Robot management device, robot, and program

Abstract

To mitigate the potential increase in the user's boarding time 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 a robot from the boarding floor to the destination floor using the elevator car, after the elevator control device registers a car call for the robot with the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor, by sending a cancel signal to the control device, it is possible to cause the control device to cancel the registration of the car call for the robot.

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) within buildings (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Along with this, the use of elevators for inter-floor movement of robots within 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 compared to users. For this reason, in an environment where both users and robots use the elevator, when a robot boards the elevator on an intermediate floor during the transportation of a user, or when a robot alights on an intermediate floor during the transportation of a 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 will be forced to endure a longer travel time until reaching their destination floor.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to alleviate the prolongation of the user's travel 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 for managing robots used in a building where an elevator is installed. When moving a robot from a boarding floor to a destination floor using the elevator car, after the elevator control device registers a car call for the robot with the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor, by sending a cancellation signal to the control device, it is possible to cancel the registration of the car call for the robot with the control device (Aspect 1).

[0007] According to the above Aspect 1, assuming that the response to the car call for the robot is executed as it is, the user may experience the situation where the robot gets off on a floor midway until the user gets off during the movement in the car, or when it is found that such a situation may occur, it becomes possible to cancel the registration of the car call for the robot with the elevator control device. And by such cancellation, it becomes possible to pass the destination floor of the robot with the robot still on board the car. 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 extension of the user's boarding time.

[0008] The robot management device according to the above Aspect 1 may have the following configuration (Aspect 2). After the elevator control device registers a car call with the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor, taking the period until the stop of the car at the destination floor is determined as a predetermined period, within that predetermined period, (1) it may be determined whether the condition that the elevator control device is registering a car call for the user is satisfied. And when the robot management device determines that the condition (1) is satisfied, further, (2) it may be determined whether the condition that the car stops at the destination floor indicated by the car call for the user after arriving at the destination floor of the robot is satisfied, and when it is determined within the predetermined period that the condition (2) is satisfied, a cancellation signal may be sent to the elevator control device.

[0009] If both conditions (1) and (2) are satisfied, assuming that the response to the car call for the robot is executed as it is, the user in the car will inevitably experience the robot getting off at an intermediate floor before the user gets off. Therefore, according to the above aspect 2, when both conditions (1) and (2) 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, the elevator control device can cancel the registration of the car call for the robot. And by such cancellation, it becomes possible to pass the car through the destination floor of the robot with the robot still in the car. As a result, it becomes possible to alleviate the prolongation of the user's riding time.

[0010] When the robot management device according to the above aspect 1 or 2 transmits a cancellation signal to the elevator control device with the direction from the boarding floor of the robot to the destination floor as the forward direction, before or after the transmission of the cancellation signal, newly, as a request for assignment of a landing call for the robot, a request for assignment of a landing call with the end floor located in the forward direction with respect to the destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor may be made to the elevator control device (Aspect 3).

[0011] According to the above aspect 3, even after the car moving in the forward direction passes the destination floor of the robot, when the car moves in the direction opposite to the forward direction, the car can be stopped at the destination floor of the robot and the robot can get off there. Also, by making a request for assignment of a landing call for the robot with the end floor where the moving direction of the car will inevitably reverse as the departure floor, it becomes unnecessary to cause a useless stop of the car.

[0012] The robot management device according to the above-described aspect 3 may further have the following configuration (Aspect 4). The robot management device may send the departure floor and the destination floor necessary for the allocation of the landing call to the elevator control device. Further, when the car arrives at the stop floor, the robot management device makes a determination (A1) as to whether the arrival floor of the car matches any of the departure floors transmitted in the allocation request. When it is determined in the determination (A1) that it matches any of the departure floors, the matching allocation request is set as the first attention request, and using the departure floor and the destination floor transmitted in the first attention request, after setting the direction from the departure floor to the destination floor as the conveyance direction of the robot, a determination (B1) may be made as to whether the departure direction of the car from the arrival floor matches the conveyance direction. Further, when it is determined in the determination (B1) that it matches the conveyance direction of the robot, the robot management device may make a determination (C1) as to whether the departure floor transmitted in the first attention request matches the boarding floor of the robot. Then, when it is determined in the determination (C1) that it matches the boarding floor of the robot, the robot management device transmits a door opening extension signal to the elevator control device, commands the robot to board the car, and then, when the boarding of the robot is completed, may transmit a boarding completion signal to the elevator control device. On the other hand, when it is determined in the determination (C1) that it does not match the boarding floor of the robot, the robot management device may transmit the boarding 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 commanding the robot to board the car.

[0013] According to the above-described aspect 4, by the robot management device itself making the determinations (A1) and (B1), it is possible to identify that the car has arrived at the departure floor in response to the landing call for the robot without notification from the elevator control device.

[0014] Therefore, when the robot management device determines "match" in determination (C1), it transmits a door-opening extension signal to the elevator control device, causing the control device to execute the door-opening extension required 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.

[0015] 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 the departure floor (here, the end floor) indicated by the new landing call for the robot (the landing call described in mode 3) in response to the new landing call for the robot. Here, when the car responds to such a new landing call, it will arrive at the departure floor indicated by the landing call with the robot on board. Therefore, there is no need to let the robot board 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 becomes possible to keep the robot on board the car without causing the elevator control to stop.

[0016] When the robot management device according to the above mode 1 or 2 transmits a cancel signal to the elevator control device with the direction from the boarding floor of the robot to the destination floor as the forward direction, it may, before or after transmitting the cancel signal, newly make a request to the elevator control device to allocate a landing call for the robot, with the destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and the car starting to move in the direction opposite to the forward direction from that destination floor (mode 5).

[0017] According to the above mode 5, even after the car moving in the forward direction has passed the destination floor of the robot, when the car moves in the reverse direction, it becomes possible to stop the car at the destination floor of the robot and let the robot get off there.

[0018] The robot management device according to the above aspect 5 may issue a request for allocating a landing call for the robot, with the destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and the end floor located in the direction opposite to the forward direction with respect to the destination floor as the arrival floor (Aspect 6).

[0019] According to the above aspect 6, by issuing a request for allocating a landing call for the robot with the end floor, where the moving direction of the car must always reverse, as the arrival floor, it becomes unnecessary to cause a wasteful stop of the car after the robot gets off.

[0020] The robot management device according to the above aspect 5 may issue a request for allocating a landing call for the robot, 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 (Aspect 7).

[0021] According to the above aspect 7, by issuing a request for allocating a landing call for the robot using the destination direction, it becomes unnecessary to cause a wasteful stop of the car after the robot gets off.

[0022] The robot management device according to any one of the above aspects 5 to 7 may further have the following configuration (Aspect 8). The robot management device may perform the operation by transmitting the departure floor and the destination floor or the destination direction necessary for the allocation of the landing call to the elevator control device. Further, when the car arrives at the stop floor, the robot management device makes a determination (A1) as to whether the arrival floor of the car matches any of the departure floors transmitted in the allocation request. When 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, a determination (B1) may be made as to whether 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 the departure floor transmitted in the first target request matches the boarding floor or the destination floor of the robot. When it is determined in the determination (C1) that the floor matches the boarding floor of the robot, the robot management device transmits a door opening extension signal to the elevator control device, commands the robot to board the car, and then, when the boarding of the robot is completed, may transmit a boarding completion signal to the elevator control device. Further, when it is determined in the determination (C1) that the floor matches the destination floor of the robot, the robot management device transmits a door opening extension signal to the elevator control device, commands the robot to get off the car, and then, when the getting off of the robot is completed, may transmit the boarding completion signal as a dummy signal to the elevator control device.

[0023] According to the above aspect 8, by the robot management device itself making the determinations (A1) and (B1), it is possible to identify that the car has arrived at the departure floor in response to the landing call for the robot without notification from the elevator control device.

[0024] Therefore, when the robot management device determines in the determination (C1) that it matches the "boarding floor" of the robot, it transmits a door opening extension signal to the elevator control device, causing the control device to execute the door opening extension necessary for the robot to board the car and enabling the control device to recognize that a boarding completion signal will be transmitted from the robot management device when the robot's boarding is completed.

[0025] Also, when the robot management device determines in the determination (C1) that it matches the "destination floor" of the robot, it also transmits a door opening extension signal to the elevator control device. This enables the control device to execute the door opening extension necessary for the robot to get off the car. On the other hand, at this time, since the control device has the car arrive at the departure floor indicated by the landing call (usually the boarding floor), when the control device receives the door opening extension signal from the robot management device, even though the robot is getting off, it will recognize that a boarding completion signal will be transmitted from the robot management device when the robot's boarding is completed based on this reception. Therefore, the robot management device instructs the robot to get off the car, and then, when the robot's getting off is completed, it transmits the boarding completion signal as a dummy signal to the elevator control device. This makes it possible to get the robot off the car without causing the elevator control to stop.

[0026] The robot management device according to the above aspect 1 or 2 may request the elevator control device to re-register the car call with the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor when the moving direction of the car reverses from the forward direction to the reverse direction after transmitting a cancel signal to the elevator control device, with the direction from the boarding floor to the destination floor of the robot being defined as the forward direction (aspect 9).

[0027] According to the above aspect 9, even after the car moving in the forward direction has passed the destination floor of the robot, when the car moves in the reverse direction, the car can be stopped at the destination floor of the robot, and the robot can get off there. Further, according to the re-registration of the car call, it is possible to avoid generating unnecessary control such as stopping the car at a floor other than the destination floor only to get the robot off.

[0028] The robot according to the present invention is a robot used in a building where an elevator is installed. When the robot uses the elevator car to move from the boarding floor to the destination floor, after the registration of the car call with its own destination floor as the destination floor is performed by the elevator control device as a car call for itself, by transmitting a cancel signal to the control device, it is possible to cancel the registration of the car call for itself in the control device (Aspect 10).

[0029] The program according to the present invention is a program to be executed by a robot used in a building where an elevator is installed or a robot management device that manages the robot. When moving the robot from the boarding floor to the destination floor using the elevator car, after the registration of the car call with the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor is performed by the elevator control device as a car call for the robot, by executing the operation of transmitting a cancel signal to the control device, it is possible to cancel the registration of the car call for the robot in the control device (Aspect 11).

Effects of the Invention

[0030] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to alleviate the prolongation of the user's boarding time that may occur when the user and the robot ride in the car together.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0031]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0032] [1] Embodiment [1-1] Overall Configuration of 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 a robot H that performs 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 a user to specify a destination direction Kc is installed at each landing, and a destination floor button 2 for a user to specify a 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.

[0033] <Destination direction button> The destination direction button 1 includes an upward button for specifying the upward direction as the destination direction Kc and a downward button for specifying the downward direction as the destination direction Kc on floors other than the end floors Fy which are the top floor or the bottom floor. On the other hand, on the top floor, the destination direction button 1 only includes a downward button, and on the bottom floor, the destination direction button 1 only includes an upward button.

[0034] When a 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. Thereby, 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 (assignment request from the user). At this time, the destination direction button 1 also transmits device information Pd for identifying itself from other buttons and 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.

[0035] <Destination floor button> The destination floor button 2 is provided for each stoppable floor that can be guided by the car G, and is a button for registering the stoppable floor as the destination floor Fd.

[0036] When a 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.

[0037] <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 makes an assignment of the landing call Rg to the car G (assignment process (see FIG. 5)) in response to an assignment request from a user in the landing (from the destination direction button 1 where the user has specified the destination direction Kc), 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 the present 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 makes an assignment of the landing call Rh to the car G in response to an assignment request from the robot management device 4 described later (assignment request for 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)). Note that the details of these processes will be described later.

[0038] Also, the elevator control device 3 cancels the registration of the car call Vh made when responding to the landing call Rh for the robot H (registration of the car call Vh using the destination floor Fd indicated by the landing call Rh) when a cancel signal Sc is transmitted from the robot management device 4. Note that the details of this process will also be described later.

[0039] As a specific configuration, the elevator control device 3 includes a storage unit 31 and a control unit 32 (see FIG. 1).

[0040] The storage unit 31 is a part composed of storage devices such as ROM and RAM. In the storage unit 31, information necessary for the control process performed by the elevator control device 3 is stored. In the present 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.

[0041] 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 users, 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.

[0042] 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.

[0043] 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 is 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 specified the destination direction Kc at the destination direction button 1.

[0044] FIG. 2(B) is a conceptual diagram illustrating the landing call management data Dq1G and the car call management data Dq2G for users used in the present embodiment, respectively.

[0045] In the landing call management data Dq1G, for each stoppable floor that can be guided by the car G, and further for each direction in which movement is possible from that stoppable floor, it is recorded whether or not an assignment of a landing call Rg for a user with that stoppable floor as the departure floor Fc and that direction as the destination direction Kc has been 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 has been pressed on the destination direction button 1 provided on that stoppable floor). The assignment status indicating this is associated. And in the example of Fig. 2(B), the assignment status for each direction from each stoppable floor is updated to "ON" when an assignment of a landing call Rg with that stoppable 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.

[0046] Also, in the car call management data Dq2G, for each stoppable floor that can be guided by the car G, it is recorded whether or not a car call Vg for a user with that stoppable floor as the destination floor Fd has been registered in the car G (in other words, whether or not the destination floor button 2 for registering that stoppable floor as the destination floor Fd has been pressed). The registration status indicating this is associated. And in the example of Fig. 2(B), the registration status for each stoppable floor is updated to "ON" when a car call Vg with that stoppable floor as the destination floor Fd is registered, and is updated to "OFF" when that car call Vg is deleted.

[0047] 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.

[0048] In the landing call management data Dq1H, each time an assignment of a 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.

[0049] 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.

[0050] 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 in 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 in software by program execution, and may be realized in hardware by a processing circuit (control unit 32) constructed in the elevator control device 3.

[0051] <Robot management device> The robot management device 4 is a device that centrally manages the robots H used within the building where the elevator of the present embodiment is installed.

[0052] In the present 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 together with the destination floor Fx to the robot management device 4.

[0053] 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 elevator car G together, it executes control processing to enable this. Specifically, the robot management device 4 executes an allocation request process (see FIG. 4), a cancellation process (FIG. 11), and a boarding / alighting command process (see FIGS. 13 to 15). The details of these processes will be described later.

[0054] As a specific configuration, the robot management device 4 includes a storage unit 41 and a control unit 42 (see FIG. 1).

[0055] 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 the present embodiment, as such information, robot management data Dr and allocation request management data Ds are stored in the storage unit 41.

[0056] Here, the robot management data Dr is a database for managing a plurality of pieces of information related to the robot H associated 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.

[0057] FIG. 3(A) is a conceptual diagram illustrating the robot management data Dr used in the present embodiment. In the robot management data Dr illustrated in this figure, for each robot H, the robot information Ph and the 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. Also, in the destination associated with each robot H, the destination floor Fx transmitted by the robot H for moving between floors is recorded, and the destination floor Fx is deleted when the alighting of the robot H on that floor is completed.

[0058] Accordingly, 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 of each robot H associated with the robot information Ph of the robot H. 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.

[0059] FIG. 3(B) is a conceptual diagram illustrating the 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 car G arrives at the destination floor Fd associated with the allocation request (specifically, after the elevator control device 3 is transmitted with the alighting completion signal Sy described later).

[0060] The control unit 42 is a part responsible for executing the control processes (including the allocation request process, the cancellation 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 a 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 state where it can be downloaded to another server or the like. Further, the control processes performed by the robot management device 4 are not limited to being realized in software by the execution of a program, and may be realized in hardware by a processing circuit (control unit 42) constructed in the robot management device 4.

[0061] [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 is started 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".

[0062] 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. Refer to FIG. 3(A)). Thereby, the robot management device 4 can grasp the destination of the target robot Hk also in the alighting command process described later.

[0063] Then, in this allocation request process, the robot management device 4 makes a normal allocation request to the elevator control device 3 (step S110). Specifically, the robot management device 4 makes a normal allocation request for the landing call Rh for the target robot Hk to the elevator control device 3, with the boarding floor Ft and the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd, respectively. More specifically, the robot management device 4 sets 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 to the elevator control device 3 together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk. In addition, 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. 3(B)). After step S110, the robot management device 4 terminates the allocation request process.

[0064] [1-2-2] Allocation Process Performed by Elevator Control Device Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the allocation process executed in this embodiment. This allocation process starts 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.

[0065] 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 an allocation request from the destination direction button 1 (allocation request for the landing call Rg for the user), it is a set of information including the destination direction Kc and the device information Pd, and when the allocation request is from the robot management device 4 (allocation request for the landing call Rh for the robot H), it is a set of information including the departure floor Fc, the destination floor Fd, and the robot information Ph.

[0066] 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).

[0067] When 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 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 using the departure floor Fc and the destination direction Kc (the user's destination direction Kc) in the received information Pr2 as one landing call Rg (allocation for the user. Step S201. Refer to the left figure in Fig. 2(B)). After that, the elevator control device 3 ends the allocation process.

[0068] On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 determines in step S200 that the "robot information Ph" is included, it can determine that the received allocation request is from the robot management device 4 based on this determination. In this case, the elevator control device 3 executes the allocation to the car G using the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd in the received information Pr2 as one landing call Rh (allocation for the robot H. Step S202. Refer to the left figure in Fig. 2(C)). After that, the elevator control device 3 ends the allocation process.

[0069] [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 the normal response processing executed by the elevator control device 3, and is started at the timing when the next stop floor of the car G is determined.

[0070] When the response process is started, the elevator control device 3 determines what calls are included in the response target to be responded to in the response process (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 whether 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 whether both landing calls and car calls are included.

[0071] Then, when the elevator control device 3 determines in step S30X that it is "only landing calls", it executes the first response process. When it determines in step S30X that it is "only car calls", it executes the second response process. When it determines in step S30X that it is "both landing calls and car calls", it executes the third response process. Hereinafter, these processes will be specifically described.

[0072] <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 the robot H's landing call Rh is included in the response target (step S300).

[0073] When the elevator control device 3 determines in step S300 that it is "not included (No)", 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).

[0074] After step S301, the elevator control device 3 determines whether 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.

[0075] And when the elevator control device 3 determines "arrived (Yes)" in step S302, it deletes the landing call Rg that has completed its role with this arrival (step S303).

[0076] After that, the user boards the arrived car G and then registers their destination floor Fd by pressing the destination floor button 2 in 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 boards the car G.

[0077] 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 in the car G (step S304).

[0078] 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 in the car G. After that, the elevator control device 3 ends the first response process.

[0079] 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.

[0080] 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. Further, when the landing call Rg of the user is further included in the response target, the elevator control device 3 also performs processing for the landing call Rg of the user. Specifically, it is as follows.

[0081] The elevator control device 3 transmits a command to the car G to stop the car G in the direction toward the destination floor Fd 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 S401).

[0082] After step S401, the elevator control device 3 determines whether or not 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.

[0083] Then, when the elevator control device 3 determines as "arrived (Yes)" in step S402, by executing the door opening extension process at the time of boarding shown in FIG. 16, the elevator control device 3 causes the car G to perform a 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 boarding will be described later.

[0084] After the completion of the door opening extension process at the time of 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). Thereby, 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 in the car G in this way, the landing call Rh finishes its role. Therefore, the elevator control device 3 deletes the landing call Rh that has finished its role.

[0085] After that, the elevator control device 3 determines whether or not the user's landing call Rg is further included in the response target in this first response process (step S404). Then, when the elevator control device 3 determines "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. After that, the elevator control device 3 ends the first response process. On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 determines "not included (No)" in step S404, it ends the first response process without performing the processes of steps S303 to S305.

[0086] <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).

[0087] When the elevator control device 3 determines "not included (No)" in step S310, based on that determination, it can be determined that only the user's car call Vg is included in the response target. In this case, the elevator control device 3 transmits a command to stop the car G at the destination floor Fd indicated by the car call Vg (the user's destination floor Fd) to the car G (step S311).

[0088] 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 determine "arrived (Yes)" in step S312.

[0089] Then, 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 that arrival (step S313). After that, the elevator control device 3 ends the second response process.

[0090] When the elevator control device 3 determines in step S310 that the car call Vh of the robot H is "included (Yes)" in the response target, it executes a response to the car call Vh. Further, when the user's car call Vg is further included in the response target, the elevator control device 3 also performs processing for the user's car call Vg. Specifically, it is as follows.

[0091] The elevator control device 3 transmits a command to the car G to stop the car G at the destination floor Fd indicated by the car call Vh (the destination floor Fd of the robot H) (step S411).

[0092] After step S411, the elevator control device 3 determines whether or not 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.

[0093] Then, when the elevator control device 3 determines "arrived (Yes)" in step S412, it deletes the car call Vh that has completed its role with that arrival (step S413). Also, the elevator control device 3 executes the door opening extension process at the time of getting off shown in FIG. 17 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.

[0094] After the completion of the door-opening extension process during car descent, the elevator control device 3 returns to the process of FIG. 8 and determines whether or not the passenger car call Vg of the user is further included in the response target in this second response process (step S414). Then, when the elevator control device 3 determines "Yes (included)" in step S414, it executes the process of step S313 (deletion of the passenger car call Vg) as the process for the passenger car call Vg. Thereafter, the elevator control device 3 ends the second response process. On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 determines "No (not included)" in step S414, it ends the second response process without performing the process of step S313.

[0095] <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 or not the landing call Rh of the robot H is included in the response target (step S320).

[0096] When the elevator control device 3 determines "No (not included)" in step S320, based on this determination, it can be determined that the landing call Rg of the user 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).

[0097] On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 determines "Yes (included)" 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).

[0098] Here, when another robot H is boarding 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 at the landing boards the car.

[0099] Therefore, the elevator control device 3 first determines whether or not the car call Vh of another robot H is further included in the response target in this third response process (step S423).

[0100] And when the elevator control device 3 determines "included (Yes)" in step S423, it can be determined 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 with this arrival (step S430), and then, as the process at the time of getting off of the other robot H, executes the door-opening extension process at the time of getting off shown in FIG. 17. 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. 17), 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 "received (Yes)" in step S901, and then shifts to step S910A via step S902 (door-opening extension).

[0101] When the elevator control device 3 has completed the door-opening extension process during car descent (when it is determined to be "received (Yes)" in step S910A of FIG. 17), or when it is determined to be "not included (No)" in step S423 of FIG. 10, then (see FIG. 10), as the process during boarding for the robot H at the landing, the door-opening extension process during boarding shown in FIG. 16 is executed. Although the details of the door-opening extension process during boarding will be described later, in the door-opening extension process at this time (see FIG. 16), since the elevator control device 3 will receive the door-opening extension signal Sz from the robot management device 4 for the boarding of the above-mentioned robot H at the landing, it is determined to be "received (Yes)" in step S801, and then, after passing through step S802 (door-opening extension), it will shift to step S810A. And when the elevator control device 3 determines to be "received (Yes)" in that step S810A, it returns to the process of FIG. 10 and executes the same process as step S403 (registration of car call Vh, deletion of landing call Rh) described in the first response process (step S424).

[0102] After that, the elevator control device 3 returns to the process of FIG. 9 and determines whether the user's landing call Rg is further included in the response target in this third response process (step S441). And when the elevator control device 3 determines to be "included (Yes)" in step S441, as the process for that landing call Rg, steps S323 to S325 (deletion of landing call Rg - registration of car call Vg) are executed. After that, the elevator control device 3 shifts to step S442. On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 determines to be "not included (No)" in step S441, it shifts to step S442 without performing the processes of steps S323 to S325.

[0103] In step S442, the elevator control device 3 determines whether or not the user's car call Vg is further included in the response target in this third response process. Here, when the user's car call Vg 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 also 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.

[0104] [1-2-4] Cancellation process performed by the robot management device FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the cancellation process executed in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the robot management device 4 obtains elevator information Pe (including information indicating the operating status of the car G and the usage status of the elevator, etc.) from the elevator control device 3 at any time, and based on this information, grasps the content of the assignment of landing calls and the registration of car calls in the elevator control device 3. Specifically, the robot management device 4 requests the elevator control device 3 to return the elevator information Pe at that time at any time. Then, the robot management device 4 obtains the necessary information by receiving the elevator information Pe returned from the elevator control device 3 in response to its own request.

[0105] Therefore, the robot management device 4 can grasp what boarding call Rh has been assigned to the robot H, and can also grasp what car call Vh has been registered. Then, the cancellation process starts when the robot management device 4 grasps that a car call Vh with the destination floor Fx of the robot H as the destination floor Fd is registered for the car G moving in the forward direction Ks (the direction from the boarding floor Ft of the robot H to the destination floor Fx) of the robot H. In other words, in the present embodiment, when the robot management device 4 grasps that a normal boarding call Rh for the robot H becomes a response target in the first response process (step 403 in FIG. 7) or the third response process (step S424 in FIG. 10), and a car call Vh is registered from the boarding call Rh, the cancellation process starts.

[0106] Hereinafter, a car call Vh with the destination floor Fx of the robot H as the destination floor Fd and registered for the car G moving in the forward direction Ks of the robot H will be referred to as the "normal car call Vh" for the robot H. Also, as terms used in the description of the cancellation process, the normal car call Vh that triggers the start of the process will be referred to as the "target call Vhx", and the robot H corresponding to the car call Vh will be referred to as the "target robot Hk".

[0107] In the cancellation process, the robot management device 4 uses the elevator information Pe at that time (the current time) to make judgments such as whether the target robot Hk and the user will board the car G together and whether it is possible to alleviate the extension of the user's boarding time that may occur when boarding together, and performs processing according to the result.

[0108] Therefore, the robot management device 4 first acquires the elevator information Pe at the current time from the elevator control device 3 again (step S121). At this time, as information indicating the operation 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 elevator, it acquires information on the landing call Rg for the user assigned to the car G. Note that, as the elevator information Pe acquired by the robot management device 4 in step S121, the elevator information Pe that the robot management device 4 has acquired at any time and is at the time of execution of step S121 may be used as it is.

[0109] Next, the robot management device 4 makes the following determination using the elevator information Pe acquired in step S121.

[0110] First, the robot management device 4 determines whether the current elevator status is within a predetermined period, with the period during which the registration of the target call Vhx executed by the elevator control device 3 can be canceled being the predetermined period (step S122). In this embodiment, the period until the stop of the car G at the destination floor Fd (= the target floor Fx of the target robot Hk) indicated by the target call Vhx is determined is the predetermined period.

[0111] And when the robot management device 4 determines "not within the predetermined period (No)" in step S122, based on this determination, it can be determined that the elevator is not in a situation where the registration of the target call Vhx can be canceled. In this case, the robot management device 4 ends the cancellation process while maintaining the normal car call Vh (= the target call Vhx) for the target robot Hk (in other words, without sending a cancellation signal Sc to the elevator control device 3).

[0112] On the other hand, when the robot management device 4 determines "Yes" in step S122 that it is within a predetermined period, it can be determined that the elevator is in a situation where it can cancel the registration of the target call Vhx. In this case, assuming that the target robot Hk and the user are in the same car G and the response to the target call Vhx is executed as it is, the riding time of the user will be prolonged (in other words, the user has to experience the target robot Hk getting off at an intermediate floor before getting off himself / herself). In such a case, it is preferable to cancel the registration of the target call Vhx.

[0113] Therefore, in order to determine whether there is a user riding with the target robot Hk, the robot management device 4 determines whether (1) the condition that the elevator control device 3 has registered a car call Vg for the user is satisfied (step S123). Specifically, the robot management device 4 determines whether the information of the car call Vg for the user is included in the elevator information Pe (the current elevator information Pe) obtained in step S121.

[0114] When the robot management device 4 determines "Yes" in step S123 that it is satisfied, next, in order to determine whether the riding time of the co-rider will be prolonged assuming that the response to the target call Vhx is executed as it is, it determines whether (2) the condition that the car G stops at the destination floor Fd indicated by the car call Vg for the user after arriving at the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk (in other words, the destination floor Fd indicated by the target call Vhx) is satisfied (step S124). Specifically, the robot management device 4 determines whether the destination floor Fd (the getting-off floor) of the user is a floor after the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk in the current moving direction Kg of the car G.

[0115] Then, 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.

[0116] Here, if both conditions (1) and (2) are satisfied, assuming that the response to the normal car call Vh (= the target call Vhx) for the target robot Hk is directly executed, the user in the car will inevitably experience the target robot Hk getting off at an intermediate floor before getting off himself / herself. In that case, the user will be made to wait in the car G until the target robot Hk finishes getting off at the intermediate floor. As a result, the user will be forced to have a longer boarding time until getting off himself / herself.

[0117] Therefore, when the robot management device 4 determines "satisfied (Yes)" in step S124, in order to mitigate the extension of the user's boarding time, it sends a cancel signal Sc to the elevator control device 3 to cancel the registration of the target call Vhx (step S130). At this time, the robot management device 4 sends the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk together with the cancel signal Sc to the elevator control device 3 so that the elevator control device 3 can recognize which robot H the cancel signal Sc commands to cancel the registration of the car call Vh. Also, 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 S110 of FIG. 4) from the allocation request management data Ds.

[0118] When the elevator control device 3 receives the cancel signal Sc and the robot information Ph from the robot management device 4, it cancels the registration of the car call Vh made for the target robot Hk specified by the robot information Ph. Specifically, the elevator control device 3 deletes the car call Vh for the target robot Hk. Also, even when the elevator control device 3 is executing response processing (Figs. 6 to 10) with the normal car call Vh for the target robot Hk as the response target, until the stop of the car G at the destination floor Fd (= target floor Fx) indicated by the car call Vh is determined, the registration of the car call Vh can be cancelled by receiving the cancel signal Sc from the robot management device 4.

[0119] After step S130, when the car G passes the target floor Fx of the target robot Hk and then the car G reverses the moving direction Kg and moves in the direction Kt opposite to the forward direction Ks, the robot management device 4 makes a new allocation request for the target robot Hk to get off at the target floor Fx (step S131).

[0120] In the present embodiment, as a new allocation request, the robot management device 4 requests the elevator control device 3 to allocate a landing call Rh with the first end floor Fy1 located in the forward direction Ks with respect to the target floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc and the target floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the destination floor Fd. Specifically, the robot management device 4 transmits the information with the first end floor Fy1 as the departure floor Fc and the target 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. Also, 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. 12). Then, the robot management device 4 ends the cancellation process.

[0121] According to such cancellation processing, if, within a predetermined period, it is assumed that the response to the normal car call Vh (= the target call Vhx) for the target robot Hk is executed as it is, when it is found that the user has to experience the situation where the target robot Hk gets off at an intermediate floor before getting off the elevator while moving in the car G, the elevator control device 3 can cancel the registration of the normal car call Vh (= the target call Vhx) for the target robot Hk. And by such cancellation, it becomes possible to make the car G pass through the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk with the target robot Hk on board. As a result, the user does not have to experience the situation where the target robot Hk gets off while moving in the car G. As a result, it becomes possible to mitigate the extension of the user's boarding time.

[0122] Furthermore, according to the new allocation request in step S131, even after the car G moving in the forward direction Ks passes through the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk, when the car G moves in the direction Kt opposite to the forward direction Ks, the car G can be stopped at the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk and the target robot Hk can get off there. Also, by making a request to allocate a landing call Rh for the target robot Hk with the end floor Fy (here, the first end floor Fy1) where the moving direction Kg of the car G will surely reverse as the departure floor Fc, it becomes unnecessary to cause a useless stop of the car G.

[0123] [1-2-5] Boarding / Alighting Command Processing Performed by Robot Management Device FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the boarding / alighting command process executed in the present embodiment. As described above, in the present embodiment, the robot management device 4 acquires elevator information Pe (including information indicating the operating status of the car G and the usage status of the elevator, etc.) from the elevator control device 3 at any time. Then, based on this information, the robot management device 4 also 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", it can specify 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). And the boarding / alighting command process shown in FIG. 13 starts every time the robot management device 4 determines that the car G has "arrived" at the stop floor.

[0124] When the boarding / alighting command process starts, first, in order to determine 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, the robot management device 4 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 FIGS. 3(B) and 12) (step S501).

[0125] And when the robot management device 4 determines "matches (Yes)" in step S501, 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 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. 15, 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.

[0126] After the completion of the getting-off command process, or when it is determined as "No (not matching)" in step S501, 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. Specifically, 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 FIGS. 3(B) and 12) (in other words, the departure floor Fc transmitted in the allocation request) (step S502).

[0127] And when the robot management device 4 determines as "Yes (matching)" in step S502, based on this determination, it can be judged 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 only this determination, it cannot be concluded 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. 14, 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.

[0128] After the completion of the boarding command process, or when it is determined as "No (not matching)" in step S502, the robot management device 4 terminates the boarding / alighting command process. Also, when the robot management device 4 determines as "No (not matching)" in step S501 and also determines as "No (not matching)" in step S502, based on these determinations, it can be judged that the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is not any of the stops 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 the processing for the robot H is unnecessary, the robot management device 4 terminates the boarding / alighting command process without performing either the boarding command process (FIG. 14) or the getting-off command process (FIG. 15).

[0129] In the boarding and alighting command process of FIG. 13, by setting it so that the alighting command process (see FIG. 15) can be executed before the boarding command process (see FIG. 14) 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 and alighting command process of FIG. 13, the boarding and alighting of those two robots H can be performed smoothly.

[0130] <Boarding command process> FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the boarding command process executed in this embodiment.

[0131] In the boarding command process, the robot management device 4 first uses the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd transmitted in the first-target request (specifically, the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd corresponding to the first-target request in the allocation request management data Ds) of the allocation request that was determined to be "matched (Yes)" in step S502 of FIG. 13 as the first-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 S601).

[0132] 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).

[0133] When the robot management device 4 determines "matched (Yes)" in step S602, based on that 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.

[0134] 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 no processing for the robot H is required, the robot management device 4 ends the boarding command process.

[0135] 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.

[0136] On the other hand, even if such identification is possible, it is not always necessary to board the robot H in the car G at the arrival floor Fg at that time. Specifically, it is as follows.

[0137] First, the case where it is necessary to board the robot H in the car G at the arrival floor Fg is when the landing call Rh that is the response target at that time has been assigned to the car G in response to a normal assignment request from the robot management device 4 (step S110 in FIG. 4). In this case, 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.

[0138] On the other hand, when it is not necessary to board the robot H on the arrival floor Fg of the car G, 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 a new allocation request (step S131 in FIG. 11) from the robot management device 4 (a new landing call Rh for the robot H). In this case, the departure floor Fc indicated by the new landing call Rh is a floor different from the boarding floor Ft of the robot H (in this embodiment, the first end floor Fy1), and after canceling the registration of the car call Vh for the robot H (in other words, while the robot H is in a state of boarding the car G), the elevator control device 3 is in a state of executing a response process targeting the new landing call Rh. Therefore, when the car G arrives at the arrival floor Fg, the robot H is in a state of boarding the car G. For this reason, there is no need to cause the robot H to perform the act of boarding from the landing to the car G.

[0139] Therefore, in order to determine whether or not to board the robot H on the arrival floor Fg of the car G at that time, the robot management device 4 determines whether or not the departure floor Fc transmitted in the first target request matches the boarding floor Ft of the robot H targeted in the first target request (step S603). Specifically, the robot management device 4 refers to the departure floor Fc and the robot information Ph corresponding to the first target request in the allocation request management data Ds (see FIGS. 3(B) and 12), and then determines whether or not 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)).

[0140] When the robot management device 4 determines "match (Yes)" in step S603, it can be determined based on this determination that the robot H should board the arrived car G.

[0141] In this case, 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 is referred to as the "target robot Hk") and performs the door opening extension process during boarding shown in FIG. 16, it will receive the door opening extension signal Sz from the robot management device 4. In this way, it becomes possible to make the elevator control device 3 execute the door opening extension necessary for the target robot Hk to board the car G and recognize that the boarding completion signal Sx will be transmitted from the robot management device 4 when the boarding of the target robot Hk is completed.

[0142] 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 notifies the robot management device 4 of the boarding completion when the boarding is completed.

[0143] Therefore, after step S612, the robot management device 4 determines whether the boarding of the target robot Hk to 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.

[0144] When the robot management device 4 determines "completed (Yes)" in step S613, it transmits, together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk, a boarding completion signal Sx for notifying the elevator control device 3 of the completion of boarding of the target robot Hk (step S620A). Thereafter, the robot management device 4 ends the boarding command process.

[0145] On the other hand, when the robot management device 4 determines "not match (No)" in step S603, it can determine, based on this determination, that it is not necessary to let the target robot Hk board the arrived car G.

[0146] In this case, the robot management device 4 transmits, together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk, the boarding completion signal Sx as a dummy signal to the elevator control device 3 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). 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, when performing the door opening extension process at the time of boarding shown in FIG. 16, the elevator control device 3 receives the boarding completion signal Sx from the robot management device 4 without receiving the door opening extension signal Sz. According to such a process, it is possible to keep the target robot Hk on board the car G without causing the control of the elevator in the elevator control device 3 to stop. Thereafter, the robot management device 4 ends the boarding command process.

[0147] <Alighting command process> FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the alighting command process executed in the present embodiment.

[0148] In the disembarkation instruction process, first, the robot management device 4 uses the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd transmitted in the second focus request (specifically, the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd corresponding to the second focus request in the allocation request management data Ds) of the allocation request that was determined to be "matched (Yes)" in step S501 of FIG. 13 to specify the direction from the departure floor Fc to the destination floor Fd as the conveyance direction Kh of the robot H (step S701).

[0149] Next, the robot management device 4 determines whether 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 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).

[0150] If 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.

[0151] On the other hand, if 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 disembarkation instruction process.

[0152] In this way, by the robot management device 4 making the determinations in steps S501 and S702, the robot management device 4 itself can specify that the car G has arrived at the destination floor Fd in response to the car call Vh for the robot H without notification from the elevator control device 3.

[0153] 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.

[0154] First, the cases where it is necessary to let the robot H get off at the arrival floor Fg of the car G are as follows: the car call Vh that is the response target at that time is registered in the car G through the landing call Rh corresponding to the normal assignment request from the robot management device 4 (step S110 in FIG. 4), or the landing call Rh (new landing call Rh) corresponding to a new assignment request (step S131 in FIG. 11) is registered in the car G. 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.

[0155] On the other hand, the cases where it is not necessary to let the robot H get off at the arrival floor Fg of the car G are not present in this embodiment, but in the case where an assignment request for a landing call Rh that does not use the target floor Fx of the robot H as the destination floor Fd as a new assignment request (step S140 in FIG. 18, see FIG. 19) as in the first modification example described later is made, and registration in the car G is performed through such a landing call Rh. In this case, the destination floor Fd indicated by the car call Vh will be a floor different from the target floor Fx of the robot H. Therefore, it is not necessary to cause the robot H to perform the action of getting off from the car G to the landing.

[0156] Therefore, the robot management device 4 determines whether the destination floor Fd transmitted in the second destination request matches the destination floor Fx of the robot H targeted in the second destination request in order to determine whether the robot H should be disembarked at the arrival floor Fg of the car G at that time (step S703). Specifically, the robot management device 4 refers to the destination floor Fd and the robot information Ph corresponding to the second destination request in the allocation request management data Ds (see FIGS. 3(B), 12, and 19), and then determines whether the destination floor Fd matches the destination floor Fx recorded as the destination associated with the robot information Ph in the robot management data Dr (see FIG. 3(A)).

[0157] When the robot management device 4 determines "match (Yes)" in step S703, it can determine that the robot H should be disembarked from the arrived car G based on this determination.

[0158] In this case, the robot management device 4 transmits a door opening extension signal Sz for requesting the door opening extension necessary for the disembarkation of the robot H to the elevator control device 3 (step S711). At this time, the robot management device 4 extracts the robot information Ph corresponding to the second destination request from the allocation request management data Ds (see FIGS. 3(B) and 12) in order to make the elevator control device 3 recognize which robot H requires the door opening extension, 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 will be referred to as the "target robot Hk"), when performing the door opening extension process at the time of disembarkation shown in FIG. 17, it will receive the door opening extension signal Sz from the robot management device 4. In this way, it becomes possible to cause the elevator control device 3 to execute the door opening extension necessary for the disembarkation of the target robot Hk from the car G and to recognize that a disembarkation completion signal Sy will be transmitted from the robot management device 4 when the disembarkation of the target robot Hk is completed.

[0159] 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). Accordingly, the target robot Hk starts getting 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.

[0160] Therefore, after step S712, the robot management device 4 determines whether the target robot Hk has completed getting off the car G 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 determine "completed (Yes)" in step S713.

[0161] If the robot management device 4 determines "completed (Yes)" in step S713, it transmits a getting-off completion signal Sy for notifying the completion of getting off of the target robot Hk to the elevator control device 3 together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk (step S720A).

[0162] 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 for the determination in step S703 (step S721). Also, 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. Further, the robot management device 4 deletes the information (robot information Ph, departure floor Fc, destination floor Fd) regarding the second attention request from the allocation request management data Ds (step S722). After that, the robot management device 4 ends the getting-off command process.

[0163] On the other hand, if the robot management device 4 determines "not match (No)" in step S703, it can determine from this determination that there is no need to get the target robot Hk off the arrived car G.

[0164] 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 from the car G, the robot management device 4 transmits the getting-off 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, when performing the door opening extension process at the time of getting off shown in FIG. 17, the elevator control device 3 will receive the getting-off 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 shift to the next process without stagnating the control of the elevator in the elevator control device 3.

[0165] 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 landing request from the allocation request management data Ds, and then ends the getting-off command process.

[0166] [1-2-6] Door opening extension process performed by elevator control device <Door opening extension process at boarding> FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the door opening extension process at the time of boarding executed in this embodiment.

[0167] According to the boarding and alighting command process (FIGS. 13 to 15) performed by the robot management device 4 described above, 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, in the case where the door opening extension process at the time of boarding (the door opening extension process at the time of boarding in the first response process (see FIG. 7) or the third response process (see FIG. 10)) for the robot H (here, this robot H will be referred to as the "target robot Hk") is being executed, the elevator control device 3 will receive the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk, together with the door opening extension signal Sz and the boarding completion signal Sx, from the robot management device 4.

[0168] Therefore, in the door-opening extension process during boarding, the elevator control device 3 first determines whether it has received a door-opening extension signal Sz for the target robot Hk from the robot management device 4 (step S801).

[0169] 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. Furthermore, it can recognize that a boarding completion signal Sx will be sent from the robot management device 4 when the boarding is completed.

[0170] 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 a 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 during boarding.

[0171] On the other hand, the robot management device 4 may send the boarding completion signal Sx as a dummy signal without instructing the target robot Hk to board the car G. In that 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.

[0172] Therefore, when the elevator control device 3 determines "Not received (No)" in step S801, as a process for determining whether a 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). Further, 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.

[0173] Then, when the elevator control device 3 determines "Received (Yes)" in step S810B, based on this determination, it can determine that the received boarding completion signal Sx is a dummy signal. In this case, the elevator control device 3 terminates the door opening extension process during boarding at the point when it receives the dummy signal.

[0174] 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, the process may shift to step S404, and in the process of FIG. 9, it may shift to S441.

[0175] <Door opening extension process during alighting> FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the door opening extension process during alighting executed in this embodiment.

[0176] According to the boarding / alighting command process (Figs. 13 to 15) 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 will receive 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.

[0177] 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).

[0178] If the elevator control device 3 determines "received (Yes)" in step S901, it can determine, based on that determination, that the alighting of the target robot Hk is being 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.

[0179] 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 that determination, that the alighting of the target robot Hk is completed, and thus ends the door opening extension process at the time of alighting.

[0180] On the other hand, the robot management device 4 may transmit the disembarkation completion signal Sy as a dummy signal without instructing the target robot Hk to disembark from the car G. In this case, the elevator control device 3 will receive the disembarkation completion signal Sy together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk without receiving the door opening extension signal Sz.

[0181] Therefore, when the elevator control device 3 determines "not received (No)" in step S901, as a process for determining whether the disembarkation completion signal Sy has been transmitted as a dummy signal from the robot management device 4, it determines whether it has received the disembarkation 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 disembarkation completion signal Sy has been "received (Yes)" in step S910B.

[0182] When the elevator control device 3 determines "received (Yes)" in step S910B, based on this determination, it can be determined that the received disembarkation 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 disembarkation when it receives the dummy signal.

[0183] According to the control process of this embodiment, the robot management device 4 itself can determine whether the robot H should board or disembark at the arrival floor Fg of the car G without notification from the elevator control device 3, and furthermore, it can transmit corresponding commands (door opening extension signal Sz, boarding completion signal Sx, disembarkation completion signal Sy, dummy signal) to the elevator control device 3.

[0184] Also, according to the above control process, if it is within a predetermined period and it is assumed that the response to the normal car call Vh (= the target call Vhx) for the target robot Hk is executed as it is, when it is found that the user will have to experience the situation where the target robot Hk gets off at an intermediate floor before the user gets off while moving in the car G, the elevator control device 3 can cancel the registration of the normal car call Vh (= the target call Vhx) for the target robot Hk. Then, by such cancellation, it becomes possible to make the car G pass through the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk while the target robot Hk is still on board. As a result, the user does not have to experience the situation where the target robot Hk gets off while moving in the car G.

[0185] As a result, the extension of the user's boarding time can be mitigated by the control of the robot management device 4 autonomous from the elevator.

[0186] [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 cancellation process and the boarding / alighting command process executed by the robot management device 4 may be appropriately modified to the following processes.

[0187] FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the cancellation process executed in the first modification example. In the cancellation process of this modification example, after the robot management device 4 transmits the cancel signal Sc to the elevator control device 3 in step S130, as a new allocation request, the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk is set as the departure floor Fc, and the robot management device 4 makes an allocation request for the landing call Rh with the second end floor Fy2 located in the direction opposite to the forward direction Ks with respect to the destination floor Fx as the destination floor Fd to the elevator control device 3 (step S140). Specifically, the robot management device 4 sets the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc, and sets the second end floor Fy2 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 (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. 19). By such an allocation request, an allocation request for the landing call Rh that starts the car G in the direction opposite to the forward direction Ks from the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk is made to the elevator control device 3 as a new landing call Rh for the target robot Hk. After that, the robot management device 4 ends the cancellation process.

[0188] Also, due to such a new allocation request in step S140, after the car G moving in the forward direction Ks passes the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk, when the car G moves in the direction opposite to the forward direction Ks, the car G can be stopped at the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk, and the target robot Hk can be made to get off there.

[0189] FIG. 20 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. 15, and when it determines "match (Yes)" in step S502, it executes the operation command process shown in FIG. 21. Thereby, the robot management device 4 makes a determination to identify what kind of stop the stop of the car G at the arrival floor Fg is, and performs the processes necessary for the inter-floor movement of the robot H according to the determination result.

[0190] <Operation command process> FIG. 21 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 uses the allocation request that could be determined as "match (Yes)" in step S502 of FIG. 20 as the first target request to identify whether or not the car G has arrived at the departure floor Fc in response to the landing call Rh for the robot H without notification from the elevator control device 3, and executes the same processes as steps S601 and 602 of FIG. 14 (steps S631 and S632).

[0191] And also in this modified example, even if it is determined in step S632 that "they match (Yes)", it is not always necessary to board the robot H on the arrival floor Fg of the car G at that time. Also here, the case where it is necessary to board the robot H on the arrival floor Fg of the car G is the case where the landing call Rh that is the response target at that time has been assigned to the car G in response to a normal assignment request from the robot management device 4 (step S110 in FIG. 4). Further, the case where it is not necessary to board the robot H on the arrival floor Fg of the car G is the case where the landing call Rh that is the response target at that time has been assigned to the car G in response to a new assignment request from the robot management device 4 (step S140 in FIG. 18) (a new landing call Rh for the robot H). On the other hand, although the departure floor Fc indicated by the new landing call Rh is a different floor from the boarding floor Ft of the robot H, it is the destination floor Fx of the robot H. Therefore, when the car G arrives at the departure floor Fc (= destination floor Fx) indicated by the new landing call Rh, it becomes necessary to get the robot H off the car G.

[0192] Therefore, in order to determine whether the robot H should be boarded or get off 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-target request matches either the boarding floor Ft or the destination floor Fx of the robot H targeted in the first-target request (step S633). Specifically, the robot management device 4 refers to the departure floor Fc corresponding to the first-target request and the robot information Ph in the assignment request management data Ds (see FIGS. 3(B) and 19), and then determines 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)).

[0193] If the robot management device 4 determines in step S633 that it matches the "boarding floor Ft", based on that determination, it can be determined that the robot H should be boarded on the arrived car G.

[0194] In this case, the robot management device 4 executes the same processes as steps S611 to S613 in FIG. 14 (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 ends the operation command process.

[0195] On the other hand, when the robot management device 4 determines in step S633 that it matches the "destination floor Fx", it can determine based on this determination that the robot H should get off the arriving car G.

[0196] In this case, 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 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. 19) in order to make the elevator control device 3 recognize which robot H requires the door opening extension, and transmits the robot information Ph to the elevator control device 3 together with the door opening extension signal Sz.

[0197] 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 from the car G. On the other hand, when the elevator control device 3 at this time receives the door opening extension signal Sz from the robot management device 4 when performing the door opening extension process at the time of boarding shown in FIG. 16 in response 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"). Therefore, 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, it recognizes that the boarding completion signal Sx will be transmitted from the robot management device 4 when the boarding of the target robot Hk is completed based on this reception.

[0198] Therefore, the robot management device 4 executes the following processing.

[0199] First, the robot management device 4 instructs the target robot Hk to get off the car body G in order to get the target robot Hk off the car body G (step S662). As a result, the target robot Hk starts getting off the car body G in response to the instruction 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.

[0200] After step S662, the robot management device 4 determines whether the target robot Hk has completed getting off the car body G by determining whether it has received a notification of the completion of getting off from the target robot Hk (step S663). In addition, the robot management device 4 repeatedly executes step S663 until it can determine "completed (Yes)" in step S663.

[0201] 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 responding to the landing call Rh for the target robot Hk, the elevator control device 3 will receive the boarding completion signal Sx (dummy signal) from the robot management device 4 when performing the door opening extension process during boarding shown in FIG. 16.

[0202] According to such processing, it becomes possible to get the target robot Hk off the car body G without stopping the control of the elevator by the elevator control device 3.

[0203] 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 alighting floor of the target robot Hk (the departure floor Fc (= destination floor Fx) corresponding to the first target request in the allocation request management data Ds) (step S671). 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. Thereafter, the robot management device 4 ends the operation command process.

[0204] In step S633 of FIG. 21, the robot management device 4 may refer to the departure floor Fc and the robot information Ph corresponding to the first target request in the allocation request management data Ds (see FIG. 19), and then determine 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)). When the robot management device 4 determines that they "match (Yes)", it may execute the process for boarding the car G (steps S641 to S650 in FIG. 21), and when it determines that they "do not match (No)", it may execute the process for alighting from the car G (steps S661 to S671 in FIG. 21).

[0205] Also, by the control process of this modified example as well, for the same reason as in the embodiment, the elongation of the user's boarding time can be alleviated by the control of the robot management device 4 autonomous from the elevator.

[0206] According to the new allocation request in step S140 (see FIG. 18), by making an allocation request for the landing call Rh for the target robot Hk with the end floor Fy (here, the second end floor Fy2) where the moving direction Kg of the car G will surely reverse as the destination floor Fd, it becomes unnecessary to cause a wasteful stop of the car G after the target robot Hk alights.

[0207] Also, in step S140 (new allocation request) of this modification example, if there is no need to generate unnecessary control such as stopping the car G at a floor where no one gets on or off after the target robot Hk gets off the elevator, as a new allocation request, an allocation request for the landing call Rh with the 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.

[0208] [2-2] Second Modification Example The second modification example is a further modification example of the first modification example described above. In the first modification example described above, the cancellation 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.

[0209] FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the cancellation process executed in the second modification example. In the cancellation process of this modification example, after the robot management device 4 transmits the cancellation signal Sc to the elevator control device 3 in step S130, as a new allocation request, the target floor Fx of the target robot Hk is set as the departure floor Fc, and an allocation request for the landing call Rh with the direction Kt opposite to the forward direction Ks as the destination direction Kc from the departure floor Fc is made to the elevator control device 3 (step S150). Specifically, the robot management device 4 sets the target floor Fx of the target robot Hk as the departure floor Fc, and sets the reverse direction Kt as the destination direction Kc, and transmits this information together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk to the elevator control device 3. Further, 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 allocation request information (see FIG. 23(A)). With such an allocation request, an allocation request for the landing call Rh to start the car G in the reverse direction Kt from the target floor Fx of the target robot Hk is made to the elevator control device 3 as a new landing call Rh for the target robot Hk. Thereafter, the robot management device 4 ends the cancellation process.

[0210] FIG. 23(A) and FIG. 23(B) are conceptual diagrams 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 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. Also, "upward" and "downward" are associated as information indicating the destination direction Kc.

[0211] And in the example of FIG. 23(A), when an allocation request for each robot H is made in step S150 of FIG. 22, the departure floor Fc transmitted in that step S150 is recorded in the allocation request management data Ds, and the direction transmitted as the destination direction Kc in step S150 out of the two directions of up and down is set to "ON", while the other direction is set to "OFF". Further, a case is shown where 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).

[0212] Also, in the example of FIG. 23(B), when an allocation request for each robot H is made in step S110 of FIG. 4, the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd transmitted in that step S110 are recorded in the allocation request management data Ds, while a case is shown where 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).

[0213] Even with such a new allocation request for step S150, after the car G moving in the forward direction Ks passes the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk, when the car G moves in the direction Kt opposite to the forward direction Ks, the car G can be stopped at the destination floor Fx of the target robot Hk, and the target robot Hk can get off there.

[0214] And in this modified example, when the robot management device 4 identifies the conveyance direction Kh of the robot H in step S631 of the operation command process (see FIG. 21), if the starting 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 target request, the destination direction Kc will be directly identified as the conveyance direction Kh of the robot H.

[0215] FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing the allocation process executed in the second modified example. Also in this modified 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.

[0216] In this modified example, the information (received information Pr2) received by the elevator control device 3 each time there is an allocation request will be a set of information including the starting 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 starting floor Fc, the destination floor Fd, and the robot information Ph.

[0217] Therefore, when the elevator control device 3 determines in step S200 that the "robot information Ph" is included, it further determines which of the two sets of information described above was received as the allocation request for the robot H by determining which of the information of the destination direction Kc and the destination floor Fd is included in the received information Pr2 (step S210).

[0218] 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 performs allocation to the car G (allocation for the robot H. Step S211. Refer to FIG. 23(C)). After that, the elevator control device 3 terminates the allocation process.

[0219] 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 performs allocation to the car G (allocation for the robot H. Step S212. Refer to FIG. 23(D)). After that, the elevator control device 3 terminates the allocation process.

[0220] FIG. 23(C) and FIG. 23(D) are conceptual diagrams illustrating landing call management data Dq1H for the robot H used in the second modification example. In the landing call management data Dq1H of this modification example, each time the allocation of the landing call Rh for each robot H is performed to the car G, the robot information Ph of that 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. Also, the information indicating "upward" and "downward" is associated as the information indicating the destination direction Kc.

[0221] And in the example of FIG. 23(C), when the landing call Rh for each robot H is assigned in step S211, the departure floor Fc indicated by the landing call Rh is recorded in the landing call management data Dq1H, and the direction indicated as the destination direction Kc by the landing call Rh among the two vertical directions is set to "ON", while the other direction is set to "OFF". Further, it is shown that the destination floor Fd is set to "Null". Also, in the example of FIG. 23(D), when the landing call Rh for each robot H is assigned in step S212, the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd indicated by the landing call Rh are recorded in the landing call management data Dq1H, while it is shown that both the "upward direction" and the "downward direction" indicating the destination direction Kc are set to "OFF". And each landing call Rh is deleted by erasing the information in the landing call management data Dq1H corresponding to the landing call Rh when it has finished its role.

[0222] FIG. 25 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, it 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. 23(C), FIG. 23(D)) to determine whether either one of the "upward direction" and the "downward direction" 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.

[0223] When the elevator control device 3 determines in step S460 that it indicates the "destination direction Kc", 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 Rh at the departure floor Fc (the departure floor Fc of the robot H) indicated by the landing call Rh to the car G (step S461).

[0224] 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 determine "arrived (Yes)" in step S462.

[0225] When the elevator control device 3 determines "arrived (Yes)" in step S462, it deletes the landing call Rh (in this modified example, the new landing call Rh) that has completed its role with this 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. 23(C))), and since the destination floor Fd is not newly specified from the robot management device 4, the elevator control device 3 does not register a car call Vh in response to the landing call Rh at this time.

[0226] In this way, by the robot management device 4 making a request to the elevator control device 3 to allocate a landing call Rh 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 of the target robot Hk (here, the reverse direction Kt) as the destination direction Kc, in the response process performed by the elevator control device 3, it becomes 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 a car call Vh corresponding to the landing call Rh.

[0227] After step S463, the elevator control device 3 executes the door-opening extension process during boarding shown in FIG. 16, and causes the car G to perform a door-opening extension according to the command transmitted from the robot management device 4 at that time. After that, the elevator control device 3 shifts to step S404.

[0228] When the elevator control device 3 determines in step S460 that it indicates "destination floor Fd", it executes steps S401 to S403 (including the door-opening extension process during boarding shown in FIG. 16) described in the first response process (see FIG. 7) of the above embodiment, and then shifts to step S404.

[0229] FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a part of process X in the third response process executed in the second modification. In the third response process of this modification, when the elevator control device 3 determines in step S320 (see FIG. 9) that the landing call Rh of the robot H is "included (Yes)" in the response target, it executes the same process as step S460 described in the above first response process (step S470).

[0230] When the elevator control device 3 determines in step S470 that it indicates "destination direction Kc", it executes the same processes as steps S461 to S463 described in the first response process of this modification (steps S471 to S473). Then, the elevator control device 3 executes the door-opening extension process during boarding shown in FIG. 16, and then shifts to step S441 (see FIG. 9).

[0231] When the elevator control device 3 determines in step S470 that it indicates "destination floor Fd", it executes steps S421 to S424 and S430 (including the door-opening extension process shown in FIGS. 16 and 17) described in the third response process (see FIG. 10) of the above embodiment. After that, the elevator control device 3 shifts to step S441 (see FIG. 9).

[0232] According to such first response processing and third response processing, when responding to a new landing call Rh (when it is determined that "destination direction Kc" is indicated in step S460 or S470), the target robot Hk can be made to get off the car body G without generating a car call Vh. Therefore, it is possible to avoid generating wasteful control such as stopping the car body G at an intermediate floor where no one gets on or off just to get the target robot Hk off the car body G heading in the reverse direction Kt.

[0233] Therefore, according to the new allocation request in step S150 (see FIG. 22), by making an allocation request for the landing call Rh for the target robot Hk using the destination direction Kc, it is possible to avoid generating wasteful stops of the car body G after the target robot Hk gets off.

[0234] Also, due to the control processing of this modified example for the same reasons as in the embodiment and the first modified example, it becomes possible to mitigate the lengthening of the user's boarding time by the control of the robot management device 4 autonomous from the elevator.

[0235] [2-3] Third Modified Example In any of the above-described embodiment and modified examples, when the robot management device 4 determines in step S124 (see FIGS. 11, 18, and 22) that condition (2) is "satisfied (Yes)", it may make a new allocation request for the landing call Rh (steps S131, S140, S150) before transmitting the cancel signal Sc, and then transmit the cancel signal Sc (step S130).

[0236] [2-4] Fourth Modified Example The fourth modified example is a modified example of the above-described embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, the cancel processing executed by the robot management device 4 may be appropriately modified to the following processing.

[0237] FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing the cancellation process executed in the fourth modification. In the cancellation process of this modification, when the robot management device 4 determines in step S124 that condition (2) is "satisfied (Yes)", while transmitting the cancel signal Sc to the elevator control device 3, the information on the allocation request made for the target robot Hk (the information recorded in the allocation request management data Ds in step S110 of FIG. 4) is left in the allocation request management data Ds without being deleted (step S160).

[0238] After step S160, the robot management device 4 newly acquires the elevator information Pe at that time (the current time) from the elevator control device 3 (step S161). Incidentally, as the elevator information Pe acquired by the robot management device 4 in step S161, the one at the execution time of step S161 among the elevator information Pe that the robot management device 4 has acquired at any time may be used as it is.

[0239] Then, the robot management device 4 determines whether or not the moving direction Kg of the car G has reversed from the forward direction Ks to the reverse direction Kt using the elevator information Pe acquired in step S161 (step S162). Also, the robot management device 4 repeatedly executes steps S161 and S162 until it can determine in step S162 that "it has reversed (Yes)".

[0240] When the robot management device 4 determines in step S162 that "it has reversed (Yes)", the robot management device 4 requests the elevator control device 3 to re-register the car call Vh with the destination floor Fd being the target floor Fx of the target robot Hk (step S163). Specifically, the robot management device 4 transmits only the target floor Fx of the target robot Hk to the elevator control device 3 together with the robot information Ph of the target robot Hk. Thereafter, the robot management device 4 ends the cancellation process.

[0241] When the elevator control device 3 receives a request for re-registration of the car call Vh from the robot management device 4, it re-registers the registration of the canceled car call Vh in accordance with the command of the cancel signal Sc from the robot management device 4 for the car G with the moving direction Kg reversed to the reverse direction Kt.

[0242] Also, by the control process of this modified example as well, for the same reason as in the embodiment, it becomes possible to relax the prolongation of the user's boarding time by the control of the robot management device 4 autonomous from the elevator.

[0243] Furthermore, also by the re-registration of the car call Vh, after the car G moving in the forward direction Ks passes 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, and the target robot Hk can get off there. Also, according to the re-registration of the car call Vh, it becomes unnecessary to generate useless control such as stopping the car G at a floor other than the destination floor Fx only to get the target robot Hk off.

[0244] [2-5] Fifth Modified Example In any of the above-described embodiments and modified examples, in the allocation request process (see FIG. 4), the robot management device 4 not only makes a normal allocation request (step S110), but also, if a situation may occur in which, assuming that the normal allocation request is made, the user must experience a robot H boarding on a floor during the journey from boarding the car G until getting off, in order to avoid such a situation, the robot management device 4 may make the following two allocation requests different from the normal allocation request.

[0245] As the first allocation request, the robot management device 4 makes an allocation request for the landing call Rh that starts the car G in the reverse direction Kt with the boarding floor Ft of the robot H as the departure floor Fc in order to allow the robot H to board the car G moving in the reverse direction Kt.

[0246] As a second allocation request, the robot management device 4 sets the destination floor Fx of the robot H as the destination floor Fd and makes an allocation request for a landing call Rh that causes the car G moving in the forward direction Ks to arrive at the destination floor Fx in the forward direction Ks, in order to get the robot H to get off the car G while it is moving in the forward direction Ks.

[0247] Then, when the landing call Rh corresponding to the second allocation request becomes a response target in the first response process (step 403 in FIG. 7) or the third response process (step S424 in FIG. 10), and registration of a car call Vh from the landing call Rh is performed, a car call Vh with the destination floor Fx of the robot H as the destination floor Fd is registered for the car G moving in the forward direction Ks for that robot H. Therefore, also in this case, the robot management device 4 can execute the above-described cancellation process.

[0248] [2-6] Sixth modification In any of the above-described embodiments and modifications, the allocation request for 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 an allocation request for the landing call Rg for the user.

[0249] Then, when the elevator control device 3 receives an allocation request from the destination floor registration device, it determines that it is "device information Pd" in step S200 of FIG. 5, and then in step S201, with 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 executes an allocation 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.

[0250] In such a configuration, 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, in step S303, the destination floor Fd indicated by the landing call Rg (the destination floor Fd of the user) as the car call Vg for the user in the car G. Then, the elevator control device 3 deletes the landing call Rg that has completed its role, and thereafter, ends the first response process. Further, also when responding to the landing call Rg for the user in the third response process of FIG. 9, the elevator control device 3 performs similar processing instead of executing steps S324 and S325.

[0251] [2-7] Seventh Modified Example In any of the above-described embodiments and modified examples, each robot H may be appropriately modified to execute, instead of the robot management device 4, the control processes (including the allocation request process, the cancellation process, and the boarding / alighting command process) performed by 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.

[0252] The descriptions of the above embodiments and modified 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 modified examples, but by the claims. Further, it is intended that the scope of the present invention includes all changes within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims.

[0253] Also, from the above embodiments and modified examples, as the subject of the invention, not only the robot management device 4 and the robot H, but also the control processes and programs executed by the robot management device 4 and the robot H may be individually extracted, or a part of them 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 Reference Numerals

[0254] 1 Destination floor button 2 Floor advance button 3 Elevator control device 4 Robot management device G Car H Robot 31, 41 Memory 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 End 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, Dq1H Landing call management data Dq2G, Dq2H Car call management data Fy1 First end floor Fy2 Second end floor Kg1 Departure direction Kg2 Arrival direction Pr1, 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, after the elevator control device registers a car call for the robot with the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor, a cancel signal is sent to the control device to enable the control device to cancel the registration of the car call for the robot. It is a robot management device, After the registration of a car call with the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor is performed by the elevator control device, a predetermined period is set as the period until the stop of the car at the destination floor is determined. During that predetermined period, (1) A condition that the elevator control device has registered a car call for a user, is determined whether it is satisfied, If it is determined that the condition (1) is satisfied, then further, (2) A condition that the car stops at the destination floor indicated by the car call for the user after arriving at the destination floor of the robot, is determined whether it is satisfied, When it is determined that the condition (2) is satisfied within the predetermined period, the cancel signal is sent to the elevator control device, If it is not determined that both the conditions (1) and (2) are satisfied within the predetermined period, the cancel signal is not sent to the elevator control device. A robot management device.

2. Assuming the direction from the boarding floor of the robot to the destination floor is the forward direction, when sending the cancel signal to the elevator control device, before or after sending the cancel signal, newly, as a request for assigning a landing call for the robot, the end floor located in the forward direction with respect to the destination floor of the robot is set as the departure floor, and a request for assigning a landing call with the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor is made to the elevator control device. The robot management device according to Claim 1.

3. The robot management device according to Claim 2, wherein the request for assigning a landing call for the robot is made by sending the departure floor and the destination floor required for the assignment of the landing call to the elevator control device, When the car arrives at the stop floor, Determine (A1) whether the arrival floor, which is the floor where the car arrives at that time, matches any of the departure floors transmitted in the allocation request. If it is determined in the determination (A1) that it matches any of the departure floors, using the departure floor and the destination floor transmitted in the first-target request as the first-target request, with the direction from the departure floor to the destination floor as the conveyance direction of the robot, determine (B1) whether the departure direction of the car from the arrival floor matches the conveyance direction. If it is determined in the determination (B1) that it matches the conveyance direction of the robot, determine (C1) whether the departure floor transmitted in the first-target request matches the boarding floor of the robot. If it is determined in the determination (C1) that it matches the boarding floor of the robot, transmit a door-opening extension signal to the elevator control device, and instruct the robot to board the car. Then, when the boarding of the robot is completed, transmit a boarding completion signal to the elevator control device. If it is determined in the determination (C1) that it does not match the boarding floor of the robot, without transmitting the door-opening extension signal to the elevator control device and without instructing the robot to board the car, transmit the boarding completion signal as a dummy signal to the elevator control device. A robot management device.

4. When transmitting the cancel signal to the elevator control device with the direction from the boarding floor of the robot to the destination floor as the forward direction, newly, before or after transmitting the cancel signal, as an allocation request for a landing call for the robot, with the destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and causing the car to depart from the destination floor in the direction opposite to the forward direction, make an allocation request for a landing call to the elevator control device. The robot management device according to claim 1.

5. As an allocation request for a landing call for the robot, make an allocation request for a landing call with the destination floor of the robot as the departure floor and the end floor located in the direction opposite to the forward direction with respect to the destination floor as the destination floor. The robot management device according to claim 4.

6. The robot management device according to claim 4, wherein, as a request for assignment of the landing call for the robot, a request for assignment 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.

7. The robot management device according to claim 2, wherein a request for assignment of a 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. When the car arrives at the stop floor a 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. When 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, or the destination direction, transmitted in the first attention request, the direction from the departure floor to the destination floor or the destination direction is set as the conveyance direction of the robot, and then a determination (B1) is made as to whether or not the departure direction of the car from the arrival floor coincides with the conveyance direction. When it is determined in the determination (B1) that it coincides with the conveyance direction of the robot, a determination (C1) is made as to whether the departure floor transmitted in the first attention request coincides with either the boarding floor or the destination floor of the robot. When 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. The robot management device, wherein when it is determined in the determination (C1) that it coincides with the destination floor of the robot, a door opening extension signal is transmitted to the control device of the elevator, 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 to the control device of the elevator as a dummy signal.

8. After transmitting the cancel signal to the control device of the elevator with the direction from the boarding floor to the destination floor of the robot as the forward direction, when the moving direction of the car is reversed from the forward direction to the reverse direction, the elevator control device is requested to re-register a car call with the destination floor of the robot as the destination floor. The robot management device according to claim 1.

9. A robot used in a building where an elevator is installed. When the robot uses the elevator car to move from the boarding floor to the destination floor, after the elevator control device registers a car call with the robot's destination floor as the destination floor, a cancel signal is sent to the control device to cancel the registration of the car call for the robot with the control device. After the registration of a car call with the robot's destination floor as the destination floor is performed by the elevator control device, a predetermined period is set as the period until the stop of the car at that destination floor is determined. During that predetermined period, (1) a condition that the elevator control device is registering a car call for a user, is determined whether it is satisfied, If it is determined that the condition (1) is satisfied, then further, (2) a condition that the car stops at the destination floor indicated by the car call for the user after arriving at the robot's destination floor, is determined whether it is satisfied, If it is determined that the condition (2) is satisfied within the predetermined period, the cancel signal is sent to the elevator control device, If it is not determined that both the conditions (1) and (2) are satisfied within the predetermined period, the cancel signal is not sent to the elevator control device. A robot.

10. A program to be executed by a robot used in a building where an elevator is installed or a robot management device that manages the robot. When moving the robot from the boarding floor to the destination floor using the elevator car, after the elevator control device registers a car call with the robot's destination floor as the destination floor, a cancel signal is sent to the control device, so that the control device can cancel the registration of the car call for the robot. A program that is possible, After the registration of a car call with the robot's destination floor as the destination floor is performed by the elevator control device, a predetermined period is set as the period until the stop of the car at that destination floor is determined. During that predetermined period, (1) a condition that the elevator control device is registering a car call for a user, determine whether it is satisfied, when it is determined that the condition (1) is satisfied, further, (2) a condition that the car stops at the destination floor indicated by the car call for the user after arriving at the destination floor of the robot, determine whether it is satisfied, when it is determined that the condition (2) is satisfied within the predetermined period, transmit the cancel signal to the elevator control device, when it is not determined that both the conditions (1) and (2) are satisfied within the predetermined period, do not transmit the cancel signal to the elevator control device, A program that causes the above to be executed.

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