FI124130B - The transportation system - Google Patents

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a person's transport service. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and system for optimizing a passenger route and guiding an optimal route in building transport systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

10 Large buildings often have many route options, all leading to the same destination. For example, in a department store you can choose between an elevator, escalator and stairs, or you can choose between several elevator groups. In a large office building 15 or a hospital, you may even have to move from one building to another or switch from an escalator to an elevator just to reach a particular floor in a particular ward.

20 The choice of route can be decisively influenced by which part of the building the passenger is in at any given time. Often choices are made based on which one is closest to you or what seems to be the easiest. Going up to the second floor may not be the fastest option, especially if the passenger himself / herself happens to be near the stairs. Instead, most travelers find it difficult to walk upstairs, and choose this

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- 30 ir Because passengers can make their own choice of route - Q.

between alternatives, it is possible that they will intermediate CO

easily find routes that are not optimal o or even possible due to missing access rights 35. This can lead to local congestion in the building, delayed arrival of passengers 2, and some passengers may even get lost while in the building. The traffic situation and / or passenger access rights in the transportation system may also change during the journey, resulting in poor route-5 Sleep.

PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to eliminate or at least alleviate the above-mentioned problems and shortcomings of the prior art. It is also an object of the invention to provide a solution that achieves one or more of the following objectives: comprehensive consideration of passenger access rights on the route, 15 - improved access control in buildings, overall optimization of transportation system capacity, reduced local congestion, at the earliest possible stage, and take into account special situations in the maintenance, failure, and other aspects of transportation systems,

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The method according to the present invention is characterized by what is shown in the character portion of claim 1. The system 30 of the invention is characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of claim x7. Other embodiments of the invention are characterized by what is set forth in the other claims. Inventive embodiments are also disclosed in the specification. The inventive content contained in the application may also be defined otherwise than as set forth in the following claims. The inventive content can also consist of several separate inventions, especially if the invention is considered in the light of its expressions or implicit subtasks or in terms of the benefits or classes of benefits achieved. Thus, some of the attributes contained in the claims below may be redundant for individual inventive ideas.

The present invention provides a method for optimizing a passenger route in a building having a transportation system comprising at least one passenger conveyor, a access control system, and means for identifying the passenger and determining location information. According to the method, the passenger's location information at the first location is determined, the passenger at the location is identified, the access rights of the identified passenger in the building are determined, and it is recorded for each passenger traveling. A set of route options from the location to the registered destination are determined based on passenger access and transportation system status information, from which the most appropriate route is selected based on the given optimization criteria. The selected 25 routes will be used to provide guidance information to the passenger via a guide board or personal terminal. Route options can exclude routes that include destinations that the passenger has

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there is no right of access at that time. Route I do not? 30 Alternatives may also exclude routes where, by virtue of their status, the associated passenger conveyor is at a given time excluded from transport.

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The present invention also provides a system for optimizing the route of a passenger. The system comprises a transport system comprising at least one passenger conveyor, a passenger terminal, a positioning system for determining the location of the passenger, an information system for selecting the most appropriate route for the passenger, an access control system, one or more base stations for . According to the invention, the system is arranged to determine passenger location information, read identification information contained in the passenger terminal, determine passenger access rights based on said identity information, register a passenger destination, determine a plurality of route options from said location information to a registered destination based on the optimization criteria provided from said route alternatives, and to convey guidance information related to the selected route to the guidance means.

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In this context, a passenger conveyor means equipment for transporting or guiding persons in a building, for example, elevators, lift groups, escalators, escalators, gates and automatic doors.

For example, the passenger may be identified by a unique ID code transmitted by the main device in the passenger's possession over the radio.

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? 30 access points. The access control system has been configured to fly passenger access rights to the items in the building.

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tJ- The location information of the passenger can be determined by any location technology suitable for any purpose, e.g. by location technology based on GPS technology, or by determining the location of 5 terminal devices in the passenger's possession by base stations located in the building. The position information determines the position of the passenger's floor on that floor and, if necessary, the direction and / or speed of travel of the passenger. The positioning area of the positioning system on each floor may cover all or part of the floor area.

In one embodiment of the invention, the access control system dynamically locks access to destinations along the selected route to which the passenger has no access. By dynamic locking is meant in this context that if a passenger's route includes, for example, an elevator journey by elevator A, invitations to floors to which the passenger does not have access are not allocated to elevator A within the specified time window. The lock-on time can be determined, for example, by predicting the passenger's arrival time and departure time to the elevator / elevator. By locating the passenger's real-time location along the selected route, the on-time of locks can be minimized. The application allows for improved access control in buildings without significantly affecting the transport capacity of the transportation system.

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In another embodiment of the invention, the location information of the passenger is updated at another location point. Based on the updated location information ^ the selected route is updated and / or the passenger an- c \ i? 30 guidance information and / or said locks ^ and / or is provided to the transportation

Er strokes the control command on the jet. Thanks to the app

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route optimization, passenger guidance and transport system control in general 35 become more efficient and adaptable to changes.

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The method and system of the present invention effectively reduce congestion in the transportation system and shorten passenger travel times by providing guidance on the instant best route-5 option. By choosing the most optimal route from the alternative routes, the transport capacity of the transportation system can be utilized to the maximum extent while improving passenger satisfaction. Also, the control of passenger conveyors based on passenger location information and the minimization of locking times will improve the efficiency of the transportation system, and access control in buildings can also be comprehensively improved.

15 LIST OF PATTERNS

Figure 1 shows a building in which the solution according to the invention can be applied, and Figure 2 shows by way of example the system 20 according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Figure 1 shows a building in which the solution according to the invention can be applied. For example, a building is an office building or a condominium where people have several itinerary options to choose from to go to the buildings in the building. If, for example, a passenger 106 arriving at Arrivals Hall A wants to end up in a room 104 on the third floor, he / she can choose whether to enter elevator group 100 or 102 on any elevator, or using escalators 108.

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The operator may also choose to walk stairs 110 himself. A number of access gates and / or automatic doors (not shown in figure 35 in Fig. 1) are installed in the building for the purpose of controlling the stairs 110, for example so that stairs 110 and escalators 108 can be prevent.

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The access gates and automatic door locks are controlled from the access control system. Signboards 100a, 102a, 100b 102b are installed in the building as well as in the elevator baskets.

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Figure 2 illustrates, by way of example, a system according to the invention comprising: elevator groups 200, 202 each having four elevators, 10 - base stations 220 of a wireless communication network 208a, e.g., Bluetooth or WiFi network base stations, information system / server 206 15 for group control 200a, 202a of lift groups 200, 202 (not shown in Figure 2), base stations 220 and guide board 204, access control system 206a integrated with information system 206, 20 - a passenger terminal 208 transmitting / receiving information to the information system / from the information system 206 via the wireless communication link 208a, the positioning system 208a integrated at least part of the terminal 208 and determining the location of the terminal 208 by the base stations 220.

't δ ^ The access control system 206a database has stored

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? 30 passenger access rights to different areas of the building. Access rights may be variable via, for example, time and / or day of the week.

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For example, the passenger terminal 208 is a cellular telephone 35 whose telephone number or similar identifier information is identifiable to the passenger and the location of which in the building can be located by a positioning system 208a. The terminal 208 and the information system 206 can communicate with each other via the base stations 220 located in the building structures and / or in connection with the personal conveyors. The base stations provide an interface 220a through which a passenger can send service requests, location information, and other information to the transportation system on his terminal and receive guidance and information related to service requests. The positioning of the terminal 208 and the passenger 10 may also be based on utilizing the data links between the base stations 220 and the terminal 208, but any suitable positioning system for locating the passenger is possible in the context of the present invention. If there are 15 positioning systems operating both indoors and outdoors, the building may comprise a plurality of separate buildings (building complex) between which the passenger can use his terminal device as shown by the invention. The positioning system 208a determines 20 real-time passenger position information, comprising at least the layer where the passenger is and where the passenger is on said layer. Additionally, the location information may include the direction and / or speed of the passenger to improve the timing of service requests and other control commands to be transmitted to the transport system.

? The invention will now be illustrated, by way of some examples, with reference to Figures 1 and 2.

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When passenger 106 arrives at Building B in the Arrivals Hall

g (Fig. 1), he launches the navigation software on the terminal 208, or it starts automatically, for example, when the terminal connects to the base station 220 in the lounger> - 35. The navigation software automatically generates a service request to take the passenger to the default destination, for example, to the room 104 on the third 9th floor. The information system 206 receives a service request and a unique ID code sent by the terminal 208, for example the telephone number of the terminal operating as a mobile phone. Information system access control system 206a determines, based on the ID code, the passenger's current access rights to the building, a plurality of route alternatives to take the passenger from Arrivals Hall B to room 104 on floor 3, taking into account the passenger's instant access rights. Route alternatives thus do not include destinations to which the passenger does not have access rights, nor do they provide routes for which the passenger conveyors cannot be used, for example due to dynamic interlocks or failures. If, in the case of Figure 1, the passenger does not have access to, for example, Layer 2 and is traveling from Arrivals B to Room 104 of Layer 3, the route alternatives are to use Elevators 100 or 102 of the elevator group 100. Further, if, for example, all elevators in the elevator group have a floor 3 locked at the time of service request (blocked to Travel to floor 25 3), the route comprising the elevator group 102 is omitted from the route change bodies. The passenger then has to go from the foot entrance B to elevator group 100 elevators, move from the £ elevator group 100 elevator from floor 1 to floor 3 and finally walk from the elevator to room 104.

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9 30 c \ j 1- The information system 206 selects the most suitable route from among the route alternatives and transmits the associated Q's.

information to the terminal and send the necessary control messages to the transport system. The selection of the most appropriate route 35 35 is based on the optimization criteria provided in the information system 206. The optimization criterion may be one or more of the 10 parameters describing the goodness of the route, such as: occupancy of the route passenger conveyor, Travel time, waiting time, total travel time, walking distance. The travel time of a route in this context refers to the time spent by a passenger on 5 passenger conveyors. Total travel time refers to the time taken for a passenger to travel from the starting point (first point) to the final destination (destination). The total travel time may consist of e.g. transit times, odo-10 traveling times and / or traveling time on passenger conveyors. At least part of said times can be predicted from the statistics collected by the travel system of the collected information system 206 (for example, the transition time from the entrance hall B door to the elevator group 100 15).

On the basis of the route information received by the terminal, the passenger receives guidance information on his terminal display and / or signpost 102a. In the first phase of the route, the passenger is guided from the Arrivals Hall B to the elevator group 100. As the passenger moves toward the elevators of the elevator group 100, the positioning system 208a updates the passenger location information in real time and transmits the location information to the information system 206. When the mat-25 is at a suitable distance from the as well as information on the passenger's access rights to the various floors. The group control of the elevator group 100 provides the passenger with an elevator car which has no allocated stops on the floor 2. The floor is locked by the word 2 so that the passenger is not Q.

allocate new calls to the wheeled elevator that cause SJ to stop at floor 2 before the passenger is taken to floor 3. Information about the allocated elevator is transmitted to terminal 208, which allows the passenger to move to the correct elevator car. After the passenger has been taken to the 3rd floor by that elevator, the positioning system will redefine the passenger's position information. Based on the new location information, the guidance information in terminal 5 is updated so that the passenger finds the shortest route from the elevators of the elevator group 100 to room 104.

To improve access control, the door of room 104 is provided with an electric lock 104a that can be opened as triggered by an opening command sent by the terminal 208 and / or access control system 206a. For example, an NFC tag 104b is provided in connection with the electric lock 104a. Upon arriving at the door, the passenger takes his main terminal 208 within proximity of said identifier, whereupon the terminal reads the ID code of the identifier 104b and checks access control system 206a to determine whether the passenger has access to the object (room 104) detecting the ID code at that time. If the access pass 20 is valid, the access control system 206a transmits an access code to the terminal 208, which is then transmitted via the identifier 104b to the electronics controlling the door lock, for example through tag 104b, opening the lock 104a and entering the passenger room 104.

The navigation software can generate location-based automatic control commands for the transportation system, for example, to launch an escalator in the search direction when a passenger approaches an escalator at a suitable distance, open a turn gate or g automatic door and / or register a destination call when 0 - the passenger is within a reasonable distance of the lifts.

Other control measures based on the location information are also possible. For example, navigation software can control the lighting on / off along the route used by the passenger.

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In addition to the automatic control commands, the passenger can enter them manually from the terminal interface, for example, if he wishes to deviate from the selected 5 routes. The transport system may send to the terminal a control command response, for example guidance information, which is visually and / or audibly expressed at the terminal. The information may also be communicated to signboards 100a, 100b, 102a, 102b, 204 and 10, where they are presented auditively and / or visually. The signposts are preferably placed in the entrance halls of the building and at any junction of passenger traffic.

The invention is not limited solely to the above exemplary embodiments, but many modifications are possible within the scope of the inventive idea defined by the claims. Thus, for example, passenger identification can also be based on 20 bio-identifiers, such as fingerprint identification. Access control and other control-related data processing may be distributed across terminals, servers, and other information systems in different ways as discussed above. For example, the navigation software used in system 25 may be installed on a terminal or a system server or may be distributed to both. Communication between terminal and personal conveyors can also be implemented centrally via a server connected to the system.

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Claims (12)

A method for optimizing a passenger's route in a building having a conveyor system, comprising at least one elevator in an elevator group (200, 202), an access control system (206a), equipment (208a) for determining the passenger's location and equipment (208, 206) for identifying the passenger, characterized in that the method comprises the steps: the position data of the passenger is determined at a first point; the passenger in the first point is identified; the passenger's access rights are determined on the basis of identification; the passenger's destination (104) is recorded; on the basis of the passenger's access rights and status data on the transport system, a number of route options are determined from the point where the passenger is at the registered destination; according to the given optimization criteria, the best route the passenger eats is chosen from the route options; within a time window, calls to the elevator are blocked to drive to lanes where the passenger does not have access right if the route includes a lift trip with the current elevator; and • information · £ guidance information on the selected route c \ j, is conveyed to the passenger. C \ J? 30 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that indicative information about the selected route Er is communicated to the passenger via an infobox (204) located in the building. Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that indicative information about the selected cm route is conveyed to the passenger via a terminal (208) in the passenger's possession. Method according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the method further comprises the step: from the group of route alternatives, the 5 routes which contain one or more destinations (104) to which the passenger does not have access are excluded. Method according to any of claims 1-4, characterized in that access to one or more destinations (104) located along the route to which the passenger does not have access rights is dynamically blocked. Method according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the method comprises the steps: the position data of the passenger is determined at a second point; and on the basis of location data, the selected route is updated and / or guidance data and / or the blocks and / or given a control command to at least one person transporter in the transport system. A system for optimizing a passenger's route, which system comprises: a transport system, comprising at least one elevator in an elevator group (200, 202); a passenger terminal (208); a position determination system (208a) for determining the position data of the passenger terminal; an access control system (206a), a computer system (206), at least one base station (220) which transmits data between the computer system (206) and / or the passenger conveyors (200, 202) and guidance equipment (100a, 100b, 102a, 102b, 204). 208) which guides the passenger in the building, signified by the fact that the system is arranged: C \ J? Determining the passenger's position data; CM ί— to read identification data in terminal Ϊ (208); CL to determine the passenger's access rights on the basis of identification data; o 35 to record the passenger's destination; and cm that on the basis of the passenger's access rights and status data on the transport system, a number of route options are determined from the first point determined by the location data to the registered destination; that among the route options, choose the best route the passenger eats according to the given optimization criteria; blocking a call to the elevator within a time window to drive to lanes to which the passenger does not have access right if the route includes a lift trip 10 with the relevant elevator; and conveying guidance information on the selected route to the passenger. System according to claim 7, characterized in that the guidance equipment which gives the passenger 15 indicative information about the selected route comprises a portable terminal (208). 9. A system according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the guidance equipment which provides the passenger with indicative information comprises an information board 20 (100a, 100b, 102a, 102b, 204). System according to any of claims 7-9, characterized in that the computer system (206) is arranged to exclude from the group of route alternatives the routes which contain one or more destinations to which the passenger does not have access. System according to any one of claims 7-10, characterized in that the computer system (206) is arranged q to dynamically block access to one or more C \Js along the route to which the passenger has in fact access. C \ J System according to any of claims 7-11, c, characterized in that the position determination system 0 (208a) is arranged to determine the passenger position data CO g at a second point; and the data system (206) is arranged to update, on the basis of location data, the selected route o and / or guidance data and / or the blocks and / or provide a control command to at least one person conveyor (200, 202) in the transport system. 't δ c \ j C \ l O CM X IX CL o CO St o δ CM