CN104909224A - Elevator group management system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a group management system of elevators capable of improving group management performance in situations where it is not always possible to select the best passenger car only by evaluation values during congestion. A group supervisory control device (10) includes an RTS evaluation unit (12), an optimal car selection unit (13), and an allocation control unit (14). An RTS evaluation unit (12) calculates an evaluation value when a hall call to be allocated is allocated to each passenger car based on a current call state and a forecast of a call that will occur in the future. An optimal car selection unit (13) selects the passenger car with the best evaluation value from among the passenger cars as the optimal car. An allocation control unit (14) searches for a passenger car that satisfies a predetermined condition from among the passenger cars based on the predicted arrival time of the optimal car for the hall call, and allocates the hall call to the retrieved car. Passenger car or best car.

Description

Elevator group management system

This application is based on Japanese patent application 2014-051220 (filing date: March 14, 2014), and enjoys the priority of this application. This application incorporates the entire content of this application by reference.

technical field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an elevator group management system that controls the operation of a plurality of passenger cars.

Background technique

In the elevator group management system, when a new hall call occurs, the evaluation value is calculated for each passenger car through the evaluation function, and the passenger car with the best evaluation value is judged as the allocated car. The above-mentioned evaluation function takes the calls registered in each passenger car (hall calls and car calls), car positions, and the like as parameters. "Assigned car" refers to the passenger car assigned to the hall call, also known as "assigned car".

Here, a new method called RTS (Real Time Scheduling: Real Time Scheduling) is considered as a method of evaluating the distribution of hall calls. This is done in such a way that an evaluation value is calculated for each passenger car, taking into account the impact of the currently allocated call on future calls and the impact of future calls on all unanswered calls allocated so far. By using this RTS to calculate the evaluation value of each passenger car, it is possible to select a better allocated car.

Contents of the invention

In the RTS described above, when substantially the same evaluation values are calculated, the assigned car is selected based on the magnitude relationship of the evaluation values. However, a large number of unexpected calls may sometimes occur, for example, during crowded times. Therefore, it may be more desirable to allocate a hall call to a car closer to the registered floor of the hall call than to a car with the best evaluation value.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an elevator group management system capable of improving the group management performance when congested times and other situations where the best passenger car cannot be selected only by evaluation values.

The elevator group management system of this embodiment controls the operation of a plurality of passenger cars, and includes an evaluation unit, an optimal car selection unit, and an allocation control unit.

The evaluation unit calculates an evaluation value when the hall call to be allocated is allocated to each of the above-mentioned passenger cars based on the current state of the call and the prediction of the call that will occur in the future. The optimum car selection unit selects, as the optimum car, the passenger car whose evaluation value calculated by the evaluation unit is the best among the respective passenger cars. The allocation control unit searches for a passenger car that satisfies a predetermined condition from the respective passenger cars based on the predicted arrival time of the optimal car selected by the optimal car selection unit to the hall call. , allocating the above hall call to the retrieved passenger car or the above optimal car.

According to the group management system for elevators configured as described above, it is possible to improve the group management performance by eliminating the situation where the optimum passenger car cannot be selected only by the evaluation value in times of congestion or the like.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator group control system according to a first embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing hall call assignment processing by the group supervisory control device in the first embodiment.

3 is a diagram showing an example of an operation curve of the group supervisory control device in the first embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the operating state of each machine of the group supervisory control device in the first embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator group control system according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing related to threshold value setting by the group supervisory control device in the second embodiment.

Detailed ways

Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(first embodiment)

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator group management system according to the first embodiment, showing a configuration in which a plurality of elevators (here, three elevators A to C) are managed by a group. In addition, the "elevator" mentioned here basically means "passenger car", but there is also the term "number car".

1a to 1c in the figure are car control units, and 2a to 2c are passenger cars. The machine A control unit 1a performs operation control of the passenger car 2a of the machine A. Specifically, the car control unit 1a performs control of a not-shown motor (winding machine) for raising and lowering the passenger car 2a, door opening and closing control, and the like. The same applies to the B machine control unit 1b and the C machine control unit 1c. These car control units 1a to 1c are constituted by computers.

The passenger cars 2a to 2c are driven by a motor (hoist) to move up and down in the hoistway. Various operation buttons including a destination floor button 3a, a door opening button 4a, and a door closing button 5a are provided in the interior of the passenger car 2a. The signals of these buttons are transmitted to the group supervisory control device 10 via the A-number machine control unit 1a.

Similarly, various operation buttons including a destination floor button 3b, a door opening button 4b, and a door closing button 5b are provided inside the passenger car 2b. The signals of these buttons are transmitted to the group supervisory control device 10 via the B-number machine control unit 1b. Various operation buttons including a destination floor button 3c, a door opening button 4c, and a door closing button 5c are provided in the interior of the passenger car 2c. The signals of these buttons are transmitted to the group supervisory control device 10 via the C number machine control unit 1c.

In addition, hall buttons 6 a , 6 b , 6 c . . . for registering hall calls are provided at halls (elevator halls) on each floor. In addition, in the example of FIG. 1, although the hall buttons 6a, 6b, 6c... are connected to the group supervisory control device 10 via the car control units 1a-1c, they may be directly connected to the group supervisory control device 10. .

These hall buttons 6a, 6b, 6c... include an up button and a down button, and are configured to press the up button or the down button according to the destination direction of the user. In addition, only the up button is configured on the lowest layer, and only the down button is configured on the uppermost layer.

The "hall call" refers to a signal of a call registered by operating a hall button provided at the hall of each floor, and includes information on a registered floor and a direction to a destination.

The "car call" refers to a call signal registered by operating a destination floor button installed in the car room, and includes destination floor information.

The group supervisory control device 10 is a device for performing group supervisory control on the operation of the passenger cars 2a to 2c of each car, and is constituted by a computer similarly to the car control units 1a to 1c. In this embodiment, the group management control device 10 is provided with a state monitoring unit 11 , an RTS evaluation unit 12 , an optimal car selection unit 13 , an allocation control unit 14 , and an allocation execution unit 15 . In addition, these processing units are actually realized by software or a combination of software and hardware.

The state monitoring unit 11 monitors the running state (car position, running direction, door opening and closing state, etc.) monitor.

When a new elevator hall call occurs on any floor, the RTS evaluation unit 12 performs evaluation processing using RTS (Real Time Scheduling), and calculates the elevator to be allocated based on the current state of the call and the prediction of the call that will occur in the future. An evaluation value when hall calls are assigned to the passenger cars 2a to 2c.

In addition, the evaluation value is an index showing the degree of optimum when hall calls are allocated. The smaller the numerical value of the evaluation value, the higher the evaluation, and the larger the numerical value, the lower the evaluation. In addition, since the RTS is well known, its detailed description is omitted here.

The optimum car selection unit 13 selects the passenger car having the best evaluation value calculated by the RTS evaluation unit 12 from among the passenger cars 2a to 2c as the optimum car. In addition, the "best car" refers to the passenger car with the best RTS evaluation value. On the other hand, "assigned car" refers to a passenger car to which a hall call is actually assigned.

The assignment control unit 14 performs assignment control of hall calls to the passenger cars 2a to 2c. The allocation control unit 14 usually directly determines the optimal car selected by the optimal car selection unit 13 as the allocated car. In the present embodiment, the assignment control unit 14 searches for another passenger car by another method under the following conditions, and determines the assigned car.

[condition]

The predicted arrival time Tx of the optimal car to the hall call obtained from the RTS evaluation value is equal to or greater than the preset reference time Ts.

The above-mentioned reference time Ts is set in consideration of the possibility of registering an unpredictable call (hall call/car call) during the period until the optimum car arrives at the registration floor of the hall call, and is, for example, "30 seconds". .

That is, when the predicted arrival time Tx of the optimal car to the hall call is equal to or greater than the reference time Ts=30 seconds, the allocation control unit 14 converts the evaluation values of the passenger cars 2a to 2c into values in units of time , to retrieve the passenger car whose time difference with the optimal car is lower than the preset threshold TH. If there is a qualified car, the assignment control unit 14 determines a car near the registration floor of the hall call as the assigned car, and assigns the hall call to the passenger car. . Details will be described later with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5 .

The assignment execution unit 15 outputs a hall call assignment signal to the passenger car finally determined by the assignment control unit 11 . For example, when the passenger car 2a has been determined, the assignment execution unit 12 outputs a hall call assignment signal to the No. A car control unit 1a. The control unit 1a of the car No. A receives the distribution signal of the hall call, and causes the passenger car 2a to respond to the registered floor of the hall call.

Hereinafter, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the allocation process of hall calls by the group supervisory control device 10 of this system. In addition, the processing shown in this flowchart is executed when the group supervisory control device 10 which is a computer reads a predetermined program.

When a new hall call occurs on an arbitrary floor (YES in step S11 ), information on the hall call is provided to the RTS evaluation unit 12 via the state monitoring unit 11 of the group supervisory control device 10 . Thereby, in the RTS evaluation part 12, the evaluation value of RTS is calculated for every passenger car 2a-2c (step S11).

Specifically, first, the RTS evaluation unit 12 adds a virtual call that is assumed to occur in consideration of the current state of the call and the prediction of a call that will occur in the future to the hall call that is the allocation target. The RTS evaluation part 12 calculates the evaluation value when these calls are allocated to the passenger cars 2a-2c according to the evaluation formula of RTS (step S12).

The RTS evaluation values of the passenger cars 2 a to 2 c calculated by the RTS evaluation unit 12 are supplied to the optimum car selection unit 13 . As a result, the optimal car selection unit 13 selects the passenger car with the best evaluation value among the passenger cars 2a to 2c as the optimal car. The RTS evaluation unit 12 supplies the information of the selected optimum car to the allocation control unit 14 together with the RTS evaluation values of the passenger cars 2a to 2c (step S13).

When the optimal car is selected, the allocation control unit 14 first calculates the predicted arrival time Tx from the current position of the optimal car to the registered floor of the hall call (step S14). The predicted arrival time Tx is based on the distance from the current position of the optimal car to the registration floor of the hall call and the information of the registered call (hall call/car call) existing during this period, the operating speed, etc. figured out.

Here, the allocation control unit 14 judges whether or not the predicted arrival time Tx is equal to or longer than a preset reference time Ts (for example, 30 seconds) (step S15 ). As described above, the reference time Ts is set in consideration of the possibility that an unpredictable call will be registered until the optimum car reaches the hall call registration floor.

Here, the shorter the predicted arrival time Tx is, the earlier the optimal car arrives at the hall call registration floor, so it can be considered that an unexpected call (hall call/car call) may be registered during this period. Sex is low. Therefore, when the predicted arrival time Tx is shorter than the reference time Ts (Yes in step S15), the assignment control unit 14 directly determines the optimal car selected by the RTS evaluation value as the assigned car, and calls the car to the car. Allocate to this optimal car (step S20). Specifically, the assignment control unit 14 outputs an assignment signal to the car control unit corresponding to the assigned car among the car control units 1a to 1c via the assignment execution unit 15, so that the assigned car responds to the hall call. registration layer.

On the other hand, the longer the predicted arrival time Tx, the higher the possibility that an unexpected call will be registered during this period. Therefore, when the predicted arrival time Tx is equal to or greater than the reference time Ts (YES in step S15), the allocation control unit 14 converts the RTS evaluation values of the passenger cars 2a to 2c into values in units of time according to Equation (1), Re-evaluation is performed (step S16).

In the above formula (1), the RTS evaluation value is divided by the number of call registrations, and the square root of the result is taken. The reason for "dividing the RTS evaluation value by the number of call registrations" is that, in the RTS evaluation formula, the evaluation value is calculated by accumulating a large number of calls including predictions of calls that will occur in the future. Therefore, the RTS evaluation value is divided by the number of call registrations to obtain an average value for one call. In addition, the reason for "taking the square root" is that in the evaluation formula of RTS, the waiting time for each call is squared.

Take the running curve shown in Figure 3 as an example for illustration.

For example, it is assumed that an upward hall call is registered on the first floor, and the A-number car (passenger car 2a) responds. At this time, downward hall calls have already been registered on the 5th, 3rd, and 2nd floors, and the waiting times for the respective floors are set to T1, T2, and T3.

■ Situation a

As case a, it is assumed that the waiting times of each layer are T1 = 20 seconds, T2 = 30 seconds, and T3 = 10 seconds. In the RST evaluation, these wait times are squared. Therefore, if only focusing on the waiting time, the value becomes 20 ² +30 ² +10 ² =1400. In addition, actually, the RST evaluation value is obtained according to an evaluation formula including other elements.

■ Situation b

As case b, it is assumed that the waiting time of each layer is T1 = 10 seconds, T2 = 20 seconds, and T3 = 5 seconds. Focusing only on the waiting time, the RST evaluation value in this case becomes a value of 10 ² +20 ² +5 ² =525.

In this way, in the RST evaluation formula, since the evaluation is performed emphasizing the waiting time, the evaluation value changes greatly due to slight changes in the waiting time. Then, the evaluation value is converted into a time-unit value using the above formula (1), and the average waiting time for one call can be compared.

The allocation control unit 14 re-examines selection of the optimum car based on the time obtained by the above formula (1). That is, the allocation control unit 14 investigates the time difference between the optimal car selected in the above-mentioned step S13 and other passenger cars (step S17).

When there is a passenger car whose time difference with the optimal car is lower than the threshold TH (Yes in step S18), the allocation control unit 14 compares the passenger car with the optimal car selected in the above-mentioned step S13. One of the cars closer to the registration floor of the hall call is determined to be an assigned car, and the hall call is assigned to the passenger car (step S19). Specifically, the allocation control unit 14 outputs an allocation signal to the car control unit corresponding to the allocated car among the car control units 1a to 1c via the allocation execution unit 15, so that the allocated car responds to the hall call. registration layer.

The above-mentioned threshold TH is set in advance according to traffic needs and the like, and is, for example, "1 second". That is, when the time difference from the optimal car selected by RST is less than 1 second, the hall call is assigned to the side closer to the registration floor of the hall call. This is because, if the temporal conditions are the same, the one with the shorter distance is more likely to arrive earlier.

On the other hand, when there is no passenger car whose time difference with the optimal car is lower than the threshold value TH (No in step S18), the assignment control unit 14 assigns the optimal car selected by the RTS evaluation value directly to It is decided to assign a car, and the hall call is assigned to the optimal car (step S20). Specifically, the allocation control unit 14 outputs an allocation signal to the car control unit corresponding to the allocated car among the car control units 1a to 1c via the allocation execution unit 15, so that the allocated car responds to the hall call. registration layer.

Fig. 4 shows a specific example.

Now, assume that a hall call is registered on the first floor, and the car A (passenger car 2a) is selected as the optimal car by the RTS. When the estimated arrival time Ta of the passenger car 2a to the hall call on the first floor is greater than or equal to the reference time Ts (for example, 30 seconds), the RTS evaluation value of each car is converted into The value of the time unit, to re-study the selection of the best car.

Here, the time of machine A obtained by the above-mentioned formula (1) is ta, the time of machine B is tb, and the time of machine C is tc.

ta=10.5

tb=11.0

tc=12.0

It is assumed that the times ta, tb, and tc of the respective machines are the above-mentioned values. In this case, since the time difference between the A and B machines as the optimal car is lower than the threshold TH (for example, 1 second), the hall call is allocated to the car A and B that is closer to the car. The party on the registered floor (1st floor) of the hall call. In the example of FIG. 4, since the car No. B is closer to the first floor than the car No. A, the hall call is assigned to the passenger car 2b of the car No. B.

Thus, according to the first embodiment, by converting the RTS evaluation value of each car into a time-unit value and comparing them, it is possible to allocate hall calls to the hall calls even in situations such as when unforeseen calls are registered during congestion. The best passenger car makes it respond early.

(second embodiment)

Next, a second embodiment will be described.

In the second embodiment, in addition to the configuration of the above-mentioned first embodiment, a function of setting the threshold value TH according to the traffic condition is provided. This threshold TH is set as a condition for searching for a passenger car other than the optimum car obtained by the RTS.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator group control system according to a second embodiment. In addition, about the same part as the structure of FIG. 1 in the said 1st Embodiment, the same code|symbol is attached|subjected, and the description is abbreviate|omitted.

In the second embodiment, the group supervisory control device 10 is provided with a traffic demand learning unit 16 and a threshold value setting unit 17 . The traffic needs learning unit 16 learns (stores) the traffic needs of each floor in units of predetermined time. The traffic demand of each floor is obtained, for example, by counting the hall calls registered by the operation of the hall buttons 6a, 6b, 6c... of each floor for each floor.

Furthermore, if the number of people boarding from each floor is estimated using unillustrated load sensors installed on the passenger cars 2a to 2c of each number car, it is possible to more accurately detect the traffic demand of each floor. Furthermore, a monitoring camera may be installed at the boarding place of each floor, and the video image of this monitoring camera may be analyzed to detect the number of passengers of each floor.

The threshold value setting unit 17 sets a threshold value TH as a condition for searching for a passenger car other than the optimum car obtained by the RTS based on the traffic demand of each floor learned by the traffic demand learning unit 16 . Specifically, the threshold value setting unit 17 determines whether the vehicle is crowded or idle based on the traffic demand of each floor learned by the traffic demand learning unit 16 . When the traffic is crowded, the threshold setting unit 17 increases the threshold TH compared to the normal time, and when it is slack, the threshold setting unit 17 decreases the threshold TH compared to the normal time.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing related to threshold value setting by the group supervisory control device 10 of this system. In addition, the processing shown in this flowchart is executed when the group supervisory control device 10 which is a computer reads a predetermined program. In addition, the processing of this flowchart is executed by a routine different from the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 2 , and the threshold value TH set here is reflected in step S18 of FIG. 2 .

The traffic demand learning unit 16 of the group supervisory control device 10 acquires the traffic demand of each floor through the state monitoring unit 11, and learns (stores) the traffic demand in predetermined time units (step S21). The threshold value setting unit 17 determines whether the vehicle is crowded or idle based on the traffic demand of each floor learned by the traffic demand learning unit 16 (step S22 ).

For example, when judging the traffic needs of each floor based on the number of call registrations on each floor, the threshold value setting unit 17 compares the number of call registrations on each floor every predetermined time with the preset number of registrations in normal times. Compare. As a result, when the number of call registrations on each floor per predetermined time is greater than the number of registrations in normal times, the threshold value setting unit 17 determines that it is a time of congestion. Conversely, when the number of call registrations for each floor per predetermined time is smaller than the usual number of registrations, the threshold value setting unit 17 determines that the call is idle.

In the case of congestion (YES in step S23 ), the threshold value setting unit 17 increases the currently set threshold value TH compared to the normal time (step S24 ). This is because, when there is congestion, there is a high possibility that an unpredictable call will be registered, and errors tend to occur in the RTS evaluation value. Therefore, by increasing the threshold value TH (for example, 2 seconds), more candidates other than the passenger car selected as the optimal car by the RTS can be taken in.

In the case of idle time (No in step S23), the threshold value setting unit 17 lowers the currently set threshold value TH compared to the normal time (step S25). This is because, when idle, there is little possibility of registering an unpredictable call, and errors are less likely to occur in the RTS evaluation value. Therefore, by lowering the threshold TH (for example, 0.5 seconds), the passenger car selected as the best car by the RTS is given priority.

In addition, when neither the time of congestion nor the time of idleness, a threshold value TH (for example, 1 second) set in advance in normal times is applied.

The threshold TH set by the threshold setting unit 17 is supplied to the allocation control unit 14 . In the allocation control part 14, the passenger car that satisfies the threshold value TH is searched, and the retrieved passenger car is determined as the allocated car or the optimal car selected by the RTS is directly determined as the allocated car, And the hall call is assigned to the passenger car (refer to steps S18 to S20 in FIG. 2 ).

In this manner, according to the second embodiment, the threshold TH is set according to the traffic situation, and candidates for passenger cars other than the optimal car output by the RTS are searched for using the set threshold TH.

In this case, if there is congestion where the RTS evaluation value is prone to errors, more candidates other than the passenger car selected by the RTS as the best car are taken in, and hall calls can be allocated to them. Passenger car capable of early response. On the other hand, when there is little error in the RTS evaluation value, the hall call can be preferentially assigned to the passenger car selected as the optimum car by the RTS.

In addition, in the example of FIG. 6, although the threshold value TH is switched between the time of congested time and the time of idling, for example, it is also possible to further subdivide the degree of traffic demand and set the threshold value TH in stages.

According to at least one of the embodiments described above, it is possible to provide an elevator group management system capable of improving group management performance in case of congestion, etc., in which the optimal car cannot be selected only by the evaluation value.

In addition, although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These new embodiments can be implemented in other various forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and/or gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and its equivalent scope.

Claims (7)

1. A group management system of an elevator, which controls the operation of a plurality of passenger cars, is characterized in that it has: An evaluation unit that calculates an evaluation value when the hall call to be allocated is allocated to each of the above-mentioned passenger cars, based on the current state of the call and a prediction of a call that will occur in the future; an optimal car selection unit that selects, from the respective passenger cars, the passenger car with the best evaluation value calculated by the evaluation unit as the optimal car; and An allocation control unit that searches for a passenger car that satisfies a predetermined condition from among the passenger cars based on the predicted arrival time of the optimal car selected by the optimal car selection unit for the hall call. car, assigning the above-mentioned hall call to the retrieved passenger car or the above-mentioned optimum car. 2. The group management system of elevator according to claim 1, is characterized in that, The allocation control unit searches for a passenger car that satisfies a predetermined condition from among the passenger cars when the predicted arrival time of the optimal car to the hall call is greater than or equal to a preset reference time. box. 3. The group management system of elevator according to claim 2, is characterized in that, The allocation control unit converts the evaluation value of each of the passenger cars into a time unit value, uses the condition that the time difference from the optimal car is lower than a preset threshold value as the predetermined condition, and searches for a car that satisfies the condition. The hall call is allocated to the car of the predetermined condition to the car near the registration floor of the hall call among the retrieved car and the optimal car. 4. The group management system of elevator according to claim 2, is characterized in that, The allocation control unit assigns the optimal car to the hall call when the estimated arrival time of the hall call is shorter than the reference time, or when there is no car satisfying the predetermined condition. Hall calls are allocated to the above-mentioned optimal car. 5. The group management system of elevator according to claim 2, is characterized in that, The reference time is set in consideration of the possibility that an unpredictable call will be registered during the period until the optimal car arrives at the registration floor of the hall call. 6. The group management system of elevator according to claim 3, is characterized in that, also possesses: Transportation Needs Learning Section, which studies the transportation needs of each floor; and A threshold setting unit that sets the threshold based on the traffic demand of each layer learned by the traffic demand learning unit. 7. The group management system of the elevator according to claim 6, characterized in that, The threshold value setting unit judges whether it is congested or idle based on the traffic demand of each floor learned by the traffic demand learning unit, and increases the threshold value in the congested time compared with normal time, and increases the threshold value in the idle time. , lower the above-mentioned threshold than usual.