to re-board the robot on the car. Thus, the robot management device transmits a boarding completion signal as a dummy signal to the elevator control device without instructing the robot to board the car. As a result, it is possible to keep the robot on board the car without causing the elevator control to stop.

[0019] The robot management device according to the above aspect 1 or 2 may have the following configuration (aspect 5). When the robot management device determines that all of the above conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within a predetermined period, after or before transmitting a cancel signal to the elevator control device, newly, as a request for assignment of a first landing call, a request for assignment of a landing call with the boarding floor of the robot as the departure floor and the departure floor of the user (the departure floor of the user used in the determination of condition (3)) as the destination floor, and as a request for assignment of a second landing call, a request for assignment of a landing call with the destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and a floor located in the direction opposite to the forward direction with respect to the destination floor as the destination floor, may be made to the elevator control device.

[0020] According to the above-described aspect 5, by making a request for allocation of the first landing call (a landing call with the departure floor of the user as the destination floor) as described above, after the robot gets on the car, the car can be stopped at the departure floor (boarding floor) of the user as the destination floor indicated by the first landing call. And even if the car stops at the destination floor indicated by the first landing call, by keeping the robot on the car, thereafter, it becomes possible to move the car forward through the destination floor of the robot. In other words, when the car is moving forward, it becomes possible to stop the car only at the disembarkation floor of the user without stopping at the destination floor of the robot. Therefore, it becomes possible to disembark the user before the robot. As a result, it becomes possible to alleviate the extension of the user's boarding time.

[0021] Also, according to the above-described aspect 5, by making a request for allocation of the first landing call with the departure floor (boarding floor) of the user as the destination floor, it becomes unnecessary to generate useless control such as stopping the car at a floor where no one gets on or off (including the first end floor) only to pass through the destination floor of the robot.

[0022] Furthermore, according to the above-described aspect 5, by making a request for allocation of the second landing call, even after the car has passed through the destination floor of the robot, when the car moves in the reverse direction, the car can be stopped in the reverse direction at the destination floor of the robot.

[0023] The robot management device according to the above-described aspect 1 or 2 may have the following configuration (Aspect 6). When the robot management device determines that all of the above conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within a predetermined period, after or before transmitting a cancel signal to the elevator control device, newly, as a request for allocation of a first landing call, a request for allocation of a landing call is made with the boarding floor of the robot as the departure floor and the end floor located in the forward direction with respect to the boarding floor as the destination floor, and as a request for allocation of a second landing call, a request for allocation of a landing call is made with the destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and the direction opposite to the forward direction as the destination direction from the departure floor, to the elevator control device.

[0024] According to the above-described aspect 6, for the same reason as in the case of aspect 3, it becomes possible to alleviate the lengthening of the user's boarding time. Further, according to the above-described aspect 6, by making a request for allocation of a second landing call using the destination direction instead of the destination floor, after the robot gets off at the departure floor ( = destination floor) indicated by the landing call, it is possible to avoid generating useless control such as stopping the car at a floor where no one gets on or off.

[0025] The robot management device according to the above-described aspect 1 or 2 may have the following configuration (Aspect 7). When the robot management device determines that all of the above conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within a predetermined period, after or before transmitting a cancel signal to the elevator control device, newly, as a request for allocation of a first landing call, a request for allocation of a landing call is made with the boarding floor of the robot as the departure floor and the user's departure floor (the user's departure floor used for determination of condition (3)) as the destination floor, and as a request for allocation of a second landing call, a request for allocation of a landing call is made with the destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and the direction opposite to the forward direction as the destination direction from the departure floor, to the elevator control device.

[0026] According to the above-described aspect 7, for the same reason as in the case of aspect 5, it becomes possible to mitigate the lengthening of the user's boarding time. Further, according to the above-described aspect 7, by making a request for allocation of the second landing call using the destination direction instead of the destination floor, after the robot gets off at the departure floor (= destination floor) indicated by the landing call, it is possible to avoid generating useless control such as stopping the car at a floor where no one gets on or off.

[0027] The robot management device according to any one of the above-described aspects 5 to 7 may further have the following configuration (aspect 8). The robot management device may execute the same processing as the processing up to making the determination (C1) described in aspect 4. Then, when the robot management device determines in the determination (C1) that it matches the boarding floor of the robot, it may transmit a door open extension signal to the elevator control device, command the robot to board the car, and then transmit a boarding completion signal to the elevator control device when the boarding of the robot is completed. On the other hand, when the robot management device determines in the determination (C1) that it does not match the boarding floor of the robot, it may transmit a door open extension signal to the elevator control device, command the robot to get off the car, and then transmit a boarding completion signal as a dummy signal to the elevator control device when the getting off of the robot is completed.

[0028] In the above-described aspect 8, when the robot management device determines "not matching" in the determination (C1), based on this determination, it can be determined that the car has arrived at the target floor in response to the second landing call with the target floor of the robot as the departure floor. And according to the above-described aspect 8, also in this case, the robot management device transmits a door opening extension signal to the elevator control device. Thereby, it becomes possible to cause the control device to execute the door opening extension necessary for the robot to get off the car. On the other hand, since the control device has arrived the car at the departure floor indicated by the second landing call at this time, when receiving the door opening extension signal from the robot management device, even though the robot gets off, based on this reception, it will be recognized that the boarding completion signal is transmitted from the robot management device when the boarding of the robot is completed. Therefore, the robot management device commands the robot to get off the car, and then, when the getting off of the robot is completed, transmits the boarding completion signal as a dummy signal to the elevator control device. Thereby, it becomes possible to cause the robot to get off the car without causing the elevator control to stop.

[0029] The robot management device according to the above-described aspect 4 or 8 may have the following configuration (Aspect 9). When the car arrives at the stop floor, the robot management device further determines (A2) whether the arrival floor of the car matches any of the destination floors transmitted in the allocation request. If it is determined in this determination (A2) that it matches any of the destination floors, the matching allocation request is set as the second target request, and using the departure floor and the destination floor transmitted in the second target request, with the direction from the departure floor to the destination floor being the conveyance direction of the robot, it may be determined (B2) whether the arrival direction of the car at the above arrival floor matches the conveyance direction. Further, when it is determined in determination (B2) that it matches the conveyance direction of the robot, the robot management device may determine (C2) whether the destination floor transmitted in the second target request matches the destination floor of the robot. And when it is determined in determination (C2) that it matches the destination floor of the robot, the robot management device may transmit a door-opening extension signal to the elevator control device, instruct the robot to disembark from the car, and then transmit a disembarkation completion signal to the elevator control device when the disembarkation of the robot is completed. On the other hand, when it is determined in determination (C2) that it does not match the destination floor of the robot, the robot management device may transmit the disembarkation completion signal as a dummy signal to the elevator control device without transmitting the door-opening extension signal to the elevator control device and without instructing the robot to disembark from the car.

[0030] According to the above-described aspect 9, by the robot management device itself making determinations (A2) and (B2), it can identify that the car has arrived at the destination floor in response to a landing call for the robot (any of a normal landing call, a first landing call, and a second landing call. Specifically, a car call corresponding thereto) without notification from the elevator control device.

[0031] Therefore, when the robot management device determines "match" in the determination (C2), based on this determination, it can be determined that the car responds to a normal landing call or a second landing call (specifically, the car call corresponding thereto) with the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor and arrives at that destination floor. In this case, the robot management device transmits a door opening extension signal to the elevator control device. As a result, it becomes possible to cause the control device to execute the door opening extension necessary for the robot to get off the car and to recognize that a car arrival completion signal will be transmitted from the robot management device when the robot's getting off is completed.

[0032] On the other hand, when the robot management device determines "not match" in the determination (C2), based on this determination, it can be determined that the car responds to a first landing call or a second landing call (specifically, the car call corresponding thereto) with a floor different from the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor and arrives at that different floor. Here, when the landing call with a floor different from the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor is the first landing call (in the cases of Modes 3, 5 to 7), that destination floor is a floor on the way to the destination floor for the robot. For this reason, it is not necessary for the robot to get off the car. Therefore, the robot management device transmits a car arrival completion signal as a dummy signal to the elevator control device without instructing the robot to get off the car. As a result, it becomes possible to shift the elevator control to the next process while keeping the robot in the car.

[0033] Also, when the landing call with a floor different from the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor is the second landing call (in the case of Mode 5), since the robot will get off at the departure floor (= destination floor) indicated by the second landing call, the car will arrive at the destination floor indicated by the second landing call with no robot on board. Also in this case, since it is not necessary for the robot to get off the car, the robot management device returns the car arrival completion signal as a dummy signal. As a result, it becomes possible to shift the elevator control to the next process without causing a stop.

[0034] The robot according to the present invention is a robot used in a building where an elevator is installed, and has the following configuration (Aspect 10). When the robot moves from the boarding floor to the destination floor using the elevator car, when making a request for assignment of a landing call for itself to the elevator control device as a normal landing call request with its boarding floor and destination floor as the departure floor and the destination floor respectively, if the elevator control device assigns a landing call for a user within a subsequent predetermined period, the robot determines whether the following conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied for its boarding floor and destination floor and the departure floor and the destination direction indicated by the landing call for the user: (1) the forward direction from its boarding floor to the destination floor is the same as the destination direction of the user; (2) the elevator car arrives at its boarding floor before arriving at the user's departure floor; (3) there is the user's departure floor between its departure floor and destination floor; and (4) its destination floor is a floor different from the end floor located in the forward direction with respect to the boarding floor. And when the robot determines that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within a predetermined period, it transmits a cancel signal to the elevator control device, enabling the control device to cancel the assignment of the normal landing call to be executed in the assignment request.

[0035] The program according to the present invention is a program for causing a robot used in a building where an elevator is installed or a robot management device that manages the robot to execute a request step (Aspect 11).

[0036] In the request step, when the program moves the robot from the boarding floor to the destination floor using the elevator car, if the robot or the robot management device is made to execute the following: the program makes a request to the elevator control device for assignment of a landing call for the robot, which is a normal landing call assignment request with the boarding floor and the destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and the destination floor respectively. If, within a subsequent predetermined period, the elevator control device assigns a landing call for a user, the robot or the robot management device is made to determine whether the following conditions are each satisfied for the boarding floor and the destination floor of the robot and the departure floor and the destination direction indicated by the landing call for the user: (1) the forward direction from the boarding floor of the robot to the destination floor of the robot is the same as the destination direction of the user; (2) the car arrives at the boarding floor of the robot before arriving at the departure floor of the user; (3) there is a departure floor of the user between the boarding floor of the robot and the destination floor of the robot; and (4) the destination floor of the robot is a different floor from the end floor located in the forward direction with respect to the boarding floor of the robot. And when the program determines that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within the predetermined period, the robot or the robot management device is made to execute sending a cancellation signal to the elevator control device, whereby the control device can cancel the assignment of the normal landing call made in the assignment request.

Effect of the Invention

[0037] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to alleviate the prolongation of the boarding time of the user that may occur when the user and the robot board the elevator car together.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0038]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0039] [1] Embodiment [1-1] Overall Configuration of the Elevator FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of an elevator according to an embodiment. In this embodiment, the elevator includes one car G, and the car G is used not only by users but also by robots H that perform various operations (such as cleaning, monitoring, and transportation) in the building where the elevator is installed. Also, in this elevator, a destination direction button 1 for users to specify the destination direction Kc is installed at each landing, and a destination floor button 2 for users to specify the destination floor Fd is installed inside the car G. And in addition to these configurations, the elevator of this embodiment further includes an elevator control device 3 and a robot management device 4. Hereinafter, the configurations of each part will be specifically described.

[0040] <Destination Direction Button> The destination direction button 1 includes an upward direction button for specifying the upward direction as the destination direction Kc and a downward direction button for specifying the downward direction as the destination direction Kc on floors other than the topmost floor or the bottommost floor, which is the end floor Fy. On the other hand, on the topmost floor, the destination direction button 1 only includes the downward direction button, and on the bottommost floor, the destination direction button 1 only includes the upward direction button.

[0041] When the user presses the destination direction button 1 at the landing to specify the destination direction Kc, the destination direction Kc is transmitted to the elevator control device 3. As a result, the assignment of the landing call Rg for the user (the assignment of the landing call Rg to the car G) is requested to the elevator control device 3 (the assignment request from the user). At this time, the destination direction button 1 also transmits the device information Pd for identifying itself from other buttons, devices, etc. to the elevator control device 3 together with the destination direction Kc so that the elevator control device 3 can recognize which destination direction button 1 the transmission source of the destination direction Kc is.

[0042] <Destination floor button> The destination floor button 2 is provided for each stoppable floor that can be guided in the car G and is a button for registering the stoppable floor as the destination floor Fd.

[0043] When the user presses the destination floor button 2 in the car G to register the destination floor Fd, the destination floor Fd is transmitted to the elevator control device 3. As a result, the registration of the car call Vg for the user (the registration of the car call Vg to the car G) is requested to the elevator control device 3.

[0044] <Elevator control device> The elevator control device 3 is a device that controls the operation of the car G. Specifically, the elevator control device 3 assigns the landing call Rg to the car G in response to an assignment request from a user in the landing (an assignment request from the destination direction button 1 where the user has specified the destination direction Kc) (assignment process (see FIG. 5)), and causes the car G to execute an operation for responding to the landing call Rg (response process (see FIGS. 6 to 10)). And in this embodiment, the elevator control device 3 not only executes the assignment to the car G in response to an assignment request from a user in the landing, but also assigns the landing call Rh to the car G in response to an assignment request from the robot management device 4 described later (assignment request regarding the robot H) (assignment process (see FIG. 5)), and causes the car G to execute an operation for responding to the landing call Rh (response process (see FIGS. 6 to 10) and door opening extension process (see FIGS. 14 and 15)). Also in this embodiment, the elevator control device 3 executes the cancellation of the assignment of the landing call Rh executed in response to the assignment request from the robot management device 4 when instructed by a cancellation signal Sc transmitted from the robot management device 4. Note that the details of these processes will be described later.

[0045] As a specific configuration, the elevator control device 3 includes a storage unit 31 and a control unit 32 (see FIG. 1).

[0046] The storage unit 31 is a part composed of a storage device such as a ROM or a RAM, and information necessary for the control process performed by the elevator control device 3 is stored in the storage unit 31. In this embodiment, as such information, device management data Dp, landing call management data Dq1G and car call management data Dq2G for users, and landing call management data Dq1H and car call management data Dq2H for the robot H are stored in the storage unit 31.

[0047] Here, the device management data Dp is a database for managing, for each destination direction button 1, a plurality of pieces of information related to the destination direction button 1 by associating them with each other. The landing call management data Dq1G and the car call management data Dq2G are data for managing information on the landing call Rg and the car call Vg for the user, respectively. The landing call management data Dq1H and the car call management data Dq2H are data for managing information on the landing call Rh and the car call Vh for the robot H, respectively. Specifically, it is as follows.

[0048] FIG. 2(A) is a conceptual diagram illustrating the device management data Dp used in the present embodiment. In the device management data Dp illustrated in this figure, for each destination direction button 1, the device information Pd and the installation floor Fs are recorded in a state where they are associated with each other.

[0049] Thereby, when the elevator control device 3 receives the device information Pd together with the destination direction Kc from each destination direction button 1, it becomes possible to specify the installation floor Fs of the destination direction button 1 (the destination direction button 1 for which the user has specified the destination direction Kc) from the device information Pd. And in the present embodiment, the installation floor Fs of the destination direction button 1 is used as the departure floor Fc (boarding floor) of the user who has specified the destination direction Kc at the destination direction button 1.

[0050] FIG. 2(B) is a conceptual diagram illustrating the landing call management data Dq1G for the user and the car call management data Dq2G used in the present embodiment, respectively.

[0051] In the landing call management data Dq1G, for each stop floor that can be announced in the car G, and further for each direction in which movement is possible from that stop floor, whether or not an assignment of the landing call Rg for a user with that stop floor as the departure floor Fc and that direction as the destination direction Kc is made to the car G (in other words, whether or not the button (upward button or downward button) for designating that direction as the destination direction Kc in the destination direction button 1 provided on that stop floor is pressed) is indicated by an assignment status that is associated. And in the example of FIG. 2(B), the assignment status for each direction from each stop floor is updated to "ON" when the assignment of the landing call Rg with that stop floor as the departure floor Fc and that direction as the destination direction Kc is made, and is updated to "OFF" when that landing call Rg is deleted.

[0052] Also, in the car call management data Dq2G, for each stop floor that can be announced in the car G, whether or not a car call Vg for a user with that stop floor as the destination floor Fd is registered in the car G (in other words, whether or not the destination floor button 2 for registering that stop floor as the destination floor Fd is pressed) is indicated by a registration status that is associated. And in the example of FIG. 2(B), the registration status for each stop floor is updated to "ON" when the car call Vg with that stop floor as the destination floor Fd is registered, and is updated to "OFF" when that car call Vg is deleted.

[0053] FIG. 2(C) is a conceptual diagram exemplifying the landing call management data Dq1H and the car call management data Dq2H for the robot H used in the present embodiment.

[0054] In the landing call management data Dq1H, each time an assignment of the landing call Rh for each robot H is made to the car G, the robot information Ph of that robot H, the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd indicated by that landing call Rh, are recorded in a state where they are associated with each other. And each landing call Rh is deleted when the information in the landing call management data Dq1H corresponding to that landing call Rh is erased when it has completed its role.

[0055] Also, in the car call management data Dq2H, every time the registration of the car call Vh for each robot H is performed for the car G, the robot information Ph of the robot H and the destination floor Fd indicated by the car call Vh are recorded in a state where they are associated with each other. And each car call Vh is deleted by deleting the information in the car call management data Dq2H corresponding to the car call Vh when it has finished its role.

[0056] The control unit 32 is a part responsible for executing the control processes (including the allocation process, the response process, and the door opening extension process) performed by the elevator control device 3. Specifically, the control unit 32 is composed of processing devices such as a CPU and an MPU, and realizes the execution of the control processes it is responsible for by software by executing the control program installed in the elevator control device 3. Incidentally, this control program may be stored in a portable storage medium (for example, a flash memory, etc.) in a readable state before being installed in the elevator control device 3, or may be stored in a state where it can be downloaded to another server or the like. Also, the control processes performed by the elevator control device 3 are not limited to being realized by software by executing a program, and may be realized by hardware by a processing circuit (control unit 32) constructed in the elevator control device 3.

[0057] <Robot management device> The robot management device 4 is a device for centrally managing the robots H used in the building where the elevator of this embodiment is installed.

[0058] In this embodiment, when each robot H needs to move between floors, it transmits the destination floor Fx to be moved to the robot management device 4. At this time, in order to make the robot management device 4 recognize which robot H is the transmission source of the destination floor Fx, the robot H also transmits the robot information Ph for identifying itself from other robots H to the robot management device 4 together with the destination floor Fx.

[0059] When the robot management device 4 receives the destination floor Fx and the robot information Ph from each robot H, as control processing for moving the robot H between floors, in order to mitigate the lengthening of the user's boarding time that may occur when the user and the robot H board the car G together, it executes control processing to enable this. Specifically, the robot management device 4 executes an allocation request process (see FIG. 4) and a boarding / alighting command process (see FIGS. 11 to 13). Also, in this embodiment, the robot management device 4 can cancel the allocation of the landing call Rh executed in the allocation request by transmitting a cancel signal Sc to the elevator control device 3. Note that the details of these processes will be described later.

[0060] As a specific configuration, the robot management device 4 includes a storage unit 41 and a control unit 42 (see FIG. 1).

[0061] The storage unit 41 is a part composed of a storage device such as a ROM or a RAM, and information necessary for the control processing performed by the robot management device 4 is stored in the storage unit 41. In this embodiment, as such information, robot management data Dr and allocation request management data Ds are stored in the storage unit 41.

[0062] Here, the robot management data Dr is a database for managing a plurality of pieces of information related to the robot H by associating them with each other for each robot H. The allocation request management data Ds is data for managing information on allocation requests for the robot H. Specifically, it is as follows.

[0063] FIG. 3(A) is a conceptual diagram illustrating robot management data Dr used in the present embodiment. In the robot management data Dr illustrated in this figure, for each robot H, its robot information Ph and boarding floor Ft, and the destination when the robot H moves between floors are recorded in a state where they are associated with each other. Here, the boarding floor Ft associated with each robot H is the floor where the robot H is arranged, and is updated each time the robot H moves between floors. Further, the destination associated with each robot H records the destination floor Fx transmitted by the robot H for moving between floors, and the destination floor Fx is deleted when the disembarkation of the robot H on that floor is completed.

[0064] Thereby, when the robot management device 4 receives the robot information Ph together with the destination floor Fx from each robot H, it becomes possible to specify the boarding floor Ft of the robot H from the robot information Ph. In the present embodiment, the boarding floor Ft of the robot H is used as the departure floor Fc when the robot H moves between floors using the elevator car G. Further, the robot management device 4 refers to the destination associated with the robot information Ph of each robot H, and when the destination floor Fx is recorded in the destination, it can be determined that the robot H is moving between floors. On the other hand, when the destination floor Fx is not recorded in the destination, it can be determined that the robot H is deployed on the boarding floor Ft.

[0065] FIG. 3(B) is a conceptual diagram illustrating allocation request management data Ds used in the present embodiment. In the allocation request management data Ds illustrated in this figure, each time an allocation request for each robot H is made to the elevator control device 3, the robot information Ph of the robot H, the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd transmitted to the elevator control device 3 in the allocation request are recorded in a state where they are associated with each other. In the present embodiment, the information of each allocation request is deleted from the allocation request management data Ds when the elevator car G arrives at the destination floor Fd associated with the allocation request (specifically, after a disembarkation completion signal Sy described later is transmitted to the elevator control device 3).

[0066] The control unit 42 is a part responsible for executing the control processes (including the allocation request process and the boarding / alighting command process) performed by the robot management device 4. Specifically, the control unit 42 is composed of processing devices such as a CPU and an MPU, and realizes the execution of the control processes it is responsible for in software by executing the control program installed in the robot management device 4. Incidentally, this control program may be stored in a portable storage medium (for example, a flash memory, etc.) in a readable state before being installed in the robot management device 4, or may be stored in a downloadable state in another server or the like. Also, the control processes performed by the robot management device 4 are not limited to being realized in software by program execution, and may be realized in hardware by a processing circuit (control unit 42) constructed in the robot management device 4.

[0067] [1-2] Control Processes Executed by the Elevator [1-2-1] Allocation Request Process Performed by the Robot Management Device FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the allocation request process executed in this embodiment. This allocation request process starts each time the robot management device 4 receives the destination floor Fx and the robot information Ph from any one of the robots H. In the allocation request process, the robot H that has transmitted those pieces of information will be referred to as the "target robot Hk". Also, the information (including the destination floor Fx and the robot information Ph) received by the robot management device 4 at that time will be collectively referred to as the "received information Pr1".

[0068] When the allocation request process is started, the robot management device 4 records the destination floor Fx in the received information Pr1 at the destination associated with the robot information Ph in the received information Pr1 in the robot management data Dr (step S100). Thereby, the robot management device 4 can grasp the destination of the target robot Hk also in the alighting command process described later.

[0069] In this allocation request process, the robot management device 4 uses the current elevator information Pe (including information indicating the operating status of the car G and the usage status of the users, etc.) to determine whether the target robot Hk and the user will board the car G together, and whether it is possible to mitigate the potential increase in the boarding time of the user when boarding together. Then, the robot management device 4 requests the elevator control device 3 to allocate the landing call Rh (the allocation of the landing call Rh for the target robot Hk) according to the result.

[0070] Therefore, the robot management device 4 first acquires the current elevator information Pe from the elevator control device 3 (step S101). Specifically, the robot management device 4 requests the elevator control device 3 to return the elevator information Pe at that time. Then, the robot management device 4 acquires the necessary information by receiving the elevator information Pe returned from the elevator control device 3 in response to its request. At this time, as information indicating the operating status of the car G, the robot management device 4 acquires information on the current position Qt and the moving direction Kg of the car G, and as information indicating the usage status of the users, it acquires information on the landing call Rg for the users assigned to the car G.

[0071] Next, the robot management device 4 makes the following determinations using the elevator information Pe acquired in step S101.

[0072] First, the robot management device 4 determines whether the information on the landing call Rg for the user is included in the elevator information Pe (step S102). If the robot management device 4 determines "included (Yes)" in step S102, it can determine that there is a user who plans to board the car G, and furthermore, if the target robot Hk is made to board the car G at that time, it can be determined that there is a possibility that the user will board the car G with the target robot Hk.

[0073] In this case, the robot management device 4 extracts the boarding floor Ft associated with the robot information Ph in the received information Pr1 using the robot management data Dr. Then, the robot management device 4 determines whether all of the following conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied for the boarding floor Ft and the destination floor Fx (the boarding floor Ft and the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk) in the received information Pr1 and the information Rg of the landing call for the user who may share the same ride as the target robot Hk (the departure floor Fc and the destination direction Kc of the user indicated by the landing call Rg) (step S103).

[0074] Condition (1): A condition that the forward direction Ks from the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk to the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk is the same as the destination direction Kc of the user. Condition (2): A condition that the elevator car G arrives at the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk before arriving at the departure floor Fc of the user. Condition (3): A condition that the departure floor Fc of the user is between the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk and the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk. Condition (4): A condition that the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk is different from the end floor Fy located in the forward direction Ks with respect to the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk.

[0075] When conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied, if it is assumed that a normal landing call (a landing call with the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the arrival floor Fd) is assigned as the landing call Rh for the target robot Hk, then depending on the positional relationship between the user's getting-off floor and the getting-off floor (= destination floor Fx) of the target robot Hk after boarding the car G, a situation may occur where the user has to experience the target robot Hk getting off at an intermediate floor before getting off. If such a situation occurs, the user will be made to wait inside the car G until the target robot Hk finishes getting off at the intermediate floor. Thus, when the user and the target robot Hk board the car G together, there is a risk that the user will be forced to have a longer boarding time until getting off due to the target robot Hk getting off at an intermediate floor.

[0076] Therefore, when the robot management device 4 determines in step S103 that all of conditions (1) to (4) are "satisfied (Yes)", in order to alleviate the possible prolongation of the user's boarding time that may occur when the user and the target robot Hk board the car G together, the following two different allocation requests are made (steps S110A and S110B).

[0077] In the first allocation request, the robot management device 4 requests the elevator control device 3 to allocate a first landing call Rh for the target robot Hk, where the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk is set as the departure floor Fc, and the end floor Fy located in the forward direction Ks with respect to the boarding floor Ft (the end floor located on the same side as the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk) is set as the destination floor Fd (step S110A). Specifically, the robot management device 4 sets the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the end floor Fy as the destination floor Fd, and transmits this information together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk to the elevator control device 3. Further, the robot management device 4 records the information transmitted to the elevator control device 3 (robot information Ph, departure floor Fc, destination floor Fd) in the allocation request management data Ds (see Fig. 3(B)) in a state where they are associated with each other as the allocation request information.

[0078] By making such a first allocation request (the allocation request for the first landing call), assuming that condition (4) is satisfied, the car G can be moved to the end floor Fy, so that the car G can pass through the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk with the target robot Hk on board. Therefore, it becomes possible to let the user get off before the target robot Hk between the end floor Fy. Also, by making the allocation request for the first landing call with the end floor Fy, where the moving direction Kg of the car G will surely reverse, as the destination floor Fd, it becomes unnecessary to generate useless control such as stopping the car G at an intermediate floor where no one gets on or off just to pass through the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk.

[0079] In the second allocation request, the robot management device 4 requests the elevator control device 3 to allocate a landing call for the target robot Hk as the second landing call Rh (the second landing call), with the top floor Fy as the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the destination floor Fd (step S110B). Specifically, the robot management device 4 transmits information with the top floor Fy as the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the destination floor Fd, together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk, to the elevator control device 3. In addition, the robot management device 4 records the information transmitted to the elevator control device 3 (robot information Ph, departure floor Fc, destination floor Fd) in the allocation request management data Ds (see FIG. 3(B)) in a state where they are associated with each other as allocation request information. After step S110B, the robot management device 4 terminates the allocation request process.

[0080] By making such a second allocation request (the allocation request for the second landing call), even after the car G has passed the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk, when the car G moves in the reverse direction Kt (the direction opposite to the forward direction Ks) from the top floor Fy, the car G can be stopped at the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk in the reverse direction Kt. As a result, the target robot Hk can be made to get off at the destination floor Fx.

[0081] In this embodiment, the robot management device 4 performs steps S110A and S110B simultaneously (including the case where step S110B is performed immediately at almost the same timing after step S110A). In other words, the robot management device 4 simultaneously requests the elevator control device 3 to allocate both the first landing call and the second landing call for the target robot Hk.

[0082] By performing steps S110A and S110B simultaneously in this way, in the allocation process performed by the elevator control device 3 described later, for the target robot Hk, the first landing call and the second landing call are more likely to be allocated to the car G so that the car G can respond to these landing calls in order during one round of its operating section. Note that if such allocation can be performed reliably, step S110B may be executed after a delay from step S110A.

[0083] Regarding the above-described conditions (1) to (4), if at least one of the conditions (1) to (3) is not satisfied, even if a normal landing call is allocated as the landing call Rh for the target robot Hk, after the user boards the car G at the departure floor Fc and before getting off after moving in the destination direction Kc, a situation may occur where the user does not experience sharing the ride with the target robot Hk at all.

[0084] Also, the case where condition (4) is not satisfied is when the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk is the end floor Fy. In that case, from the car G moving in the forward direction Ks, the user will get off before the car G arrives at the destination floor Fx (= end floor Fy) of the target robot Hk, or get off together with the target robot Hk at that destination floor Fx. In other words, when condition (4) is not satisfied, a situation where the user experiences the target robot Hk getting off at an intermediate floor does not occur. Therefore, in such a case, a normal landing call may be allocated as the landing call Rh for the target robot Hk.

[0085] Furthermore, when the information of the landing call Rg for the user is not included in the elevator information Pe, there is no user who may share the ride with the target robot Hk at that time. In this case, a normal landing call can be allocated as the landing call Rh for the target robot Hk without affecting the user at all.

[0086] Therefore, when the robot management device 4 determines in step S103 that at least one of the conditions is "not satisfied (No)", or when it determines in step S102 that it is "not included (No)", the robot management device 4 makes a normal allocation request to the elevator control device 3 (step S120). Specifically, the robot management device 4 makes a normal allocation of a landing call Rh for the target robot Hk, with the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the destination floor Fd, and requests the elevator control device 3. More specifically, the robot management device 4 uses the boarding floor Ft and the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd of the target robot Hk respectively, and transmits this information together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk to the elevator control device 3. In addition, the robot management device 4 records the information transmitted to the elevator control device 3 (robot information Ph, departure floor Fc, destination floor Fd) in the allocation request management data Ds in a state where they are associated with each other as allocation request information. 。

[0087] On the other hand, due to changes in the user's usage situation after the execution of step S120 (such as adding an allocation of a landing call Rg for the user), conditions (1) to (3) may become satisfied. And when the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk satisfies condition (4), if conditions (1) to (3) become satisfied, if it is assumed that the response to the normal landing call Rh is executed as it is, the user may experience a situation where the target robot Hk gets off at an intermediate floor while moving in the car G. Also in this case, if the car G can be passed through the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk with the target robot Hk on board, the user does not have to experience the target robot Hk getting off while moving in the car G, and as a result, the prolongation of the user's boarding time can be alleviated.

[0088] Therefore, the robot management device 4 acquires the elevator information Pe at that time from the elevator control device 3 in order to grasp the operation status of the car G and the usage status of the user at the current time (step S121). Then, the robot management device 4 makes the following judgments using the elevator information Pe acquired in step S121.

[0089] First, the robot management device 4 determines whether the current elevator status is within a predetermined period, where the predetermined period is the period during which the assignment of the normal landing call Rh executed by the elevator control device 3 in the assignment request in step S120 can be canceled (step S122). In this embodiment, the period until the stop of the car G at the departure floor Fc indicated by the normal landing call Rh is determined is the predetermined period.

[0090] When the robot management device 4 determines "not within the predetermined period (No)" in step S122, it can be determined from this judgment that the elevator is not in a situation where it can cancel the assignment of the normal landing call Rh. In this case, the robot management device 4 ends the assignment request process while maintaining the normal landing call Rh for the target robot Hk (in other words, without transmitting the cancel signal Sc to the elevator control device 3).

[0091] On the other hand, when the robot management device 4 determines "within the predetermined period (Yes)" in step S122, it can be determined that the elevator is in a situation where it can cancel the assignment of the normal landing call Rh. In this case, assuming that the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk satisfies condition (4) and conditions (1) to (3) are satisfied due to changes in the user's usage status, it is preferable to pass the car G through the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk with the target robot Hk on board.

[0092] Therefore, in order to determine whether there is a user who may ride with the target robot Hk, the robot management device 4 determines whether the information of the landing call Rg for the user is included in the elevator information Pe (the elevator information Pe at the current time) acquired in step S121 (step S123). Then, when the robot management device 4 determines in step S123 that the information of the landing call Rg is "included (Yes)", it uses the departure floor Fc and the destination direction Kc of the user indicated by the landing call Rg and the boarding floor Ft and the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk to determine whether any of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied (step S124).

[0093] In addition, the robot management device 4 repeatedly executes steps S121 to S124 until it can determine "satisfied (Yes)" in step S124 or until it determines "not within the predetermined period (No)" in step S122.

[0094] Then, when the robot management device 4 determines in step S124 that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are "satisfied (Yes)", in order to mitigate the extension of the user's boarding time, first, it transmits a cancel signal Sc to the elevator control device 3 (step S125). At this time, the robot management device 4 transmits the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk together with the cancel signal Sc to the elevator control device 3 in order to make the elevator control device 3 recognize which robot H the cancel signal Sc commands to cancel the landing call Rh. In addition, the robot management device 4 deletes the information on the allocation request made for the target robot Hk (the information recorded in the allocation request management data Ds in step S120) from the allocation request management data Ds.

[0095] When the elevator control device 3 receives a cancellation signal Sc and robot information Ph from the robot management device 4, it cancels the allocation of the landing call Rh (normal landing call) made for the robot H specified by the robot information Ph. Specifically, the elevator control device 3 deletes the landing call Rh (normal landing call) for the robot H. Further, even when the elevator control device 3 is executing response processing (Figs. 6 to 10) with the normal landing call Rh for the robot H as the response target, until the stop of the car G at the departure floor Fc indicated by the landing call Rg is determined, by receiving the cancellation signal Sc from the robot management device 4, the allocation of the landing call Rh can be cancelled.

[0096] After step S125, the robot management device 4 makes a request for allocation of a first landing call (step S110A) and a request for allocation of a second landing call (step S110B) to the elevator control device 3 as new allocation requests. Thereafter, the robot management device 4 ends the allocation request process.

[0097] According to the processing from step S121 as described above, if it is assumed that the response to the normal landing call Rh is executed as it is within a predetermined period, when it is found that a situation may occur where the user has to experience the target robot Hk getting off at an intermediate floor while moving in the car G, the elevator control device 3 can be made to cancel the allocation of the normal landing call Rh. As a result, the user does not have to experience the target robot Hk getting off while moving in the car G. As a result, it becomes possible to mitigate the extension of the user's boarding time.

[0098] [1-2-2] Allocation processing performed by the elevator control device FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the allocation process executed in the present embodiment. This allocation process is started when there is an allocation request for a landing call from the destination direction button 1 or the robot management device 4 to the elevator control device 3. And in the present embodiment, even when the allocation requests for the first landing call and the second landing call for the robot H (steps S110A and S110B in FIG. 4) are made simultaneously, the allocation process of FIG. 5 is individually executed for them.

[0099] Hereinafter, the information received by the elevator control device 3 each time there is an allocation request will be collectively referred to as "received information Pr2". Specifically, when this received information Pr2 is a request from the destination direction button 1 (an allocation request for the landing call Rg of the user), it is a set of information including the destination direction Kc and the device information Pd, and when the allocation request is a request from the robot management device 4 (an allocation request for the landing call Rh of the robot H), it is a set of information including the departure floor Fc, the destination floor Fd, and the robot information Ph.

[0100] When the allocation process is started, the elevator control device 3 determines which of the device information Pd and the robot information Ph is included in the received information Pr2 in order to determine whether the received allocation request is from the destination direction button 1 or the robot management device 4 (step S200).

[0101] If the elevator control device 3 determines in step S200 that the "device information Pd" is included, it can determine that the received allocation request is a request from the destination direction button 1 based on this determination. In this case, the elevator control device 3 extracts the installation floor Fs associated with the device information Pd in the received information Pr2 using the device management data Dp, and sets it as the departure floor Fc of the user. Then, the elevator control device 3 executes the allocation to the car G with the departure floor Fc and the destination direction Kc (the destination direction Kc of the user) in the received information Pr2 as one landing call Rg (allocation for the user. Step S201). After that, the elevator control device 3 ends the allocation process.

[0102] On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 determines in step S200 that "robot information Ph" is included, it can determine that the received allocation request is a request from the robot management device 4 based on this determination. In this case, the elevator control device 3 uses the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd in the received information Pr2 as one landing call Rh and executes the allocation to the car G (allocation for the robot H. Step S202). After that, the elevator control device 3 ends the allocation process.

[0103] [1-2-3] Response processing performed by the elevator control device FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the response processing executed in this embodiment. This response processing is normal response processing executed by the elevator control device 3. The landing calls and car calls to be responded to include not only the landing calls and car calls for the users and the robot H that have become the determination targets when all of the conditions (1) to (4) are determined to be "satisfied (Yes)" in step S103 or S124 of the above-described allocation request process (see FIG. 4), but also the landing calls and car calls for other users and the robot H. And this response processing is started at the timing when the next stop floor of the car G is determined.

[0104] When the response processing is started, the elevator control device 3 determines what calls are included in the response targets to be responded to in this response processing (step S30X). Specifically, the elevator control device 3 determines whether only landing calls (either one or both of the user's landing call Rg and the robot H's landing call Rh) are included in the response target, or only car calls (either one or both of the user's car call Vg and the robot H's car call Vh) are included, or both landing calls and car calls are included.

[0105] And when the elevator control device 3 determines that it is "only landing calls" in step S30X, it executes the first response process. When it determines that it is "only car calls" in step S30X, it executes the second response process. When it determines that it is "both landing calls and car calls" in step S30X, it executes the third response process. Hereinafter, these processes will be specifically described.

[0106] <First response process> FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the first response process executed in this embodiment. In this first response process, the elevator control device 3 first determines whether or not the landing call Rh of the robot H is included in the response target (step S300).

[0107] When the elevator control device 3 determines "not included (No)" in step S300, based on that determination, it can be determined that only the user's landing call Rg is included in the response target. In this case, the elevator control device 3 sends a command to the car G to stop the car G in the same direction as the destination direction Kc indicated by the landing call Rg at the departure floor Fc indicated by the landing call Rg (the user's departure floor Fc) (step S301).

[0108] After step S301, the elevator control device 3 determines whether or not the car G has arrived at the departure floor Fc indicated by the landing call Rg (step S302). Also, the elevator control device 3 repeatedly executes step S302 until it can determine "arrived (Yes)" in step S302.

[0109] And when the elevator control device 3 determines "arrived (Yes)" in step S302, it deletes the landing call Rg that has completed its role based on that arrival (step S303).

[0110] After that, the user gets on the arrived car G, and then registers their destination floor Fd by pressing the destination floor button 2 inside the car G. At this time, if the destination floor button 2 corresponding to the user's destination floor Fd has already been pressed and registered by another user, the user only gets on the car G.

[0111] Therefore, after step S303, the elevator control device 3 determines whether an unregistered destination floor Fd has been pressed by the destination floor button 2 inside the car G (step S304).

[0112] And when the elevator control device 3 determines "pressed (Yes)" in step S304, it registers the pressed destination floor Fd in the car G as a car call Vg for the user (step S305). As a result, it becomes possible to stop the car G at the destination floor Fd registered by the user inside the car G. After that, the elevator control device 3 ends the first response process.

[0113] On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 determines "not pressed (No)" in step S304, it ends the first response process without performing step S305.

[0114] When the elevator control device 3 determines in step S300 that the landing call Rh of the robot H is "included (Yes)" in the response target, it executes a response to the landing call Rh, and if the landing call Rg of the user is further included in the response target, it also performs processing for the landing call Rg of the user. Specifically, it is as follows.

[0115] The elevator control device 3 sends a command to the car G to stop the car G at the departure floor Fc indicated by the landing call Rh (the departure floor Fc of the robot H) in the direction towards the destination floor Fd indicated by the landing call Rh (step S401).

[0116] After step S401, the elevator control device 3 determines whether the car G has arrived at the departure floor Fc indicated by the landing call Rh (step S402). Further, the elevator control device 3 repeatedly executes step S402 until it can be determined as "arrived (Yes)" in step S402.

[0117] Then, when the elevator control device 3 determines as "arrived (Yes)" in step S402, by executing the door opening extension process during boarding shown in FIG. 14, the elevator control device 3 causes the car G to perform the door opening extension according to the command transmitted from the robot management device 4 at that time. Note that the details of the door opening extension process during boarding will be described later.

[0118] After the completion of the door opening extension process during boarding, the elevator control device 3 returns to the process of FIG. 7 and registers the destination floor Fd (the destination floor Fd of the robot H) indicated by the landing call Rh as a car call Vh for the robot H in the car G (step S403). As a result, it becomes possible to stop the car G at the destination floor Fd indicated by the landing call Rh. On the other hand, by registering the car call Vh to the car G in this way, the landing call Rh will finish its role. Therefore, the elevator control device 3 deletes the landing call Rh that has finished its role.

[0119] Thereafter, the elevator control device 3 determines whether the user's landing call Rg is further included in the response target in this first response process (step S404). When the elevator control device 3 determines as "included (Yes)" in step S404, it executes the processes of steps S303 to S305 (deletion of the landing call Rg to registration of the car call Vg) as the process for the landing call Rg. Thereafter, the elevator control device 3 ends the first response process. On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 determines as "not included (No)" in step S404, it ends the first response process without performing the processes of steps S303 to S305.

[0120] <Second Response Process> FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the second response process executed in the present embodiment. In this second response process, the elevator control device 3 first determines whether or not the car call Vh of the robot H is included in the response target (step S310).

[0121] When the elevator control device 3 determines "not included (No)" in step S310, it can be determined that only the user's car call Vg is included in the response target based on this determination. In this case, the elevator control device 3 transmits a command for stopping the car G to the car G in order to stop the car G at the destination floor Fd (the user's destination floor Fd) indicated by the car call Vg (step S311).

[0122] After step S311, the elevator control device 3 determines whether or not the car G has arrived at the destination floor Fd indicated by the car call Vg (step S312). Also, the elevator control device 3 repeatedly executes step S312 until it can be determined "arrived (Yes)" in step S312.

[0123] When the elevator control device 3 determines "arrived (Yes)" in step S312, it deletes the car call Vg that has completed its role based on the arrival (step S313). After that, the elevator control device 3 ends the second response process.

[0124] When the elevator control device 3 determines that the car call Vh of the robot H is "included (Yes)" in the response target in step S310, it executes a response to the car call Vh, and if the user's car call Vg is further included in the response target, it also performs processing for the user's car call Vg. Specifically, it is as follows.

[0125] The elevator control device 3 transmits a command for stopping the car G to the car G in order to stop the car G at the destination floor Fd (the destination floor Fd of the robot H) indicated by the car call Vh (step S411).

[0126] After step S411, the elevator control device 3 determines whether the car G has arrived at the destination floor Fd indicated by the car call Vh (step S412). Also, the elevator control device 3 repeatedly executes step S412 until it can determine "arrived (Yes)" in step S412.

[0127] And when the elevator control device 3 determines "arrived (Yes)" in step S412, it deletes the car call Vh that has completed its role upon arrival (step S413). Also, the elevator control device 3 executes the door opening extension process at the time of getting off shown in FIG. 15 to cause the car G to perform the door opening extension according to the command transmitted from the robot management device 4 at that time. Note that the details of the door opening extension process at the time of getting off will be described later.

[0128] After the completion of the door opening extension process at the time of getting off, the elevator control device 3 returns to the process of FIG. 8 and determines whether the user's car call Vg is further included in the response target in this second response process (step S414). And when the elevator control device 3 determines "included (Yes)" in step S414, it executes the process of step S313 (deletion of the car call Vg) as the process for that car call Vg. After that, the elevator control device 3 ends the second response process. On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 determines "not included (No)" in step S414, it ends the second response process without performing the process of step S313.

[0129] <Third Response Process> FIGS. 9 and 10 are flowcharts showing the third response process executed in this embodiment. In this third response process, the elevator control device 3 first determines whether the landing call Rh of the robot H is included in the response target (step S320).

[0130] When the elevator control device 3 determines "not included (No)" in step S320, based on this determination, it can be determined that the user's landing call Rg is included in the response target. In this case, the elevator control device 3 executes the same processes as steps S301 to S305 described in the first response process (steps S321 to S325).

[0131] On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 determines "included (Yes)" in step S320, it proceeds to process X in FIG. 10 and executes the same processes as steps S401 and S402 described in the first response process (steps S421 and S422).

[0132] Here, when another robot H is in the car G and the stop floor (arrival floor Fg) where the car G has arrived is the destination floor Fx of the other robot H, the other robot H will get off the car G at the arrival floor Fg. Also, in this embodiment, in order to smoothly perform the boarding of the robot H from the landing and the getting off of another robot H from the car G, first, the robot H in the car G gets off, and then the robot H on the landing boards.

[0133] Therefore, the elevator control device 3 first determines whether the car call Vh of another robot H is further included in the response target in this third response process (step S423).

[0134] And when the elevator control device 3 determines "Yes (contained)" in step S423, it can determine that another robot H in the car G gets off at the stop floor (arrival floor Fg) where the car G has arrived. In this case, the elevator control device 3 deletes the car call Vh for the other robot H that has completed its role upon its arrival (step S430). Then, as processing at the time of getting off for the other robot H, it executes the door opening extension process at the time of getting off shown in FIG. 15. Although the details of the door opening extension process at the time of getting off will be described later, in the door opening extension process at this time (see FIG. 15), since the elevator control device 3 receives the door opening extension signal Sz from the robot management device 4 for the getting off of the other robot H, it determines "Yes (received)" in step S901, and then shifts to step S910A via step S902 (door opening extension).

[0135] After the completion of the door opening extension process at the time of getting off (when it determines "Yes (received)" in step S910A of FIG. 15), or when it determines "No (not contained)" in step S423 of FIG. 10, next (see FIG. 10), as processing at the time of boarding for the robot H at the landing, the elevator control device 3 executes the door opening extension process at the time of boarding shown in FIG. 14. Although the details of the door opening extension process at the time of boarding will be described later, in the door opening extension process at this time (see FIG. 14), since the elevator control device 3 receives the door opening extension signal Sz from the robot management device 4 for the boarding of the robot H at the landing, it determines "Yes (received)" in step S801, and then shifts to step S810A via step S802 (door opening extension). And when the elevator control device 3 determines "Yes (received)" in step S810A, it returns to the process of FIG. 10 and executes the same process as step S403 (registration of the car call Vh, deletion of the landing call Rh) described in the first response process (step S424).

[0136] After that, the elevator control device 3 returns to the process of FIG. 9 and determines whether a landing call Rg of the user is further included in the response target in this third response process (step S441). Then, when the elevator control device 3 determines "Yes (included)" in step S441, it executes steps S323 to S325 (deletion of the landing call Rg to registration of the car call Vg) as the process for the landing call Rg. After that, the elevator control device 3 proceeds to step S442. On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 determines "No (not included)" in step S441, it proceeds to step S442 without performing the processes of steps S323 to S325.

[0137] In step S442, the elevator control device 3 determines whether a car call Vg of the user is further included in the response target in this third response process. Here, when the car call Vg of the user is included in the response target, the car call Vg will also have completed its role when the car G arrives. Therefore, when the elevator control device 3 determines "Yes (included)" in step S442, it deletes the car call Vg that has completed its role (step S443). After that, the elevator control device 3 ends the third response process. On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 determines "No (not included)" in step S442, it ends the third response process without performing the process of step S443.

[0138] [1-2-4] Boarding / Alighting Command Process Performed by Robot Management Device FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the boarding / alighting command process executed in the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the robot management device 4 acquires information indicating the operation status of the car G from the elevator control device 3 at any time, and based on this information, grasps the current position Qt and the moving direction Kg of the car G. Therefore, the robot management device 4 can determine whether or not the car G has arrived at the stop floor, and when it determines that it has "arrived", the arrival floor Fg of the car G at that time, the departure direction Kg1 of the car G from that arrival floor Fg (the moving direction Kg at the time of departure), and the arrival direction Kg2 of the car G to that arrival floor Fg (the moving direction Kg at the time of arrival) can be specified. Then, the boarding / alighting command process shown in FIG. 11 starts every time the robot management device 4 determines that the car G has "arrived" at the stop floor.

[0139] When the boarding / alighting command process starts, the robot management device 4 first determines whether or not the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg may correspond to a stop in response to the car call Vh for the robot H. To do this, it determines whether or not the arrival floor Fg of the car G matches any of the destination floors Fd recorded in the allocation request management data Ds (see FIG. 3(B)) (in other words, the destination floor Fd transmitted in the allocation request) (step S501).

[0140] Then, when the robot management device 4 determines "Yes (match)" in step S501, based on this determination, it can determine that the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg may correspond to a stop in response to the car call Vh for the robot H. On the other hand, based on this determination alone, it cannot be determined that the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is a stop in response to the car call Vh for the robot H. Therefore, the robot management device 4 further makes a determination to specify what kind of stop the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is by executing the disembarkation command process shown in FIG. 13, and performs the processing necessary for the inter-floor movement of the robot H according to the determination result. Note that the details of the disembarkation command process will be described later.

[0141] After the completion of the getting-off command process, or when it is determined in step S501 that "No", the robot management device 4 next determines whether the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg may correspond to a stop in response to the landing call Rh for the robot H. To do this, it determines whether the arrival floor Fg of the car G matches any of the departure floors Fc recorded in the allocation request management data Ds (see FIG. 3(B)) (in other words, the departure floor Fc transmitted in the allocation request) (step S502).

[0142] And when the robot management device 4 determines in step S502 that "Yes", based on this determination, it can be determined that the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg may correspond to a stop in response to the landing call Rh for the robot H. On the other hand, based on this determination alone, it cannot be determined that the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is a stop in response to the landing call Rg for the robot H. Therefore, the robot management device 4 further makes a determination to identify what kind of stop the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is by executing the boarding command process shown in FIG. 12, and performs processing necessary for the inter-floor movement of the robot H according to the determination result. Note that the details of the boarding command process will be described later.

[0143] After the completion of the boarding command process, or when it is determined in step S502 that "No", the robot management device 4 ends the boarding and alighting command process. Also, when the robot management device 4 determines in step S501 that "No" and also determines in step S502 that "No", based on these determinations, it can be determined that the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is not any stop in response to the landing call Rh or car call Vh for the robot H, in other words, it is a stop in response to the landing call Rg or car call Vg for the user. In this case, since processing for the robot H is not necessary, the robot management device 4 ends the boarding and alighting command process.

[0144] In the boarding / alighting command process of FIG. 11, by allowing the alighting command process (see FIG. 13) to be executed before the boarding command process (see FIG. 12) in this way, when it becomes necessary to perform both boarding of robot H from the boarding area and alighting of another robot H from the car G at the same stop floor, the alighting of the other robot H can be executed first. Therefore, according to the boarding / alighting command process of FIG. 11, the boarding and alighting of those two robots H can be performed smoothly.

[0145] <Boarding command process> FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the boarding command process executed in the present embodiment.

[0146] In the boarding command process, first, the robot management device 4 uses the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd transmitted in the first - noticed request (specifically, the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd corresponding to the first - noticed request in the allocation request management data Ds) of the allocation request that was determined to be "matched (Yes)" in step S502 of FIG. 11 as the first - noticed request, and specifies the direction from the departure floor Fc to the destination floor Fd as the conveyance direction Kh of the robot H (step S601).

[0147] Next, the robot management device 4 determines whether the departure direction Kg1 of the car G from the arrival floor Fg matches the conveyance direction Kh of the robot H specified in step S601 in order to specify whether the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is a stop in response to the boarding call Rh for the robot H (step S602).

[0148] When the robot management device 4 determines "matched (Yes)" in step S602, based on this determination, it can be specified that the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is a stop in response to the boarding call Rh for the robot H.

[0149] On the other hand, when the robot management device 4 determines "No" in step S602, based on this determination, it can be determined that the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is not a stop in response to the landing call Rh for the robot H. In other words, it is a stop in response to the landing call Rg or the car call Vg for the user. In this case, since the processing for the robot H is unnecessary, the robot management device 4 ends the boarding command process.

[0150] In this way, by the robot management device 4 making the determinations in steps S502 and S602, the robot management device 4 itself can identify, without notification from the elevator control device 3, that the car G has arrived at the departure floor Fc in response to the landing call Rh for the robot H (any one of the normal landing call, the first landing call, and the second landing call).

[0151] On the other hand, even if such identification can be made, it is not always necessary to board the robot H on the car G at the arrival floor Fg at that time. Specifically, it is as follows.

[0152] First, the case where it is necessary to board the robot H on the car G at the arrival floor Fg is when the landing call Rh that is the response target at that time is the one for which allocation to the car G has been made in response to the first allocation request from the robot management device 4 (step S110A in FIG. 4) (the first landing call), or the one for which allocation to the car G has been made in response to the normal allocation request (step S120 in FIG. 4). In these cases, the departure floor Fc indicated by the landing call Rh is the boarding floor Ft of the robot H. When the car G arrives at the arrival floor Fg, the robot H has not yet boarded the car G and is waiting for a boarding command to the car G at the boarding floor Ft.

[0153] On the other hand, the case where it is not necessary to board the robot H on the arrival floor Fg of the car G means that the landing call Rh that is the response target at that time is the one that has been assigned to the car G in response to the second assignment request (step S110B in FIG. 4) from the robot management device 4 (the second landing call). In this case, after the elevator control device 3 finishes the response process targeting the first landing call (in other words, after the robot H boards the car G), it is in a state of further executing the response process targeting the second landing call. Therefore, when the car G arrives at the above arrival floor Fg, the robot H is already in a state of having boarded the car G. For this reason, it is not necessary to cause the robot H to perform the act of boarding the car G from the landing.

[0154] Therefore, in order to determine whether the robot H should board on the arrival floor Fg of the car G at that time, the robot management device 4 determines whether the departure floor Fc transmitted in the first attention request matches the boarding floor Ft of the robot H targeted in the first attention request (step S603). Specifically, the robot management device 4 refers to the departure floor Fc and the robot information Ph corresponding to the first attention request in the assignment request management data Ds (see FIG. 3(B)), and then determines whether the departure floor Fc matches the boarding floor Ft recorded in association with the robot information Ph in the robot management data Dr (see FIG. 3(A)).

[0155] If the robot management device 4 determines "match (Yes)" in step S603, based on this determination, it can be determined that the car G has arrived at the boarding floor Ft in response to a normal landing call or the first landing call with the boarding floor Ft of the robot H as the departure floor Fc. In this case, the robot management device 4 can determine that the robot H should board the arrived car G.

[0156] Therefore, the robot management device 4 transmits a door opening extension signal Sz for requesting the door opening extension necessary for the robot H to board to the elevator control device 3 (step S611). At this time, the robot management device 4 extracts the robot information Ph corresponding to the first focus request from the allocation request management data Ds (see FIG. 3(B)) in order to make the elevator control device 3 recognize which robot H requires the door opening extension, and transmits the robot information Ph together with the door opening extension signal Sz to the elevator control device 3. As a result, when the elevator control device 3 responds to the landing call Rh for the robot H specified by the robot information Ph (here, this robot H will be referred to as the "target robot Hk"), when performing the door opening extension process during boarding shown in FIG. 14, it will receive the door opening extension signal Sz from the robot management device 4. In this way, the elevator control device 3 can be made to execute the door opening extension necessary for the target robot Hk to board the car G, and to recognize that when the boarding of the target robot Hk is completed, a boarding completion signal Sx will be transmitted from the robot management device 4.

[0157] After step S611, the robot management device 4 commands the robot H (target robot Hk) specified by the robot information Ph transmitted to the elevator control device 3 to board the car G (step S612). As a result, the target robot Hk starts boarding the car G in response to the command from the robot management device 4, and when the boarding is completed, notifies the robot management device 4 of the boarding completion.

[0158] Therefore, after step S612, the robot management device 4 determines whether the boarding of the target robot Hk on the car G is completed by determining whether it has received a notification of boarding completion from the target robot Hk (step S613). Also, the robot management device 4 repeatedly executes step S613 until it can be determined as "completed (Yes)" in step S613.

[0159] When the robot management device 4 determines "completed (Yes)" in step S613, it transmits a boarding completion signal Sx for notifying the boarding completion of the target robot Hk to the elevator control device 3 together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk (step S620A). Thereafter, the robot management device 4 ends the boarding command process.

[0160] On the other hand, when the robot management device 4 determines "not matching (No)" in step S603, based on this determination, it can be determined that the car G has arrived at a different floor (moreover, not the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk. In this embodiment, the end floor Fy) as the departure floor Fc in response to the second landing call. Here, after responding to the first landing call, the car G will arrive at the departure floor Fc (here, the end floor Fy) indicated by the second landing call with the target robot Hk on board. Therefore, it is not necessary to have the target robot Hk board the car G again. Accordingly, the robot management device 4 can determine that it is not necessary to have the target robot Hk board the arrived car G.

[0161] In this case, the robot management device 4 transmits the boarding completion signal Sx as a dummy signal to the elevator control device 3 together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk without transmitting the door opening extension signal Sz to the elevator control device 3 and without instructing the target robot Hk to board the car G (step S620B). Thereby, when the elevator control device 3 responds to the landing call Rh for the robot H (target robot Hk) specified by the robot information Ph and is performing the door opening extension process during boarding shown in FIG. 14, the elevator control device 3 will receive the boarding completion signal Sx from the robot management device 4 without receiving the door opening extension signal Sz. According to such processing, it is possible to keep the target robot Hk on board the car G without causing the elevator control in the elevator control device 3 to stop. Thereafter, the robot management device 4 ends the boarding command process.

[0162] <Getting-off Command Processing> FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the getting-off command processing executed in the present embodiment.

[0163] In the getting-off command processing, the robot management device 4 first uses the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd transmitted in the second target request (specifically, the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd corresponding to the second target request in the allocation request management data Ds) of the allocation request that was determined to be "matched (Yes)" in step S501 of FIG. 11 as the second target request, and specifies the direction from the departure floor Fc to the destination floor Fd as the conveyance direction Kh of the robot H (step S701).

[0164] Next, the robot management device 4 determines whether or not the arrival direction Kg2 of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is the same as the conveyance direction Kh of the robot H specified in step S701 in order to specify whether or not the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is a stop in response to the car call Vh for the robot H (step S702).

[0165] When the robot management device 4 determines "matched (Yes)" in step S702, based on this determination, it can be specified that the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is a stop in response to the car call Vh for the robot H.

[0166] On the other hand, when the robot management device 4 determines "not matched (No)" in step S702, based on this determination, it can be determined that the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is not a stop in response to the car call Vh for the robot H, in other words, it is a stop in response to the landing call Rg or the car call Vg for the user. In this case, since no processing for the robot H is required, the robot management device 4 ends the getting-off command processing.

[0167] In this way, by the robot management device 4 making the determinations in steps S501 and S702, the robot management device 4 itself can identify, without notification from the elevator control device 3, that the car G has arrived at the destination floor Fd in response to the car call Vh (the car call Vh corresponding to any one of the normal landing call, the first landing call, and the second landing call) for the robot H.

[0168] On the other hand, even if such identification is possible, it is not always necessary to let the robot H get off at the arrival floor Fg of the car G at that time. Specifically, it is as follows.

[0169] First, the case where it is necessary to let the robot H get off at the arrival floor Fg of the car G is when the car call Vh that is the response target at that time is registered in the car G through the landing call Rh (the second landing call) corresponding to the second allocation request (step S110B in FIG. 4) from the robot management device 4, or when it is registered in the car G through the landing call Rh corresponding to the normal allocation request (step S120 in FIG. 4). In these cases, the destination floor Fd indicated by the car call Vh is the target floor Fx of the robot H, and the arrival floor Fg of the car G at that time will coincide with the target floor Fx of the robot H.

[0170] On the other hand, the case where it is not necessary to let the robot H get off at the arrival floor Fg of the car G is when the car call Vh that is the response target at that time is registered in the car G through the landing call Rh (the first landing call) corresponding to the first allocation request (step S110A in FIG. 4) from the robot management device 4. In this case, the destination floor Fd indicated by the car call Vh is a floor in the middle (in this embodiment, the end floor Fy) until the car G makes a round trip to the target floor Fx of the robot H, and the car G has only arrived at that intermediate floor (in other words, the floor where the robot H does not need to get off). Therefore, there is no need to cause the robot H to perform the action of getting off from the car G to the landing.

[0171] Therefore, in order to determine whether the robot H should be made to get off at the arrival floor Fg of the car G at that time, the robot management device 4 determines whether the destination floor Fd transmitted in the second target request matches the destination floor Fx of the robot H targeted in the second target request (step S703). Specifically, the robot management device 4 refers to the destination floor Fd and the robot information Ph corresponding to the second target request in the allocation request management data Ds (see FIG. 3(B)), and then determines whether the destination floor Fd matches the destination floor Fx recorded as the destination in association with the robot information Ph in the robot management data Dr (see FIG. 3(A)).

[0172] When the robot management device 4 determines "match (Yes)" in step S703, based on this determination, it can be determined that the car G has arrived at the destination floor Fx in response to the car call Vh (the car call Vh corresponding to a normal landing call or a second landing call) with the destination floor Fx of the robot H as the destination floor Fd. In this case, the robot management device 4 can determine that the robot H should be made to get off from the arriving car G.

[0173] Therefore, the robot management device 4 transmits a door opening extension signal Sz for requesting the door opening extension necessary for the robot H to get off the elevator to the elevator control device 3 (step S711). At this time, in order for the elevator control device 3 to recognize which robot H requires the door opening extension, the robot management device 4 extracts the robot information Ph corresponding to the second focus request from the allocation request management data Ds (see Fig. 3(B)), and transmits the robot information Ph to the elevator control device 3 together with the door opening extension signal Sz. As a result, when the elevator control device 3 responds to the landing call Rh for the robot H specified by the robot information Ph (here, this robot H is referred to as the "target robot Hk"), when performing the door opening extension process at the time of getting off the elevator shown in Fig. 15, it will receive the door opening extension signal Sz from the robot management device 4. In this way, the elevator control device 3 can be made to execute the door opening extension necessary for the target robot Hk to get off the car G, and to recognize that a landing completion signal Sy will be transmitted from the robot management device 4 when the landing of the target robot Hk is completed.

[0174] After step S711, the robot management device 4 commands the robot H (target robot Hk) specified by the robot information Ph transmitted to the elevator control device 3 to get off the car G (step S712). As a result, the target robot Hk starts to get off the car G in response to the command from the robot management device 4, and when the getting off is completed, notifies the robot management device 4 of the completion of getting off.

[0175] Therefore, after step S712, the robot management device 4 determines whether the landing of the target robot Hk from the car G is completed by determining whether it has received a notification of the completion of getting off from the target robot Hk (step S713). Also, the robot management device 4 repeatedly executes step S713 until it can be determined as "completed (Yes)" in step S713.

[0176] When the robot management device 4 determines "completed (Yes)" in step S713, it transmits, together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk, a disembarkation completion signal Sy for notifying the elevator control device 3 of the disembarkation completion of the target robot Hk (step S720A).

[0177] Then, the robot management device 4 updates the boarding floor Ft recorded in the robot management data Dr for the target robot Hk to the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk used in the determination in step S703 (step S721). Further, the robot management device 4 deletes the destination floor Fx recorded as the destination of the target robot Hk in the robot management data Dr. Furthermore, the robot management device 4 deletes the information (robot information Ph, departure floor Fc, destination floor Fd) regarding the second focus request from the allocation request management data Ds (step S722). After that, the robot management device 4 ends the disembarkation command process.

[0178] On the other hand, when the robot management device 4 determines "not matching (No)" in step S703, based on this determination, it can be determined that the car G has arrived at a floor different from the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk (in this embodiment, the end floor Fy) in response to the car call Vh (the car call Vh corresponding to the first landing call) with the different floor as the destination floor Fd. Here, the destination floor Fd indicated by the first landing call (here, the end floor Fy) is a floor on the way to the destination floor Fx for the target robot Hk. Therefore, it is not necessary for the target robot Hk to disembark from the car G. Thus, the robot management device 4 can determine that it is not necessary to disembark the target robot Hk from the arrived car G.

[0179] In this case, without transmitting the door opening extension signal Sz to the elevator control device 3 and without instructing the target robot Hk to get off the car G, the robot management device 4 transmits the car exit completion signal Sy as a dummy signal to the elevator control device 3 together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk (step S720B). As a result, when the elevator control device 3 responds to the landing call Rh for the robot H (target robot Hk) specified by the robot information Ph and is performing the door opening extension process at the time of car exit shown in FIG. 15, the elevator control device 3 will receive the car exit completion signal Sy from the robot management device 4 without receiving the door opening extension signal Sz. According to such processing, it becomes possible to keep the target robot Hk in the car G without causing the control of the elevator in the elevator control device 3 to stagnate.

[0180] After step S720B, the robot management device 4 proceeds to step S722, deletes the information (robot information Ph, departure floor Fc, destination floor Fd) about the second focus request from the allocation request management data Ds, and then ends the car exit command process.

[0181] Note that when the robot management device 4 makes two allocation requests (the first landing call allocation request and the second landing call allocation request) for one target robot Hk, it is not limited to deleting the information recorded in the allocation request management data Ds each time the car G arrives at the destination floor Fd for each allocation request. Instead, it may be deleted from the allocation request management data Ds collectively when the car G arrives at the target floor Fx of the target robot Hk.

[0182] [1-2-5] Door Opening Extension Process Performed by Elevator Control Device <Door Opening Extension Process at the Time of Boarding> FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the door opening extension process at the time of boarding executed in the present embodiment.

[0183] According to the boarding and alighting command process (Figs. 11 to 13) performed by the above-described robot management device 4, when the elevator control device 3 is executing the above-described response process and the response target at that time is the landing call Rh for the robot H, when the elevator control device 3 is executing the door opening extension process at the time of boarding for the robot H (here, this robot H will be referred to as the "target robot Hk"), the robot management device 4 will receive the door opening extension signal Sz and the boarding completion signal Sx together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk.

[0184] Therefore, in the door opening extension process at the time of boarding, the elevator control device 3 first determines whether it has received the door opening extension signal Sz for the target robot Hk from the robot management device 4 (step S801).

[0185] If the elevator control device 3 determines "received (Yes)" in step S801, it can determine that the boarding of the target robot Hk is executed based on this determination, and furthermore, it can recognize that the boarding completion signal Sx will be transmitted from the robot management device 4 when the boarding is completed.

[0186] Therefore, the elevator control device 3 starts the door opening extension of the car G at the arrival floor Fg at that time (step S802), and then determines whether it has received the boarding completion signal Sx from the robot management device 4 (step S810A). Also, the elevator control device 3 repeatedly executes step S810A until it can determine "received (Yes)" in step S810A. And when the elevator control device 3 can determine "received (Yes)" in step S810A, it can determine that the boarding of the target robot Hk is completed based on this determination, and thus ends the door opening extension process at the time of boarding.

[0187] On the other hand, the robot management device 4 may transmit the boarding completion signal Sx as a dummy signal without instructing the target robot Hk to board the car G. In this case, the elevator control device 3 will receive the boarding completion signal Sx together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk without receiving the door opening extension signal Sz.

[0188] Therefore, when the elevator control device 3 determines "not received (No)" in step S801, as a process for determining whether the boarding completion signal Sx has been transmitted as a dummy signal from the robot management device 4, it determines whether the boarding completion signal Sx has been received from the robot management device 4 (step S810B). Also, the elevator control device 3 repeatedly executes steps S801 and S810A until it can determine that the door opening extension signal Sz has been "received (Yes)" in step S801 or until it can determine that the boarding completion signal Sx has been "received (Yes)" in step S810B.

[0189] And when the elevator control device 3 determines "received (Yes)" in step S810B, based on this determination, it can be determined that the received boarding completion signal Sx is a dummy signal. In this case, the elevator control device 3 ends the door opening extension process during boarding at the time when the dummy signal is received.

[0190] In addition, when the robot H boards the car G, a situation may occur where some trouble (such as a failure in the power system or insufficient battery power) occurs and the robot H cannot complete boarding the car G. Therefore, when a predetermined time has elapsed without the elevator control device 3 being able to receive the boarding completion signal Sx (unable to determine "received (Yes)" in step S810A or S810B), the landing call Rh may be deleted, and in the process of FIG. 7, step S404 may be shifted to, and in the process of FIG. 9, it may be shifted to S441.

[0191] <Door opening extension process during alighting> FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the door opening extension process during alighting executed in this embodiment.

[0192] According to the boarding / alighting command process (Figs. 11 to 13) performed by the above-described robot management device 4, when the elevator control device 3 is executing the above-described response process and the response target at that time is the car call Vh for the robot H, in the case where the door opening extension process at the time of alighting for the robot H (here, this robot H will be referred to as the "target robot Hk") is being executed (the door opening extension process at the time of alighting in the second response process (see Fig. 8) or the third response process (see Fig. 10)), the elevator control device 3 receives the door opening extension signal Sz and the alighting completion signal Sy from the robot management device 4 together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk.

[0193] Therefore, in the door opening extension process at the time of alighting, the elevator control device 3 first determines whether it has received the door opening extension signal Sz for the target robot Hk from the robot management device 4 (step S901).

[0194] If the elevator control device 3 determines "received (Yes)" in step S901, it can determine, based on this determination, that the alighting of the target robot Hk is executed, and furthermore, it can recognize that the alighting completion signal Sy will be transmitted from the robot management device 4 when the alighting is completed.

[0195] Therefore, the elevator control device 3 starts the door opening extension of the car G at the arrival floor Fg at that time (step S902), and then determines whether it has received the alighting completion signal Sy from the robot management device 4 (step S910A). Also, the elevator control device 3 repeatedly executes step S910A until it can determine "received (Yes)" in step S910A. And when the elevator control device 3 can determine "received (Yes)" in step S910A, it can determine, based on this determination, that the alighting of the target robot Hk is completed, and thus ends the door opening extension process at the time of alighting.

[0196] On the other hand, the robot management device 4 may transmit the alighting completion signal Sy as a dummy signal without instructing the target robot Hk to alight from the car G. In this case, the elevator control device 3 will receive the alighting completion signal Sy together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk without receiving the door opening extension signal Sz.

[0197] Therefore, when the elevator control device 3 determines "not received (No)" in step S901, as a process for determining whether the alighting completion signal Sy has been transmitted as a dummy signal from the robot management device 4, it determines whether it has received the alighting completion signal Sy from the robot management device 4 (step S910B). Further, the elevator control device 3 repeatedly executes steps S901 and S910A until it can determine that the door opening extension signal Sz has been "received (Yes)" in step S901 or until it can determine that the alighting completion signal Sy has been "received (Yes)" in step S910B.

[0198] When the elevator control device 3 determines "received (Yes)" in step S910B, based on this determination, it can determine that the received alighting completion signal Sy is a dummy signal. In this case, the elevator control device 3 ends the door opening extension process at the time of alighting when it receives the dummy signal.

[0199] According to the control process of this embodiment, the robot management device 4 itself can determine whether the robot H should board or alight at the arrival floor Fg of the car G without notification from the elevator control device 3. Furthermore, it can transmit corresponding commands (door opening extension signal Sz, boarding completion signal Sx, alighting completion signal Sy, dummy signal) to the elevator control device 3.

[0200] Also, according to the above control process, when a request for allocating the normal landing call Rh is made for the target robot Hk, or after the request for allocation is actually made, if the response to the normal landing call Rh is executed as it is, in any case where a situation may occur where the user has to experience the disembarkation of the target robot Hk before getting off, (in the case where the boarding time of the user is lengthened due to the disembarkation of the target robot Hk), on the premise that the condition (4) is satisfied, the car G can be moved to the top floor Fy, so that the car G can pass through the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk with the target robot Hk boarding on it. Therefore, it becomes possible to disembark the user before the target robot Hk on the way to the top floor Fy. As a result, the user does not have to experience the disembarkation of the target robot Hk during the movement of the car G.

[0201] As a result, the lengthening of the user's boarding time can be alleviated by the control of the robot management device 4 independent of the elevator.

[0202] Also, according to the above control process, by making a request for allocating the first landing call with the top floor Fy where the moving direction Kg of the car G will surely reverse as the destination floor Fd, it is possible to avoid generating unnecessary control such as stopping the car G at an intermediate floor where no one gets on or off just to pass through the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk.

[0203] [2] Modified Example [2-1] First Modified Example The first modified example is a modified example of the above-described embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, the allocation request process and the boarding and alighting command process executed by the robot management device 4 may be appropriately modified as follows. In this modified example, the top floor Fy located in the forward direction Ks with respect to the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk is called the "first top floor Fy1", and the top floor Fy located on the opposite side of the first top floor Fy1 is called the "second top floor Fy2".

[0204] FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the allocation request process executed in the first modification example. In the allocation request process of this modification example, when the robot management device 4 determines in step S103 that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are "satisfied (Yes)", as an allocation request different from normal, and after transmitting the cancel signal Sc in step S125, as a new allocation request, the robot management device 4 makes the following two allocation requests (steps S130A and S130B).

[0205] In the first allocation request, the robot management device 4 requests the elevator control device 3 to allocate a landing call as the first landing call Rh (the first landing call) for the target robot Hk, with the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the departure floor Fc of the user used in the determination in step S103 or S124 (the departure floor Fc indicated by the landing call Rg) as the destination floor Fd (step S130A). Specifically, the robot management device 4 sets the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the departure floor Fc of the above user as the destination floor Fd, and transmits that information together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk to the elevator control device 3. Further, the robot management device 4 records the information transmitted to the elevator control device 3 (robot information Ph, departure floor Fc, destination floor Fd) in the allocation request management data Ds in a state where they are associated with each other as allocation request information (see FIG. 17).

[0206] By making such a first allocation request (a request for allocating a first landing call), after boarding the target robot Hk on the car G, the car G can be stopped at the departure floor Fc (boarding floor) of the user as the destination floor Fd indicated by the first landing call. Even if the car G stops at the destination floor Fd indicated by the first landing call, by keeping the target robot Hk on board the car G, thereafter, the car G can be moved in the forward direction Ks through the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk. Therefore, when the car G is moving in the forward direction Ks, the car G can be stopped only at the disembarkation floor of the user without stopping at the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk. Thus, it becomes possible to disembark the user before the target robot Hk. Further, by making a request for allocating the first landing call with the departure floor Fc (boarding floor) of the user as the destination floor Fd, it is possible to avoid generating useless control such as stopping the car G at a floor (including the first end floor Fy1) where no one gets on or off only to pass through the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk.

[0207] In the second allocation request, the robot management device 4 requests the elevator control device 3 to allocate a landing call as the second landing call Rh (second landing call) for the target robot Hk, with the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the second end floor Fy2 located in the reverse direction Kt with respect to the destination floor Fx as the destination floor Fd (step S130B). Specifically, the robot management device 4 transmits information with the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the second end floor Fy2 as the destination floor Fd, together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk, to the elevator control device 3. Further, the robot management device 4 records the information (robot information Ph, departure floor Fc, destination floor Fd) transmitted to the elevator control device 3 in the allocation request management data Ds in a state where they are associated with each other as allocation request information (see FIG. 17). After step S130B, the robot management device 4 terminates the allocation request process.

[0208] By making such a second allocation request (the allocation request for the second landing call), even after the car G has passed the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk, when the car G moves in the reverse direction Kt, the car G can be stopped at the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk in the reverse direction Kt. Also, by making the second landing call allocation request with the second end floor Fy2 where the car G will surely reverse as the destination floor Fd, it becomes unnecessary to generate useless control such as stopping the car G at an intermediate floor where no one gets on or off after the target robot Hk gets off at the departure floor Fc (= destination floor Fx) indicated by the landing call.

[0209] Figure 18 is a flowchart showing the boarding / alighting command process executed in the first modification example. In this modification example, when the robot management device 4 determines "match (Yes)" in step S501, it executes the same process as the alighting command process shown in FIG. 13, and when it determines "match (Yes)" in step S502, it executes the operation command process shown in FIG. 19. Thereby, the robot management device 4 makes a determination to identify what kind of stop is the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg, and performs the processes necessary for the inter-floor movement of the robot H according to the determination result.

[0210] <Operation command process> Figure 19 is a flowchart showing the operation command process executed in the first modification example. Also in the operation command process of this modification example, the robot management device 4 first identifies whether or not the car G has arrived at the departure floor Fc in response to a landing call Rh (any one of a normal landing call, a first landing call, and a second landing call) for the robot H without notification from the elevator control device 3. Regarding the allocation request that could be determined as "match (Yes)" in step S502 of FIG. 18 as the first attention request, the same processes as steps S601 and 602 of FIG. 12 are executed (steps S631 and S632).

[0211] Also in this modified example, even though it is determined as "matching (Yes)" in step S632, it is not always necessary to board the robot H on the arriving floor Fg of the car G at that time. Also here, the case where it is necessary to board the robot H on the arriving floor Fg of the car G is when the landing call Rh that is the response target at that time has been assigned to the car G in response to the first assignment request from the robot management device 4 (step S130A in FIG. 16) (the first landing call), or when it has been assigned to the car G in response to a normal assignment request (step S120 in FIG. 16). Further, the case where it is not necessary to board the robot H on the arriving floor Fg of the car G is when the landing call Rh that is the response target at that time has been assigned to the car G in response to the second assignment request from the robot management device 4 (step S130B in FIG. 16) (the second landing call).

[0212] On the other hand, in this modified example, in the second landing call, the destination floor Fx of the robot H is set as the departure floor Fc. For this reason, when the car G arrives at the departure floor Fc (= destination floor Fx) indicated by the second landing call, it becomes necessary to disembark the robot H from that car G.

[0213] Therefore, the robot management device 4 determines whether the departure floor Fc transmitted in the first arrival request matches the boarding floor Ft of the robot H targeted in that first arrival request, in order to determine whether the robot H should be boarded or disembarked on the arriving floor Fg of the car G at that time (step S633). Specifically, the robot management device 4 refers to the departure floor Fc and the robot information Ph corresponding to the first arrival request in the assignment request management data Ds (see FIG. 17), and then determines whether the departure floor Fc matches the boarding floor Ft recorded in association with the robot information Ph in the robot management data Dr (see FIG. 3(A)).

[0214] When the robot management device 4 determines "Match (Yes)" in step S633, based on this determination, it can be determined that the car G has arrived at the boarding floor Ft of the robot H in response to a normal landing call or a first landing call with the boarding floor Ft of the robot H as the departure floor Fc. Therefore, the robot management device 4 can determine that the robot H should board the arrived car G.

[0215] In this case, the robot management device 4 executes the same processing as steps S611 to S613 in FIG. 12 (steps S641 to S643). Then, when the robot management device 4 determines "Completed (Yes)" in step S643, together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk, it transmits a boarding completion signal Sx for notifying the boarding completion of the target robot Hk to the elevator control device 3 (step S650). After that, the robot management device 4 terminates the operation command process.

[0216] On the other hand, when the robot management device 4 determines "Do not match (No)" in step S633, based on this determination, it can be determined that the car G has arrived at the destination floor Fx of the robot H in response to a second landing call with the destination floor Fx of the robot H as the departure floor Fc. Therefore, the robot management device 4 can determine that the robot H should get off the arrived car G.

[0217] In this case, the robot management device 4 transmits a door opening extension signal Sz for requesting a door opening extension necessary for the robot H to get off to the elevator control device 3 (step S661). Also, the robot management device 4 extracts the robot information Ph corresponding to the first arrival request from the allocation request management data Ds (see FIG. 17) to make the elevator control device 3 recognize which robot H requires the door opening extension, and transmits the robot information Ph together with the door opening extension signal Sz to the elevator control device 3.

[0218] As a result, the elevator control device 3 can be made to execute the door-opening extension necessary for the robot H to get off the car G. On the other hand, at this time, when the elevator control device 3 responds to the landing call Rh for the robot H specified by the robot information Ph (here, this robot H will be referred to as the "target robot Hk"), when performing the door-opening extension process at the time of boarding shown in FIG. 14, it will receive the door-opening extension signal Sz from the robot management device 4. For this reason, when the elevator control device 3 receives the door-opening extension signal Sz from the robot management device 4, even though the target robot Hk gets off the car, it will recognize that when the boarding completion signal Sx is transmitted from the robot management device 4 when the boarding of the target robot Hk is completed upon receiving this.

[0219] Therefore, the robot management device 4 executes the following processing.

[0220] First, the robot management device 4 commands the target robot Hk to get off the car G in order to make the target robot Hk get off the car G (step S662). As a result, the target robot Hk starts to get off the car G in response to the command from the robot management device 4, and when the getting-off is completed, it notifies the robot management device 4 of the completion of getting off.

[0221] After step S662, the robot management device 4 determines whether or not the target robot Hk has completed getting off the car G by determining whether or not it has received a notification of the completion of getting off from the target robot Hk (step S663). Also, the robot management device 4 repeatedly executes step S663 until it can be determined as "completed (Yes)" in step S663.

[0222] Then, when the robot management device 4 determines "completed (Yes)" in step S663, it transmits the boarding completion signal Sx as a dummy signal to the elevator control device 3 together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk (step S670). As a result, when the elevator control device 3 responds to the landing call Rh for the target robot Hk and is performing the door opening extension process during boarding shown in FIG. 14, it will receive the boarding completion signal Sx (dummy signal) from the robot management device 4.

[0223] According to such processing, it becomes possible to disembark the target robot Hk from the car G without causing the control of the elevator in the elevator control device 3 to stop.

[0224] After step S670, the robot management device 4 updates the boarding floor Ft recorded in the robot management data Dr for the target robot Hk to the disembarkation floor of the target robot Hk (the departure floor Fc (= destination floor Fx) corresponding to the first focus request in the allocation request management data Ds) (step S671). Also, the robot management device 4 deletes the destination floor Fx recorded as the movement destination of the target robot Hk in the robot management data Dr. After that, the robot management device 4 ends the operation command process.

[0225] In addition, in step S633 of FIG. 19, the robot management device 4 may refer to the departure floor Fc and the robot information Ph corresponding to the first focus request in the allocation request management data Ds (see FIG. 17), and then determine whether the departure floor Fc matches either the boarding floor Ft or the destination floor Fx recorded in association with the robot information Ph in the robot management data Dr (see FIG. 3(A)). Then, when the robot management device 4 determines that it matches the "boarding floor Ft", it may execute the process for boarding the car G (steps S641 to S650 in FIG. 19), and when it determines that it matches the "destination floor Fx", it may execute the process for disembarking from the car G (steps S661 to S671 in FIG. 19).

[0226] <Disembarkation Command Process> In the car descent command process, the process shown in FIG. 13 is executed as it is. Also in this modified example, based only on the determination in step S702 of FIG. 13, the robot management device 4 cannot determine whether it is necessary to make the robot H get off at the arrival floor Fg of the car G at that time. In this modified example, the case where it is necessary to make the robot H get off at the arrival floor Fg of the car G means that the car call Vh that is the response target at that time is registered to the car G through the landing call Rh corresponding to a normal allocation request (step S120 in FIG. 16). On the other hand, the case where it is not necessary to make the robot H get off at the arrival floor Fg of the car G means that the car call Vh that is the response target at that time is the landing call Rh (the first landing call or the second landing call) corresponding to the first allocation request (step S130A in FIG. 16) or the second allocation request (step S130B in FIG. 16) from the robot management device 4 and is registered to the car G.

[0227] Here, when the car G arrives at the destination floor Fd indicated by the car call Vh corresponding to the first landing call, the destination floor Fd is a floor on the way until the car G makes a round trip to the destination floor Fx of the robot H (in this embodiment, the departure floor Fc of the user used for the determination in step S103 or S124 in FIG. 16), and the car G only arrives at that intermediate floor (in other words, the floor where the robot H does not need to get off). Therefore, there is no need to make the robot H execute the action of getting off from the car G to the landing.

[0228] Also, when responding to the second landing call, since the robot H will get off at the departure floor Fc (= destination floor Fx) indicated by the landing call, the car G will arrive at the destination floor Fd indicated by the car call Vh corresponding to the second landing call with the robot H not on board. Also in this case, there is no need to make the robot H execute the action of getting off from the car G to the landing.

[0229] Therefore, also in this modified example, the robot management device 4 determines whether the destination floor Fd transmitted in the second target request matches the destination floor Fx of the robot H targeted in the second target request in order to determine whether the robot H should get off at the arrival floor Fg of the car G at that time (step S703).

[0230] Also by the control process of such a modified example, the robot management device 4 itself can determine whether the robot H should board or get off at the arrival floor Fg of the car G without notification from the elevator control device 3, and furthermore, it can transmit a corresponding command (door opening extension signal Sz, boarding completion signal Sx, getting off completion signal Sy, dummy signal) to the elevator control device 3.

[0231] Also, according to the above control process, when a request for assigning a normal landing call Rh to the target robot Hk is made, or after actually making such an assignment request, if a response to the normal landing call Rh is executed as it is, in any situation where the user must experience boarding the target robot Hk before getting off (such as a situation where the user's boarding time becomes longer due to boarding the target robot Hk), by making a request for assigning the above-described first landing call (a landing call with the user's departure floor Fc as the destination floor Fd), after boarding the target robot Hk on the car G, the car G can be stopped at the user's departure floor Fc (boarding floor) as the destination floor Fd indicated by the first landing call. Also, even if the car G stops at the destination floor Fd indicated by the first landing call, the target robot Hk can be left on the car G. Therefore, thereafter, it becomes possible to stop the car G only at the user's getting-off floor without stopping it at the target robot Hk's destination floor Fx. In other words, when the car G is moving in the forward direction Ks, it becomes possible to stop the car G only at the user's getting-off floor without stopping it at the target robot Hk's destination floor Fx. Thus, it becomes possible to let the user get off before the target robot Hk. As a result, the user does not have to experience the target robot Hk getting off during the movement in the car G.

[0232] As a result, also in this modification example, it becomes possible to alleviate the extension of the user's boarding time by the control of the robot management device 4 autonomous from the elevator.

[0233] Further, according to the control process of this modified example, by making a request for allocation of the first landing call with the departure floor Fc (boarding floor) of the user as the destination floor Fd, it becomes unnecessary to generate useless control such as stopping the car G at a floor where no one gets on or off just to let the target robot Hk pass through the target floor Fx. Further, by making a request for allocation of the second landing call with the second end floor Fy2, where the car G will surely reverse, as the destination floor Fd, it becomes unnecessary to generate useless control such as stopping the car G at an intermediate floor where no one gets on or off after the target robot Hk gets off at the departure floor Fc (= target floor Fx) indicated by that landing call.

[0234] In this modified example, in the second allocation request (step S130B in FIG. 16) in the allocation request process, if no useless control such as stopping the car G at a floor where no one gets on or off is generated, as the allocation request for the second landing call, an allocation request for a landing call with a floor located in the reverse direction Kt with respect to the target floor Fx of the target robot Hk (not limited to the second end floor Fy2) as the destination floor Fd may be made to the elevator control device 3.

[0235] [2-2] Second Modified Example The second modified example is a further modified example of the first modified example described above. In the first modified example described above, the allocation request process and the boarding / alighting command process executed by the robot management device 4, and the allocation process and the response process executed by the elevator control device 3 may be appropriately modified to the following processes.

[0236] FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the allocation request process executed in the second modified example. In the allocation request process of this modified example, when the robot management device 4 determines in step S103 that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are "satisfied (Yes)", as an allocation request different from the normal one, and after transmitting the cancel signal Sc in step S125, as a new allocation request, the following two allocation requests are made (steps S140A and S140B).

[0237] In the first allocation request, similar to step S130A in FIG. 16, the robot management device 4 requests the elevator control device 3 to allocate a landing call for the target robot Hk as the first landing call Rh (the first landing call), with the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the departure floor Fc (the departure floor Fc indicated by the landing call Rg) used in the determination in step S103 or S124 as the destination floor Fd (step S140A). Then, the robot management device 4 records the information (robot information Ph, departure floor Fc, destination floor Fd) transmitted to the elevator control device 3 in the allocation request management data Ds in a state where they are associated with each other as the information of the allocation request (see FIG. 21(A)).

[0238] In the second allocation request, the robot management device 4 requests the elevator control device 3 to allocate a landing call for the target robot Hk as the second landing call Rh (the second landing call), with the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the reverse direction Kt of the forward direction Ks (the direction from the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk to the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk) as the destination direction Kc from the departure floor Fc (step S140B). Specifically, the robot management device 4 transmits the information with the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the reverse direction Kt as the destination direction Kc, together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk, to the elevator control device 3. Also, the robot management device 4 records the information (robot information Ph, departure floor Fc, destination direction Kc) transmitted to the elevator control device 3 in the allocation request management data Ds in a state where they are associated with each other as the information of the allocation request (see FIG. 21(A)). After step S140B, the robot management device 4 ends the allocation request process.

[0239] FIG. 21(A) is a conceptual diagram illustrating the allocation request management data Ds used in the second modification example. In the allocation request management data Ds of this modification example, each time an allocation request for each robot H is made to the elevator control device 3, the robot information Ph of the robot H, the information of the departure floor Fc, the destination floor Fd, and the destination direction Kc are recorded in a state where they are associated with each other.

[0240] In the example of Fig. 21(A), "upward" and "downward" are associated as information indicating the destination direction Kc. When an allocation request for each robot H is made in step S140B, the departure floor Fc transmitted in that step S140B is recorded in the allocation request management data Ds, and the direction transmitted as the destination direction Kc in step S140B among the two up and down directions is set to "ON", while the other direction is set to "OFF". Furthermore, it is shown that the destination floor Fd is set to "Null". And the information of each allocation request where the destination floor Fd is thus "Null" is deleted from the allocation request management data Ds when the car G arrives at the departure floor Fc associated with that allocation request (specifically, after the boarding completion signal Sx is transmitted to the elevator control device 3).

[0241] Also, in the example of Fig. 21(A), when an allocation request for each robot H is made in steps S120 or S140A, the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd transmitted in these steps are recorded in the allocation request management data Ds, while it is shown that both "upward" and "downward" indicating the destination direction Kc are set to "OFF". And the information of each allocation request where information other than "Null" (the stop floor of the car G) is recorded in the destination floor Fd is deleted from the allocation request management data Ds when the car G arrives at the destination floor Fd associated with that allocation request (specifically, after the alighting completion signal Sy is transmitted to the elevator control device 3).

[0242] In addition, when two allocation requests (the first landing call allocation request and the second landing call allocation request) are made for one target robot Hk, the information recorded in the allocation request management data Ds is not limited to being deleted each time the car G arrives at the departure floor Fc or the destination floor Fd for each allocation request, but may be collectively deleted from the allocation request management data Ds when the car G arrives at the target floor Fx of the target robot Hk.

[0243] By making a second allocation request (an allocation request for a landing call) like this modification example, similar to the first modification example, even after the car G has passed the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk, when the car G moves in the reverse direction Kt, the car G can be stopped at the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk in the reverse direction Kt. Also, by making the allocation request for the second landing call using the destination direction Kc instead of the destination floor Fd, it becomes unnecessary to generate wasteful control such as stopping the car G at a floor where no one gets on or off after the target robot Hk gets off at the departure floor Fc (= destination floor Fx) indicated by the landing call.

[0244] And in this modification example, when the robot management device 4 specifies the conveyance direction Kh of the robot H in step S631 of the operation command process (see FIG. 19), if the departure floor Fc and the destination direction Kc (destination floor Fd = "Null") are associated in the allocation request management data Ds as the information of the first focus request, the destination direction Kc will be specified as the conveyance direction Kh of the robot H as it is.

[0245] FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the allocation process executed in the second modification example. Also in this modification example, this allocation process is started when there is an allocation request for a landing call from the destination direction button 1 or the robot management device 4 to the elevator control device 3. Also, even when the allocation requests for the first landing call and the second landing call for the robot H (steps S140A and S140B in FIG. 20) are made simultaneously, the allocation process in FIG. 22 is executed individually for them.

[0246] In this modification example, the information (received information Pr2) received by the elevator control device 3 every time there is an allocation request becomes a set of information including the departure floor Fc, the destination direction Kc, and the robot information Ph when the allocation request is a request from the robot management device 4 (allocation request for the landing call Rh for the robot H), or a set of information including the departure floor Fc, the destination floor Fd, and the robot information Ph.

[0247] Therefore, when the elevator control device 3 determines in step S200 that "robot information Ph" is included, it further determines which set of the above two sets of information was received as an allocation request for the robot H. Specifically, it determines whether the destination direction Kc or the destination floor Fd is included in the received information Pr2 (step S210).

[0248] Then, when the elevator control device 3 determines in step S210 that the "destination direction Kc" is included, it uses the departure floor Fc and the destination direction Kc in the received information Pr2 as one landing call Rh and executes the allocation to the car G (allocation for the robot H. Step S211. Refer to FIG. 21(B)). After that, the elevator control device 3 ends the allocation process.

[0249] On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 determines in step S210 that the "destination floor Fd" is included, it uses the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd in the received information Pr2 as one landing call Rh and executes the allocation to the car G (allocation for the robot H. Step S212. Refer to FIG. 21(B)). After that, the elevator control device 3 ends the allocation process.

[0250] FIG. 21(B) is a conceptual diagram illustrating landing call management data Dq1H for robot H used in the second modification example. In the landing call management data Dq1H of this modification example, every time the assignment of the landing call Rh for each robot H is made to the car G, the robot information Ph of that robot H, the information on the departure floor Fc, the destination floor Fd, and the destination direction Kc are recorded in a state where they are associated with each other. In the example of FIG. 21(B), the information indicating the "upward direction" and the "downward direction" is associated as the information indicating the destination direction Kc. When the assignment of the landing call Rh for each robot H is made in step S211, the departure floor Fc indicated by that landing call Rh is recorded in the landing call management data Dq1H, and the direction indicated as the destination direction Kc by that landing call Rh out of the two up and down directions is set to "ON", while the other direction is set to "OFF". Further, the case where the destination floor Fd is set to "Null" is shown. Also, in the example of FIG. 21(B), when the assignment of the landing call Rh for each robot H is made in step S212, the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd indicated by that landing call Rh are recorded in the landing call management data Dq1H, while the case where both the "upward direction" and the "downward direction" indicating the destination direction Kc are set to "OFF" is shown. And each landing call Rh is deleted by having the information in the landing call management data Dq1H corresponding to that landing call Rh erased when it has finished its role.

[0251] FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing the first response process executed in the second modification example. In this modification example, when the response target is the landing call Rh of the robot H, the landing call Rh indicates either the destination direction Kc or the destination floor Fd. Therefore, in the first response process of this modification example, when the elevator control device 3 determines in step S300 that the landing call Rh of the robot H is "included (Yes)" in the response target, the elevator control device 3 determines which of the destination direction Kc and the destination floor Fd the landing call Rh indicates (step S460). Specifically, the elevator control device 3 refers to the landing call management data Dq1H (FIG. 21(B)) to determine whether either "upward" or "downward" indicating the destination direction Kc is "ON" as the information of the landing call Rh that is the response target, or whether information other than "Null" (the stop floor of the car G) is recorded in the destination floor Fd.

[0252] When the elevator control device 3 determines in step S460 that it indicates the "destination direction Kc", the elevator control device 3 transmits a command to the car G to stop the car G in the same direction as the destination direction Kc indicated by the landing call Rh at the departure floor Fc (the departure floor Fc of the robot H) indicated by the landing call Rh (step S461).

[0253] After step S461, the elevator control device 3 determines whether the car G has arrived at the departure floor Fc indicated by the landing call Rh (step S462). Also, the elevator control device 3 repeatedly executes step S462 until it can be determined in step S462 that "arrived (Yes)".

[0254] When the elevator control device 3 determines "arrived (Yes)" in step S462, it deletes the landing call Rh (the second landing call in this modified example) that has completed its role upon arrival (step S463). At this time, the destination floor Fd is not included in the landing call Rh (specifically, the destination floor Fd corresponding to the landing call Rh is "Null" in the landing call management data Dq1H (see Fig. 21(B))), and since the destination floor Fd is not newly specified from the robot management device 4 either, the elevator control device 3 does not register the car call Vh in response to the landing call Rh (here, the second landing call) at this time.

[0255] In this way, by the robot management device 4 making a request to the elevator control device 3 to allocate a landing call Rh (here, the second landing call) for the target robot Hk, with the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the conveyance direction Kh (here, the reverse direction Kt) of the target robot Hk as the destination direction Kc, in the response process performed by the elevator control device 3, it is possible to stop the car G at the departure floor Fc of the target robot Hk in the conveyance direction Kh of the target robot Hk without generating the car call Vh corresponding to the landing call Rh.

[0256] After step S463, the elevator control device 3 executes the door opening extension process during boarding shown in Fig. 14 to cause the car G to perform the door opening extension according to the command transmitted from the robot management device 4 at that time. Then, the elevator control device 3 proceeds to step S404.

[0257] When the elevator control device 3 determines in step S460 that it indicates the "destination floor Fd", it executes steps S401 to S403 (including the door opening extension process during boarding shown in Fig. 14) described in the first response process (see Fig. 7) of the above embodiment, and then proceeds to step S404.

[0258] FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing a part of process X in the third response process executed in the second modification example. In the third response process of this modification example, when the elevator control device 3 determines at step S320 (see FIG. 9) that the landing call Rh of the robot H is "included (Yes)" in the response target, the same process as step S460 described in the first response process is executed (step S470).

[0259] When the elevator control device 3 determines at step S470 that it indicates the "destination direction Kc", the same processes as steps S461 to S463 described in the first response process of this modification example are executed (steps S471 to S473). Then, the elevator control device 3 executes the door opening extension process at the time of boarding shown in FIG. 14, and then shifts to step S441 (see FIG. 9).

[0260] When the elevator control device 3 determines at step S470 that it indicates the "destination floor Fd", steps S421 to S424 and S430 (including the door opening extension process shown in FIGS. 14 and 15) described in the third response process (see FIG. 10) of the above embodiment are executed. Thereafter, the elevator control device 3 shifts to step S441 (see FIG. 9).

[0261] According to such first response process and third response process, when responding to the second landing call (when it is determined at step S460 or S470 that it indicates the "destination direction Kc"), the target robot Hk can be made to get off the car G without generating a car call Vh. Therefore, it is possible to avoid generating unnecessary control such as stopping the car G at an intermediate floor where no one gets on or off only to get the target robot Hk off the car G going in the reverse direction Kt.

[0262] Even with the control process of this modified example, if a request for assigning the normal landing call Rh is made for the target robot Hk, or if, after actually making such an assignment request, a response to the normal landing call Rh is executed as is, a situation may occur where the user has to experience the disembarkation of the target robot Hk before getting off. In any case (such as when the boarding time of the user becomes longer due to the disembarkation of the target robot Hk), the car G can be made to pass through the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk while the target robot Hk is still on board. Therefore, it becomes possible to disembark the user before the target robot Hk. As a result, the user does not have to experience the disembarkation of the target robot Hk during the movement in the car G.

[0263] As a result, also in this modified example, the elongation of the user's boarding time can be mitigated by the control of the robot management device 4 autonomous from the elevator.

[0264] Also, according to the control process of this modified example, by making a request for assigning the second landing call using the destination direction Kc instead of the destination floor Fd, it becomes unnecessary to generate useless control such as stopping the car G at a floor where no one gets on or off after the disembarkation of the target robot Hk at the departure floor Fc (= destination floor Fx) indicated by the landing call.

[0265] Note that the configuration of making a request for assigning the second landing call (step S140B in FIG. 20) using the destination direction Kc instead of the destination floor Fd, and the configurations of the boarding / alighting command process, assignment process, and response process that are appropriately modified accordingly can also be applied to the above-described embodiment. Specifically, it is as follows in the third modified example.

[0266] [2-3] Third Modified Example The third modified example is a further modified example of the second modified example described above. In the second modified example described above, the assignment request process executed by the robot management device 4 may be appropriately modified as follows.

[0267] FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing the allocation request process executed in the third modification. In the allocation request process of this modification, when the robot management device 4 determines in step S103 that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are "satisfied (Yes)", as an allocation request different from normal, and after transmitting the cancel signal Sc in step S125, as a new allocation request, the robot management device 4 makes the following two allocation requests (steps S150A and S150B).

[0268] In the first allocation request, similar to step S110A in FIG. 4, the robot management device 4 requests the elevator control device 3 to allocate a landing call as the first landing call Rh (the first landing call) for the target robot Hk, with the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the end floor Fy located in the forward direction Ks with respect to the boarding floor Ft as the destination floor Fd (step S150A). Then, the robot management device 4 records the information (robot information Ph, departure floor Fc, destination floor Fd) transmitted to the elevator control device 3 in the allocation request management data Ds in a state where they are associated with each other as the information of the allocation request.

[0269] In the second allocation request, similar to step S140B in FIG. 20, the robot management device 4 requests the elevator control device 3 to allocate a landing call as the second landing call Rh (the second landing call) for the target robot Hk, with the target floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the reverse direction Kt to the forward direction Ks as the destination direction Kc from the departure floor Fc (step S150B). Then, the robot management device 4 records the information (robot information Ph, departure floor Fc, destination direction Kc) transmitted to the elevator control device 3 in the allocation request management data Ds in a state where they are associated with each other as the information of the allocation request. After step S150B, the robot management device 4 ends the allocation request process.

[0270] Even with the control process of this present modification example, it becomes possible to mitigate the lengthening of the user's boarding time under the control of the robot management device 4 autonomous from the elevator. Further, by making a request for assignment of the second landing call using the destination direction Kc instead of the destination floor Fd, it becomes unnecessary to generate useless control such as stopping the car G at a floor where no one gets on or off after the target robot Hk gets off at the departure floor Fc (= target floor Fx) indicated by that landing call.

[0271] [2-4] Fourth modification example In any of the above-described embodiments and modification examples, when the robot management device 4 determines in step S124 that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are "satisfied (Yes)", it may make a request for assignment of the first landing call and a request for assignment of the second landing call before transmitting the cancel signal Sc, and then transmit the cancel signal Sc (step S125).

[0272] [2-5] Fifth modification example In any of the above-described embodiments and modification examples, the request for assignment of the landing call Rg for the user may be appropriately changed to be requested from the destination floor registration device installed on each floor when the user registers the destination floor Fd with the destination floor registration device. In this case, the destination floor registration device transmits the destination floor Fd registered by the user and its own device information Pd to the elevator control device 3 as a request for assignment of the landing call Rg for the user.

[0273] When the elevator control device 3 receives a request for assignment from the destination floor registration device, it determines in step S200 of FIG. 5 that it is the "device information Pd", and then in step S201, after setting the installation floor of the destination floor registration device (the destination floor registration device specified by the received device information Pd; see FIG. 2(A)) as the departure floor Fc, it makes an assignment to the car G with the departure floor Fc and the received destination floor Fd (the destination floor Fd registered by the user with the destination floor registration device) as one landing call Rg.

[0274] In such a configuration, the condition (1) determined in step S103 or S124 will be changed to the condition that the forward direction Ks from the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk to the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk is the same as the direction from the departure floor Fc of the user to the destination floor Fd of the user. Also, the condition (3) determined in step S103 or S124 will be changed to the condition that the departure floor Fc of the user and the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk are in this order between the boarding floor Ft of the target robot Hk and the destination floor Fd of the user.

[0275] Also, when responding to the landing call Rg for the user in the first response process of FIG. 7, instead of executing steps S304 and S305, the elevator control device 3 registers the destination floor Fd (the destination floor Fd of the user) indicated by the landing call Rg as the car call Vg for the user in the car G in step S303. Then, the elevator control device 3 deletes the landing call Rg that has finished its role, and then ends the first response process. Further, when responding to the landing call Rg for the user in the third response process of FIG. 9, the elevator control device 3 also performs the same process instead of executing steps S324 and S325.

[0276] [2-6] Sixth Modification Example In any of the above-described embodiments and modification examples, each robot H may be appropriately modified to execute the control processes (including the allocation request process and the boarding / alighting command process) performed by the robot management device 4 instead of the robot management device 4. In this case, each robot H communicates with the elevator control device 3 without going through the robot management device 4. As a result, each robot H can autonomously use the elevator car G.

[0277] The descriptions of the above embodiments and modification examples should be considered illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is indicated not by the above embodiments or modification examples, but by the claims. Further, the scope of the present invention is intended to include all changes within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims.

[0278] Also, from the above-described embodiments and modifications, as the subject of the invention, not limited to the robot management device 4 and the robot H, the control processes and programs executed by the robot management device 4 and the robot H may be individually extracted, or a part thereof may be partially extracted. Further, a part or all of the elevator including the robot management device 4 and the robot H may be extracted as the subject of the invention.

Explanation of Signs

[0279] 1 Destination floor button 2 Two floors ahead button 3 Elevator control device 4 Robot management device G Car H Robot 31, 41 Storage unit 32, 42 Control unit Dp Device management data Dr Robot management data Ds Assignment request management data Fc Departure floor Fd Destination floor Fg Arrival floor Fs Installation floor Ft Boarding floor Fx Destination floor Fy Terminal floor Hk Target robot Kc Destination direction Kg Moving direction Kh Conveying direction Ks Forward direction Kt Reverse direction Pd Device information Pe Elevator information Ph Robot information Qt Current position Rg, Rh Landing call Sc Cancel signal Sx Boarding completion signal Sy Alighting completion signal Sz Door opening extension signal Vg, Vh Car call Dq1G and Dq1H Landing Call Management Data Dq2G and Dq2H Car Call Management Data Fy1 First Terminal Floor Fy2 Second Terminal Floor Kg1 Departure Direction Kg2 Arrival Direction Pr1 and Pr2 Received Information

Claims

1. An apparatus for managing a robot used in a building where an elevator is installed. When moving the robot from the boarding floor to the destination floor using the elevator car, in the case of requesting the allocation of a landing call for the robot, if a normal landing call allocation request is made to the elevator control device with the boarding floor and destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and the destination floor respectively, and in a subsequent predetermined period, if the elevator control device is allocating a landing call for a user, regarding the boarding floor and destination floor of the robot and the departure floor and destination direction indicated by the landing call for the user, (1)Whether the forward direction from the boarding floor of the robot to the destination floor of the robot is the same as the destination direction of the user, (2)Whether the elevator car arrives at the boarding floor of the robot before arriving at the departure floor of the user, (3)Whether the departure floor of the user is between the boarding floor of the robot and the destination floor of the robot, (4)Whether the destination floor of the robot is a floor different from the end floor located in the forward direction with respect to the boarding floor of the robot, are each judged as to whether they are satisfied, and when it is judged that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within the predetermined period, a cancel signal is sent to the elevator control device, and the control device cancels the allocation executed by the normal landing call allocation request for the robot, A robot management device that does not send the cancel signal to the elevator control device when it is not judged that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within the predetermined period.

2. Taking the period from when the normal landing call allocation request is made to the elevator control device until the stop of the elevator car at the departure floor indicated by the normal landing call is determined as the predetermined period, and judging in that predetermined period whether each of the conditions (1) to (4) is satisfied. The robot management device according to Claim 1.

3. When it is judged that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within the predetermined period, after or before sending the cancel signal to the elevator control device, newly, ​ As a request for assignment of the first landing call for the robot, a request for assignment of a landing call with the boarding floor of the robot as the departure floor and the end floor located in the forward direction with respect to the boarding floor as the destination floor, As a request for assignment of the second landing call for the robot, a request for assignment of a landing call with the end floor as the departure floor and the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor, The robot management device according to claim 1 or 2, which is performed on the control device of the elevator.

4. The robot management device according to claim 3, wherein the request for assignment of a landing call for the robot is made by transmitting the departure floor and the destination floor required for the assignment of the landing call to the control device of the elevator, When the car arrives at the stop floor, Determination (A1) is made as to whether or not the arrival floor, which is the stop floor at which the car has arrived at that time, coincides with any of the departure floors transmitted in the assignment request, If it is determined in the determination (A1) that it coincides with any of the departure floors, the matching assignment request is set as the first attention request, and using the departure floor and the destination floor transmitted in the first attention request, the direction from the departure floor to the destination floor is set as the conveyance direction of the robot, and then determination (B1) is made as to whether or not the departure direction of the car from the arrival floor coincides with the conveyance direction, If it is determined in the determination (B1) that it coincides with the conveyance direction of the robot, determination (C1) is made as to whether or not the departure floor transmitted in the first attention request coincides with the boarding floor of the robot, If it is determined in the determination (C1) that it coincides with the boarding floor of the robot, a door opening extension signal is transmitted to the control device of the elevator, and the robot is instructed to board the car. Then, when the boarding of the robot is completed, a boarding completion signal is transmitted to the control device of the elevator, If it is determined in the determination (C1) that it does not coincide with the boarding floor of the robot, the door opening extension signal is not transmitted to the control device of the elevator, and the robot is not instructed to board the car, and the boarding completion signal is transmitted to the control device of the elevator as a dummy signal. A robot management device.

5. If it is determined that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within the predetermined period, after or before transmitting the cancel signal to the control device of the elevator, newly, As a request for assignment of the first landing call for the robot, a request for assignment of a landing call with the boarding floor of the robot as the departure floor and the departure floor of the user as the destination floor, and As a request for assignment of the second landing call for the robot, a request for assignment of a landing call with the destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and the floor located in the direction opposite to the forward direction with respect to the destination floor as the destination floor, and The robot management device according to claim 1, which is performed on the control device of the elevator.

6. When it is determined that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within the predetermined period, after or before transmitting the cancel signal to the control device of the elevator, newly, As a request for assignment of the first landing call for the robot, a request for assignment of a landing call with the boarding floor of the robot as the departure floor and the end floor located in the forward direction with respect to the boarding floor as the destination floor, and As a request for assignment of the second landing call for the robot, a request for assignment of a landing call with the destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and the direction opposite to the forward direction as the destination direction from the departure floor, and The robot management device according to claim 1, which is performed on the control device of the elevator.

7. When it is determined that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within the predetermined period, after or before transmitting the cancel signal to the control device of the elevator, newly, As a request for assignment of the first landing call for the robot, a request for assignment of a landing call with the boarding floor of the robot as the departure floor and the departure floor of the user as the destination floor, and As a request for assignment of the second landing call for the robot, a request for assignment of a landing call with the destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and the direction opposite to the forward direction as the destination direction from the departure floor, and The robot management device according to claim 1, which is performed on the control device of the elevator.

8. The robot management device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the request for assignment of the landing call for the robot is made by transmitting the departure floor and the destination floor or the destination direction necessary for the assignment of the landing call to the control device of the elevator, and When the car arrives at the stop floor At that time, a determination (A1) is made as to whether or not the arrival floor, which is the stop floor at which the car has arrived, matches any of the departure floors transmitted in the assignment request. When it is determined in the determination (A1) that there is a match with any of the starting floors, the matching allocation request is set as the first target request, and using the starting floor and the destination floor, or the destination direction, transmitted in the first target request, the direction from the starting floor to the destination floor or the destination direction is set as the conveyance direction of the robot. Then, a determination (B1) is made as to whether the departure direction of the car from the arrival floor matches the conveyance direction. When it is determined in the determination (B1) that the direction matches the conveyance direction of the robot, a determination (C1) is made as to whether the starting floor transmitted in the first target request matches the boarding floor of the robot. When it is determined in the determination (C1) that the floor matches the boarding floor of the robot, a door-opening extension signal is transmitted to the elevator control device, and the robot is instructed to board the car. Then, when the boarding of the robot is completed, a boarding completion signal is transmitted to the elevator control device. When it is determined in the determination (C1) that the floor does not match the boarding floor of the robot, a door-opening extension signal is transmitted to the elevator control device, and the robot is instructed to get off the car. Then, when the getting-off of the robot is completed, the boarding completion signal is transmitted as a dummy signal to the elevator control device. A robot management device.

9. When the car arrives at the stop floor, further, a determination (A2) is made as to whether the arrival floor, which is the stop floor where the car has arrived at that time, matches any of the destination floors transmitted in the allocation request. When it is determined in the determination (A2) that there is a match with any of the destination floors, the matching allocation request is set as the second target request, and using the starting floor and the destination floor transmitted in the second target request, the direction from the starting floor to the destination floor is set as the conveyance direction of the robot. Then, a determination (B2) is made as to whether the arrival direction of the car at the arrival floor matches the conveyance direction. When it is determined in the determination (B2) that the direction matches the conveyance direction of the robot, a determination (C2) is made as to whether the destination floor transmitted in the second target request matches the destination floor of the robot. When it is determined in the said determination (C2) that it matches the target floor of the said robot, a door-opening extension signal is transmitted to the control device of the said elevator, and the robot is commanded to get off from the said car. Then, when the robot has completed getting off, a getting-off completion signal is transmitted to the control device of the said elevator. When it is determined in the said determination (C2) that it does not match the target floor of the said robot, without transmitting the said door-opening extension signal to the control device of the said elevator, and without commanding the robot to get off from the said car, the getting-off completion signal is transmitted as a dummy signal to the control device of the said elevator. The robot management device according to claim 8.

10. A robot used in a building where an elevator is installed. When itself moves from the boarding floor to the target floor using the car of the said elevator, when making a request for allocation of a landing call for itself to the control device of the said elevator with its boarding floor and target floor as the departure floor and the destination floor respectively for a normal landing call allocation request, in the subsequent predetermined period, when the control device of the said elevator allocates a landing call for a user, regarding its boarding floor and target floor, and the departure floor and the destination direction indicated by the landing call for the said user, (1) The condition that the forward direction from its boarding floor to the target floor is the same direction as the destination direction of the said user. (2) The condition that the said car arrives at its boarding floor before arriving at the departure floor of the said user. (3) The condition that the departure floor of the said user is between its departure floor and the target floor. (4) The condition that its target floor is a floor different from the end floor located in the said forward direction with respect to the boarding floor. It is determined whether each of these conditions is satisfied. When it is determined that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within the said predetermined period, by transmitting a cancel signal to the control device of the said elevator, the control device cancels the allocation executed in the said normal landing call allocation request for the said robot. When it is not determined that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within the said predetermined period, the cancel signal is not transmitted to the control device of the said elevator. A robot.

11. A program that causes a robot used in a building where an elevator is installed or a robot management device that manages the robot to execute a request step. In the request step, When moving the robot from the boarding floor to the destination floor using the elevator car, as a request for allocating a landing call for the robot, a normal landing call allocation request with the boarding floor and destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and destination floor respectively is sent to the elevator control device. When this is executed, if the elevator control device allocates a landing call for a user within a subsequent predetermined period, regarding the boarding floor and destination floor of the robot and the departure floor and destination direction indicated by the landing call for the user, (1) Determine whether the condition that the forward direction from the boarding floor of the robot to the destination floor of the robot is the same as the destination direction of the user is satisfied. (2) Determine whether the condition that the car arrives at the boarding floor of the robot before arriving at the departure floor of the user is satisfied. (3) Determine whether the condition that the departure floor of the user is between the boarding floor of the robot and the destination floor of the robot is satisfied. (4) Determine whether the condition that the destination floor of the robot is a floor different from the end floor located in the forward direction with respect to the boarding floor of the robot is satisfied. Execute the determination of whether each of the above conditions is satisfied. When it is determined that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within the predetermined period, a cancel signal is sent to the elevator control device, causing the control device to cancel the allocation executed in the normal landing call allocation request for the robot. When it is not determined that all of the conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied within the predetermined period, the cancel signal is not sent to the elevator control device. A program that causes the above to be executed.

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