Elevator Robot Boarding via Available Area Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing elevator systems face challenges in ensuring safe simultaneous riding for autonomous mobile robots and human users, with issues of reduced robot operational efficiency and user-friendliness, especially when there are many users, as they struggle to manage space and safety within the elevator cage.
Innovation Solution
An elevator system equipped with self-position recognition, mobile units, autonomous controllers, cage ascent/descent units, door control, designation, and communication units, along with available area detection and riding possibility determination, allows the autonomous mobile robot to safely board the elevator only when space is available, prioritizing safety and efficiency by managing movement and priority requests.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the elevator avoids simultaneous use by robot and human users (as disclosed in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2009-51617), then safety is improved, but robot waiting time increases and carriage efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The elevator cage floor area is segmented into a robot riding area and a human user riding area, allowing simultaneous use by both robots and human users while maintaining safety through spatial separation. The available area detection unit detects the available area in the robot riding area, and the riding possibility/impossibility determination unit determines whether the robot can board based on this detected area.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts elevator operation mode based on real-time conditions. The communication unit transmits/receives information including designated floors, and the riding possibility/impossibility determination unit makes real-time decisions about robot boarding based on detected available area, enabling flexible simultaneous or separate operation modes.
2Productivity
If the elevator allows simultaneous riding for robot and human users (as disclosed in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2001-114479), then robot operational efficiency and user-friendliness are improved, but safety cannot be ensured when there are many users
Solution Approach 1:
Different areas within the elevator cage are assigned different functions and quality characteristics. The robot riding area is designated as a specific local zone with dimensions suitable for robot boarding, while the human user riding area accommodates human passengers. This local quality differentiation ensures safety while enabling simultaneous use.
Solution Approach 2:
The available area detection unit continuously monitors the available area in the robot riding area and provides feedback to the riding possibility/impossibility determination unit. This feedback mechanism enables real-time safety assessment and dynamic control of robot boarding decisions based on current cage occupancy conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
An elevator system which an autonomous mobile robot and human user can utilize safely and efficiently. The system has an available area detection unit to detect an available area in a cage, and a riding possibility/impossibility determination unit to determine whether or not the autonomous mobile robot can get on the cage based on information on size and position of the available area detected by the available area detection unit. The autonomous mobile robot gets on the cage only when the riding possibility/impossibility determination unit determines that riding is possible.