Elevator control device and elevator system

Abstract

To change an elevator control method and an energy-saving method in accordance with the situation of an autonomous movable body by obtaining individual attribute information corresponding to use or the like of the autonomous movable body.SOLUTION: This elevator control device for controlling an elevator permitting simultaneous boarding of a human and an autonomous movable body comprises: an attribute information input unit that inputs attribute information of the autonomous movable body which uses the elevator; a user determination unit that determines simultaneous boarding of the human and the autonomous movable body; and an operation control unit that, when the user determination unit determines use of only the autonomous movable body, performs operation control of the autonomous movable body currently in a car on the basis of the input attribute information of the autonomous movable body.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to an elevator control device and an operation method for an autonomous moving body when boarding the elevator. [Background technology]

[0002] To ensure the safety of users, elevators are controlled to ensure a comfortable ride and to stop accurately at the destination floor.

[0003] Currently, there are elevator systems that can transport both autonomous mobile objects and people. One example of this elevator system uses a camera to detect the number of passengers, and if it detects that only autonomous mobile objects are in use, it speeds up the elevator and the door opening and closing speed more than usual, thereby improving elevator operation efficiency. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-170021 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-1613 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, there are many different types and uses of autonomous mobile objects, such as security robots, robots for transporting goods, etc. A comfortable ride is not essential for a robot that simply transports goods, but in some cases, such as a robot that serves food in restaurants or hospitals, or a nursing robot that transports people who need care, a ride that is as comfortable as that of the user is required.

[0006] Furthermore, simply using a camera to detect whether or not a passenger is in the car lacks accuracy, and there is a possibility that it may not be possible to detect that a passenger is not in the car.

[0007] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an elevator control device and elevator system that can change the elevator control method and energy-saving method according to the status of an autonomous moving body by obtaining individual attribute information according to the use, etc. of the autonomous moving body. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] An embodiment for achieving the above object is an elevator control device that controls an elevator that is allowed to carry both a person and an autonomous moving body, the elevator control device including: an attribute information input unit that inputs attribute information of the autonomous moving body that uses the elevator; a user determination unit that determines whether the autonomous moving body is being used by a person; and, when the user determination unit determines that only the autonomous moving body is being used, a user determination unit that determines whether the autonomous moving body is being used by a person based on the input attribute information of the autonomous moving body. elevator and an operation control unit that controls the operation of the vehicle.

[0009] the attribute information of the autonomous moving body is composed of equipment information on the equipment of the autonomous moving body and elevator control change availability information for each autonomous moving body, and the equipment information includes the purpose of the autonomous moving body, the weight and dimensions of the autonomous moving body, the boarding floor and disembarking floor of the autonomous moving body, and the current status of the autonomous moving body; The elevator control change information includes whether to increase the car's running speed, whether to increase the car's acceleration, whether to shorten the door-opening time, whether to reduce the illuminance of the car's interior lighting, whether to erase the display on the car's interior control panel, whether to mute the announcement, and whether to stop the air-conditioning fan. The operation control unit controls elevator operation based on elevator control changeability information that matches the equipment information of each autonomous moving body. . [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2A] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of device information related to devices of the autonomous moving body, among attribute information of the autonomous moving body; [Figure 2B] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of elevator control changeability information of the autonomous moving body, among attribute information of the autonomous moving body. [Figure 3] 1 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Configuration of the embodiment The elevator system 1 of the embodiment includes a car 10, an elevator control device 20, an elevator cloud 30, an autonomous mobile body 40, and an autonomous mobile body cloud 50.

[0012] The car 10 is equipped with a car control unit 11, a car call registration button 12, a car call display unit 13, a door control unit 14, a fan 15, a car light 16, a speaker 17, an in-car camera 18, and a car weight sensor 19.

[0013] The car control unit 11 controls the operation of the car 10 in cooperation with the elevator control device 20 .

[0014] The car call registration button 12 is operated by a user in the car 10 to register the user's destination floor as a car call.

[0015] The car call display unit 13 includes an LCD or LED panel, and displays the car call (destination floor) registered using the car call registration button 12.

[0016] The door control unit 14 is a part that controls the opening and closing of the car doors, and controls the change of the door opening and closing speed and the shortening of the door opening time according to instructions from the car control unit 11.

[0017] The fan 15 is for ventilating the inside of the car 10, and is controlled by the car control unit 11 to drive, stop, and change the fan speed.

[0018] The car lighting 16 illuminates the inside of the car 10, and is controlled to reduce the illuminance or turn off when it is used only by the autonomous moving body 40, for example.

[0019] The speaker 17 plays voice guidance, music, etc. to users in the car 10, and is controlled to be silent when used only by the autonomous moving body 40. Alternatively, if the autonomous moving body 40 has a voice recognition function, it outputs voice instructions.

[0020] The car interior camera 18 is used to capture images of the interior of the car 10 to determine whether or not there are passengers in the car 10 and the situation inside the car 10.

[0021] The car weight sensor 19 is used to grasp the number of users and the number of autonomous moving bodies 40 in the car 10 based on the measured weight.

[0022] The elevator control device 20 includes an operation control unit 21, a user determination unit 22, and an attribute information input unit 23.

[0023] The operation control unit 21 controls the operation of the car 10 .

[0024] The user discrimination unit 22 discriminates whether or not a user is present in the car 10 based on the image data from the car interior camera 18 and the measurement data from the car weight sensor 19 .

[0025] In addition, the presence or absence of a passenger in the car 10 may be detected by a combination of multiple detection means, such as by comparing the attribute information (weight) of the autonomous moving body 40 with the weight of the car, by comparing the attribute information (dimensions) of the autonomous moving body 40 with the size of the moving body using an in-car camera, by detecting the number of people using an in-car camera 18, or by detecting the pressing of a button inside the car 10.

[0026] The attribute information input unit 23 inputs attribute information of the autonomous moving body 40 using the car 10 from the elevator cloud 30 .

[0027] The elevator cloud 30 includes a general control unit 31 and an attribute information input / output unit 32 .

[0028] The central control unit 31 is connected to a plurality of elevator control devices 20 to be managed, and centrally controls the plurality of elevator control devices 20.

[0029] The attribute information input / output unit 32 inputs attribute information of the autonomous mobile body 40 via the autonomous mobile body cloud 50, and the input attribute information is output by the corresponding elevator control device 20.

[0030] The autonomous mobile body 40 includes an autonomous mobile body control unit 41, an autonomous mobile body communication unit 42, a drive unit 43, and an input / output unit 44.

[0031] The autonomous mobile object control unit 41 is connected to the autonomous mobile object communication unit 42 , the drive unit 43 and the input / output unit 44 , and controls the operation of the autonomous mobile object 40 .

[0032] The autonomous mobile body communication unit 42 is connected to the autonomous mobile body cloud 50, and inputs control commands from the autonomous mobile body cloud 50, and outputs current location information and operating status data of the autonomous mobile body 40 to the autonomous mobile body cloud 50.

[0033] The drive unit 43 controls the motor to drive the autonomous moving body 40 under the control of the autonomous moving body control unit 41 .

[0034] The input / output unit 44 inputs a sensor signal from a sensor (not shown) and outputs a control command to the sensor.

[0035] The autonomous mobile cloud 50 includes an attribute information storage unit 51 and a communication unit 52 .

[0036] The attribute information storage unit 51 stores attribute information of the autonomous mobile body 40 that is the management target of the autonomous mobile body cloud 50. As shown in Figures 2A and 2B, the attribute information of the autonomous mobile body 40 is composed of device information related to the equipment of the autonomous mobile body and elevator control changeability information for each autonomous mobile body. Details will be described later.

[0037] The communication unit 52 is connected to the elevator cloud 30 and the autonomous mobile body 40, outputs attribute information of the autonomous mobile body 40 to the elevator cloud 30, outputs control commands to the autonomous mobile body 40, and inputs current location information and operating status data of the autonomous mobile body 40.

[0038] Example of attribute information of autonomous moving body 40 The attribute information of the autonomous moving body 40 is composed of device information relating to the devices of the autonomous moving body 40 shown in FIG. 2A and elevator control changeability information for each autonomous moving body 40 shown in FIG. 2B.

[0039] The equipment information includes at least one of the purpose of the autonomous mobile body, the weight and dimensions of the autonomous mobile body, the boarding and disembarking floors of the autonomous mobile body, and the current status of the autonomous mobile body. The elevator control change availability information includes at least one of the following: whether to increase the car's running speed, whether to increase the car's acceleration, whether to shorten the door-opening time, whether to reduce the illuminance of the car's interior lighting, whether to erase the display on the car's interior control panel, whether to mute the announcement, and whether to stop the air-conditioning fan. The specific example shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B will be described in detail.

[0040] The device name "Cleaning A" is a cleaning robot, weighs 10 kg, measures 40 x 40 x 80 cm, and is currently in "standby." The elevator control change availability information for Cleaning A is "available" for all of the following: increasing the car's travel speed, increasing the car's acceleration, shortening the door-open time, decreasing the brightness of the car's interior lighting, erasing the display on the car's control panel, muting the announcements, and stopping the air conditioning fan.

[0041] On the other hand, the device named "Serving A" is a robot for serving food, and is currently serving food and riding in the car. The elevator control change information for this serving A shows "No" for increasing the car's running speed, increasing the car's acceleration, and shortening the door-open time. On the other hand, it shows "Yes" for decreasing the brightness of the lighting inside the car, erasing the display on the car's control panel, silencing the announcements, and stopping the air-conditioning fan.

[0042] When the delivery is completed, such as in the case of the device named "Delivery B," the elevator control change is "allowed."

[0043] The device named "Care A" is a care robot that is currently aboard and waiting for the elevator to arrive. In this case, the elevator control change information indicates "No" for all of the following: increasing the car's running speed, increasing the car's acceleration, shortening the door-opening time, decreasing the luminance of the car's interior lighting, erasing the display on the car's control panel, muting the announcements, and stopping the air conditioning fan.

[0044] When the vehicle is currently unmanned and on standby, as in the case of device name "Care B," increasing the car's running speed, increasing the car's acceleration, and shortening the door-open time are "not allowed." On the other hand, reducing the brightness of the car's interior lighting, erasing the display on the car's control panel, muting announcements, and stopping the air-conditioning fan are "allowed."

[0045] The devices named "Delivery A" and "Delivery B" are both delivery robots, but regardless of whether their status is "in transit" or "transport completed," all elevator control change availability information is "Yes."

[0046] In addition, when multiple autonomous moving bodies are riding together, the corresponding control change is applied when it is detected based on the above attribute information that all of the riding autonomous moving bodies are marked as ○ and that no people are riding together.

[0047] As described above, in this embodiment, elevator control changes and energy-saving operation are performed according to the attribute information of the autonomous moving body (boarding floor, destination floor, weight, dimensions, speed changeability, etc.). □Regarding changes to elevator operation control, controls such as increasing speed, acceleration, and deceleration, or shortening the time the doors are held open, for example, by starting to close the doors immediately with zero waiting time when an obstacle is removed using a door sensor, etc. □Regarding elevator energy saving control, controls will be implemented such as reducing the brightness of the lighting inside the car, erasing the LCD display and the display on the control panel inside the car, stopping the fan, and stopping announcements.

[0048] <<Processing Procedure of the Embodiment>> In this embodiment, in an elevator linked to an autonomous moving body 40 moving within a building, if it detects that there is no one in the car based on a combination of multiple pieces of information, including registration information from the car call registration button, car weight information, or camera image information from inside the car, the elevator performs control such as increasing the acceleration, deceleration, or speed of the elevator more than usual, or shortening the time the elevator doors are held open, depending on the attribute information of the autonomous moving body 40.

[0049] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of this embodiment.

[0050] 3, first, it is determined whether or not there is a call for the autonomous moving body 40 (step S1). If there is a call for the autonomous moving body 40, the attribute information input unit 23 inputs the attribute information of the corresponding autonomous moving body 40 (step S2).

[0051] Next, it is determined whether the autonomous moving body 40 has boarded (step S3). If the autonomous moving body 40 has boarded, it is determined whether a person is also in the car 10 (step S4). If a person is also in the car, the elevator is controlled in normal operation without changing the control (step S5).

[0052] If there is no person in the car 10 (step S4 NO), then it is determined whether or not multiple autonomous moving bodies 40 are in the car 10 (step S6). If there are not multiple autonomous moving bodies 40 in the car 10 (step S6 NO), the elevator is controlled based on the attribute information of the corresponding autonomous moving body 40 (step S7).

[0053] If multiple autonomous moving bodies 40 are on board (step S6 YES), the logical product of the attribute information of the multiple autonomous moving bodies 40 is calculated (step S8), and the elevator is controlled based on the logical product of the attribute information (step S7).

[0054] As described above, in this embodiment, elevator control changes and energy-saving operation are performed according to the attribute information of the autonomous moving body (boarding floor, destination floor, weight, dimensions, speed changeability, etc.). Regarding changes to elevator operation control, we have implemented controls such as increasing the speed, acceleration, and deceleration, or shortening the time the doors are held open. For example, if a door sensor detects that there is no obstacle, the doors will immediately start closing with no waiting time. □ Regarding elevator energy saving control, we have implemented controls such as reducing the brightness of the lighting inside the car, erasing the LCD display and the display on the control panel inside the car, stopping the fan, and stopping announcements.

[0055] Therefore, according to this embodiment, by obtaining individual attribute information according to the use of the autonomous moving body 40, it is possible to change the elevator control method and energy saving method according to the situation of the autonomous moving body 40.

[0056] Example of change In the embodiment, the control change contents for each elevator can be specified individually for each autonomous moving body, but rather than being specified individually, when an autonomous moving body 40 boards, control may be executed uniformly or according to the attributes of the autonomous moving body 40 for each purpose.

[0057] When control is changed in accordance with the attribute information of the autonomous moving body 40, the timing for returning to the original control may be when a person is detected getting on or when the target autonomous moving body 40 disembarks. Also, when an autonomous moving body 40 with control change NG (control change not permitted) gets on, the attribute of control change NG takes priority, so normal control is restored.

[0058] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as defined in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0059] 1...elevator system, 10...car, 11...car control unit, 12...car call registration button, 13...car call display unit, 14...door control unit, 15...fan, 16...car lighting, 17...speaker, 18...in-car camera, 19...car weight sensor, 20...elevator control device, 21...operation control unit, 22...user identification unit, 23...attribute information input unit, 30...elevator cloud, 31...overall control unit, 32...attribute information input / output unit, 40...autonomous mobile body, 41...autonomous mobile body control unit, 42...autonomous mobile body communication unit, 43...drive unit, 44...input / output unit, 50...autonomous mobile body cloud, 51...attribute information storage unit, 52...communication unit.

Claims

1. An elevator control device that controls an elevator that allows a person and an autonomous moving body to ride together, an attribute information input unit that inputs attribute information of an autonomous moving body that uses the elevator; a user discrimination unit that discriminates whether a person is riding in the autonomous moving body; an operation control unit that, when the user determination unit determines that only an autonomous moving body is being used, performs operation control of an elevator based on the input attribute information of the autonomous moving body, The attribute information of the autonomous moving body is composed of equipment information regarding the equipment of the autonomous moving body and elevator control changeability information for each autonomous moving body. The device information includes the purpose of the autonomous moving body, the weight and dimensions of the autonomous moving body, the boarding floor and the disembarking floor of the autonomous moving body, and the current status of the autonomous moving body, The elevator control change information includes whether to increase the car's running speed, whether to increase the car's acceleration, whether to shorten the door-opening time, whether to reduce the illuminance of the car's interior lighting, whether to erase the display on the car's interior control panel, whether to mute the announcement, and whether to stop the air-conditioning fan. The operation control unit controls elevator operation based on elevator control changeability information that matches the equipment information of each autonomous moving body.

2. 2. The elevator control device according to claim 1, wherein, when a plurality of autonomous moving bodies are riding in the car, the operation control unit calculates a logical product of attribute information of each autonomous moving body, and performs operation control of the elevator based on the calculated attribute information.

3. 2. The elevator control device according to claim 1, wherein the user determination unit detects the presence or absence of a user by at least one of the following detection means: a comparison of the weight of the autonomous moving body, which is attribute information, with the weight of the car; a comparison of the dimensions of the autonomous moving body, which is attribute information, with the size of the moving body in the car as detected by an in-car camera; detection of the number of people using an in-car camera; or detection of operation of a car call button in the car, or a combination of these detection means.

4. The elevator control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3; an elevator cloud server that manages the elevator control device; an autonomous moving body cloud server connected to the elevator cloud server and controlling each autonomous moving body, The autonomous mobile object cloud server includes an attribute information storage unit that stores attribute information of each autonomous mobile object; an attribute information transmitting unit that transmits the attribute information stored in the attribute information storage unit to the elevator cloud server when a supply request for attribute information is received from the elevator cloud server; When the user identification unit determines that only an autonomous moving body is being used, the elevator control device performs at least one of the following elevator operation controls based on the input attribute information of the autonomous moving body: whether to increase the car's traveling speed, whether to increase the car's acceleration, whether to shorten the door-open time, whether to reduce the illuminance of the lighting inside the car, whether to erase the display on the control panel inside the car, whether to mute announcements, whether to stop the air conditioning fan, and whether to change the air conditioning fan speed.

Images