I am still formulating an efficient solution to the elevator issue from the previous draft, but I will share my thought process, and the solution I am exploring.
Summary of Problem:
People call-up / request each Elevator Car to their lobby. When the first car arrives, the person enters. But the other cars eventually arrive, often with passengers who are delayed for the unnecessary stop. We are seeking a way to Cancel the Call to Cars when request is already filled; no need for the other cars to arrive.
Line of Thought:
1. Passengers will not go out of their way to cancel without being rewarded.
2. If a cancel button or toggle off switch existed on each request button, then customers would have to go out their way to cancel, because 'their way' is towards the first arriving car.
3. Our system is not set up to provide rewards to passengers.
4. If system will not give rewards, and passengers will not go out of way, then cancel mechanism must not require an action of the passenger that takes him of his way.
5. Cancel button/toggler cannot be on the wall, next to door, as the request buttons are.
6. If a cancel button/toggler need not be on the wall, then neither do the request buttons need to be on the wall.
So, the solution to the Cancel mechanism could be a solution that also provides for requests. We can reword our need to incorporate that.... : "Call and Cancel Mechanism."
7* One solution is to provide a 'remote' clicker to each building member. The clicker would be used to request and cancel the cars.
- The clicker :
A. Requires extra equipment to be maintained by users.
B. Does not provide for non-members.
8. The clicker is not a good solution.
9. One of the reasons the clicker is a bad idea, is because the passengers must do actions that are not related to the core activity of traveling up or down the building.
10. The remote would have buttons, and the remote adds extra activity; the wall buttons are buttons, so it could be that all buttons are unnecessary.
11. An ideal solution would require minimal action of passenger. The status should be a byproduct of their single, true desire (up or down) rather than require any further input than the statement of the single, true desire.
**** At this point, I am studying the feasibility of a Floor Mat, with alternate colors for "Down" and "Up." A car moving in the direction X will arrive at a floor if at least one Foot is atop a floor section for X....
*******
I am heading to Ireland for a week. I will resume this exercise later...
Showing posts with label elevators. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elevators. Show all posts
Monday, May 21, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Cancelling Elevator Call Requests
I work on floor 22 of a 25 story building serviced by 3 'cars.'
Often during high traffic elevator periods, such as 5:30pm, when descending to the lobby, the elevator stops at a floor and opens its doors to an empty lobby.
It occurred to me that the people waiting on those floors received a better offer. Having pressed each car's call button, they boarded the first arrival--and departed. It was wise of them to hedge their bets... but it needlessly delayed my car and its population.
I envisioned a 'cancel' button placed next to each down and up button in the lobby. Today a "cancel button elevators" Google informed me that a Mike Golding at 'whynot.com' had the same idea. The comments on that page reveals that some elevators, inside the car, have a deselect function for any button. Pressing it once 'selects;' twice, deselects. Practical idea.
If the lobby 'call' buttons had that same feature, they wouldn't need an extra button--just the same double-click deselect ability. But I do not think a Cancel function would solve the problem of 'deserters' aka 'phantom callers', because it requires humans doing something without self-incentive. What would the caller gain by cancelling his request? Indeed, he may even endanger his acceptance into the 'white night' elevator, by taking time to cancel the other calls. [ Picture how callers center themselves before the row of elevators, again 'hedging their bet.' When the far-left lift arrives, would they time or inclination to shuffle over to cancel the far right call? Unlikely.]
I have some ideas how to solve this issue, and will share such fruits in a future post. Please chime in with your own.
Often during high traffic elevator periods, such as 5:30pm, when descending to the lobby, the elevator stops at a floor and opens its doors to an empty lobby.
It occurred to me that the people waiting on those floors received a better offer. Having pressed each car's call button, they boarded the first arrival--and departed. It was wise of them to hedge their bets... but it needlessly delayed my car and its population.
I envisioned a 'cancel' button placed next to each down and up button in the lobby. Today a "cancel button elevators" Google informed me that a Mike Golding at 'whynot.com' had the same idea. The comments on that page reveals that some elevators, inside the car, have a deselect function for any button. Pressing it once 'selects;' twice, deselects. Practical idea.
If the lobby 'call' buttons had that same feature, they wouldn't need an extra button--just the same double-click deselect ability. But I do not think a Cancel function would solve the problem of 'deserters' aka 'phantom callers', because it requires humans doing something without self-incentive. What would the caller gain by cancelling his request? Indeed, he may even endanger his acceptance into the 'white night' elevator, by taking time to cancel the other calls. [ Picture how callers center themselves before the row of elevators, again 'hedging their bet.' When the far-left lift arrives, would they time or inclination to shuffle over to cancel the far right call? Unlikely.]
I have some ideas how to solve this issue, and will share such fruits in a future post. Please chime in with your own.
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