Apparatus and a method for elevator allocation using a magnetic field map in an elevator system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9873590-B2
Application number	US-201514805261-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 21, 2015
Priority date	Feb 1, 2013
Publication date	Jan 23, 2018
Grant date	Jan 23, 2018

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and apparatus. In the method a target area is divided to a plurality of cells. A plurality of movement paths of mobile nodes are determined, each movement path comprising an origin cell and a target cell, the origin cell and the target cell being determined using a magnetic map of the target area. The durations of the plurality of movement paths are determined for an elevator user. A route topology data structure is formed using the plurality of movement paths and the durations of the plurality of movement paths, the data structure comprising for a plurality of cells an estimated time to reach an elevator location. An elevator call in a request cell is determined by a requesting mobile node. The time to reach the elevator location is determined using the data structure and information on the request cell, and an elevator car is selected to serve the elevator call based on the time to reach the elevator location, current positions of at least two elevator cars, and current directions of at the least two elevator cars.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
dividing a target area to grid having a predefined resolution, the grid comprising a plurality of cells;
determining a plurality of movement paths of a plurality of mobile nodes, each movement path comprising an origin cell and a target cell, the origin cell and the target cell being determined using a magnetic map of the target area;
determining durations of the plurality of movement paths for an elevator user;
forming a route topology data structure using the plurality of movement paths and the durations of the plurality of movement paths, the route topology data structure comprising for the plurality of cells a time to reach an elevator location cell;
determining an elevator call in a request cell by a requesting mobile node, the request cell being the cell in which the elevator call is made;
determining the time to reach the elevator location cell using the route topology data structure and information on the request cell; and
selecting an elevator car to serve the elevator call based on the time to reach the elevator location cell, a floor of the elevator location cell, current positions of at least two elevator cars, and current directions of at the least two elevator cars.

2. The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:
measuring the magnetic map of the target area using a magnetometer; and
storing the magnetic map to a memory.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the step of storing the magnetic map to the memory comprises:
transmitting a plurality of magnetic map measurements of the target area to a magnetic map network server; and
storing the magnetic map to a memory within the magnetic map network server.

4. The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:
determining actual time required for the requesting mobile node to reach the elevator location cell; and
updating the data related to at least the request cell in the route topology data structure using the actual time.

5. The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:
associating a mobile node identifier for each of the plurality of movement paths;
determining a speed category for each mobile node; and
storing in the route topology data structure a time to reach an elevator location cell for each speed category.

6. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the step of determining the time to reach the elevator location cell comprises:
determining a speed category of the mobile node.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the elevator call comprises information on the target floor and the selecting of the elevator car to serve the elevator call uses the target floor as a further criterion.

8. The method according to claim 7 , the method further comprising:
transmitting information on the magnetic map to the plurality of mobile nodes.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of forming the route topology data structure comprises:
receiving information on the plurality of movement paths and movement path durations from the plurality of mobile nodes to a route network server; and
forming the route topology data structure in the route network server.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises:
receiving the elevator call from the requesting mobile node by the route network server, the route network server determining the time to reach the elevator location cell using the route topology data structure and the request cell and the route network server selecting the elevator car to serve the elevator call.

11. The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:
transmitting a request to a controller associated with the selected elevator car, the request indicating the floor the elevator call was made in.

12. The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:
indicating the selected elevator car to the user of the mobile node.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the selected elevator car is indicated to the user of the mobile node using a display of the mobile node.

14. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the selected elevator car is indicated to the user of the mobile node using an external display within a predefined proximity from the mobile node.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the time to reach a door of the elevator car from the elevator location cell is used in the selection of the elevator car to serve the elevator call.

16. A method, comprising:
dividing a target area to grid having a predefined resolution, the grid comprising a plurality of cells by a mobile node;
determining a first cell by the mobile node using a magnetic map in the mobile node;
determining a second cell by the mobile node using the magnetic map in the mobile node;
determining the time elapsed to move between the first cell and the second cell;
transmitting information on the first cell, the second cell and the time elapsed to a route topology network node;
receiving a route topology data structure by the mobile node from the route topology network node, the route topology data structure comprising for a plurality of cells a time to reach an elevator location cell;
determining an elevator call by the mobile node;
determining a request cell in which the elevator call is made using the magnetic map in the mobile node;
determining the time to reach the elevator location cell using the route topology data structure and information on the request cell; and
transmitting the time to reach the elevator location cell to an elevator control network node.

17. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
dividing a target area to grid having a predefined resolution, the grid comprising a plurality of cells;
receiving information on a plurality of movement paths of a plurality of mobile nodes, each movement path comprising an origin cell and a target cell, the origin cell and the target cell being determined using a magnetic map of the target area;
determining the durations of the plurality of movement paths;
forming a route topology data structure using the plurality of movement paths and the durations of the plurality of movement paths, the route topology data structure comprising for a plurality of cells a time to reach an elevator location cell;
receiving information on an elevator call in a request cell by a requesting mobile node, the request cell being the cell in which the elevator call is made;
determining the time to reach the elevator location cell using the route topology data structure and the request cell; and
selecting an elevator car to serve the elevator call based on the time to reach the elevator location cell, a floor of the elevator location cell, current positions of at least two elevator cars, and current directions of at the least two elevator cars.

18. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
dividing a target area to grid having a predefined resolution, the grid comprising a plurality of cells by a mobile node;
determining a first cell by the mobile node using a magnetic map in the mobile node;
determining a second cell by the

Assignees

• Kone Corp

Inventors

• Salmikuukka Jukka
• Virtanen Ari
• Kronkvist Kenneth

Classifications

• B66B3/006 Primary

  for guiding passengers to their assigned elevator car · CPC title

• B66B2201/232

  where the time needed for a passenger to arrive at the allocated elevator car from where the call is made is taken into account · CPC title

• B66B3/00

  Applications of devices for indicating or signalling operating conditions of elevators · CPC title

• B66B2201/4653

  wherein the call is registered using portable devices · CPC title

• B66B1/46 Primary

  Adaptations of switches or switchgear (switches or switchgear in general, applications of switches or switchgear for floor-levelling purpose H01H; panels for boards or switching arrangements H02B1/015) · CPC title