Floor population detection for an elevator system

Abstract

A computer controlled elevator system (FIG. 1) including signal processing means for dynamically computing the population spread of the building, i.e., the number of elevator users in a building on a floor-by-floor basis, including the lobby, in accordance with an algorithm (FIG. 2). During the up-peak period each floor's population is computed by monitoring the boarding and de-boarding counts and using those counts to update that floor's population figure throughout that period on an additive basis. After the period has been completed, the floor-by-floor information, which had been maintained in a table, is used to determine the 'final' historic based floor population spread using also historic data based at least on the past several active days' of population spread using 'exponential smoothing.' As a verifying cross-check the lobby's figure, which typically should equal the total building population, is compared to the total of all of the upper floors' populations. The historically based derivation of the floor population is recorded and made available for use in other signal processing functions in the system, such as, for example, prediction methodology for dynamic channeling of the elevator cars, stored in a table for that current day's information.