Elevator Control System for Emergency Evacuation Prioritization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing elevator systems are ineffective in evacuating buildings during emergencies, particularly in high-rise buildings, as they often fail to maximize the number of people saved and do not efficiently manage power limitations, leading to prolonged evacuation times and safety risks.
Innovation Solution
A method for controlling elevators that prioritizes the floor with the most people, monitors power usage, and directs elevators to evacuate people efficiently by allocating resources based on real-time data from sensors and traffic profiles, ensuring safe routes and minimizing power consumption, even under emergency power conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional elevator systems are used during emergencies, then the system structure remains simple, but evacuation time is prolonged and safety is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The elevator control system dynamically adapts its operation mode based on emergency conditions. The system transitions from normal call allocation to emergency evacuation mode, where it actively monitors power availability, prioritizes floors with most people, and adjusts elevator dispatching in real-time to maximize evacuation efficiency under constrained conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback loops by monitoring power consumption, tracking the number of people on each floor, and assessing evacuation progress. This feedback enables the control system to optimize elevator allocation dynamically, ensuring that limited power resources are used most effectively to evacuate the maximum number of people in minimum time.
2Use of energy by moving object
If elevators operate under emergency power conditions, then power consumption is reduced, but the number of people that can be evacuated simultaneously is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes operational parameters by adjusting elevator dispatching strategies based on available power levels. When power is limited, the system prioritizes moving elevators to floors with the highest population density first, and optimizes travel routes to minimize energy consumption while maintaining maximum evacuation throughput within power constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
The system ensures continuous evacuation operations by coordinating multiple elevators to operate simultaneously within power limits. Rather than stopping evacuation to recharge or wait, the control system maintains continuous useful action by optimizing the sequence and timing of elevator trips to maximize the rate of people evacuated per unit of energy consumed.
3Productivity
If elevators prioritize floors with the most people, then evacuation efficiency is improved, but power distribution becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessment of power availability and floor population distribution before initiating evacuation. By pre-calculating optimal power allocation strategies and elevator routing based on current building conditions, the system prepares power distribution plans in advance that maximize evacuation efficiency from the highest-occupancy floors first, avoiding wasted energy on lower-priority floors.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention discloses a method, a system and a computer program for the effective evacuation of a building in an emergency, in which at least one elevator can be used as an evacuation aid. In the method the group control of the elevators monitors the numbers of people on the different floors of the building. The floor on which it is assumed are most people is set at each moment of monitoring for a greater priority in an evacuation situation. Taking into account the limited supply power a free elevator car is directed to the floor of the greatest priority, at which the elevator is filled. The full elevator is directed without stopping to the exit floor of the building. The system monitors by means of detectors the safety of the different parts of the building and directs people if necessary to a safe evacuation location to wait for an elevator. A so-called Traffic Forecaster can be used as an aid in defining the priorities.