WO2024094916A1

WO2024094916A1 - An elevator, an arrangement and a method for generating an elevator call

Info

Publication number: WO2024094916A1
Application number: PCT/FI2022/050723
Authority: WO
Inventors: Antti Perko
Original assignee: Kone Corporation
Priority date: 2022-11-04
Filing date: 2022-11-04
Publication date: 2024-05-10

Abstract

The invention relates to an elevator and a method for generating an elevator call request for an elevator.The method comprises acquiring audio in a location associated with the operation of the elevator with means for acquiring audio, analyzing acquired audio for recognizing an elevator voice call and/or a keyword relating to elevator voice call, and generating an elevator call request based on the recognized elevator voice call and/or the recognized keyword.

Description

AN ELEVATOR, AN ARRANGEMENT AND A METHOD FOR GENERATING AN ELEVATOR CALL

Field of the invention

The invention relates to an elevator, an arrangement, an elevator system and a method for generating an elevator call.

Background

Typically, elevators may be public conveying devices in residential buildings and especially at traffic junctions, such as airports, railway stations, underground stations, shopping centers, hospitals, sports centers, exhibition centers or cruise ships. In these kinds of locations the use of the elevator may be necessary or even unavoidable for several user groups, such as physically disabled and/or users with a stroller. Especially, in public places a large number of people are using the same elevator call devices to make elevator calls via a physical contact, e.g. a touch by a hand, causing that the elevator call devices and/or elevator buttons of the elevator call devices may efficiently spread viruses and bacteria. For the physically disabled people the call devices of the prior art, such as elevator buttons, can be difficult to reach and/or difficult to use.

Alternatively or in addition, the elevator calls may be combined with an access control. The access control allows access only for authorized users and in response to identification the authorized user, the elevator call may be generated. There are many different access control solutions in the prior art elevator systems. Access control may be based for example on using keycards or tags and in some prior art solutions based on fingerprint, facial recognition, iris recognition or retinal scan. The prior art access control methods are sometimes difficult for the passengers to use and often also require additional devices and hardware in the elevator and/or from the passengers of the elevator.

For these reasons there is a need for an easy and safe way for passengers to make elevator calls and optionally also a need to combine access control for these elevator calls. Summary

An objective of the invention is to present a method, an arrangement, and an elevator system for generating an elevator call which the passengers can perform easily and e.g. without touching the elevator call devices. At the same time some embodiments of the solution of the invention are able to provide access control based on the identified passenger.

The objectives of the invention are reached as defined by the respective independent claims.

According to a first aspect, the invention relates to a method for generating an elevator call request for an elevator. The method comprises acquiring audio with at least one means for acquiring audio in a location associated with the operation of the elevator, e.g. in the elevator car, in the elevator landing area and/or at an access gate, analyzing the acquired audio for recognizing an elevator voice call and/or a keyword relating to an elevator voice call, and generating an elevator call request based on the recognized elevator voice call and/or the recognized keyword.

In one embodiment of the invention audio is acquired essentially continuously in a location associated with the operation of the elevator with the at least one means for acquiring audio, and/or the acquired audio is analyzed essentially continuously for recognizing an elevator voice call and/or a keyword relating to an elevator voice call.

In one embodiment of the invention audio is acquired and analyzed for elevator voice calls and/or keywords relating to elevator voice call without requiring an activation word and/or activation action, such as a gesture or button push, from a passenger.

In one embodiment of the invention the elevator comprises at least one means for acquiring audio comprising a microphone and/or an AD-converter connected to means for acquiring audio which converts the acquired audio to digital domain.

In one embodiment of the invention the method recognizes an identity of a person who is speaking based on comparing voice print of the acquired voice to a stored voice print of the person. In one embodiment of the invention an elevator call is accepted or denied based on the recognized identity of the person, wherein the person is related to certain access rights.

In one embodiment of the invention elevator voice calls are based on commands or phrases indicating or referring to: a destination floor, direction of travel, an access code, a special call, a specific location in building, company's name, person's name.

In one embodiment of the invention an origin floor of the elevator call request is the floor where audio is acquired and the destination floor of the elevator call request is determined based on the recognized elevator voice call and/or the recognized keyword.

In one embodiment of the invention the elevator call request comprises information related to identifying the means for acquiring audio and/or the location of the means for acquiring audio.

In one embodiment of the invention the method further comprises providing the elevator call request to an elevator control unit for operating an elevator car.

According to a second aspect, the invention relates to an arrangement for generating an elevator call for an elevator, wherein the arrangement comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing at least one portion of computer program code. The at least one processor is configured to cause the arrangement at least to perform acquiring audio, e.g. essentially continuously acquiring audio, with at least one means for acquiring audio in a location associated with the operation of the elevator, e.g. in the elevator car, in the elevator landing area and/or at an access gate, analyzing, e.g. essentially continuously, the acquired audio for recognizing an elevator voice call and/or a keyword relating to an elevator voice call, and generating an elevator call request based on the recognized elevator voice call and/or the recognized keyword.

In one embodiment of the invention the arrangement is arranged in connection with or to an elevator controller of the elevator.

In one embodiment of the invention the processor is configured to cause the elevator arrangement at least to perform any method of the invention. According to a third aspect, the invention relates to an elevator system for generating an elevator call, wherein the elevator system comprises at least one elevator shaft along which at least one elevator car is configured to travel between a plurality of floors and an arrangement according to any embodiment of the invention.

With the solution of the invention no elevator voice call activation related actions, such as activation words, gestures or button activations, are needed as the solution of the invention is essentially continuously ready to listen and analyze to an elevator call or related keyword from a passenger. This way the elevator user experience can be improved as it’s easier and faster for the passenger to make the elevator calls than with the prior art solutions. In addition, the passenger does not have to know or remember what kind of activation measures should be taken before giving the voice call for the elevator and it is enough that the person will only talk out an elevator call, a keyword relating to an elevator call or a sentence comprising indications of an elevator call.

Various other advantages will become clear to a skilled person based on the following detailed description.

The terms “first”, “second” and “third” are herein used to distinguish one element from other element, and not to specially prioritize or order them, if not otherwise explicitly stated.

The exemplary embodiments of the invention presented herein are not to be interpreted to pose limitations to the applicability of the appended claims. The verb "to comprise" is used herein as an open limitation that does not exclude the existence of also unrecited features. The features recited in dependent claims are mutually freely combinable unless otherwise explicitly stated.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objectives and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. Brief description of Figures

Some embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 illustrates schematically an elevator according to an embodiment of the invention, and

Figure 2 illustrates an example method according to one example embodiment of the invention.

Detailed description of some embodiments

Figure 1 illustrates schematically an example elevator in which solution of the invention for generating the elevator call can be used. The elevator 100 according to an example embodiment may comprise an elevator car 10 arranged to be moved in an elevator shaft 12. The moving of the elevator car 10 may be implemented, by a hoisting rope or belt 13 in connection with a traction sheave 14 or the like. Furthermore, the elevator 100 comprises an elevator motor arranged to operate, such as rotate by the rotor thereof, the traction sheave 14 for moving the elevator car 10, if not essentially directly coupled to the hoisting rope 13. The traction sheave 14 may be connected, via a mechanical connection, directly or indirectly via a gear to a shaft of the motor. The elevator 100 may comprise a machine room or be machine roomless, such as have the motor in the elevator shaft 12.

The elevator 100 may comprise at least one, or at least two, hoisting machinery brake(s) 16 configured for resisting or, preferably, preventing the movement of the motor, that is the rotor thereof, directly or via the traction sheave 14 or components thereof and/or therebetween. Furthermore, the elevator 100 may comprise a brake controller 25 configured to operate at least one of the at least one hoisting machinery brake 16. The brake controller 25 may further be in connection with other elements of the elevator 100, such as an elevator control unit and/or a safety system. The brake controller 25 may comprise an actuator (not shown) for operating the brake 16 or at least be in connection with such an actuating device. There may additionally be, at least in some embodiments, a counterweight 18 arranged in connection with the elevator car 10 such as is known to a person skilled in the art of elevators. Still further, the elevator 100 may additionally comprise a guide rail 17 or rails 17 arranged into the elevator shaft 12 for guiding the movement of the elevator car 10.

The elevator 100 of Fig. 1 can further comprise a converter unit. The converter unit may comprise, or substantially be, an inverter or a frequency converter, for connecting to, and controlling the operation of, the motor, and a controller in connection with the converter unit, wherein the controller is configured to operate the converter unit to provide electrical power (signals), such as having variable voltage and variable frequency, to the windings of the motor. The controller may be a separate controller device or be comprised in the converter unit, for instance.

Still further, the converter unit may be arranged to be fed by an electrical power source, such as of the elevator 100, for example from an external electrical power grid or mains power supply, or another power source, for example, a battery system. Additionally, the electrical power source may intake electrical power from the converter unit.

There may be one or several devices arranged between the electrical power source and the converter unit, such as input filter(s), circuit breaker(s), and/or contactor(s) or relay(s), and/or a device for charging the energy storage element(s) of the converter unit.

The elevator 100 preferably comprises landings 19 or landing floors 19 and, for example, landing floor doors and/or openings, between which the elevator car 10 is arranged to be moved during the normal operation of the elevator 100, such as to move persons and/or items between said floors 19.

The elevator may comprise a control unit 20 unit for controlling the operation of the elevator and/or the safety system of the elevator. The control unit 20 may be a separate device or may be comprised in the other components of the elevator such as in or as a part of the electrical drive. The control unit may also be implemented in a distributed manner so that, e.g., one portion of the conveyor control unit may be comprised in the electrical drive and another portion in the elevator car. The control unit may also be arranged in distributed manner at more than two locations or in more than two devices. In one embodiment of the invention the control unit is configured to control the power units supplying power to the conveyor system. The elevator control unit can also be configured to collect status information of an elevator car and fault information when an elevator fails.

The functionality and arrangement for generating elevator calls of the invention can be arranged as a separate device or unit or integrated to at least one elevator control unit of the elevator. In one embodiment of the invention the arrangement for generating elevator calls is arranged to the elevator controller.

The control unit or controller of the system may comprise one or more processors, one or more memories being volatile or non-volatile for storing portions of computer program code and any data values and possibly one or more user interface units. The mentioned elements may be communicatively coupled to each other with e.g. an internal bus.

The elevator can comprise at least one elevator user interface which can be arranged to locations where people are using elevators or are moving towards elevators. The elevator user interface can be arranged e.g. to a building, in the elevator car, in the elevator landing area and/or at an access gate. The at least one elevator user interface may be an elevator car call device, a landing call device and/or a destination call device. The elevator user interface may comprise a voice user interface according to the solution of the invention with which it is possible to create elevator call requests with the voice of the person (elevator voice calls).

The elevator system may comprise an elevator car call device arranged inside each elevator car 10. The elevator car call device may be a unit, which is configured to generate car calls to control at least one operation of the elevator system from voice calls of a person in the elevator car. The elevator car can comprise e.g. a car operating panel (COP) which may comprise one or more elevator buttons for generating car calls to control at least one operation of the elevator system. With the information received by the elevator car call device, e.g. via a voice call from a passenger or via car operating panel, the elevator can be controlled, e.g. the elevator car 10 can be driven to a desired destination floor, elevator doors (landing door(s) and/or elevator car door(s)) can be opened or closed, an elevator alarm can be generated, an emergency call can be made, etc. Furthermore, the elevator system may comprise at least one landing call device arranged to each floor. The at least one landing call device may be a device for generating car calls to control at least one operation of the elevator system from voice calls of a person in each floor, e.g. in the elevator landing area. The elevator can comprise e.g. a landing call panel which comprises one or more elevator buttons for generating landing calls to control at least one operation of the elevator system. With the information received by the elevator landing call device, e.g. via a voice call from a passenger or landing call panel, the elevator can be controlled, e.g. to drive the at least one elevator car 10 to a desired departure floor, i.e. said floor where said landing call device resides. The landing call may comprise information of the direction of travel, i.e. upwards or downwards, to which the at least one elevator car 10 is desired to travel.

Alternatively or in addition, the elevator system may comprise at least one destination call device arranged to each floor e.g. to a landing area an elevator lobby area and/or an access gate. The at least one destination call device may be a device for generating car calls to control at least one operation of the elevator system from voice calls of a person in each floor or a certain floor. The elevator can comprise e.g. a destination operation panel (DOP) which comprises one or more elevator buttons for generating destination calls. With the information received by the elevator destination call device, e.g. via a voice call from a passenger or via the destination operation panel, the elevator can be controlled, e.g. to drive the at least one elevator car 10 first to a desired departure floor, i.e. said floor where said landing call device resides, and then to a desired destination floor. The destination call may comprise information of the desired destination floor to which the at least one elevator car 10 is desired to travel.

In the solution of the invention a means for acquiring audio 11 , 15, such as a microphone, can be arranged to a location where people may be using the elevator and/or want to create elevator calls. In one embodiment of the invention the means for acquiring audio can be arranged to the elevator car 10, to the elevator landing area or the elevator lobby area or at an access gate. The means for acquiring audio can in one embodiment be arranged e.g. to an elevator car call device, a landing call device and/or a destination call device. The arrangement for generating the elevator call can acquire audio with the means for acquiring audio 11 , 15. The audio can be converted with an AD-converter to digital domain to enable efficient processing and analysis of the signal. The arrangement analyzes the acquired audio for recognizing an elevator voice call and/or a keyword relating to elevator voice call. In one embodiment of the invention no special initiating keywords are needed but the users of the elevator can speak out where they want to travel with the elevator and the spoken request of the user can be determined from the acquired and analyzed audio. Acquiring the audio can be done essentially continuously so that the system is ready for a command that a passenger is speaking out. This way no gestures or button pushes from passengers are needed.

Analysis of the acquired audio can in one embodiment of the invention be done essentially continuously or in one embodiment based on a need for analysis, e.g. when there is audio, such as speech, to be analyzed. Based on the acquired and analyzed audio an elevator call request can be generated based on the recognized elevator voice call and/or the recognized keyword. The elevator call request can be sent or provided to an elevator control unit for operating an elevator car.

In one embodiment of the invention the origin floor of the elevator call request is the floor where audio is acquired. If the elevator call request is made in the elevator car, the origin floor of the elevator call request can be e.g. the floor in which the elevator is at the time of the person makes the voice call. The location of the elevator car can be provided by the elevator system. If the elevator call request is made outside the elevator car, the origin floor of the elevator call request can be the floor in which the audio is acquired. This location information of the means for acquiring audio can be stored into the elevator system in connection with each means for acquiring audio. In one embodiment of the invention the destination floor of the elevator call request is determined based on the voice call recognized in the acquired audio. In one embodiment of the invention the origin floor and the destination floor of the elevator call request are determined based on the voice call recognized in the acquired audio.

The elevator voice calls can be commands or phrases which comprise, indicate or refer to at least one of the following: a destination floor, direction of travel, an access code, a special call, a specific location in building, company's name, person's name. In one embodiment of the invention the arrangement can recognize these calls or keywords also from a spoken sentence of the passenger which comprises also other words than the elevator calls. In one embodiment of the invention a machine-learning and/or Al-model can be used to classify or give confidence estimates for the acquired speech in order to recognize elevator voice calls present in the acquired audio. In one embodiment of the invention the solution can authenticate or verify the identity of a speaker. The voice call of a passenger can be used as an access control based on the recognized identity of the person. In this case the system can comprise a predefined access control for specified persons and when identity of a person who is speaking in the elevator car and/or in the elevator landing area is recognized, an elevator call they have made is accepted and/or denied based on the recognized identity of the person. In one embodiment of the invention an elevator call can be automatically created after verifying the access of a person. The recognition of the person can be based on a stored voice print of the person which is compared to the voice print in the acquired audio. In one embodiment with voice-based access control no further identification means are needed from the passenger. In one embodiment relating to access control, the person first speaks out his or her name and optionally then tells the elevator his voice call. Based on the name of the passenger it can be checked if the acquired voice print corresponds the stored voice print of the person. If the person for example has access only to one place, it may be enough to recognize the person and then a call can be automatically created to the location to which the person has access. In one embodiment, when acquiring and analyzing audio, the speaker's voice is recorded, and features are extracted to form a voice print, template, or model. Then the acquired speech sample can be compared against a previously created at least one voice print.

The above-described solution relating to elevator voice calls enables generation of a touchless elevator call, i.e. without a physical contact, e.g. a touch, of the user. A touchless operation of the elevator user interfaces, i.e. generation of the touchless elevator calls, reduces the risk of spreading of the viruses and bacteria. Touchless generation of elevator calls is also often an easier operation method for persons with physical disabilities when compared to physical user interfaces of the prior art solutions.

Figure 2 illustrates an example method according to one example embodiment of the invention as a flow chart in which an elevator call request is generated. The method comprises acquiring audio with means to acquire audio, analyzing acquired audio for recognizing an elevator voice call and/or a keyword relating to elevator voice call and generating an elevator call request based on the recognized elevator voice call and/or the recognized keyword. In one embodiment of the invention the devices or units comprise wired or wireless data communication means utilizing wired or wireless communication technologies, such as 3G, 4G and 5G, for communicating information used by the elevator or system, e.g. elevator voice call related data, access control related data, system related status information, information about presence of passengers, entrapment related info gathered by the elevator system and/or entrapment detection system. In one embodiment of the invention information may be gathered and sent to a remote cloud system where it may be analyzed.

The processor of the control unit or controller is at least configured to implement some functionality of the invention. The implementation of a solution of the invention may be achieved by arranging the processor to execute at least some portion of computer program code stored in the memory causing the processor, and thus the elevator control unit, to implement one or more method steps as described. The processor is thus arranged to access the memory and retrieve and store any information therefrom and thereto. For sake of clarity, the processor herein refers to any unit suitable for processing information and control the operation of the elevator control unit, among other tasks. The operations may also be implemented with a microcontroller solution with embedded software. Similarly, the memory is not limited to a certain type of memory only, but any memory type suitable for storing the described pieces of information may be applied in the context of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention described herein before in association with the figures presented and the summary of the invention may be used in any combination with each other. At least two of the embodiments may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the invention.

The specific examples provided in the description given above should not be construed as limiting the applicability and/or the interpretation of the appended claims. Lists and groups of examples provided in the description given above are not exhaustive unless otherwise explicitly stated.

Claims

1. A method for generating an elevator call request for an elevator, the method comprising:

- acquiring audio in a location associated with the operation of the elevator with at least one means for acquiring audio,

- analyzing the acquired audio for recognizing an elevator voice call and/or a keyword relating to an elevator voice call, and

- generating an elevator call request based on the recognized elevator voice call and/or the recognized keyword.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein audio is acquired essentially continuously in a location associated with the operation of the elevator with the at least one means for acquiring audio, and/or the acquired audio is analyzed essentially continuously for recognizing an elevator voice call and/or a keyword relating to an elevator voice call.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein audio is acquired and analyzed for elevator voice calls and/or keywords relating to elevator voice call without requiring an activation word and/or activation action, such as a gesture or button push, from a person.

4. A method according to any previous claim, wherein the elevator comprises at least one means for acquiring audio (11 , 15) comprising a microphone and/or an AD-converter connected to the means for acquiring audio which converts the acquired audio to digital domain.

5. A method according to any previous claim, wherein the method recognizes an identity of a person who is speaking based on comparing the voice print in the acquired audio with a stored voice print of the person.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein an elevator call is accepted or denied based on the recognized identity of the person, wherein the person is related to certain access rights.

7. A method according to any previous claim, wherein the elevator voice calls are based on commands or phrases indicating or referring to: a destination floor, direction of travel, an access code, a special call, a specific location in building, company's name, person's name.

8. A method according to any previous claim, wherein an origin floor of the elevator call request is the floor where audio is acquired and/or the destination floor of the elevator call request is determined based on the recognized elevator voice call and/or the recognized keyword.

9. A method according to any previous claim, wherein the elevator call request comprises information related to identifying the means for acquiring audio and/or the location of the means for acquiring audio.

10. A method according to any previous claim, wherein the method further comprises providing the elevator call request to an elevator control unit (20) for operating an elevator car (10).

11 . An arrangement for generating an elevator call for an elevator, wherein the arrangement comprises: at least one processor, and at least one memory storing at least one portion of computer program code wherein the at least one processor being configured to cause the arrangement at least to perform: acquiring audio with at least one means for acquiring audio, wherein the means for acquiring audio is arranged in a location associated with the operation of the elevator, analyzing the acquired audio for recognizing an elevator voice call and/or a keyword relating to an elevator voice call, and generating an elevator call request based on the recognized elevator voice call and/or the recognized keyword.

12. An arrangement according to claim 11 wherein the processor is configured to cause the arrangement at least to perform any of the method of claims 2 - 10.

13. An arrangement according to claim 11 and 12, wherein the arrangement is arranged in connection with or to an elevator controller of the elevator.

14. An elevator system (100) for generating an elevator call, wherein the elevator system (100) comprises: at least one elevator shaft (12) along which at least one elevator car (10) is configured to travel between a plurality of floors, and an arrangement according to any claim 11 - 13.

15. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method according to any of claims 1 - 10.

16. A computer-readable medium comprising the computer program according to claim 15.