This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202010181023.2, filed Mar. 16, 2020, and all the benefits accruing therefrom under 35 U.S.C. § 119, the contents of which in its entirety are herein incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure relates to the field of elevators, and more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a control system and method for elevator-waiting position of a robotic passenger in a building.
With the rapid development in the fields of robotics, mobile communications, and artificial intelligence, movable robotic passengers have gradually emerged in people's daily lives. There are some robotic passengers that are moving in a building, such as robots that perform food delivery services in hotels, and they need to take the elevator when performing tasks. This type of robot is pre-set with a fixed elevator-waiting position. If this position is occupied, it is possible that the robotic passenger will become sluggish and spin around, which will hinder other passengers who will take the elevator.
An object of the present disclosure is to solve or at least alleviate the problems existing in the related art.
In one aspect, a control system for elevator-waiting position of a robotic passenger is provided, which includes: a detection device configured to detect whether a first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied; and a position allocation unit configured to: if the first-choice elevator-waiting position is not occupied, determine the first-choice elevator-waiting position as a target elevator-waiting position; and if the first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied, determine a candidate elevator-waiting position as the target elevator-waiting position or issue a prompt.
Optionally, the position allocation unit is configured to issue a voice prompt and wait for a specific time if the first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied.
Optionally, after the specific time, the detection device re-detects whether the first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied; if the first-choice elevator-waiting position is not occupied, the first-choice elevator-waiting position is determined as the target elevator-waiting position, and if the first-choice elevator-waiting position is still occupied, the candidate elevator-waiting position is determined as the target elevator-waiting position.
Optionally, the detection device includes a lidar sensor and/or a camera sensor.
Optionally, the control system for elevator-waiting position of the robotic passenger is integrated in the robotic passenger, and the robotic passenger includes: a robotic passenger body; a mobile device which drives the robotic passenger body to move; a position determination device configured to detect the position of the robotic passenger in a building; and a communication device configured to communicate with an elevator control device.
Optionally, the position allocation unit includes a memory in which a map is stored, and the map includes a surrounding scene of at least one elevator-waiting hall, and a first-choice elevator-waiting position and a candidate elevator-waiting position in the at least one elevator-waiting hall.
Optionally, the control system for elevator-waiting position of the robotic passenger is integrated in an elevator control system, and the control system for elevator-waiting position of the robotic passenger further includes a device that exposes the target elevator-waiting position.
Optionally, said exposing the target elevator-waiting position includes changing the illumination and/or color of the target elevator-waiting position.
Optionally, the control system for elevator-waiting position of the robotic passenger includes a projection lamp, from which the target elevator-waiting position is projected.
Optionally, the control system for elevator-waiting position of the robotic passenger includes at least one ground lamp embedded in the floor, from which the target elevator-waiting position is illuminated.
Optionally, said exposing the target elevator-waiting position includes exposing a text or logo indication at the target elevator-waiting position.
In another aspect, a control method for elevator-waiting position of a robotic passenger is provided, which includes: detecting whether a first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied; if the first-choice elevator-waiting position is not occupied, determining the first-choice elevator-waiting position as a target elevator-waiting position; and if the first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied, determining a candidate elevator-waiting position as the target elevator-waiting position or issuing a prompt.
Optionally, in the method, a voice prompt is issued and a specific time is waited for if the first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied.
Optionally, after the specific time, it is re-detected whether the first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied; if the first-choice elevator-waiting position is not occupied, the first-choice elevator-waiting position is determined as the target elevator-waiting position, and if the first-choice elevator-waiting position is still occupied, the candidate elevator-waiting position is determined as the target elevator-waiting position.
Optionally, in the method, the detection device includes a lidar sensor and/or a camera sensor.
Optionally, in the method, the method further includes controlling the robotic passenger to move to the target elevator-waiting position.
Optionally, in the method, the method further includes exposing the target elevator-waiting position.
Optionally, in the method, said exposing the target elevator-waiting position includes changing the illumination and/or color of the target elevator-waiting position.
Optionally, in the method, said exposing the target elevator-waiting position includes using a projection lamp to project the target elevator-waiting position.
Optionally, in the method, said exposing the target elevator-waiting position includes illuminating a lamp embedded in the floor at the at least one elevator-waiting position.
Optionally, in the method, said exposing the target elevator-waiting position includes exposing a text or logo indication at the target elevator-waiting position.
Optionally, the method further includes assigning a designated elevator based on one or more of robotic passenger information, elevator system information, and building information, and determining the first-choice elevator-waiting position or candidate elevator-waiting position corresponding to the designated elevator as the target elevator-waiting position.
The device and method according to the present disclosure achieve a better interaction between the robotic passenger and human when the robotic passenger is taking the elevator.
The contents of the present disclosure will become easier to understand with reference to the accompanying drawings. It can be easily understood by those skilled in the art that the drawings are merely used for illustration, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure. In addition, like parts are denoted by like numerals in the drawings, wherein:
The robotic passengers in the following embodiments of the present disclosure may be various types of robots that can take an elevator, such as take-out robots, food delivery robots, courier robots, etc. The robotic passengers may also be transport vehicles that are autonomously movable in a controlled manner. It will be understood that the specific type, structure and/or use of the robotic passenger may be diverse, and are not limited by the following embodiments of the present disclosure.
The present disclosure provides a control system for elevator-waiting position of a robotic passenger, which includes: a detection device configured to detect whether a first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied; and a position allocation unit configured to: if the first-choice elevator-waiting position is not occupied, determine the first-choice elevator-waiting position as a target elevator-waiting position; and if the first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied, determine a candidate elevator-waiting position as the target elevator-waiting position or issue a prompt.
Referring to
In some embodiments, the illumination and/or the color may be changed to expose at least one elevator-waiting position. In some embodiments, as shown in
In the illustrated embodiment, the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 is located on the right side of the elevator landing door. In an alternative embodiment, the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 may be set at any suitable position. In some embodiments, the elevator system may include a plurality of candidate positions 32, 33 and 34 for the robotic passenger to wait for the elevator, and the elevator control device may be further configured to, after receiving the elevator-taking request signal sent from the robotic passenger, expose at least one of the candidate elevator-waiting positions 32, 33 and 34. For example, the elevator system can detect whether someone has occupied the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 through at least one camera device arranged in the elevator-waiting hall. In the case of receiving the elevator-taking request sent by the robotic passenger and detecting that the first-choice elevator-waiting position is occupied, the elevator system may detect whether the plurality of candidate elevator-waiting positions 32, 33 and 34 are occupied. If one of the candidate elevator-waiting positions such as the candidate elevator-waiting position 34 is not occupied, this candidate elevator-waiting position may be determined as the target elevator-waiting position and exposed, and/or the candidate elevator-waiting position 34 may be notified to the robotic passenger so that the robotic passenger directly moves to the candidate elevator-waiting position 34 to wait for the elevator. In addition, when there are a plurality of robotic passengers simultaneously issuing the elevator-taking request, the elevator control device may, for example, expose the first-choice elevator-waiting position and the candidate elevator-waiting positions at the same time, send the first-choice elevator-waiting position information to the first robotic passenger, send the first candidate elevator-waiting position to the second robotic passenger, and so on, thereby coordinating the elevator-waiting positions of individual robotic passengers.
In some embodiments, the elevator system may include a plurality of elevators, and each elevator may include at least one corresponding elevator-waiting position for the robotic passenger to wait for the elevator. The elevator control device is configured to, upon receiving the elevator-taking request signal sent by the robotic passenger, assign a designated elevator to execute the elevator-taking request of the robotic passenger based on one or more of robotic passenger information, elevator system information and building information, and the elevator control device exposes at least one elevator-waiting position corresponding to the assigned elevator and notifies the robotic passenger. After receiving the notification, the robotic passenger may directly move to at least one elevator-waiting position corresponding to the assigned elevator to wait for the elevator. With such an arrangement, only the elevator-waiting position in front of the elevator that is assigned to execute the elevator-taking request of the robotic passenger (i.e., the determined target elevator-waiting position) is exposed, without affecting passengers waiting for other elevators. In some embodiments, the robotic passenger information may include: the position of the robotic passenger and the moving speed of the robotic passenger, etc.; the elevator system information may include: the position, operating status, received elevator-calling instruction and elevator load of each of the elevators, and the like. The elevator load is the passengers in the current elevator and their destination floor; the building information includes the density of people in various areas of the building and the closing or opening of an access control system.
In addition, the elevator control device may also consider building-related information when assigning a designated elevator to execute the elevator-taking request of the robotic passenger, such as the density of people in the movement path of the robotic passenger, the density of people in the floor, the density of people in the elevator-waiting hall, and the like. When elevator-taking request signals of a plurality of robotic passengers are received, the elevator control device may coordinate and assign the elevators that execute the elevator-taking request of each of the robotic passengers based on the above information. In some embodiments, the elevator system may decide whether to assign an elevator to the robotic passenger or when to assign the elevator to the robotic passenger, based on the current elevator load. For example, when the elevator load is heavy, the robotic passenger may be made wait at the waiting position to avoid affecting passengers who will take the elevator. In some embodiments, if the robotic passenger is farther away from the elevator in the elevator system, the assignment of the elevator may be delayed and the elevator is assigned only after the robotic passenger become closer. In any embodiment in which the assignment of the elevator is delayed, exposing the target elevator-waiting position may be performed after the elevator is assigned. In addition, in the device according to the present disclosure, for example, the floor lamp, projection lamp, camera device and the like in at least one elevator-waiting position may be arranged on a certain floor, such as the ground floor, or these devices may also be arranged on each floor.
In addition, the control system for elevator-waiting position of the robotic passenger according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may also be used as a part of the robotic passenger, and may be applied separately or in combination with the elevator system according to the present disclosure to realize a better interaction between the human and robotic passengers in the process of waiting for the elevator. The robotic passenger may include: a robotic passenger body; a mobile device which drives the robotic passenger body to move; a position determination device configured to detect the position of the robotic passenger in a building; a communication device configured to communicate with an elevator control device; and the control system for elevator-waiting position of the robotic passenger according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. As described above, the control system for elevator-waiting position of the robotic passenger may include: a detection device, such as a camera device or a lidar sensor, which is configured to detect whether a first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied; and a position allocation unit configured to: if the first-choice elevator-waiting position is not occupied, determine the first-choice elevator-waiting position as a target elevator-waiting position; and if the first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied, determine a candidate elevator-waiting position as the target elevator-waiting position or issue a prompt so that the person occupying the first-choice elevator-waiting position can make room for the first-choice elevator-waiting position. The detection device may be a detection device possessed by the robotic passenger itself, and the position allocation unit may be integrated in the control device for the robotic passenger. In some embodiments, the control device for the robotic passenger is configured to control the robotic passenger to preferentially move closer to the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 in at least one elevator-waiting hall when the robotic passenger needs to take the elevator, and detect whether the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 is occupied; wherein if the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 is not occupied, the robotic passenger is controlled to move to the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 to wait for the elevator; and if the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 has been occupied, the robotic passenger is controlled to move directly to the candidate elevator-waiting position 32, 33 and 34 to wait for the elevator, or a prompt is issued. The robotic passenger according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will not become sluggish or spin around when the elevator-waiting position is occupied, and will not collide with people.
In some embodiments, with the control system for elevator-waiting position of the robotic passenger according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the control device for the robotic passenger may be configured to: when the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 is occupied, control the robotic passenger to move close to the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 and then stop moving, issue a voice prompt, for example, “please move away”, etc., and wait for a specific time, e.g., 1 second to 3 seconds. After the specific time, it is re-detected whether the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 is occupied; if the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 is not occupied, the robotic passenger moves to the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 to wait for the elevator; and if the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 is still occupied, the robotic passenger moves to the candidate elevator-waiting positions 32, 33 and 34 to wait for the elevator.
In some embodiments, the position allocation unit may include a processor and a memory, and a robotic passenger elevator-taking program is stored in the memory. When the processor executes the robotic passenger elevator-taking program, the robotic passenger is controlled to execute the above described elevator-waiting operations. The memory may also store a map of the building where the robotic passengers are located, and the map includes a plane map of the building and the first-choice and candidate elevator-waiting positions in at least one elevator-waiting hall. The building map may be plotted by the robot passenger itself through its detection device, such as a lidar sensor and/or a camera sensor, and stored in the memory, or downloaded from a server. The first-choice elevator-waiting position or candidate elevator-waiting positions may be obtained through a communication with the elevator control system or obtained from the server. In some embodiments, the robot passenger may use a detection device such as a lidar sensor and/or a camera sensor to detect whether the first-choice elevator-waiting position is occupied. In other embodiments, the robotic passenger may detect whether the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 is occupied by communicating with the elevator system and using the camera device 4 of the elevator system. In this way, the robotic passenger can know whether the first-choice elevator-waiting position is occupied while the robotic passenger is away from the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31. In some embodiments, the robotic passenger sends an elevator-taking request to the elevator control device through a communication device, and receives information of the assigned elevator from the elevator control device, thereby moving directly to the first-choice elevator-waiting position or the candidate elevator-waiting positions of the assigned elevator.
In another aspect, a control method for elevator-waiting position of a robotic passenger is provided, which includes: detecting whether a first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied; if the first-choice elevator-waiting position is not occupied, determining the first-choice elevator-waiting position as a target elevator-waiting position; and if the first-choice elevator-waiting position has been occupied, determining a candidate elevator-waiting position as the target elevator-waiting position or issuing a prompt. The method according to the present disclosure may be implemented as a control method for an elevator system. For example, in some embodiments, as shown in
In some embodiments, the method may further include: using the camera device 4 in the elevator-waiting hall to determine whether the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 corresponding to the assigned elevator is occupied; if the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 is not occupied, determining the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 as the target elevator-waiting position, and optionally exposing it or notifying it to the robotic passenger; and if the first-choice elevator-waiting position 31 has been occupied, determining at least one of the candidate elevator-waiting positions 32, 33 or 34 as the target elevator-waiting position, exposing it, and notifying the robotic passenger, or issuing a prompt. With such an arrangement, in a case that a passenger occupies the first-choice elevator-waiting position before the robotic passenger, there is no need to request the passenger to move, and the robotic passenger may also directly move to the vacant candidate elevator-waiting position after receiving the notification. As described above, exposing the at least one elevator-waiting position includes changing the illumination and/or color. For example, the projection lamp 2 is used to project at least one elevator-waiting position, or to a lamp embedded in the floor in at least one elevator-waiting position is illuminated.
With continued reference to
With continued reference to
The specific embodiments described above are merely for describing the principle of the present disclosure more clearly, and various components are clearly illustrated or depicted to make it easier to understand the principle of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art can readily make various modifications or changes to the present disclosure without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be understood that these modifications or changes should be included within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202010181023.2 | Mar 2020 | CN | national |