CN117699593A - Robot linkage elevator system - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a robot-linked elevator system, comprising: a robot; and an elevator including a unit configured to be able to serve the robot, wherein the full rate of the robot and the full rate of the person are set differently when the full rate of the elevator is set.

Description

Robot linkage elevator system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a robot-linked elevator system that moves in a building in association with a robot moving between floors.

Background

Elevators are provided in various buildings constructed for residential, business or commercial purposes so that passengers entering and exiting the building can smoothly move between floors. Generally, an elevator includes an elevator car formed in a building to move along a lifting path in a vertical direction, a motor for lifting the elevator car to generate power, and a mechanical unit composed of a traction machine or the like, and a control unit or the like to control related to the operation of the elevator.

Recently, with the activity of in-building robot service, the need for inter-floor movement of in-building robots using elevators is increasing. For example, many service robots that perform tasks of transporting goods, cleaning, guiding customers, etc. while moving within a building have been developed and put into practical use.

At this time, inter-floor movement of robots in a building is required when a plurality of floors are to perform a service, and at present, an elevator is considered as the most preferable way for robots to move between floors, and various linkage control techniques between the robots and an elevator system for effectively moving the robots to a destination floor are being developed.

Disclosure of Invention

(technical problem)

In recent years, with the rapid growth of the robot market, many service fields are being replaced with robots, and in particular, in buildings providing customer service in hotels, houses, and the like, unmanned aerial vehicle using robots is becoming a trend of rapid progress. In order to extend the unmanned service function of the robot, the robot can move vertically (move between floors) in a building, and thus, the linkage between the robot and an elevator system in the building is an indispensable item.

The robot-linked elevator system divides the operation modes of a plurality of elevators installed in a building into a robot-dedicated mode, a general passenger-dedicated mode, a simultaneous ride mode in which a robot and a general passenger can use simultaneously, etc. according to the operation purpose or operation characteristics of each unit and operates. An elevator set to the robot-dedicated mode forms call services only with the robot as an object, an elevator set to the general-passenger-dedicated mode forms call services only with the general passenger (person) as an object, and an elevator set to the simultaneous mode forms call services with both the robot and the person as an object.

However, the use of elevators by such robots may cause inconvenience to general passengers (persons). This is because the robot gets on and off the stairs for a longer time than a general passenger for safety reasons or technical restrictions. For example, a robot waiting for elevator service at a landing and a general passenger at the same departure floor may experience a landing delay due to the robot, and a robot riding the same elevator and a general passenger at the same destination floor may experience a landing delay due to the robot.

Further, as the time required for the robot to get on and off the elevator is longer, the travel of the elevator becomes slower, which results in longer waiting time for general passengers waiting for the corresponding elevator at other floors, and similarly, the arrival time of the destination floor for general passengers different from the destination floor by the robot riding on the same elevator becomes slower.

In particular, when one elevator unit provided to allow a robot to use is provided to take a plurality of robots, a collision between a general passenger and a robot or a collision between a robot and a robot may be caused in a hoist or an elevator, and since a hoist waiting time and an elevator taking time of a general passenger become longer than a hoist taking time of a robot in which a general passenger is relatively slow, the above-described service delay problem becomes more serious, whereby the uncomfortable feeling of a general passenger may be further increased as the processing efficiency of an elevator traffic in a building is lowered.

In order to prevent the occurrence of the above problems, the present invention proposes a specific method of setting robot boarding-related parameters (full rate, maximum number of robots allowed to be serviced, etc.) of an elevator unit that allows the use of robots, with the object of providing more convenient and comfortable service to clients within a building using the provided robot service, as well as ultimately improving the overall operation efficiency of an elevator system that operates in conjunction with the robots.

The technical problems of the present invention are not limited to the above-described technical problems, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

(technical proposal)

To achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot-linked elevator system including: a robot; and an elevator including a unit configured to be able to service the robot, wherein the full rate of the elevator is set to be different from the full rate of the robot and the full rate of the person.

The fullness rate for the robot is set to be lower than the fullness rate for the person.

The elevators are provided in plural, in which a unit provided in a robot-dedicated mode that can serve only a call of a robot is adapted to the full rate of the robot, a unit provided in a general passenger-dedicated mode that can serve only a call of a person is adapted to the full rate of the person, and in which a unit provided in a co-riding mode that can serve both a call of a robot and a person is adapted to both the full rate of the robot and the full rate of the person.

When the elevator unit is set in the simultaneous mode, a call to the robot is allocated based on the full rate to the robot, and a call to the person is allocated based on the full rate to the person.

When the plurality of elevators exceeds the full rate set for each unit, the plurality of elevators are switched to the full state and the allocation is suppressed or excluded for the newly generated call. The allocation suppression means that when an allocation algorithm is executed for a new call, allocation suppression penalty is applied to the corresponding unit to reduce the priority order, and the allocation exclusion means that the corresponding unit is completely excluded from allocation for the new call.

The fullness includes a load fullness based on a load of an object mounted in an elevator car and a space fullness based on a space occupancy of the object mounted in the elevator car, and the load fullness and the space fullness are applied selectively or together for each unit of the plurality of elevators.

And setting elevator units in the special robot mode and the simultaneous riding mode, and setting the maximum number of robots which can be serviced according to each unit.

The maximum number of robots that can be serviced by an elevator unit set in the robot-specific mode is set to be greater than the maximum number of robots that can be serviced by an elevator unit set in the ride-on mode.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the robot-linked elevator system further comprises: and a group management unit for selecting and distributing any one unit of the plurality of elevators for the call request of the robot.

The group management unit collects and analyzes specification information of the elevators including rated capacity and internal area of the elevators, full rate set for each unit of the plurality of elevators, call request information registered for each unit of the plurality of elevators, and object number information to be taken or estimated to be taken for each unit of the plurality of elevators in real time, thereby deriving information on the number of service robots in terms of a capacity to be taken, which means that a load to be taken can be added for each unit of the plurality of elevators, a space to be taken, which means that a space to be taken is added, and the number of robots in service for displaying the corresponding unit.

When a call is made by the robot, the group management means selects elevator units having the available capacity and the available space satisfying the robot specification for the call request to initially form an assignable candidate group, selects units having the number of service robots not exceeding the maximum number of service robots from the initial candidate group, reconstructs the assignable candidate group, and executes an assignment algorithm on the reconstructed candidate group to select any one of the units.

In the plurality of elevators, when the number of robots in the current service of a certain unit is equal to or greater than the maximum number of robots that can be serviced by the corresponding unit, the allocation and exclusion process is performed for the corresponding unit as a newly generated robot call.

When the same call floor or the same destination floor is inputted as two or more calls, the number of robots allocated to the same elevator unit is limited to a predetermined value or less, and a plurality of units are allocated in a distributed manner.

(effects of the invention)

In an elevator system operating in a mode of being divided into a robot-dedicated mode, a general passenger-dedicated mode, and a simultaneous mode, the full rate for the robot and the full rate for the general passenger are set differently, and the number of robots that can be serviced is limited by an elevator unit set to allow the robot to use, and specifically, a method of setting parameters related to elevator boarding of the robot is proposed.

As described above, according to the present invention, service delays occurring according to collisions between robots and general passengers or collisions between robots are maximally suppressed, thereby providing more convenient and comfortable service to clients within a building using provided robot services, and ultimately having significantly improved overall operation efficiency of an elevator system controlled in conjunction with robots, in addition to general passengers.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-described effects, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a robot-linked elevator system according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a full rate setting method in an operation mode of the robot-linked elevator system according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an elevator allocation method for a robot call of the robot-linked elevator system according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

The objects and technical constitution of the present invention and details according to the actions and related effects thereof will be more clearly understood from the detailed description based on the drawings of the specification of the present invention.

The terminology used in the description presented herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. For example, the terms "comprises" or "comprising" and the like used in this specification should not be interpreted as necessarily including all the various elements or steps described in the present invention, but rather should be interpreted as excluding the inclusion of certain elements or steps therein, or may include additional elements or steps. Furthermore, as used in this specification, the singular includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below are provided in order that those skilled in the art can easily understand the technical ideas of the present invention, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present invention, and the embodiments of the present invention provide those skilled in the art with various applications.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a robot-linked elevator system according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a full rate setting method in an operation mode of the robot-linked elevator system according to the present invention. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an elevator allocation method for a robot call of the robot-linked elevator system according to the present invention.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, a Robot-linked elevator system according to the present invention, a Robot system unit 10 for controlling and managing the operation of a Robot (Robot) autonomously moving in a building; and an Elevator system unit 20 for controlling and managing the operation of an Elevator (Elevator) installed in a building and communicating with a robot.

The robot system unit 10 and the elevator system unit 20 operate independently of each other and can communicate with each other so that the elevator can be used when the robot is required to move between floors within a building.

The robotic system unit 10 may control all robots moving autonomously within the building, for which purpose it may communicate with each robot. Further, the robot system unit 10 receives a robot service request occurring within a building, and may designate a specific robot that is to provide a corresponding service in response to the received request. Among them, the 'robot service' as a service performed by the robot may refer to a service that the robot directly visits a client and provides.

In the present invention, a robot may collectively refer to all autonomous moving bodies capable of autonomously moving within a building without requiring a human operation. For example, the robot may be a service robot that performs a delivery service of transporting goods such as packages in a building, or performs a specific service such as cleaning or guiding customers, and may provide necessary services to customers in a building by receiving control of the robot system unit 10.

The robot can recognize a space within a building and autonomously move by even positioning and mapping (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping, SLAM) based on information collected using a laser radar (Lidar), a short-range sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a camera, or the like.

In addition, the robot can store the in-building and out-building structures and the elevator position information about the in-building by its own database, and can calculate the optimal distance and moving path from the current position to the elevator by real-time calculation even by positioning and mapping using an internal algorithm.

The robot can remotely request an elevator call. When a customer's robot service request is received in a building, the robot system unit 10 designates a specific robot to provide a corresponding service among a plurality of robots operating in the building, and the designated robot may transmit a ' pickup request ' signal calling an elevator to the elevator system unit 20 in order to move to a service floor when the floor where the designated robot is currently located is different from the floor where the service is requested.

The information included in the 'boarding request' includes departure floor information on which the robot is currently located and destination floor information to be moved eventually, and may further include information on a movement time required for the robot to reach the elevator, weight and volume of the robot, purpose of using the elevator, and the like. The movement time required for the robot to reach the lift table may be calculated based on the current position of the robot.

When a remote call from the robot is received, the group management unit 21 of the elevator system unit 20 described later determines and assigns to the best elevator unit to which the robot is to provide a boarding service.

The elevator system unit 20 may include a group management unit 21 that performs group management of a plurality of elevators installed in a building, and a control unit 22 that performs control related to operation of the elevators.

The group management unit 21 performs group control (group control) for more efficiently operating a plurality of elevators installed in a building, basically for a call input through a call button installed at each floor elevator in the building or a destination input button installed in an elevator car, a call remotely input through other systems such as a destination selection system (Destination Selecting System, DSS) or a terminal, a remote call by a robot, a function of determining and assigning an optimal elevator unit can be performed.

For reference, an elevator unit that is assigned (allocated) for a call requested by a passenger or robot at an elevator landing to reach a destination (destination floor) is called a home call (hall call) that instructs a call moving to a floor on which the corresponding passenger or robot is waiting, and a call that instructs an elevator unit reached by the home call to move to a destination to be reached by the corresponding passenger or robot is called a car call (car call).

Further, the group management unit 21 can determine and assign the most efficient elevator unit for the robot call request by correlation analysis of the traffic volume in the building and the position information of the plurality of available elevator units and robots. More specifically, the group management unit 21 detects occupancy rates for a plurality of elevator units running in a building or status information on remaining capacity, and extracts available elevator units that the robot can take based on information on the weight, volume, and the like of the robot contained in the boarding request information received from the robot, and can allocate an optimal elevator unit in consideration of the extracted positions of the available elevator units and the positions of the robot. When considering the position of the robot, not only the floor position of the call floor (departure floor) on which the robot requests to get, but also information about the time required for the robot to move from the current position to the elevator.

The group management unit 21 may provide the assigned elevator units and the elevator car information corresponding thereto as the robot and robot system unit 10 requesting the call service.

The control unit 22 can perform control to move the elevator units allocated by the group management unit 21 to floors on which calls are entered as a whole to control the operation and operation of the elevators.

The control unit 22 may include a travel control unit that controls a travel operation of the elevator car and a door control unit that controls opening and closing of an elevator door stopped at a specific floor for passengers and robots to go up and down.

The travel control means may control the travel of the elevator car in a vertically formed lifting path inside the building, and may perform drive control of the hoisting machine electrode, the brake, and the like so as to start or stop the travel of the elevator car by a specific command signal.

The door control unit controls the overall opening and closing operation of an elevator door including a home landing door (hall door) installed on the elevator car side and a car door (car door) installed on the elevator car side, and for this purpose can control the driving of the door motor.

In one aspect, the robot-linked elevator system according to the present invention can distinguish the operation modes of elevators installed in a building into 'robot-dedicated mode', 'general passenger-dedicated mode' and 'robot/general passenger simultaneous mode' (hereinafter, referred to as 'simultaneous mode') and operate.

The robot-dedicated mode is a mode in which the robot is allowed to ride in the elevator, and the elevator set to the robot-dedicated mode can only call the robot.

The general passenger-dedicated mode is a mode set to execute call services only with general passengers as objects. In this case, it is needless to say that the elevator may be loaded with things, articles, animals, or the like held by general passengers.

The boarding mode is a mode that allows a robot and a general passenger (person) to board an elevator, and in the case of an elevator set to the boarding mode, call service can be performed with both the general passenger and the robot as objects.

The plurality of elevators installed in the building may set an operation mode per unit, and the operation mode of each unit may be set to be automatic or manual as needed. For example, the operation mode of the elevator unit is set reflecting the traffic characteristics in the building, but when the operation mode needs to be switched by traffic monitoring, the operation mode of the specific unit can be switched automatically by the self-judgment of the system or manually by the manager.

In addition, reflecting traffic characteristics and the like in a building over time, the operation mode setting of the elevator unit may be planned in advance according to a schedule (time schedule).

On the other hand, as described above, since elevators operating in a robot-dedicated mode, a general passenger-dedicated mode, a simultaneous mode, and the like are different from each other in terms of the main body used in each operating mode, it is preferable that the operating characteristics be applied differently.

However, since a general reference is applied regardless of the operation mode of the elevator up to now, different operation characteristics according to the operation mode are not reflected at all in the control and operation of the elevator, and thus the operation of the elevator is disturbed in various conditions and becomes a factor that hinders the effective operation of the elevator.

In particular, if a plurality of robots take one elevator unit provided to allow the robots to use, a collision between a general passenger and the robot or a collision between the robot and the robot or the like may occur inside the elevator car or the elevator, and since the time for getting on/off the elevator car is relatively late compared to the time for getting on/off the robot of the general passenger, the waiting time of the general passenger at the elevator car and the elevator taking time increase, thereby causing inconvenience of the general passenger, and may be extended to a decrease in the processing efficiency of the traffic of the elevator in the building and a delay in service.

In order to prevent these problems, the present invention sets and operates a plurality of elevators installed in a building in one of a robot-dedicated mode, a general passenger-dedicated mode, and a passenger mode for each unit, and in order to well reflect other characteristics of a robot and a general passenger (person) in the elevator in the operation mode, proposes a specific method of setting robot boarding-related parameters of an elevator unit as described below, thereby maximally suppressing inconvenience caused by elevator utilization of the robot, and allowing the elevator to operate efficiently.

1. Full rate setting

First, the robot-linked elevator system according to the present invention can variously set the fullness rate to the robot and the fullness rate to general passengers (persons). This is to roughly consider that the space occupied by each person of a general passenger is smaller than that occupied by one robot, and the weight of the general passenger is lighter than that of the robot, so that the full-person detection criterion of the robot is set lower than that of the general passenger, so that it is desirable to distinguish between the space occupied by the passenger and the space occupied by the robot.

The present invention can set the full rate for the robot to be lower than that of a general passenger in consideration of the weight, volume, radius of action, safety distance, etc. of the robot. Here, the full rate may be based on the load or space occupancy, and will be described in more detail later. The full rate reference of the robot and the full rate reference of the general passengers are values that can be changed according to the specifications of the robot or the specification information of each elevator unit.

That is, the present invention can apply either 'robot full rate' or 'general passenger full rate' depending on which mode the units of the elevator installed in the building are operated. The full rate applicable standard for each elevator operation mode is checked below.

First, the use subject of the elevator unit set to the robot-dedicated mode is defined as a robot, and thus 'robot full rate' operation can be applied. The elevator unit set in the robot-dedicated mode is an allocation target for a robot call based on the robot fullness rate. For example, when the robot fullness is adapted to 60%, an elevator unit with a load or space occupancy of the riding robot exceeding 60% may suppress or exclude allocation of newly generated robot calls. In addition, since the corresponding element operates in the robot-specific mode, the allocation must be excluded for the call of the general passenger.

For reference, the above-mentioned 'allocation suppression' does not mean 100% exclusion of a newly generated call, but when an allocation algorithm is performed on a new call, the priority order is lowered by applying allocation suppression penalty to the corresponding unit, so that allocation is not performed as much as possible.

The main use body of the elevator unit set in the general passenger-dedicated mode is defined as a general passenger (person) and thus can be adapted to 'general passenger full rate' operation. An elevator unit set in the general passenger-dedicated mode is an allocation target for a general passenger call based on the general passenger fullness rate. For example, when the general passenger fullness is adapted to 80%, an elevator unit having a load or space occupancy of more than 80% of the general passengers in boarding can suppress or exclude allocation of newly generated general passenger calls. In addition, since the corresponding element operates in the general passenger-specific mode, the allocation must be excluded for the call to the robot.

Finally, the elevator unit set in the simultaneous mode can serve both the robot and the average passenger (person), and thus can be used together for both 'robot full rate' and 'average passenger full rate' operation. The elevator unit set in the simultaneous mode makes a robot call an allocation target based on the robot fullness rate, and makes a general passenger call an allocation target based on the general passenger fullness rate.

Further, in the present invention, the 'fullness' of the elevator may include concepts of 'load fullness' based on load (weight) and 'space fullness' based on occupied space area. The load fullness is a value for limiting the total load of the boarding objects in the elevator unit to not exceed a certain level, and the space fullness is a value for limiting the total space area occupied by the boarding objects in the elevator unit to not exceed a certain level.

The information about the load of the object mounted in the elevator can be detected by a load cell (load cell) mounted in the elevator car, and the information about the space occupied by the object mounted in the elevator can be detected by a visual device mounted in the elevator car, such as a camera or CCTV.

For example, assuming that the 'load fullness' of the elevator unit is set to 60%, when the ride load (the sum of weights of the riding objects) measured in real time by the load cell is detected to be more than 60% of the rated capacity (the maximum design load), the corresponding unit is turned to the fullness state, and new riding is restricted until the ride load of the corresponding unit becomes 60% or less again, and allocation suppression or elimination is performed on the newly generated call.

Similarly, assuming that the 'space occupancy' of the elevator unit is set to 60%, when the space occupation area (the area occupied by the boarding object) detected by the vision apparatus is detected to be more than 60% of the total area inside the corresponding unit, the corresponding unit is turned to the full state, and new boarding is restricted until the space occupancy of the corresponding unit becomes 60% or less again, allocation suppression or elimination is performed on newly generated calls.

Either one of the above-described 'load fullness' and 'space fullness' or both may be applied together. If both are applied together, the corresponding cell will transition to the full state even if either of the load full rate and the space full rate is exceeded.

Hereinafter, the 'full rate setting' of the robot-linked elevator system of the present invention is reviewed by a more specific embodiment.

First, an elevator system environment including 5 elevator units installed in a building and performing group management is assumed. At this time, it is assumed that the 2 units and the 4 units among the 1 to 5 units are set in a ride mode in which both the robot call and the general passenger call can be serviced. Further, the robot full rate is set to 60%, and the passenger full rate is set to 80% in general.

When the elevator runs, the total load in the car of the riding object (comprising the robot and the general passengers) of the 2 units is detected to be 70%, the corresponding unit is in an idle state with the full rate of the general passengers still being 10%, and the full rate of the robot is in an exceeding state. In this case, the group management unit 21 can allocate a call to a general passenger to the 2 units, but exclude allocation of processing to the robot call. Since element 2 is still available for general passenger calls, full bypass (bypass) is not applicable. In addition, for the newly generated robot call, the unit with highest service efficiency is selected from 1, 3, 4 and 5 units except 2 units to be allocated.

That is, when the robot full rate is full but the general passenger full rate is not full, the corresponding unit is no longer allocated to the robot call, but the full bypass is not applied.

On the other hand, when the total load (riding load) in the car of 4 units is detected to be 81%, the corresponding unit is in a state exceeding the full rate for the robot and the full rate for the general passengers, and therefore the present floor command (elevator car call) allocated by the traveling direction of 4 units is bypassed. In this case, if a new call occurs, among other units than 4 units, for a unit in which a subject (robot or general passenger) to which a response call is input does not exceed a full rate, a unit soldier that can provide the most effective service is selected for allocation. In addition, the layer instruction of the 4-unit path can be reassigned to other units according to options.

That is, in the case where the passenger fullness is full in general (in this case, the robot fullness is also full, of course), the full bypass is applied to the corresponding elevator. When full-man bypasses are applicable, allocation suppression or elimination of the corresponding elevator can be performed together.

As described above, the main technical gist of the present invention is to apply the robot differently from the full detection reference of the general passenger, thereby alleviating full bypass to the general passenger and preventing a decrease in service efficiency.

2. Limiting the number of robots that can be serviced

In addition, the invention can limit the number of robots which can be served by each elevator, thereby maximally restraining the conflict between general passengers using the elevator and the robots or the conflict between the robots, and preventing the reduction of the processing efficiency of the elevator traffic and the service delay in the building.

In particular, the present invention can set the maximum value of the number of serviceable robots per elevator in consideration of the traffic pattern detected manually or automatically. The maximum value may be requested and set from the robot system unit 10 to the group management unit 21 side, or may be set by itself on the group management unit 21 side. At this time, according to the operation mode of the elevator described above, the maximum number of robots that can be serviced in each mode may be set differently.

In addition, the robot-linked elevator system according to the present invention exhibits a 'robot-dedicated mode' and a 'ride-on mode' as operation modes set to be usable by the robot, and in this case, the limited number of robots in the robot-dedicated mode may be set more than the limited number of robots in the ride-on mode. That is, the elevator unit set in the robot-dedicated mode may be set to be capable of accommodating (riding) more robots than the elevator unit set in the riding mode.

As described above, in a state where the maximum number of robots that can be serviced is set for each of a plurality of elevators in a building, the group management unit 21 collects and analyzes information on specifications of elevators such as rated capacity and internal area, general passenger load fullness and/or space fullness in a manual or automatic traffic pattern, robot load fullness and/or space fullness in a manual or automatic traffic pattern, own floor command/car command information registered in each elevator unit, object number information of robots and/or general passengers riding in each elevator unit, object number information of robots and/or general passengers expected to ride according to the traveling direction of each elevator unit, specification information (volume, weight, etc.) of robots riding in an elevator unit or plan to ride, and the like in real time, and can calculate the 'ride capacity', 'ride space', and 'number of service robots' according to floors on the traveling path of the corresponding elevator unit.

Here, 'mountable capacity' refers to a load that can be additionally mounted in an elevator unit, and 'mountable space' refers to a space area that can be additionally occupied in the elevator unit. Also, 'the number of service robots' refers to the number of robots in the present floor order/car order service of the elevator unit, and the number of robots to be mounted in the corresponding unit and the number of robots to be waiting at the elevator car can be calculated.

Furthermore, the meaning of the above-mentioned 'per traffic pattern' means that the fullness of the elevator unit can be set differently depending on the traffic pattern even in the same operating mode. For example, the specific reflection of the traffic pattern in the building will be differently formed over time at the full rate setting of the elevator.

As a more specific example, in special cases such as a departure time, and a lunch time, the traffic volume of passengers using an elevator in a time zone varies, and the traffic volume in an upward direction in the departure time is large, whereas the traffic volume in a downward direction in the departure time is large, and the traffic volume varies depending on the traveling direction. As described above, the present invention previously grasps and retains information according to traffic patterns according to time periods and traveling directions, and sets not only the fullness rates to robots and general passengers differently as described above, but also the fullness rates differently according to traffic patterns, so that it is possible to flexibly operate a plurality of elevators installed in a building.

As described above, the group management unit 21 of the present invention calculates the 'available capacity', 'available space', and 'number of service robots' of each floor on the travel path of the elevator unit running in the building based on the above-described various information, and can grasp them in real time.

In this state, when a call request from a robot is made, the group management unit 21 may select a unit that is set to the robot-dedicated mode or the co-boarding mode and that has a total of the available capacity and available space that meets the specifications of the robot requesting the call in the elevators that can serve the departure floor and the destination floor of the corresponding robot, and may initially constitute an allocatable candidate group. That is, in consideration of specifications of robots to be installed in a plurality of elevators in a building, a unit candidate group capable of accommodating a robot to be called is extracted.

Further, the group management unit 21 selects, among the preliminarily derived elevator unit candidate groups, a unit whose number of service robots to be predicted is not more than the maximum number of robots to be served provided for each unit, from the floor preceding the departure floor in the traveling direction of the destination floor to which the robot currently requesting a call is going, and can reconstruct the allocatable elevator candidate group. In this case, unlike a general passenger, the robot call passing system is formed only remotely, and there is no fear that an unexpected call will occur in the middle, so that the number of robots in service at the floor preceding the departure floor of the robot requesting the call can be predicted.

The group management unit 21 finally determines the most effective elevator among the reconstructed allocatable elevator unit candidate groups by executing a self-established allocation algorithm, and allocates this to the robot requesting the call.

The group management unit 21 calculates the number of the ridable robots on the travel path for each floor and each direction based on the current state information, and can exclude and allocate the corresponding unit to a new robot call at the floor where the number of the ridable robots is '0'.

As described above, the robot-linked elevator system according to the present invention can provide a robot-linked elevator service, set the maximum number of robots that can be serviced per unit of a plurality of elevators installed in a building, grasp the boarding capacity, boarding space, and number of service robots per elevator unit in operation in the building, and perform elevator allocation for robot calls with reference to these information, so that it is possible to efficiently and flexibly correspond to traffic patterns in the building in a range where inconvenience is not felt.

In addition, the present invention has an advantage that elevator service can be provided without any error for various robots having different specifications by performing a corresponding algorithm for a unit in which the number of robots in service is not more than the maximum number of robots that can be serviced, which is set for each unit, after the elevator unit candidate group conforming to the specifications of the robot is preliminarily extracted.

On the one hand, when the total number of robots in the current service of the robot units (i.e., the elevator units set in the robot-dedicated mode and the co-riding mode) that are set to be usable by the robots is greater than or equal to the preset reference value, the corresponding elevator can exclude the allocation of the process to the newly generated robot call. The meaning of 'currently in service' includes, among others, the case of servicing a floor command/car command for a call by a robot, i.e. is interpreted to include not only the case where the robot is riding in the corresponding elevator unit, but also the case where the elevator unit waiting to be allocated to the elevator car.

Further, when the corresponding elevator unit completes the car order service of one or more floors through the robot call or cancels the present floor order service request of one or more floors, it may be set to be able to allocate the robot call newly input again.

That is, when it is detected how many robots are served by the previous elevator unit and it is detected that the number of robots receiving the current floor command/car command is equal to or greater than a preset value, the corresponding elevator unit is no longer allocated to the new elevator unit.

Further, when the same call floor and/or destination floor is input as a call of the robots of 2 or more, the number of robots allocated to the same elevator unit may be limited to a predetermined value or less, and may be distributed to a plurality of units in a scattered manner. In this case, considering the robot occupancy of each unit of the plurality of elevators that can be allocated by the robot call, allocation can be performed by giving priority to the units with a low occupancy in order of units.

The robot-linked elevator system according to the invention described above may comprise at least one processor that can execute readable instructions at a computer. Furthermore, the present invention can be embodied as computer readable codes on a computer readable recording medium. The computer readable recording medium includes all types of recording devices such as ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage device, etc. that store data readable by a computer system.

The present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, and it is apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, such modifications or variations are intended to fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

(symbol description)

10: robot system unit

20: elevator system unit

21: group management unit

22: control unit

Claims (13)

1. A robotic linked elevator system comprising:

a robot; and

An elevator comprising a unit arranged to be able to serve said robot,

when setting the fullness rate of the elevator, the fullness rate to the robot and the fullness rate to the person are set differently.

2. The robotic linked elevator system of claim 1, wherein a fullness rate to the robot is set to be lower than a fullness rate to the person.

3. The robot-linked elevator system of claim 1, wherein the elevator is provided in a plurality,

among the plurality of elevators, a unit set in a robot-dedicated mode that is serviceable only for a call of a robot is adapted to the full rate of the robot,

of the plurality of elevators, a unit set in a general passenger-specific mode that is serviceable only for a call of a person is adapted to the fullness rate of the person,

in the plurality of elevators, a unit set in a ride-through mode that is serviceable for both a robot and a person's call is adapted to both the robot's full rate and the person's full rate.

4. The robot-linked elevator system according to claim 3, wherein, in the case of the elevator unit set in the simultaneous mode, a call to the robot is an allocation target based on a full rate to the robot, and a call to the person is an allocation target based on a full rate to the person.

5. The robot-linked elevator system according to claim 1, wherein when the elevator exceeds a full rate set for each unit, the elevator is switched to a full state and allocation suppression or allocation exclusion is performed for a newly generated call.

6. The robot-linked elevator system of claim 3, wherein the fullness comprises a load fullness based on a load of objects riding in an elevator car and a space fullness based on a space occupancy of objects riding in the elevator car,

the load fullness and the space fullness are selectively or jointly applicable for each unit of the plurality of elevators.

7. The robot-linked elevator system according to claim 6, wherein elevator units set in the robot-dedicated mode and the simultaneous mode are set for each unit by a maximum number of robots that can be serviced.

8. The robot-linked elevator system of claim 7, wherein the maximum number of robots that can be serviced by an elevator unit set in the robot-dedicated mode is set to be greater than the maximum number of robots that can be serviced by an elevator unit set in the ride-on mode.

9. The robotic linked elevator system according to claim 7, further comprising:

and a group management unit for selecting and distributing any one unit of the plurality of elevators for the call request of the robot.

10. The robot-linked elevator system according to claim 9, wherein the group management unit collects and analyzes specification information of the elevators including rated capacity and internal area of the elevators, full rate set for each unit of the plurality of elevators, call request information registered for each unit of the plurality of elevators, and object number information to be taken or expected to be taken for each unit of the plurality of elevators in real time, thereby deriving information on service robot number of the number of robots to be taken for each unit of the plurality of elevators, a possible capacity to take load to be added, a possible space to take space to be occupied, and a service showing the corresponding unit.

11. The robot-linked elevator system according to claim 10, wherein when a call is made by the robot, the group management means selects elevator units having the available capacity and the available space satisfying a robot specification for the call request, initially forms an assignable candidate group, selects units having the number of service robots not exceeding the maximum number of service robots from the initial candidate group, and reconstructs the assignable candidate group, and executes an assignment algorithm on the reconstructed candidate group to select any one of the units.

12. The robot-linked elevator system according to claim 7, wherein, in the plurality of elevators, when the number of robots currently in service of a certain cell is set to be equal to or greater than the maximum number of robots that can be serviced of the corresponding cell, an allocation exclusion process is performed for the corresponding cell as a newly occurring robot call.

13. The robot-linked elevator system according to claim 12, wherein when the same call floor or the same destination floor is inputted as two or more calls, the number of robots allocated to the same elevator cell is limited to a predetermined value or less, and a plurality of cells are allocated in a distributed manner.