A solution for providing condition data of an elevator system

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for providing condition data of an elevator system (100). The method comprises: establishing (310), by a mobile terminal device (220), a communication connection (240) to a local storage device (210) of the elevator system (100) into which historical operating data of the elevator system (100) is collected and stored; obtaining (320), by the mobile terminal device (220), the historical operating data of the elevator system (100) from the local storage device (210); and analyzing (330), by the mobile terminal device (220), the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system (100) to produce the condition data of the elevator system (100). The invention relates also to a mobile terminal device (220), an elevator condition analyzing system (200), an elevator system (100), a computer program (425), and a computer-readable medium for providing condition data of an elevator system (100).

Description

[0001] A solution for providing condition data of an elevator system

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The invention concerns in general the technical field of elevator systems. Especially the invention concerns producing condition data of elevator systems.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Typically, an elevator system produces large amounts of elevator system related data. This elevator system related data may for example include indicators about the condition of the elevator system. In other words, the elevator system related data produced by the elevator system may be used to provide condition data of the elevator system. This elevator system related data may be generated for example by an elevator control system, a door operator, an elevator drive unit, and / or sensor devices of the elevator system.

[0006] In order to produce condition data of the elevator system, i.e. data representing the condition of the elevator system, the produced elevator system related data needs to be analyzed. Also, some other data processing operations may be performed to produce the condition data, e.g. one or more diagnostic operations. Processing, e.g. analyzing, large amounts of data requires a large computing capacity. Typically, local computing units, e.g. edge devices, installed at the elevator systems have limited computing capacity due to cost reasons. Thus, installing at each elevator system a local computing unit having adequate computing capacity for analyzing the large amounts of data locally is very expensive.

[0007] Another option is to utilize cloud computing by sending the produced large amount of elevator system related data to a cloud computing system, which is then responsible for the analysis and diagnostics of the data. However, sending large amounts of data to the cloud computing system causes also challenges, as it requires much bandwidth. Thus, typically the amount of data that can be sent to the cloud computing system is limited by the available bandwidth.

[0008] Therefore, there is a need for developing further solutions to produce condition data of an elevator system. SUMMARY

[0009] The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide basic understanding of some aspects of various invention embodiments. The summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention nor to delineate the scope of the invention. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of exemplifying embodiments of the invention.

[0010] An objective of the invention is to present a method, a mobile terminal device, an elevator condition analyzing system, an elevator system, a computer program, and a computer-readable medium for providing condition data of an elevator system. Another objective of the invention is that the method, the mobile terminal device, the elevator condition analyzing system, the elevator system, the computer program, and the computer-readable medium for providing condition data of an elevator system provides a low-cost and high- quality condition analysis of an elevator system, which improves the productivity of maintenance work.

[0011] The objectives of the invention are reached by a method, a mobile terminal device, an elevator condition analyzing system, an elevator system, a computer program, and a computer-readable medium as defined by the respective independent claims.

[0012] According to a first aspect, a method for providing condition data of an elevator system is provided, wherein the method comprises: establishing, by a mobile terminal device, a communication connection to a local storage device of the elevator system into which historical operating data of the elevator system is collected and stored; obtaining, by the mobile terminal device, the historical operating data of the elevator system from the local storage device; and analyzing, by the mobile terminal device, the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system to produce the condition data of the elevator system.

[0013] The historical operating data may be collected from one or more elevator subsystems and / or one or more elevator sensor devices.

[0014] The communication connection to the local storage device may be established locally. The method may further comprise providing the produced condition data of the elevator system and / or the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system to a cloud computing unit for further analysis and collection of the provided data.

[0015] The analyzing of the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system may comprise running at least one trained diagnostic model to analyze the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system to produce the condition data of the elevator system.

[0016] The at least one trained diagnostic model may be at least one machine learning (ML) model.

[0017] Alternatively or in addition, the method may further comprise presenting the produced condition data of the elevator system to a user of the mobile terminal device via a user interface of the mobile terminal device.

[0018] According to a second aspect, a mobile terminal device for providing condition data of an elevator system is provided, wherein the mobile terminal device is configured to perform the steps of the method described above.

[0019] According to a third aspect, an elevator condition analyzing system for providing condition data of an elevator system is provided, wherein the elevator condition analyzing system comprises: a local storage device configured to store historical operating data of the elevator system; and a mobile terminal device described above.

[0020] The elevator condition analyzing system may further comprise a cloud computing unit configured to further analyze and / or collect data.

[0021] According to a fourth aspect, an elevator system is provided, wherein the elevator system comprises: an elevator car configured to travel along an elevator shaft between a plurality of floors, an elevator control system configured to control the operation of the elevator system, and an elevator condition analyzing system described above.

[0022] According to a fifth aspect, a computer program is provided, wherein the computer program comprises instructions to cause the mobile terminal device described above to execute the steps of the method described above. According to a sixth aspect, a computer-readable medium having stored thereon the computer program described above is provided.

[0023] Various exemplifying and non-limiting embodiments of the invention both as to constructions and to methods of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific exemplifying and non-limiting embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

[0024] The verbs “to comprise” and “to include” are used in this document as open limitations that neither exclude nor require the existence of unrecited features. The features recited in dependent claims are mutually freely combinable unless otherwise explicitly stated. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the use of “a” or “an”, i.e. a singular form, throughout this document does not exclude a plurality.

[0025] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

[0026] The embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

[0027] Figure 1 illustrates schematically an example of an elevator system.

[0028] Figure 2 illustrates schematically an example of an elevator condition analyzing system.

[0029] Figure 3 illustrates schematically an example of a method for providing condition data of an elevator system.

[0030] Figure 4 illustrates schematically an example of components of a mobile terminal device.

[0031] DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLIFYING EMBODIMENTS

[0032] Figure 1 illustrates schematically an example of an elevator system 100. The elevator system 100 comprises an elevator car 102 configured to travel along an elevator shaft 104 between a plurality of floors (i.e. landings) 106a-106n, and an elevator control system 110. The elevator system 100 further comprises a local storage device 210. The elevator control system 110 is configured to control one or more operations of the elevator system 100. The elevator control system 110 may reside e.g. in a machine room (for sake of the clarity not shown in Figure 1 ) or in one of the landings 106a-106n of the elevator system 100. The elevator control system 110 is communicatively coupled to the other entities of the elevator system 100. The communication between the elevator control system 110 and the other entities of the elevator system 100 may be based on one or more known communication technologies, either wired or wireless. The implementation of the elevator control system 110 may be done as a standalone control entity or as a distributed control environment between a plurality of stand-alone control entities providing distributed control resource. The elevator system 100 may further comprise one or more known elevator related entities, e.g. a counterweight, an elevator drive unit, an elevator hoisting machine, elevator doors, elevator door operator device, and / or safety circuit and devices, etc., which are not shown in Figure 1 for sake of clarity.

[0033] The elevator system 100 further comprises an elevator condition analyzing system 200. In other words, the elevator condition analyzing system 200 may be part of the elevator system 100. Figure 2 illustrates schematically an example of the elevator condition analyzing system 200. The elevator condition analyzing system 200 comprises the local storage device 210 of the elevator system 100 and a mobile terminal device 220. The mobile terminal device 220 may for example be a mobile terminal device carried by a maintenance person (e.g. a maintenance technician). The mobile terminal device 220 may for example be a mobile phone, e.g. a smart phone, or a tablet computer. The local storage device 210 is configured to store historical operating data of the elevator system 100. In other words, the historical operating data of the elevator system 100 is collected and stored locally into the local storage device 210. The local storage device 210 may be any memory locally connected to the elevator system 100, e.g. to the elevator control system 110, and being capable of storing the historical operating data of the elevator system 100. The local storage device 210 comprises a communication unit for communicating with one or more other devices. The communication unit of the local storage device 210 may comprise one or more communication devices, e.g. radio transceiver, antenna, etc.

[0034] The historical operating data may for example be collected from one or more elevator subsystems and / or one or more elevator sensor devices. The historical (i.e. long-term) operating data may be collected over a long period of time (e.g. during weeks, months, or years) during the operation of the elevator system 100. The historical operating data of the elevator system 100 comprises a large amount of data. Preferably, the historical operating data of the elevator system 100 comprises a large amount of high frequency data. High frequency data is generated or collected at very short intervals, for example even in milliseconds or microseconds. High frequency data typically generates a large volume of data over time. The historical operating data of the elevator system 100 may also comprise low frequency data. Low frequency data is generated or collected at longer intervals (such as minutes, hours, days, or even longer). The historical operating data of the elevator system 100 may include indicators about the condition of the elevator system. The historical operating data may for example comprise internal elevator system parameters and their changes over time, power consumption of components of the elevator system 100, measured currents in the elevator system 100, and durations of repeating phases of operations. The repeating phases of the operations may for example comprise at least one of the following: opening of the elevator doors, closing of the elevator doors, movements of the elevator car 102 across a segment of the elevator shaft 104, etc. The one or more elevator subsystems and / or one or more elevator sensor devices from which the historical operating data may be collected may for example comprise at least one of the following: the elevator control system 110, the door operator device, the elevator drive unit, a separate computing unit. The separate computing unit may comprise one or more sensor devices arranged to elevator system 100 (e.g. to the elevator car 102). The one or more sensor devices of the separate computing unit may be internal and / or external to the separate computing unit. The historical operating data of the elevator system 100 is operating data of the elevator system 100 that is generated and / or collected by the different elevator subsystems and / or elevator sensor devices during the operation of the elevator system 100. The local storage device 220 is communicatively coupled to the one or more elevator subsystems and / or the one or more elevator sensor devices. The communication between the local storage device 220 and the one or more elevator subsystems and / or the one or more elevator sensor devices may be based on one or more known communication technologies, either wired or wireless.

[0035] The elevator condition analyzing system 200 may further comprise a cloud computing unit 230, e.g. a cloud server. The cloud computing unit 230 may further analyze and / or collect data, e.g. the condition data of the elevator system 100 as will be described later in this specification. The mobile terminal device 220 is communicatively coupled to the cloud computing unit 230. The communication between the mobile terminal device 220 and the cloud computing unit 230 may be based on one or more known wireless communication technologies, e.g. cellular network technologies, such as 4G and / or 5G. The local storage device 210 may also be communicatively coupled to the cloud computing unit 230, if necessary. The communication between the local storage device and the cloud computing unit 230 may be based on one or more known wireless communication technologies, e.g. cellular network technologies, such as 4G and / or 5G.

[0036] Next an example of a method for providing condition data of an elevator system 100 is described by referring to Figure 3, which illustrates schematically the method as a flow chart. The method is performed by the elevator condition analyzing system 200 described above. More specifically the method is performed by the mobile terminal device 220 of the elevator condition analysing system 200. The method may be a computer-implemented method performed by the the mobile terminal device 220.

[0037] The mobile terminal device 220 establishes 310 a communication connection (i.e. a communication link) 240 to the local storage device 210 of the elevator system 100 into which the historical operating data of the elevator system 100 is collected and stored. The communication connection 240 to the local storage device 210 may be established locally. In other words, the communication connection 240 to the local storage device 210 may be established, when the mobile terminal device 220 is present at the elevator system 100. More specifically, the communication connection 240 to the local storage device 210 may be established, when the mobile terminal device 220 is within the connectivity range of the local storage device 210. The communication connection 240 between the mobile terminal device 220 and the local storage device 210 may be wireless or wired. The wireless communication connection 240 may for example be based on Bluetooth. The wired communication connection 240 may for example be based on Universal Serial Bus (USB). The communication connection 240 to the local storage device 210 and thus to the elevator system 100 is not permanent (i.e. the mobile terminal device 220 is not permanently connected to the local storage device 210 and thus to the elevator system 100), but instead the connection is established only when needed.

[0038] After establishing the communication connection 240, the mobile terminal device 220 obtains (e.g. downloads) 320 the historical operating data of the elevator system 100 from the local storage device 210. The historical operating data of the elevator system 100 may be obtained by the mobile terminal device 220 via the established communication connection 240 from the local storage device 210.

[0039] In response to obtaining the historical operating data from the local storage device 210 the mobile terminal device 220 analyzes 330 the obtained historical operating data to produce condition data of the elevator system 100. The analyzing of the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system 100 may comprises running (e.g. executing) at least one trained diagnostic model 426 to analyze the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system 100 to produce the condition data of the elevator system 100. In other words, the mobile terminal device 220 analyzes the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system by running the at least one trained diagnostic model 426 and produces the condition data of the elevator system 100 based on the analysis results. Yet in another words, the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system 100 is used as input data of the at least one trained diagnostic model 426 to produce the condition data of the elevator system 100 as output data of the at least one trained diagnostic model 426. The condition data of the elevator system 100 may for example comprise at least one of the following: condition report(s), condition status of the elevator system 100 and / or one or more components of the elevator system 100, suggested actions (e.g. maintenance actions). As the condition data is provided based on the analysis of the historical operating data obtained from the local storage device 210, there is no need for collecting real time operating data of the elevator system 100. The at least one trained diagnostic model 426 may for example be at least one machine learning (ML) model. The ML model may be based on one or more known machine learning techniques. The at least one trained diagnostic model 426 may be trained by using for example different kind of operating data of one or more elevator systems as training data. The training of the at least one trained diagnostic model 426 may for example be performed by the cloud computing unit 230. The at least one trained diagnostic model 426 may for example be stored into a memory unit 420 of the mobile terminal device 220.

[0040] Because the analyzing of the historical operating data and the producing of the condition data are performed on the mobile terminal device 220 (i.e. the analyzing functionality (and other possible data processing functionalities, e.g. diagnostic functionality) is operated by the mobile terminal device 220), the local storage device does not need to have computing capacity to analyze large volumes of data. Instead, the local storage device 210 may have a low computing capacity, which in turn allows lowering costs as there is no need to equip each elevator system with expensive local computing units (e.g. edge devices) having adequate computing capacity for analyzing the large amounts of data locally. Modern mobile terminal devices (e.g. mobile phones) have computing capability equaling or surpassing expensive edge computing devices. Furthermore, the maintenance persons are typically already provided with mobile terminal devices (e.g. mobile phones). Thus, there is no need to provide any additional devices for performing the analysis of the data to produce the condition data. The required number of mobile terminal devices is about two orders of magnitude smaller than the number of local computing units (e.g. edge devices) if each elevator system would be equipped with them.

[0041] Besides, as the analyzing of the historical operating data and the producing of the condition data are performed locally on the mobile terminal device 220, there is no need to upload the historical operating data to the cloud computing unit 230 for analyzing data of an individual elevator system 100 to produce the condition data of said individual elevator system 100 in the cloud computing unit 230. Furthermore, there is no need to transfer the historical operation data comprising large amounts of data (preferably high frequency data as discussed above) from the local storage device 210 to the cloud computing unit 230. The modern mobile terminal devices have mobile phone plans having larger or unlimited data allowances, which makes transferring the data from the mobile terminal device 220 to the cloud computing unit 230 for processing and / or storing the historical operation data more feasible than equipping each elevator system with a local computing unit (e.g. an edge device) with a larger data plan. Instead, the local storage device 210 may have a small data plan that is also cheap used when transferring low volumes of data to the cloud computing unit 230, if necessary. The main task of the local storage device 210 is to store the historical operating data comprising the large amounts of data that is preferably high frequency data.

[0042] According to an example, the mobile terminal device 220 may provide (e.g. upload) 340 the produced condition data of the elevator system 100 and / or the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system 100 to the cloud computing unit 230 for further analysis and collection of the provided data. The uploaded data may for example be used, by the cloud computing unit 230, for further training of the at least one trained diagnostic model 426. This enables providing recent data for the further training of the at least one trained diagnostic model 426, which in turn improves the accuracy of the at least one trained diagnostic model 426.

[0043] The historical operating data of the elevator system 100 may further be uploaded at least partly from the local storage device 210 to the cloud computing unit 230. The historical operating data of the elevator system 100 uploaded from the local storage device 210 to the cloud computing unit 230 may for example be used for further training of the at least one trained diagnostic model 426. Alternatively or in addition, the historical operating data of the elevator system 100 may be uploaded from the local storage device 210 to the cloud computing unit 230 for a long term storing. Preferably, the historical operating data of the elevator system 100 is only partly transferred from the local storage device 210 to the cloud computing unit 230. In other words, preferably only low volumes of historical operation data are transferred from the local storage device 210 to the cloud computing unit 230. Preferably the historical operation data of the elevator system transferred from the local storage device 210 to the cloud computing unit 230 is low frequency data.

[0044] According to another example, the mobile terminal device 220 may alternatively or in addition present 350 the produced condition data of the elevator system 100 to the user of the mobile terminal device 220 via a user interface 440 of the mobile terminal device 220. For example, the produced condition data of the elevator system 100 may be presented on a display of the mobile terminal device 220. Presenting the produced condition data to the user enables that the user (e.g. the maintenance person) is able to inspect the produced condition data of the elevator system 100 (e.g. condition status of the elevator system 100 and / or possible suggested actions, e.g. maintenance actions). Figure 4 illustrates schematically a simple example of the components of the mobile terminal device 220. The mobile terminal device 220 may comprise a processing unit 410 comprising one or more processors (e.g. microprocessors), a memory unit 420 comprising one or more memories, a communication unit 430 comprising one or more communication devices, and a user interface (III) unit 440. In addition to the mentioned entities the mobile terminal device 220 may comprise further devices and entities, such as a battery for storing energy to be used by the other entities. The entities belonging to the mobile terminal device 220 may be communicatively coupled to each other with e.g. a communication bus. The memory unit 420 may store portions of computer program code 425, the at least one trained diagnostic model 426 and any data. The computer program 425 may comprise instructions which, when the computer program 425 is executed by the processing unit 410 of the mobile terminal device 220 may cause the processing unit 410, and thus the mobile terminal device 220 to carry out desired tasks, e.g. one or more of the method steps described above. The processing unit 410 may thus be arranged to access the memory unit 420 and retrieve and store any information therefrom and thereto. For sake of clarity, the processor herein refers to any unit suitable for processing information and control the operation of the mobile terminal device 220, among other tasks. Similarly, the memory unit 420 is not limited to a certain type of memory only, but any memory type suitable for storing the described pieces of information may be applied in the context of the present invention. The communication unit 430 provides one or more communication interfaces for communication with any other unit, e.g. the local storage device 210, the cloud computing unit 230 and / or any other external system. The communication unit 430 may comprise one or more communication devices, e.g. radio transceiver, antenna, etc. The user interface 440 may comprise one or more input / output (I / O) devices, such as buttons, keyboard, touch screen, microphone, loudspeaker, display and so on, for receiving input and outputting information. The user of the mobile terminal device 220 may for example provide input through the user interface unit 440 with the mobile terminal device 220 and the mobile terminal device 220 may, under control of the processing unit 410, output information to the user. The computer program 425 may be a computer program product that may be comprised in a tangible nonvolatile (non-transitory) computer-readable medium bearing the computer program code 425 embodied therein for use with a computer, i.e. the mobile terminal device 220. The computer program code 425 may for example comprise one or more mobile applications, such as computer program codes for executing desired tasks, e.g. one or more of the method steps described above.

[0045] The solution described above enables lowering costs of a high-quality condition analysis of an elevator system, which in turn improves the productivity of the maintenance work. The solution described above enables maintenance persons to use the powerful compute capability of their mobile terminal devices to automatically analyze historical operating data of the elevator system and produce condition data of the elevator system, e.g. a condition status and / or possible actions for the maintenance person.

[0046] The specific examples provided in the description given above should not be construed as limiting the applicability and / or the interpretation of the appended claims. Lists and groups of examples provided in the description given above are not exhaustive unless otherwise explicitly stated.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method for providing condition data of an elevator system (100), the method comprises: establishing (310), by a mobile terminal device (220), a communication connection (240) to a local storage device (210) of the elevator system (100) into which historical operating data of the elevator system (100) is collected and stored; obtaining (320), by the mobile terminal device (220), the historical operating data of the elevator system (100) from the local storage device (210); and analyzing (330), by the mobile terminal device (220), the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system (100) to produce the condition data of the elevator system (100).

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the historical operating data is collected from one or more elevator subsystems and / or one or more elevator sensor devices.

3. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the communication connection (240) to the local storage device (210) is established locally.

4. The method according to any of the preceding claims further comprising providing (340) the produced condition data of the elevator system (100) and / or the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system (100) to a cloud computing unit (230) for further analysis and collection of the provided data.

5. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the analyzing (330) of the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system (100) comprises running at least one trained diagnostic model (426) to analyze the obtained historical operating data of the elevator system (100) to produce the condition data of the elevator system (100).

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the at least one trained diagnostic model (426) is at least one machine learning (ML) model.

7. The method according to any of the preceding claims further comprising presenting (350) the produced condition data of the elevator system (100) to a user of the mobile terminal device (220) via a user interface (440) of the mobile terminal device (220).

8. A mobile terminal device (220) for providing condition data of an elevator system (100), wherein the mobile terminal device is configured to perform the steps of the method according to any of the preceding claims.

9. An elevator condition analyzing system (200) for providing condition data of an elevator system (100), the elevator condition analyzing system (200) comprises: a local storage device (210) configured to store historical operating data of the elevator system (100); and a mobile terminal device (220) according to claim 8.

10. The elevator condition analyzing system (200) according to claim 9 further comprising a cloud computing unit (230) configured to further analyze and / or collect data.

11. An elevator system (100) comprising: an elevator car (102) configured to travel along an elevator shaft (104) between a plurality of floors (106a-106n), an elevator control system (110) configured to control the operation of the elevator system (100), and an elevator condition analyzing system (200) according to any of claims 9 or 10.

12. A computer program (425) comprising instructions to cause the mobile terminal device (220) according to claim 8 to execute the steps of the method of claims 1 to 7.

13. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon the computer program of claim 12.

Images