Elevator Portfolio Triage With Edge IoT After Earthquakes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Elevator systems in earthquake-prone regions face downtime and outages due to inefficient triaging processes that do not provide timely insights to the correct personnel, leading to prolonged service disruptions.
Innovation Solution
Implementing edge IoT devices in each elevator system to collect and transmit real-time status information to a cloud-based data analytics rules engine, which generates and pushes updates to various user applications and communication protocols, ensuring rapid triaging and dispatch of mechanics based on real-time data analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual triaging process is used for elevator systems after earthquake, then operators can assess and address problems, but it causes downtime and outages and does not provide timely insights to correct people
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service through automated triaging where the elevator system itself reports its status via IoT devices, and the cloud-based analytics engine automatically assesses the situation without requiring manual inspection. The system self-diagnoses and self-communicates status to stakeholders, eliminating the need for operators to manually triage each elevator individually.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical triaging process with an automated electronic system. IoT devices collect data electronically, transmit it to the cloud, where analytics engines process the information and automatically generate triage decisions. This substitution of manual human assessment with automated electronic processing significantly reduces triage duration and provides real-time insights.
2Extent of automation
If automated earthquake operation mode is activated, then elevators can be automatically placed in EQO mode, but it does not provide needed insights to the correct people at the correct times
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous feedback loops where IoT devices monitor elevator status and communicate with the cloud-based analytics engine. The system receives feedback about elevator conditions, processes this information, and sends updated status information back to stakeholders through multiple communication channels. This feedback mechanism ensures that the correct information reaches the right people at the right times.
Solution Approach 2:
The cloud-based data analytics rules engine acts as an intermediary between the elevator IoT devices and the stakeholders. It collects data from multiple elevators, processes and analyzes the information, then distributes relevant insights to appropriate personnel through various communication protocols. This intermediary layer transforms raw data into actionable intelligence and delivers it to the correct recipients.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple elevator systems are managed manually, then operators can monitor and maintain systems, but it increases complexity and does not provide real-time status information
Solution Approach 1:
The system achieves universality by creating a single cloud-based platform that can manage multiple elevator systems simultaneously. The same IoT devices, communication protocols, and analytics engine handle all elevators in the portfolio, regardless of location or specific characteristics. This multi-functional approach consolidates management complexity into a unified system rather than requiring separate management processes for each elevator.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of portfolio management for multiple elevator systems. The method being executable for when an incident occurs includes receiving elevator system information from the edge IoT devices of the elevator systems affected by the incident, analyzing the elevator system information to determine how to triage the elevator systems affected by the incident, generating an output in accordance with results of the analyzing, pushing the output to an application layer using application program interfaces (APIs) to provide operators with first status information in real-time, and sending the output to the operators via communication notification protocols to provide the operators with second status information in real-time.