Robot-linked elevator control system

Abstract

To formulate and present countermeasures for failure modes that occur at the steps of getting on and off an elevator when a robot uses the elevator to move between floors of a building.SOLUTION: A control system for robot-linked elevators includes an autonomous mobile body that moves autonomously within a building, and a control unit that controls the operation of the elevator installed within the building while communicating with the autonomous mobile body. When a disembarking failure of the autonomous mobile body occurs, the control unit prioritizes execution of a passenger call service for another floor, and when a new passenger call service request occurs while executing the passenger call service for the other floor, the control unit automatically returns the elevator to the floor where the disembarking failure has occurred after completing execution of the new passenger call service, and when the elevator passes through the floor where the disembarking failure has occurred, the control unit stops the elevator at the floor where the disembarking failure has occurred to execute disembarking of the autonomous mobile body, and then moves the elevator to the floor where the new passenger call service is requested.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technology for controlling the coordination of a robot and an elevator system, which establishes and presents countermeasures for failure modes that may occur when an elevator is used to provide a robot with a service for moving between floors in a building. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art In various buildings constructed for residential, business, and commercial purposes, elevators are provided to enable people entering and exiting the building to move smoothly between floors.

[0003] Typically, an elevator is composed of an elevator car that moves along a vertical shaft formed inside a building, a mechanical unit consisting of a motor unit that generates power to raise and lower the elevator car and a hoisting machine, and a control unit that controls the operation of the elevator.

[0004] In recent years, services using robots within buildings have become more common, and the need for elevators to allow robots to move between floors within buildings has increased.

[0005] For example, many robots have been developed and put into practical use that move around buildings to perform tasks such as transporting goods, cleaning, and guiding customers. Robots that have been commercialized to date can move horizontally without difficulty in hallways or rooms with flat floors, but when a robot moves from one floor to another to perform work on multiple floors, it needs a means of moving between floors.

[0006] Currently, elevators are considered the optimal means for robots to move between floors, and various interlocking control technologies between robots and elevator systems have been developed to efficiently move robots to their destination floors.

[0007] Meanwhile, in the past, to ensure human safety, there were controls in place to prevent robots and humans from riding in the same elevator, but in recent years, as the use of service robots in buildings has expanded, there have been many cases where robots and humans are required to ride in the same elevator.

[0008] This type of boarding method requires, above all else, a strong need to prevent passenger convenience and service quality from being reduced by services for robots. However, since services for robots are increasingly having a positive impact on real life, we cannot delay them indefinitely, so a balanced interlocking control technology is needed to improve elevator service quality for both humans and robots. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0009] [Patent Document 1] Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2021-0049566 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0010] When a robot uses an elevator to move between floors of a building, the robot calls the elevator, then gets on the elevator when it arrives at the departure floor, moves to the destination floor, and then gets off.

[0011] At this time, the robot boarding and alighting procedure is carried out step by step while transmitting and receiving signals between the elevator control unit that controls the operation of the elevator and the robot, and the specific procedure and process are as follows.

[0012] When the robot remotely calls an elevator, the elevator controller assigns a specific elevator car to the call and moves the assigned car to the departure floor.

[0013] When the assigned elevator arrives at the departure floor, the elevator control unit opens the door and sends a "boarding permission" signal to the robot to indicate that it is ready to board. Upon receiving the boarding permission signal, the robot begins boarding by getting into the elevator car, and once boarding is complete, the robot continues to send a "boarding" signal to the elevator control unit to indicate that the boarding operation is in progress. Once the robot has completed boarding the elevator car, it sends a "boarding complete" signal to the elevator control unit, and only when it has received a boarding completion signal from the robot does the elevator control unit close the door and move the elevator car to the robot's destination floor.

[0014] The process of a robot exiting an elevator car is carried out in a similar manner. When the elevator car carrying the robot arrives at the destination floor, the elevator control unit opens the door and sends a "disembarkation permission" signal to the robot, indicating that it is ready to disembark. Upon receiving the disembarkation permission signal, the robot begins the disembarkation action of exiting the elevator car. Once the robot has started the disembarkation action, it continues to send a "disembarkation in progress" signal to the elevator control unit until disembarkation is complete, indicating that the disembarkation action is in progress. Once the robot has completed disembarking from the elevator car, it sends a "disembarkation complete" signal to the elevator control unit. Only when it has received the disembarkation completion signal from the robot does the elevator control unit close the door, allowing the elevator car to provide other services.

[0015] Meanwhile, as the above-described service procedure is performed step by step, failure modes may occur at each step. For example, failures may occur when the assigned elevator car arrives at the departure floor but the robot is not at the landing, when a signal regarding boarding or alighting is not received from the robot, or when the robot is unable to alight from the elevator for some reason. However, in the past, no specific countermeasures for such failure modes have been established, and when a failure mode occurs, the elevator manager simply assesses the situation and takes appropriate measures.

[0016] In particular, conventionally, when a "boarding" or "disembarking" signal is received from the robot indicating that the robot has begun boarding or disembarking the elevator, the elevator door close button (DCB) is disabled and the door is fixed open until a "boarding completed" or "disembarking completed" signal is received from the robot. However, if a failure occurs for some reason during the robot's boarding or disembarking procedure, and the door close button continues to be disabled (the door is fixed open) and the elevator car operation is interrupted, this can cause service delays for passengers riding with the robot or passengers waiting on other floors, resulting in inconvenience.

[0017] Furthermore, if the robot fails to dismount, the door close button will be disabled (the door will be locked open) and the elevator car will be suspended until the robot has completely dismounted, causing great inconvenience to passengers riding with it.

[0018] Even if the elevator doors are closed when the robot has failed to disembark, the robot may remain trapped inside the elevator car or may disembark at a floor different from the destination floor it intended to disembark at.

[0019] If the robot fails to disembark and ends its operation inside the elevator car, a human must come and retrieve the robot, which is a hassle. If the robot disembarks at a floor other than the destination floor, the robot may lose its way because the floor data it recognizes is different from the structure.

[0020] Furthermore, if a robot gets off at another floor, in order to reach its original destination floor again, it must start the entire process from the beginning, calling an elevator at the floor where it got off and moving to the next floor, which results in delays in the robot's service.

[0021] The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a robot-linked elevator control system that establishes and proposes specific countermeasures when a failure mode occurs during the robot-controlled elevator boarding / alighting procedure, particularly when the robot has started boarding or alighting but has not received a boarding or alighting completion signal, thereby preventing long delays in passenger service and significantly improving the overall serviceability and operational efficiency of the elevator system linked to the robot.

[0022] The present invention also provides a robot-linked elevator control system that prevents a decline in the quality of service for elevator users and a decline in the robot's work efficiency when a robot completes its ride in the elevator and arrives at the destination floor, but is unable to disembark for some reason, i.e., when the robot fails to disembark.

[0023] The technical problems of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned technical problems, and other technical problems not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description. [Means for solving the problem]

[0024] In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention provides a robot-linked elevator control system comprising: an autonomous mobile body that moves autonomously within a building; and an elevator control unit that communicates with the autonomous mobile body to operate an elevator installed within the building and control the elevator doors when the autonomous mobile body gets on and off the elevator; when the autonomous mobile body uses the elevator to move between floors of a building, if a failure mode occurs where a "boarding" signal indicating the start of boarding the elevator is received from the autonomous mobile body, but a "boarding completed" signal indicating the completion of boarding the elevator is not received from the autonomous mobile body, or a "dismounting" signal indicating the completion of dismounting from the elevator is received from the autonomous mobile body, but a "dismounting completed" signal indicating the completion of dismounting from the elevator is not received from the autonomous mobile body, the elevator control unit cancels the disablement of a door close button of the elevator after a predetermined time has elapsed since the boarding signal or the dismounting signal was received.

[0025] The elevator control unit may release the disablement of the door close button on a condition that the autonomous moving object is not detected within a door zone of the elevator.

[0026] The elevator controller can un-disable the door close button but not automatically close the elevator doors.

[0027] Meanwhile, in another aspect of the present invention to achieve the above object, a control method for a robot-linked elevator includes an autonomous mobile body that moves autonomously within a building, and an elevator control unit that communicates with the autonomous mobile body to operate an elevator installed within the building and control elevator doors when the autonomous mobile body gets on or off the elevator, the method comprising the steps of: the autonomous mobile body that has been permitted to board by the elevator control unit starts boarding the assigned elevator, and transmits a boarding signal to the elevator control unit while the boarding operation is in progress; the autonomous mobile body completes boarding the assigned elevator and transmits a boarding completion signal to the elevator control unit; the elevator control unit moves the assigned elevator in which the autonomous mobile body has completed boarding to a destination floor of the autonomous mobile body; a step of the autonomous moving body, which has been permitted to disembark by the elevator control unit, starting a disembarking operation from the assigned elevator after the assigned elevator has arrived at the destination floor, and transmitting a disembarking signal to the elevator control unit while the disembarking operation is in progress; and a step of the autonomous moving body completing disembarkation from the assigned elevator and transmitting a disembarkation completion signal to the elevator control unit, wherein when a failure mode occurs corresponding to either a case where the boarding completion signal is not received after the autonomous moving body has received a boarding signal, or a case where the disembarkation completion signal is not received after the autonomous moving body has received a disembarking signal, the elevator control unit cancels disabling of a door close button of the elevator after a predetermined time has elapsed since the boarding signal or the disembarking signal was received from the autonomous moving body.

[0028] The elevator control unit may release the disablement of the door close button on a condition that the autonomous moving object is not detected within a door zone of the elevator.

[0029] The elevator controller can un-disable the door close button but not automatically close the elevator doors. [Effects of the Invention]

[0030] The present invention establishes and presents specific countermeasures for failure modes that occur during the robot's boarding and alighting procedures when the robot uses an elevator to move between floors of a building, particularly for situations where the robot starts boarding or alighting but does not receive a signal indicating completion of boarding or alighting. This enables smooth operation of the elevator system without long-term service delays even when a failure mode occurs, and has the effect of significantly improving the overall serviceability and operational efficiency of the elevator system controlled in conjunction with the robot.

[0031] Furthermore, in the event that a robot has completed its ride in the elevator and arrived at its destination floor but is unable to disembark for some reason, i.e., the robot fails to disembark, the present invention controls the robot and elevator system in conjunction with each other so that the robot can automatically return to the floor where it failed to disembark after providing priority service in response to calls from passengers on other floors, thereby preventing a decline in the quality of service for elevator users while also allowing the robot to efficiently carry out its tasks.

[0032] The effects of the present invention are not limited to those described above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0033] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a control system for a robot-linked elevator according to the present invention. FIG. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a process in which an autonomous mobile body according to the present invention uses an elevator to move between floors of a building. [Figure 3] 10 is a flowchart showing a method for controlling an elevator when an autonomous moving body according to the present invention fails to disembark. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0034] The details of the purpose, technical configuration, operation and effect of the present invention can be more clearly understood from the detailed description of the present invention based on the accompanying drawings.

[0035] The terms used in this specification are merely used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. For example, terms such as "comprise" or "include" used in this specification should not be interpreted as including all of the components or steps described in the present specification, but should be interpreted as not including some of the components or steps, or as including additional components or steps. Furthermore, the singular expressions used in this specification include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0036] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail using preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below are provided to enable those skilled in the art to easily understand the technical concept of the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. It is understood that the embodiments of the present invention can be applied in various ways by those skilled in the art.

[0037] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a robot-linked elevator control system according to the present invention.

[0038] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a process in which an autonomous moving body according to the present invention uses an elevator to move between floors of a building. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing a method for controlling an elevator when an autonomous moving body according to the present invention fails to disembark.

[0039] Referring to FIG. 1, the robot-linked elevator control system according to the present invention includes an autonomous mobile body 10 that moves autonomously within a building, and an elevator control unit 20 that controls the operation of elevators installed within the building by communicating with the autonomous mobile body 10, and is capable of performing linked control between the autonomous mobile body 10 and the elevator.

[0040] The autonomous mobile body 10 in the present invention is a general term for all mobile devices, including robots, that can move autonomously within a building without human operation. For example, the autonomous mobile body 10 may be a service robot that performs tasks such as transporting goods such as home delivery, cleaning, and customer guidance, and can provide necessary services to customers within the building by linking with a robot management system (not shown) that controls and manages all robots that move within the building.

[0041] The autonomous mobile body 10 can communicate with an elevator control unit 20 that controls elevator operation, and the autonomous mobile body 10 can move between floors of a building through interlocking control with the elevator control unit 20. The autonomous mobile body 10 can send and receive signals related to elevator calls, destination floor registration, boarding and alighting operations, etc., with the elevator control unit 20, and more detailed information will be provided later.

[0042] The communication between the autonomous moving body 10 and the elevator control unit 20 and the robot management system can be realized using wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), WiFi (registered trademark), CAN, WAN, or the like, or wired communication.

[0043] The autonomous mobile body 10 can recognize the space within a building and move autonomously using self-position estimation technology (SLAM: Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) based on information collected using Lidar, short-range sensors, ultrasonic sensors, cameras, etc.

[0044] In addition, the autonomous mobile body 10 can store information about the internal / external structure of the building and the location of elevators within the building in its own database, and can use an internal algorithm to determine the optimal distance and movement route from its current location to the elevator, calculated in real time using self-location estimation technology.

[0045] The elevator control unit 20 controls the overall operation and behavior of the elevator, assigning the most suitable elevator car to calls input from each floor in the building, including passenger button inputs, remote calls, or calls received from the autonomous mobile body 10, and controls the assigned elevator car to move to the floor where the call was input.

[0046] The elevator control unit 20 can be configured to include a call receiving unit 21 that receives and processes elevator call signals generated by passengers or the autonomous mobile body 10; an allocation unit 22 that determines and allocates the most suitable elevator car from multiple elevator cars installed in the building in response to the received call signal; a boarding / alighting control unit 23 that controls the boarding and alighting operations of the autonomous mobile body 10 relative to the elevator car; and a travel control unit 24 that controls the travel of the elevator car.

[0047] The elevator control unit 20 provides a service of assigning the most suitable elevator car and moving the elevator car in response to passenger button input or remote call, but since this can be achieved using conventional publicly known technology, the following description will focus on control related to the autonomous moving body 10.

[0048] The call receiving unit 21 can receive a request to board an elevator from the autonomous mobile body 10. Information included in the request to board an elevator includes information on the departure floor where the autonomous mobile body 10 is currently located and information on the destination floor to which the autonomous mobile body 10 is going, and may further include information on the travel time required for the autonomous mobile body 10 to arrive at the boarding / alighting area, weight, volume, purpose of using the elevator, and the like.

[0049] When the allocation unit 22 receives a request from an autonomous mobile body 10 to board an elevator, it performs a correlation analysis between the traffic volume within the building and the location information of multiple available elevator cars and the autonomous mobile body 10, and determines and allocates the most efficient elevator car.

[0050] More specifically, the allocation unit 22 detects status information regarding the occupancy rate or remaining capacity of multiple elevator cars operating within the building, and extracts an available elevator car that the autonomous moving body 10 can board based on information such as the weight and volume of the autonomous moving body 10 included in the boarding request information received from the autonomous moving body 10.

[0051] Then, the optimum elevator car is allocated taking into consideration the positions of the extracted available elevator cars and the position of the autonomous moving body 10. At this time, not only information about the call floor for which the autonomous moving body 10 has requested boarding, but also information about the time required for the autonomous moving body 10 to move from its current position to the boarding area can be taken into consideration in order to select the optimum car.

[0052] In addition, instead of the autonomous mobile body 10 calculating its own position information by itself, the autonomous mobile body may further be provided with a position collection unit (not shown) that tracks the position of the autonomous mobile body 10 within a floor in real time based on signals emitted by the autonomous mobile body 10 and calculates the time required for the autonomous mobile body 10 to move from its current position to the boarding / alighting area.

[0053] The boarding / alighting control unit 23 manages and controls the overall operations related to boarding and alighting from the elevator car assigned to the autonomous moving body 10 that has requested to board the elevator.

[0054] For example, if the autonomous mobile body 10 is moving to a platform, it transmits a "moving" signal to the boarding / alighting control unit 23, and if it has already arrived at the platform, it transmits a "waiting" signal to notify that it is waiting at the platform. The boarding / alighting control unit 23 then determines whether the autonomous mobile body 10 can board the elevator based on the information received from the autonomous mobile body 10, and if it determines that it can, it transmits a signal to the autonomous mobile body 10 instructing it to board the elevator car.

[0055] In addition, in relation to the disembarking operation of the autonomous mobile body 10, the boarding / disembarking control unit 23 instructs the autonomous mobile body 10 to disembark from the elevator car when the autonomous mobile body 10 arrives at the destination floor after completing boarding in the elevator car.

[0056] In order to realize the boarding and alighting operation of the autonomous mobile body 10 getting on and off the elevator car, the boarding and alighting control unit 23 can be linked with a door control unit 25 that controls the opening and closing of the doors of the elevator car stopped at the service floor and the doors of the boarding and alighting area.

[0057] The travel control unit 24 controls the travel operation of the elevator car, which moves up and down within a vertical hoistway formed within a building, and performs controls such as driving the hoist motor to start the elevator car traveling and driving the brake to stop the elevator car.

[0058] In addition, in this embodiment, the driving control unit 24 controls the operation of the elevator car by generating a command signal to move the elevator car assigned in response to a boarding request from the autonomous mobile body 10 to the floor where the autonomous mobile body 10 is located, or by generating a command signal to move the elevator car in which the autonomous mobile body 10 is riding to the destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10.

[0059] The process in which the autonomous moving body 10 uses an elevator to move between floors in a building will be described below in sequence according to a series of steps, with reference to FIG.

[0060] The autonomous mobile body 10 can remotely call an elevator car through wireless or wired communication with the elevator control unit 20. When the autonomous mobile body 10 needs to move between floors in a building, it transmits a "boarding request" signal to the elevator control unit 20 requesting that an elevator car be called.

[0061] The call receiving unit 21 of the elevator control unit 20 receives a "boarding request" signal from the autonomous moving body 10, and the allocation unit 22 allocates the optimal elevator car from among multiple available elevator cars, taking into consideration the information included in the "boarding request" signal and the location information of elevator cars available in the building. The allocation unit 22 provides the autonomous moving body 10 with information on the allocated elevator car and its corresponding landing.

[0062] The autonomous moving body 10 receives information about the platform corresponding to the assigned elevator car, moves to the platform, and periodically reports the movement status to the elevator control unit 20 during the movement. When the autonomous moving body 10 arrives at the platform, it transmits a signal indicating that it is waiting at the platform.

[0063] The elevator control unit 20 can detect whether the autonomous mobile body 10 has arrived at the landing corresponding to the assigned elevator car. Here, whether the autonomous mobile body 10 has arrived at the landing can be determined based on the position information acquired by the autonomous mobile body 10 itself using a self-localization technique as described above or the position information of the autonomous mobile body 10 collected by a position collection unit (not shown) of the additional autonomous mobile body.

[0064] When the autonomous mobile body 10 is detected at a boarding / alighting area, the boarding / alighting control unit 23 of the elevator control unit 20 opens the door of the elevator car assigned to the autonomous mobile body 10 and sends a ``boarding permission'' signal to the autonomous mobile body 10.

[0065] On the other hand, if the autonomous mobile body 10 arrives later than the elevator car, and the predicted arrival time of the autonomous mobile body 10 is equal to or less than a predetermined set value, the elevator car and the hall doors are controlled to wait in an open state until the autonomous mobile body 10 arrives, and if the arrival of the autonomous mobile body 10 is delayed beyond the predetermined set time, a signal to cancel the current call is transmitted to the autonomous mobile body 10. Upon receiving the cancellation signal, the autonomous mobile body 10 calls the elevator again, and the elevator control unit 20 further assigns an optimal car for the re-call of the autonomous mobile body 10 and controls the elevator car to run to the service floor.

[0066] The autonomous mobile body 10, which has received a "boarding permission" signal from the boarding / alighting control unit 23, executes a boarding operation to board the assigned elevator car. The autonomous mobile body 10 continuously transmits a "boarding" signal to the boarding / alighting control unit 23 from the start to the completion of the boarding operation to notify that the boarding operation is in progress. The boarding / alighting control unit 23, in cooperation with the door control unit 25, controls the doors not to close while the autonomous mobile body 10 is passing through the elevator doorway.

[0067] When the autonomous moving body 10 has completed boarding in the elevator car, the autonomous moving body 10 transmits a "boarding complete" signal to the boarding / alighting control unit 23, indicating that the boarding has been completed.

[0068] When the elevator control unit 20 receives a "boarding complete" signal from the autonomous mobile body 10, it closes the elevator doors, automatically registers the destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10, and executes control to move the elevator car to the destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10.

[0069] When the elevator car arrives at the destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10, the elevator control unit 20 opens the doors of the elevator car and the boarding and alighting area at the arrival floor (destination floor), and the boarding and alighting control unit 23 sends a ``disembarkation permission'' signal to the autonomous mobile body 10 instructing it to disembark.

[0070] The autonomous mobile body 10 that has received the "disembarkation permission" signal executes the disembarking operation to disembark from the elevator. At this time, the autonomous mobile body 10 can continuously transmit the "disembarking" signal to the boarding / alighting control unit 23 from the start to the completion of the disembarking operation to notify that the disembarking operation is in progress, and the boarding / alighting control unit 23 controls the doors not to close while the autonomous mobile body 10 passes through the elevator doorway in cooperation with the door control unit 25.

[0071] When the autonomous moving body 10 has completed disembarking from the elevator car, the autonomous moving body 10 transmits a "disembarkation completed" signal to the boarding / alighting control unit 23, indicating that disembarkation has been completed.

[0072] When the elevator control unit 20 receives a "disembarkation completed" signal from the autonomous moving body 10, the elevator control unit 20 closes the elevator doors and ends the floor movement service for the autonomous moving body 10.

[0073] Meanwhile, in the course of executing the series of processes as described above, various problems may occur when getting on and off the autonomous moving body 10. For example, there are the following five cases.

[0074] 1) When the elevator car assigned in response to a call to the autonomous mobile body 10 arrives at the call floor, the waiting state of the platform for the autonomous mobile body 10 is not recognized, i.e., when a boarding request (call) for the autonomous mobile body 10 occurs and the elevator car assigned in response to the call arrives at the departure floor, but a platform waiting signal is not received from the autonomous mobile body 10.

[0075] 2) When the autonomous moving body 10 does not start boarding until a predetermined time has elapsed since the elevator car assigned in response to the call of the autonomous moving body 10 arrived at the call floor, i.e., when the elevator control unit 20 receives a waiting signal for a boarding area from the autonomous moving body 10 and transmits a boarding permission signal to the autonomous moving body 10, but does not receive a boarding signal from the autonomous moving body 10.

[0076] 3) When the autonomous moving body 10 recognizes that it is riding in the assigned elevator car but does not proceed to the next step of completing the ride, i.e., when it receives a signal from the autonomous moving body 10 indicating that it is riding but does not receive a signal indicating that it has completed the ride.

[0077] 4) When the elevator car in which the autonomous moving body 10 has completed boarding arrives at the destination floor, but the autonomous moving body 10 does not begin disembarking until a predetermined time has elapsed, i.e., when the elevator control unit 20 receives a boarding completion signal from the autonomous moving body 10 and the elevator car carrying the autonomous moving body 10 arrives at the destination floor, the elevator control unit 20 transmits a disembarkation permission signal to the autonomous moving body 10, but does not receive a disembarking signal from the autonomous moving body 10.

[0078] 5) When the autonomous moving body 10 recognizes that it is dismounting from the elevator car, but does not proceed to the next step, dismount completion, i.e., when a dismounting signal is received from the autonomous moving body 10 but a dismount completion signal is not received.

[0079] As described above, among the failure modes that occur in each step, cases "3) and "5)" in particular are failure modes that occur after the autonomous moving body 10 notifies the elevator car that it is getting on or off, and therefore include cases where the autonomous moving body 10 fails or rolls over while getting on or off the elevator car and is unable to proceed with the getting on or off operation. Therefore, since there is a possibility that the autonomous moving body 10 is located within the elevator door zone, more proactive countermeasures must be taken.

[0080] However, even if a signal indicating boarding completion or disembarking completion is not received from the autonomous mobile body 10, this does not mean that the autonomous mobile body 10 has malfunctioned or rolled over, but rather that due to a communication problem between the autonomous mobile body 10 and the elevator control unit 20 while the autonomous mobile body 10 is boarding / disembarking, it may not be possible to recognize that the boarding completion or disembarking completion state of the autonomous mobile body 10 is complete.

[0081] Therefore, the present invention establishes and presents specific countermeasures for failure modes in which a boarding or disembarking completion signal is not received from the autonomous moving body 10, including cases that occur due to simple communication problems as described above.

[0082] On the other hand, the countermeasures described below can be set to respond differently depending on whether the elevator used by the autonomous mobile body 10 is set to a "shared mode" in which robots and humans can ride together, or a "robot-only mode" in which only robots can ride.

[0083] Furthermore, the robot-linked elevator control system according to the present invention can set a predetermined time value for the waiting time for the elevator doors to open. Here, the "waiting time for the elevator doors to open" refers to the time the doors wait in an open state. That is, it can refer to the time from when the doors are fully open to just before they start to close, excluding the time required for the door opening and closing operations.

[0084] In particular, the robot-linked elevator control system of the present invention can operate the elevator door open waiting time with two set values ​​depending on the elevator setting mode: a "general open waiting time" for general passengers (human passengers) to board and disembark, and a "robot open waiting time" for autonomous moving bodies (robots) 10 to board and disembark.

[0085] The "general open waiting time" is a normal setting value applied when opening and closing the elevator doors when the autonomous moving body 10 is not scheduled to be used. When the general open waiting time is applied, the elevator doors can be fully opened and kept open for a short period of time (e.g., about 2 to 4 seconds) before being switched to a closed state.

[0086] The "robot opening waiting time" is a setting value applied when the elevator doors are opened and closed when the autonomous moving body 10 gets on and off, and can be set to a time value (e.g., 40 seconds) longer than the general opening waiting time. The general opening waiting time and the robot opening waiting time are arbitrary setting values ​​that can be changed depending on the elevator door entry and exit environment, etc.

[0087] Furthermore, the "elevator door" to which the general opening waiting time and the robot opening waiting time are applied can be understood as a concept including both the elevator car door and the landing door, and the setting of the door opening time and the control of the door opening and closing can be performed by the door control unit 25 as described above.

[0088] Below, the control logic corresponding to the method of dealing with the occurrence of a failure mode in which a "boarding complete" or "disembarking complete" signal is not received from the autonomous moving body 10 will be described for each setting mode of the elevator.

[0089] I. If the boarding completion signal is not received A. Steady-state operation First, to compare with the response in the failure mode, we will briefly explain the operation in the steady state. If the autonomous mobile body 10 receives a boarding signal and then a boarding completion signal from the autonomous mobile body 10, this means that the autonomous mobile body 10 has successfully boarded inside the elevator car, so the elevator control unit 20 closes the elevator doors and causes the elevator car to depart to the destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10.

[0090] B. How to deal with shared rides When receiving a boarding signal from the autonomous moving body 10, the elevator control unit 20 disables the door close button (DCB) and keeps the elevator doors open. However, if a problem occurs with boarding the autonomous moving body 10 in this state and the elevator car is kept waiting until a boarding completion signal is received from the autonomous moving body 10, this may cause great inconvenience to other passengers.

[0091] Therefore, in the present invention, if a signal indicating boarding completion is not received from the autonomous moving body 10 until a predetermined time (preferably the robot's waiting time for opening) has elapsed after receiving a signal indicating boarding from the autonomous moving body 10, the door close button is released from being disabled, and the door can be closed by the passenger pressing the door close button.

[0092] However, in this case, since a signal indicating that the autonomous moving body 10 is aboard has been received, there is a possibility that the autonomous moving body 10 is present within the elevator door zone, and therefore the elevator doors will not be automatically closed even after a predetermined time or the robot's open waiting time has elapsed. In other words, the door close button is released from being disabled, but the elevator doors will not be automatically closed. This is to prevent damage caused by the doors closing if the autonomous moving body 10 is present within the elevator door zone.

[0093] The elevator doors do not close automatically, but the door close button is released from being disabled, so other passengers using the elevator can check whether they are in a position to close the doors, and if so, operate the door close button to close the doors and send the elevator car to another floor.

[0094] However, in this case, the disablement of the door close button can be released only under the condition that it is determined that the autonomous moving body 10 is not present in the elevator door zone using a monitoring device (for example, a camera or an object detection sensor) installed in the elevator door zone. If the autonomous moving body 10 is detected in the elevator door zone, the disablement of the door close button will not be released.

[0095] Furthermore, the elevator control unit 20 can release the disabling of the elevator door close button as a predetermined time passes, and can also directly close the elevator doors if the monitoring device does not detect the autonomous moving body 10 or other objects in the elevator door zone. However, in this case, the elevator door zone must be in a clean state where not only the autonomous moving body 10 but also other objects are not detected.

[0096] C. Robot-only mode Similarly, in the robot-only mode, when a signal indicating that the autonomous moving body 10 is on board is received, the elevator control unit 20 disables the door close button and keeps the elevator doors open.

[0097] However, since the robot-only mode is a mode that is not used by human passengers, the door can remain open while the door close button remains disabled even if a signal indicating that boarding has been completed for the autonomous moving body 10 is not received until a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0098] In this case, fault handling for the autonomous mobile body 10 can be performed as necessary, and after the fault handling for the autonomous mobile body 10 is completed, the elevator control unit 20 receives a specific command from the robot management system that manages the autonomous mobile body 10 to disable the door close button, close the elevator doors, and depart the elevator car to provide service at another floor.

[0099] II. If the disembarkation signal is not received A. Steady-state operation When the autonomous mobile body 10 receives a signal indicating that it is disembarking and then a signal indicating that disembarkation is complete, this means that the autonomous mobile body 10 has successfully disembarked from the elevator car, so the elevator control unit 20 can close the elevator doors and end the transportation service for the autonomous mobile body 10 to the floor.

[0100] B. How to deal with shared rides The response method in this case can be the same as in the case where a boarding completion signal is not received. When a signal indicating that the autonomous mobile body 10 is disembarking is received, the elevator control unit 20 disables the door close button and keeps the elevator doors open. However, even in this case, having the elevator car wait until a disembarkation completion signal is received from the autonomous mobile body 10 may cause significant inconvenience to other passengers. Therefore, the present invention can release the disablement of the door close button and close the doors according to the passenger's input if a disembarkation completion signal is not received until a predetermined time (preferably the robot's open waiting time) has elapsed after receiving a disembarkation signal from the autonomous mobile body 10.

[0101] However, in this case, since a signal indicating disembarking has been received from the autonomous mobile body 10, there is a possibility that the autonomous mobile body 10 is present within the elevator door zone, so the elevator doors will not be automatically closed even after a predetermined time or the robot's waiting time for opening has elapsed.

[0102] The elevator doors will not close automatically, but the door close button will be released from being disabled, allowing other passengers using the elevator to check whether they are in a position to close the doors, and if so, operate the door close button to close the doors and allow the elevator car to depart to another floor.

[0103] However, in this case, the disablement of the door close button can be released only under the condition that it is determined that the autonomous moving body 10 is not present in the elevator door zone using a monitoring device (for example, a camera or an object detection sensor) installed in the elevator door zone. If the autonomous moving body 10 is detected within the elevator door zone, the disablement of the door close button will not be released.

[0104] Furthermore, the elevator control unit 20 can release the disabling of the elevator door close button as a predetermined time passes, and can also directly close the elevator doors if the monitoring device does not detect the autonomous moving body 10 or other objects in the elevator door zone. However, in this case, the elevator door zone must be in a clean state where not only the autonomous moving body 10 but also other objects are not detected.

[0105] C. Robot-only mode The response method in this case can be the same as that in the case where the boarding completion signal is not received. Similarly, in the robot-only mode, when a signal that the autonomous moving body 10 is disembarking is received, the elevator control unit 20 disables the door close button and keeps the elevator doors open.

[0106] However, since the robot-only mode is a mode that is not used by human passengers, the door can remain open while the door close button remains disabled even if a signal indicating disembarkation is not received from the autonomous moving body 10 until a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0107] In this case, fault handling for the autonomous mobile body 10 can be performed as necessary, and after the fault handling for the autonomous mobile body 10 is completed, the elevator control unit 20 can receive a specific command from the robot management system that manages the autonomous mobile body 10 to disable the door close button, close the elevator doors, and depart the elevator car to serve another floor.

[0108] If a "boarding complete" or "disembarking complete" signal is not received from the autonomous moving body 10, the following [Table 1] summarizes how to respond for each elevator setting mode.

[0109] [Table 1]

[0110] As described above, the robot-linked elevator control system of the present invention is characterized by the fact that when a failure occurs during the robot's boarding / alighting procedure while the robot is using the elevator to move between floors in a building, particularly when the robot starts boarding or alighting but does not receive a signal indicating boarding or alighting completion, the system establishes a response procedure to control the elevator doors under specified conditions and release the open lock (release the disablement of the door close button), thereby effectively preventing elevator service delays and enabling efficient operation.

[0111] On the other hand, an elevator set to the shared mode handles calls from both robots and general users, so it is necessary to control the operation of the elevator in consideration of the service efficiency for both objects.

[0112] In the present invention, when an autonomous mobile body 10 completes its ride in the elevator car and arrives at the destination floor, but an "alighting failure" occurs in which the autonomous mobile body 10 is unable to alight at the destination floor, the elevator control logic is configured as follows to prevent a degradation of service for passengers riding in the elevator car and to prevent a decrease in the efficiency of the autonomous mobile body 10's business execution.

[0113] A typical example of a failure to dismount the autonomous moving body 10 is as follows. The autonomous moving body 10 arrives at the destination floor, but does not receive data corresponding to the disembarkation permission signal, and misses the disembarkation timing. The autonomous moving body 10 recognizes that it has arrived at the destination floor, but it is physically impossible for the passenger to disembark due to congestion in the elevator, mischief by passengers, or items the passengers are carrying. When the autonomous moving body 10 is about to get off, a passenger in the elevator car presses the door close button, causing the door to close before the autonomous moving body 10 can get off. When the destination floor designation registered by the autonomous moving body 10 is canceled for some reason and the autonomous moving body 10 does not stop at the destination floor.

[0114] The control system for the robot-linked elevator according to the present invention, when an autonomous mobile body 10 that has completed boarding the elevator car as described above fails to disembark at the destination floor, memorizes the current floor (the floor where disembarkation failed) when a passenger call service for another floor is requested from the elevator car, switches the elevator doors to a closed state, prioritizes the passenger call service for the other floor, and controls the autonomous mobile body 10 to automatically return to the destination floor where it originally intended to disembark, so that the autonomous mobile body 10 can disembark.

[0115] Furthermore, if a disembarkation failure occurs for the autonomous mobile body 10 and a new passenger call service request occurs while passenger call service to another floor is being prioritized, the elevator car will be moved to the destination floor where the autonomous mobile body 10 originally intended to disembark only after all services for the newly registered call have been completed and there are no more calls to other floors.

[0116] In other words, when an alighting failure occurs in the autonomous mobile body 10, the control system of the robot-linked elevator according to the present invention controls the elevator car to return to the original destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10, provided that after all requests for passenger call services that have already been registered, as well as requests for passenger call services that newly arise while executing the passenger call services that have already been registered after the alighting failure of the autonomous mobile body 10, are completed and no further requests for passenger call services occur.

[0117] However, if the path of the elevator car moving to provide service to the floor where the new call has occurred passes through the destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10, the elevator car can be controlled to stop first at the destination floor of the autonomous mobile body 10 and then move to the new call floor after the autonomous mobile body 10 has disembarked.

[0118] If the floor where the new call is made is the same as the destination floor for disembarking the autonomous moving body 10, then naturally the autonomous moving body 10 can disembark when it stops at that floor.

[0119] In the present invention, when an autonomous mobile body 10 fails to disembark, priority service can be limited to requests for call service from human passengers. In other words, even if a call service request from another autonomous mobile body exists or occurs newly when an autonomous mobile body 10 fails to disembark, this does not apply to the present invention.

[0120] In the above, "request for passenger call service" not only includes a request for a service to call an elevator car to a floor by pressing a button at the boarding / alighting area of ​​another floor or by remote calling, but also includes a case where a passenger already in the elevator car presses a button in the car to specify another floor as the destination floor.

[0121] On the other hand, when the robot is in the elevator boarding / alighting mode, the elevator control unit 20 normally sets the elevator door control in a state where it is temporarily unable to control the elevator door. Specifically, when the elevator control unit 20 issues a "boarding permission" or "alighting permission" command to the robot, it disables the closing of the elevator door and keeps the door fixed open until it receives a "boarding completed" or "alighting completed" signal from the robot.

[0122] However, if the door remains open and fixed until the autonomous mobile body 10 receives a "disembarkation complete" signal despite the occurrence of a disembarkation failure where the autonomous mobile body 10 is unable to disembark at the destination floor as described above, it will cause great inconvenience to the general passengers riding in the elevator car.

[0123] Therefore, the present invention provides a system that can release the elevator doors from being locked open under specified conditions when an autonomous moving body 10 fails to disembark, and can give priority to passenger call services to other floors.

[0124] First, the autonomous mobile body 10 searches for a disembarking route using a camera or spatial detection sensor installed on the autonomous mobile body 10, and if it determines that disembarking is not possible at the destination floor, the autonomous mobile body 10 generates a ``disembarkation cancel'' signal and sends it to the boarding and disembarking control unit 23.

[0125] In addition, if a monitoring device such as a spatial recognition camera installed inside the elevator car detects a situation in which the autonomous mobile body 10 is unable to disembark, the autonomous mobile body 10 sends a "disembarkation canceled" signal to the boarding and disembarking control unit 23.

[0126] Then, if the elevator doors close for some reason after receiving a "disembarking" signal from the autonomous moving body 10 but not receiving a "disembarking completed" signal, or if the elevator doors close for some reason after receiving a "disembarking" signal from the autonomous moving body 10 but not receiving a "disembarking completed" signal until the previously set disembarking time limit for the autonomous moving body 10 has elapsed, the boarding / disembarking control unit 23 can itself generate a "disembarkation canceled" signal. Here, the disembarking time limit for the autonomous moving body 10 can be set arbitrarily and can be changed depending on the size of the elevator, the specifications of the autonomous moving body 10, etc.

[0127] When the autonomous mobile body 10 sends a "disembarkation cancel" signal to the boarding / alighting control unit 23, or when the boarding / alighting control unit 23 itself generates a "disembarkation cancel" signal, the elevator control unit 20 stores information about the current floor, i.e., the information about the floor where the autonomous mobile body 10 failed to disembark, in memory, and then releases the elevator door from its open state, switches the door to a closed state, and allows the elevator car to depart to provide passenger service to another floor.

[0128] Then, the elevator control unit 20 can control the elevator car to return to the destination floor where the autonomous mobile body 10 originally intended to disembark, after performing both the call service for the passengers already registered at other floors and the call service for the newly registered passengers.

[0129] When the elevator car, which has completed all passenger services at other floors, returns to the destination floor of the autonomous moving body 10, it transmits a signal to the autonomous moving body 10 to allow the body to disembark while keeping the elevator door open for a predetermined time, as in the existing disembarkation procedure, to guide the body to disembark.

[0130] On the other hand, if the autonomous mobile body 10 fails to disembark but no request for passenger call service for other floors occurs, the elevator door is kept open and waits until it receives a "disembarkation completed" message from the autonomous mobile body 10.

[0131] In other words, in a situation where the autonomous mobile body 10 is disembarking but the disembarking completion is not recognized, if there is no request for passenger call service to other floors even after the specified disembarking time limit has passed, the elevator doors can be kept open at the current disembarking floor to provide continuous opportunities for the autonomous mobile body 10 to disembark.

[0132] The control method for the robot-linked elevator according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0133] 3, the robot-linked elevator control method according to the present invention includes a step (S10) of calling an elevator car in response to a boarding request from the autonomous mobile body 10, a step (S20) of the autonomous mobile body 10 arriving at the boarding area of ​​the departure floor (call floor), a step (S30) of the autonomous mobile body 10 boarding an assigned elevator car at the boarding area of ​​the departure floor, a step (S40) of the elevator car carrying the autonomous mobile body 10 moving from the departure floor and arriving at the destination floor, a step (S50) of instructing the autonomous mobile body 10 to disembark from the elevator car, a step (S60) of detecting whether disembarkation of the autonomous mobile body 10 is complete, a step (S70) of checking whether a disembarkation cancellation signal for canceling disembarkation of the autonomous mobile body 10 is received if a disembarkation completion signal of the autonomous mobile body 10 is not received, and a step (S70) of checking whether a passenger call service request for another floor is received if a disembarkation cancellation signal of the autonomous mobile body 10 is received. The process can include a step (S80), a step (S90) of storing information about the current floor where the autonomous mobile body 10 failed to disembark in memory if there is a request for passenger call service for another floor, a step (S100) of prioritizing the execution of passenger call service for another floor, a step (S110) of confirming that another new passenger call service request has occurred while the passenger call service for another floor is being executed, and if such a request is confirmed, executing the passenger call service for the relevant floor, a step (S120) of returning the elevator car carrying the autonomous mobile body 10 to the disembarkation failure floor stored in memory on the condition that no further new passenger call service requests are generated, a step (S130) of opening the elevator door upon arrival at the disembarkation failure floor and again instructing the autonomous mobile body 10 to disembark, a step (S140) of the autonomous mobile body 10 completing disembarkation, and a step (S150) of the autonomous mobile body 10 ending the movement service for the floor.

[0134] The characteristics of each step can be easily understood by referring to the interlocking control part between the autonomous mobile body 10 and the elevator system and the control logic part when the autonomous mobile body 10 fails to disembark, so specific details will be omitted.

[0135] In step S60, if a signal indicating that the autonomous moving body 10 has completed disembarking is received normally, it is recognized that the autonomous moving body 10 has successfully moved between floors using the elevator, and the service is terminated (S150).

[0136] In step S80, if a request for passenger call service for another floor is not confirmed, the elevator doors can be kept open at the current floor to guide the autonomous moving body 10 to disembark (S81), and if a request for passenger call service for another floor occurs, the process can proceed to the next step (S90).

[0137] The robot-linked elevator control system according to the present invention described above can be implemented by a computer or a server with a program that executes a process of processing signals received from the autonomous moving body 10 and the elevator control unit 20 and generating and outputting corresponding commands. In addition, it can include a recording medium in which data is stored and recorded during the process, and examples of the recording medium include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage device, etc.

[0138] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the technical gist of the present invention. Therefore, it should be understood that such modifications and changes fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0139] 10: Autonomous mobile object 20: Elevator control unit 21: Call receiving unit 22: Allocation section 23: Boarding and alighting control unit 24: Driving control unit 25: Door control unit

Claims

1. an autonomous mobile body that moves autonomously within a building; an elevator control unit that controls operation of an elevator installed in the building while communicating with the autonomous moving body; Equipped with The elevator control unit If a passenger fails to disembark from the autonomous moving body, priority is given to a passenger call service for another floor; If a new passenger call service request occurs while the passenger call service for the other floor is being executed, the elevator is automatically returned to the floor where the disembarkation failure occurred after the execution of the new passenger call service is completed; When the elevator passes through the floor where the disembarkation failure occurred when the new passenger call service is executed, the elevator is stopped at the floor where the disembarkation failure occurred, the autonomous moving body is allowed to disembark, and then the elevator is moved to the floor where the new passenger call service is requested. Robot-linked elevator control system.

2. 2. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 1, the elevator control unit, when a disembarkation failure of the autonomous moving body occurs, stores the floor where the disembarkation failure occurred in a memory, and after preferentially executing a passenger call service for the other floor, automatically returns the elevator to the floor where the disembarkation failure occurred and retries disembarking the autonomous moving body. Robot-linked elevator control system.

3. 2. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 1, The elevator control unit a call receiving unit that receives a call request for the elevator from the autonomous moving body; an allocation unit that determines and allocates the optimal elevator in response to the call request of the autonomous moving body; and a travel control unit that controls the travel of the elevator. Robot-linked elevator control system.

4. 2. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 1, the elevator control unit includes a boarding / alighting control unit that controls the operation of the autonomous moving body in the elevator, The boarding / alighting control unit is characterized in that, when the elevator arrives at the destination floor, it transmits a "disembarkation permission" signal to the autonomous moving body. Robot-linked elevator control system.

5. 5. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 4, The autonomous moving body is When the "disembarkation permission" signal is received from the boarding / disembarking control unit, the disembarking operation from the elevator is started; Transmitting a signal of "dismounting" to the boarding / dismounting control unit from the start time of the dismounting operation to the completion time of the dismounting operation, When the dismounting operation is completed, a signal of "dismounting completed" is transmitted to the boarding / dismounting control unit. Robot-linked elevator control system.

6. 6. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 5, the elevator control unit includes a door control unit that opens and closes elevator doors in cooperation with the boarding / alighting control unit, The door control unit controls the elevator doors not to close while the "disembarking" signal is received by the boarding / alighting control unit. Robot-linked elevator control system.

7. 7. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 6, When the boarding / alighting control unit cancels the alighting command of the autonomous moving body by a “alighting cancellation” signal, The door control unit releases the door open lock of the elevator. Robot-linked elevator control system.

8. 8. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 7, When the boarding / alighting control unit cancels the alighting command of the autonomous moving body by a “alighting cancellation” signal, If the autonomous moving body determines by itself that it is unable to disembark from the elevator, When a monitoring device detects a situation in which the autonomous moving body cannot get off the elevator, If a predetermined time has elapsed without receiving the "dismounting" signal from the autonomous moving body after the "dismounting" signal has been received, At least one of the following applies: Robot-linked elevator control system.

9. 8. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 7, The "cancel disembarkation" signal is The boarding / alighting control unit receives the information from the autonomous moving body, or The boarding and alighting control unit generates the boarding and alighting control signal itself. Robot-linked elevator control system.

10. 8. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 7, When the "disembarkation cancellation" signal is generated and there is a request for a passenger call service for the other floor, the elevator control unit switches the elevator door to a closed state and causes the elevator to depart in order to provide the passenger call service for the other floor. Robot-linked elevator control system.

11. 8. The robot-linked elevator control system according to claim 7, When the "disembarkation cancellation" signal is generated and there is no request for a passenger call service for the other floors, the elevator control unit continues to provide disembarkation opportunities for the autonomous moving body while maintaining the elevator door in an open state. Robot-linked elevator control system.

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