Passenger Traffic Control Using Simulation for Service-Level Shifts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing passenger traffic systems, such as elevators and escalators, struggle to adapt to changing building usage patterns and service demands, leading to suboptimal performance and customer complaints without automatic detection or proactive adjustments.
Innovation Solution
A control device that monitors passenger traffic systems for changes in service levels and patterns, performs simulations to identify improvements, and triggers configuration changes or equipment upgrades to enhance performance proactively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual configuration changes are made after customer complaints, then system reliability is maintained through human judgment, but service level deteriorates due to delayed response and reactive rather than proactive adjustments
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous feedback loops where service level data and passenger traffic patterns are constantly monitored and fed back to the control device. This enables automatic detection of deteriorating service quality and triggers configuration changes before customers complain, resolving the contradiction by maintaining reliability through automated real-time adjustments rather than delayed manual responses.
Solution Approach 2:
The passenger traffic system performs self-diagnosis and self-optimization through automated monitoring and simulation. The control device independently detects service level changes and executes configuration changes without human intervention, enabling the system to serve itself and eliminate the time loss associated with manual complaint processing while maintaining high reliability.
2Device complexity
If primitive remote control systems are used, then device complexity is reduced through simple alerting mechanisms, but adaptability deteriorates because only malfunctions are detected without proactive performance monitoring
Solution Approach 1:
The control device serves multiple functions within a single system: it monitors service levels, analyzes passenger traffic patterns, runs simulations, and executes configuration changes. This multi-functional approach provides high adaptability without proportionally increasing device complexity, as all functions are integrated into one intelligent control unit rather than requiring separate systems for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces simple mechanical alerting mechanisms with electronic data processing and automated control. By substituting physical complaint-triggered processes with digital monitoring and simulation, the system achieves high adaptability through software-based intelligence while keeping hardware complexity manageable through integrated circuitry and standardized communication protocols.
3Device complexity
If no automated monitoring is implemented, then device complexity is minimized through simple operation, but measurement precision deteriorates because service level changes and traffic pattern changes cannot be detected automatically
Solution Approach 1:
The control device acts as an intermediary between raw operational data and actionable insights. It collects data from various system components, processes this information through simulations, and translates it into precise measurements of service level and traffic pattern changes. This intermediary function enables high measurement precision without requiring complex monitoring infrastructure at every system component.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates virtual copies of the passenger traffic system through simulations. These digital twins allow precise measurement and analysis of service levels and traffic patterns without adding physical monitoring hardware to the actual system. The simulation models replicate system behavior accurately, enabling precise detection of changes while keeping the physical system simple.
Data Source
AI summary
According to an aspect, there is provided a control device. The control device is configured to receive data from a passenger traffic system configured in a building, the data comprising information associated with operations for transferring passengers of the passenger traffic system; based on the received data, monitor a change in a quality of service level of the passenger traffic system in transferring the passengers and a change in a passenger traffic pattern in transferring the passengers in the passenger traffic system; and in response to detecting the change in the service level or in the passenger traffic pattern, run one or more simulations of the passenger traffic in the passenger traffic system in the at least one building using the received data in order to trigger at least one operation to change a configuration of the passenger traffic system.