Touchless gesture recognition for elevator service

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10023427-B2
Application number	US-201415313352-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 28, 2014
Priority date	May 28, 2014
Publication date	Jul 17, 2018
Grant date	Jul 17, 2018

Abstract

A method for provisioning elevator service includes sensing, by a gesture interface including a sensor, a region in proximity to the gesture interface to obtain data; determining, by the gesture interface, that a first pattern in the data corresponds to a first gesture; and initiating a request for elevator service in response to determining that the first pattern corresponds to the first gesture.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for provisioning elevator service, the method comprising:
sensing, by a gesture interface comprising a sensor, a region in proximity to the gesture interface to obtain data;
receiving, by the gesture interface, an identifier associated with the particular user;
determining, by the gesture interface, that a first pattern in the data corresponds to a first gesture based on a comparison of the data to a library of reference gestures, wherein the library of reference gestures comprises a plurality of reference gestures associated with the particular user; and
initiating a request for elevator service in response to determining that the first pattern corresponds to the first gesture.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein when the first gesture corresponds to an upward motion the request for elevator service corresponds to a request for an elevator car traveling in an upward direction, or wherein when the first gesture corresponds to a downward motion the request for elevator service corresponds to a request for an elevator car traveling in a downward direction.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifier is based on at least one of: a mobile device
identifier, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, and a facial recognition technique.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the gesture interface, that a second pattern in the data corresponds to a second gesture.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
initiating, by the gesture interface, at least one door of an elevator car to be controlled based on the second gesture.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
initiating, by the gesture interface, the at least one door to be at least one of:
opened,
closed, and
stopped in terms of motion of the at least one door.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
initiating, by the gesture interface, the request for elevator service to be canceled based on the second gesture.

8. A method for provisioning elevator service, the method comprising:
sensing, by a gesture interface comprising a sensor, a region in proximity to the gesture interface to obtain data;
determining, by the gesture interface, that a first pattern in the data corresponds to a first gesture; and
initiating a request for elevator service in response to determining that the first pattern corresponds to the first gesture;
wherein a field of view associated with the sensor is representative to a height of a building in which the elevator system is located, and wherein a destination floor associated with the request for elevator service is selected based on a relative height of a user's hand in connection with the first gesture.

9. An apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
memory having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
sense a region in proximity to the apparatus to obtain data;
receive an identifier associated with a particular user;
determine that a first pattern in the data corresponds to a first gesture based on a comparison of the data to a library of reference gestures, wherein the library of reference gestures comprises a plurality of reference gestures associated with the particular user; and
initiate a request for elevator service in response to determining that the first pattern corresponds to the first gesture.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein when the first gesture corresponds to an upward motion the request for elevator service corresponds to a request for an elevator car traveling in an upward direction, and wherein when the first gesture corresponds to a downward motion the request for elevator service corresponds to a request for an elevator car traveling in a downward direction.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the apparatus to:
determine that a second pattern in the data corresponds to a second gesture.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the apparatus to:
cause at least one door of an elevator car to be controlled based on the second gesture.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the apparatus to:
cause the at least one door to be at least one of:
opened,
closed, and
stopped in terms of motion of the at least one door.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the second gesture corresponds to a side-to-side sweeping motion that serves to open the at least one door when oriented in a first direction and close the at least one door when oriented in a second direction that is substantially opposite to the first direction.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the at least one door comprises two doors arranged as center-opening doors, and wherein the second gesture corresponds to at least one of:
a bringing together or joining of a user's hands to close the two doors, and
a separation of a user's hands to open the two doors.

16. A conveyance system, comprising:
a gesture interface configured to:
obtain data corresponding a region in proximity to the conveyance system by sensing the region;
receive an identifier associated with a particular user;
analyze the data to recognize when patterns in the data correspond to one or more gestures within a threshold based on a comparison of the data to a library of reference gestures, wherein the library of reference gestures comprises a plurality of reference gestures associated with the particular user, the one or more gestures comprising a request for service;
generate a command in response to analyzing the data; and

a controller configured to manage one or more resources associated with the conveyance system in response to the command.

17. The conveyance system of claim 16 , wherein the conveyance system comprises an elevator system, and wherein the one or more gestures comprise an indication of a number corresponding to a destination dispatch request.

Assignees

• Otis Elevator Co

Inventors

• Scoville Bradley Armand
• Simcik Paul A
• Peterson Eric C

Classifications

• B66B2201/4669

  using passenger condition detectors · CPC title

• B66B2201/4638

  Wherein the call is registered without making physical contact with the elevator system · CPC title

• B66B13/146

  method or algorithm for controlling doors · CPC title

• B66B1/468 Primary

  Call registering systems · CPC title

• B66B2201/4646

  using voice recognition · CPC title