- Thanks to the new system of pre-selecting the destination, the journey time during peak hours is five times less.
Buildings which have a large influx of people, such as hospitals or office blocks, often face the challenge of having a large amount of people using lifts to move between floors every day. The current technology is not able to use the movement of the lifts to transport the users in the most efficient way possible.
In order to deal with this problem, IK4-IKERLAN and Orona, leading company in the lift sector in this country, have jointly developed a technological solution which improves the flow of passengers using lifts in large buildings. In this system, the destination is pre-selected, combining hardware path processing platforms and a user interface with an advanced traffic algorithm.
This algorithm is designed to execute the commands sent from a screen located next to the lifts. Through this interface, which replaces the up and down buttons which have been used until now, users must select the floor where they want to go. The system processes this information, organising the movement of the different lifts so that their journeys are more efficient and they indicate to the user which lift should be used to arrive at their destination in the shortest time possible.
In this way, situations of overcrowding have been prevented, reducing waiting times and moving users in a more efficient and faster way. In fact, thanks to the new system of pre-selecting the destination, the movement time during peak hours is five times less than in current lift systems.
New markets
The new solution developed by Orona and IK4-IKERLAN allows the Basque company to increase its range of customers and enter strategic markets such as luxury buildings, which are normally occupied by large multinational corporations.
This development has already been tested in office blocks belonging to the company Telefonica, located in the Communications City in Madrid. The people in charge of this project are satisfied with the results obtained.
"Thanks to this system, we have been able to avoid large crowds gathering in front of lifts during peak hours" said Luis Manuel Arnaiz, researcher at IK4-IKERLAN.
Test bench
In order to test the behaviour of this solution in day-to-day situations, Orona has created a test infrastructure in its facilities to recreate real-life situations.
In this way, the centre has an area at its disposal which allows it to carry out the necessary tests to guarantee the correct working of the system before it is implemented and any special adaptations are made for different circumstances which may arise in each installation. In turn, this infrastructure enables them to correct any faults which may occur in the lift installations.
This project provides evidence of the capabilities and experience of IK4-IKERLAN in the development of embedded electronics for the lift sector, an area which is highly competitive with the presence of multinational companies and where it is necessary to stand out through advanced technological solutions to provide differential value in the market.