The History Of Elevator Controller

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Elevator is a transport device that is very common to us nowadays. We use it every day to move goods or peoples vertically.We try to develop the elevator to be more intelligentand to make the elevator able to prevent congestions at the gates and improve the services especially in rush hours.

This project is a implanting for the elevators control system. The prototype was constructed to simulate an actual elevator in the real life. The software for the system was designed according to the real elevator management. The combination of the hardware and software perform the final result (Elevator system) .

Note: please check the statement in red.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

Situation Description

We use the elevator and escalators in the building to facilitate our daily activities.There is a huge progress in architectural, for that, there are many skyscrapers which need solutions to transport the people between the floors . In addition, now they use the elevator in emergencies such as fire, etc. To make the elevator able to prevent congestions at the gates and improve the services especially in rush hourswe try to develop the elevator to be more intelligent.

Problem Definition

Today we see most of the buildings have many floors.There are many methods to transport the user between the floors as shown at chapter 2.2 (mention the other methods). One of the best methods to transport the user is the elevator. Elevatorstarted from 18th century and has developed ever since. Our target is to find the best method that can optimize the service for the user by using the newest technology in this filed according to given condition by customer.

Objective

Design elevator control for three floors.

Simulate the elevator control by using simulation software.

Make the system safer by designing a security alarm.

Design the elevator to know the right floor by use of timer or sensor.

Know the current floor by using an LED.

Design the door to wait by use of a timer.

Design the door to close (close door button).

Design the door to open (open door button).

To learn how to work cooperatively.

Project Background

History of Elevator Control

An elevator by definition is a platform or an enclosure raised and lowered in a vertical shaft to transport people and freight. The shaft contains the operating equipment, motor, cables, and accessories.

Primitive elevators were in use as early as the 3rd century BC, operated by human, animal, or water wheel power. In 1743, a counter-weighted, man-powered, personal elevator was built for King Luis XV connecting his apartment in Versailles with that of his mistress, Madame de Chateauroux, whose quarters were one floor above King Luis.

19th Century Elevators

From about the middle of the 19th century, elevators were powered, often steam-operated, and were used for conveying materials in factories, mines, and warehouses.

In 1823, two architects Burton and Hormer built an "ascending room" as they called it, this crude elevator was used to lift paying tourists to a platform for a panorama view of London. In 1835, architects Frost and Stutt built the "Teagle", a belt-driven, counter-weighted, and steam-driven lift was developed in England.(where r the references)

Hydraulic Crane

In 1846, Sir William Armstrong introduced the hydraulic crane, and in the early 1870s, hydraulic machines began to replace the steam-powered elevator.The hydraulic elevator is supported by a heavy piston, moving in a cylinder, and operated by the water (or oil) pressure produced by pumps.

Elisha Otis

In 1853, American inventor Elisha Otis demonstrated a freight elevator equipped with a safety device to prevent falling in case a supporting cable should break. This increased public confidence in such devices. In 1853, Elisha Otis established a company for manufacturing elevators and patented (1861) a steam elevator. While, Elisha Graves Otis did not actually invent the first elevator, he did invent the brake used in modern elevators, and his brakes made skyscrapers a practical reality.

In 1857, Elisha Otis and the Otis Elevator Company began manufacturing passenger elevators. A steam-powered passenger elevator was installed by the Otis Brothers in a five-story department store owned by E.W Haughtwhat& Company of Manhattan. It was the first public elevator.

Electric Elevators

Electric elevators came into to use towards the end of the 19th century. The first one was built by the German inventor Werner von Siemens in 1880.

Black inventor, Alexander Miles patented an electric elevator (U.S. pat#371,207) on October 11, 1887

How Elevators Work

In a typical elevator, the car is raised and lowered by six to eight motor-driven wire ropes that are attached to the top of the car at one end, travel around a pair of sheaves, and are again attached to a counterweight at the other end.

The counterweight adds accelerating force when the elevator car is ascending and provides a retarding effort when the car is descending so that less motor horsepower is required. The counterweight is a collection of metal weights that is equal to the weight of the car containing about 45% of its rated load. A set of chains are looped from the bottom of the counterweight to the underside of the car to help maintain balance by offsetting the weight of the suspension ropes.

Guide rails that run the length of the shaft keep the car and counterweight from swaying or twisting during their travel. Rollers are attached to the car and the counterweight to provide smooth travel along the guide rails.

The traction to raise and lower the car comes from the friction of the wire ropes against the grooved sheaves. The main sheave is driven by an electric motor.

Most elevators use a direct current motor because its speed can be precisely controlled to allow smooth acceleration and deceleration. Motor-generator (M-G) sets typically provide to dc power for the drive motor. Newer systems use a static drive control. The elevator controls vary the motor's speed based on a set of feedback signals that indicate the car's position in the shaftway. As the car approaches its destination, a switch near the landing signals the controls to stop the car at floor level. Additional shaftway limit switches are installed to monitor over travel conditions [1].

Relevant Standards

The mechanical and electrical design of elevators is dictated according to various standards (aka elevator codes), which may be international, national, state, regional or city based. Whereas once many standards were prescriptive, specifying exact criteria which must be complied with, there has recently been a shift towards more performance-based standards where the onus falls on the designer to ensure that the elevator meets or exceeds the standard.

Some of the national elevator standards include:

Australia – AS1735.

Canada – CAN/CSA B44.

Europe – EN 81 series (EN 81-1, EN 81-2, EN 81-28, EN 81-70, EN 12015, EN 12016, EN 13015, etc.).

USA – ASME A17.

Because an elevator is part of a building, it must also comply with standards relating to earthquake resilience, fire standards, electrical wiring rules and so forth.

The American National Elevator Standards Group (ANESG) sets an elevator weight standard to be 2200 lbs.

Additional requirements relating to access by disabled persons may be mandated by laws or regulations such as the Americans with Disabilities Act.

U.S. and Canadian Elevator Standard Specifics

In most US and Canadian jurisdictions, passenger elevators are required to conform to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Standard A17.1, Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators.

In Canada the document is the CAN/CSA B44 Safety Standard, which was harmonized with the US version in the 2000 edition. In addition, passenger elevators may be required to conform to the requirements of A17.3 for existing elevators where referenced by the local jurisdiction. Passenger elevators are tested using the ASME A17.2 Standard. The frequency of these tests is mandated by the local jurisdiction, which may be a town, city, state or provincial standard.

Passenger elevators must also conform to many ancillary building codes including the Local or State building code, National Fire Protection Association standards for Electrical, Fire Sprinklers and Fire Alarms, Plumbing codes, and HVAC codes. Also, passenger elevators are required to conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act and other State and Federal civil rights legislation regarding accessibility.

Residential elevators are required to conform to ASME A17.1. Platform and Wheelchair lifts are required to comply with ASME A18.1 in most US jurisdictions.

Most elevators have a location in which the permit for the building owner to operate the elevator is displayed. While some jurisdictions require the permit to be displayed in the elevator cab, other jurisdictions allow for the operating permit to be kept on file elsewhere – such as the maintenance office – and to be made available for inspection on demand. In such cases instead of the permit being displayed in the elevator cab, often a notice is posted in its place informing riders of where the actual permits are kept [2].

Resources available

Books:

Muhammad Ali Mazidi, Rolin D. McKinlay, and Danny Causey, PIC Microcontroller and Embedded systems – Using Assembly and C for PIC18, Prentice Hall, 2008.

Barry B. Brey, Applying PIC18 Microcontrollers Architecture, Programming and interfacing Using C and Assembly, Prentice Hall, 2008.

Dogan Ibrahim, Advanced PIC Microcontroller Projects in C: from USB to RTOS with the PIC18F Series, Elsevier, 2008.

Milan Verle, "PIC Microcontrollers Programming in C," MikroElektronika

Websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator

http://inventors.about.com/od/estartinventions/a/Elevator.htm

http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/elevator.htm

http://www.codeforge.com/s/0/elevator-controller-verilog-project

http://www.codeforge.com/article/11342

www.mikroe.com

www.microchip.com/

www.analog.com/

www.digilentinc.com

Consultant:

DR. Abdullah SaeedBalamash, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University.

Mobile: 0506554246

Email: [email protected]

DR. Mohammad HamzaAwedh, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University.

Mobile: 0505311268

Email: [email protected]

Dr. UbaidMuhsen Al-Saggaf, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University.

Phone: 6952243

Email: [email protected]

Eng. NavinKasam, Lecturer, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University.

Curricular Resources

EE366 (Microprocessors and Microcontrollers)

This is a course for designing microcontroller and embedded systems. There are many topics Discuss about microcontroller, hardware and learning programming software in microcontroller, architecture, central processing unit, internal memory like (ROM, EEPROM, RAM, FLASH), Input/ Output, serial communication, interrupts, analog to digital converter , digital to analog converter , interfacing between embedded hardware and timers, programming model and instruction set , assembly and C language programming. We take many Labs and projects in this course to implement what we have learned .

The course covers various aspects of PIC18,PIC16,mikroC and assembly language programming and interfacing.

The main topics and concepts used:

Numbering systems.

Internal architecture of the pic18.

Programming instruction used in assembly.

I/O ports interfacing.

Access data stored in the code space.

Bank switching.

C programming.

Hardware connection of pic18 chip.

How to use timers and counters.

Serial data communication.

Interrupts.

EE360 (Digital Design)

Digital electronic circuits are the engines of cell phones, digital control systems,computers,and many other consumer products that process and use information in digital format. This course presents a basic treatment of digital circuits and fundamental concepts used in their design.

The main topics and concepts used:

Digital systems.

Binary numbers.

Number-base conversion.

Logic gates.

Gate-level minimization.

Combinational logic.

Registers and counters.

Memory and programmable logic.

Laboratory experiments with ICs and FPGAs.

Specification Development

Figure 1.1 shows the flow chart of specification development

Get information from customer

Search about the project

Forming preliminary specifications

Get approval from customer

Get approval from coordinator

Forming finalspecifications

Yes

No

Figure 1.1 Flow chart of specification development

Design Specifications and Constraints

Behavior of Elevator Controller(check font size)

Ground Floor

If the user presses (up button), the elevator services him or waits until elevator ends serviceof other users.

First Floor

If the user presses (up button), there are several cases as shown in table 1.1:

Table 1.1 Behavior of elevator controller for first floor (up button)

Elevator comes to user directly if it do not serve any other user.

If the elevator moves from ground floor to

Floor

Behavior

First

Elevator service the user.

Second

Elevator must stop at first floor.

Third

Elevator must stop at first floor.

If the elevator moves from second floor to

Floor

Behavior

Ground

Elevator must back to the first floor after it finished service user in the second floor.

First

Elevator service the user.

Third

Elevator must back to the first floor after it finished service user in the second floor.

If the elevator moves from third floor to

Floor

Behavior

Ground

Elevator must back to the first floor after it finished service user in the third floor.

First

Elevator service the user.

Second

Elevator must back to the first floor after it finished service user in the third floor.

If the user presses (down button), there are several cases as shown in table 1.2:

Table 1.2 Behavior of elevator controller for first floor (down button)

Elevator comes to user directly if it do not serve any other user.

If the elevator moves from ground floor to

Floor

Behavior

First

Elevator service the user.

Second

Elevator must back to the first floor after it finished service user in the ground floor.

Third

Elevator must back to the first floor after it finished service user in the ground floor.

If the elevator moves from second floor to

Floor

Behavior

Ground

Elevator must stop at first floor.

First

Elevator service the user.

Third

Elevator must back to the first floor after it finished service user in the second floor.

If the elevator moves from third floor to

Floor

Behavior

Ground

Elevator must stop at first floor.

First

Elevator service the user.

Second

Elevator must back to the first floor after it finished service user in the third floor.

Second Floor

If the user presses (up button), there are several cases as shown in table 1.3:

Table 1.3 Behavior of elevator controller for second floor (up button)

Elevator comes to user directly if it do not serve any other user.

If the elevator moves from ground floor to

Floor

Behavior

First

Elevator must back to the second floor after it finished service user in the ground floor.

Second

Elevator service the user.

Third

Elevator must stop at second floor.

If the elevator moves from first floor to

Floor

Behavior

Ground

Elevator must back to the second floor after it finished service user in the first floor.

Second

Elevator service the user.

Third

Elevator must stop at second floor.

If the elevator moves from third floor to

Floor

Behavior

Ground

Elevator must back to the second floor after it finished service user in the third floor.

First

Elevator must back to the second floor after it finished service user in the third floor.

Second

Elevator service the user.

If the user presses (down button), there are several cases as shown in table 1.4:

Table 1.4 Behavior of elevator controller for second floor (down button)

Elevator comes to user directly if it do not serve any other user.

If the elevator moves from ground floor to

Floor

Behavior

First

Elevator must back to the second floor after it finished service user in the ground floor.

Second

Elevator service the user

Third

Elevator must back to the second floor after it finished service user in the ground floor.

If the elevator moves from first floor to

Floor

Behavior

Ground

Elevator must back to the second floor after it finished service user in the first floor.

Second

Elevator service the user

Third

Elevator must back to the second floor after it finished service user in the first floor.

If the elevator moves from third floor to

Floor

Behavior

Ground

Elevator must stop at second floor

First

Elevator must stop at second floor

Second

Elevator service the user

Third Floor

If the user presses (down button), the elevator services him or waits until elevator ends serviceof the other users.

In case that the elevator does not serve any user, itmust be stay in the last floor reached.

Requirements

Table 1.5 Requirements of elevator

Component

Count.

Notes

For Building

Buttons

6

- Ground Floor: UP button

- First Floor: UP & Down button

- Second Floor: UP & Down button

- Third Floor: Down button

Inside Elevator

Floor buttons

4

Passenger must push the floor button, through the control panel, to indicate which floor he want to go. The control panel contains the following buttons:

- Ground floor button

- First floor button

- Second floor button

- Third floor button

Other button

3

- Open door button

- Close door button

- Alarm button

Over load sensor

1

Send the weight to the elevator control system

Floor position sensor

4

Send the signal when approaching every floor

Door safety sensor

1

Send the signal when passenger between the doors.

Table 1.6 shows the signal used in elevator controller.

Table 1.6 Signal used in elevator controller

Signal

Description

Motor signal

If the passenger press the floor button, it will send the signal to ask the system to turn on the motor.

Send floor position signal

Floor position sensor should send the signal when it approaches every floor to turn off the motor.

Send time-out signal

Timer should send the time-out signal to close the door.

Send reopen door signal

It will send the signal to ask the system to reopen the door when:

- there is passenger between the doors.

- overload.

Alarm signal

If the passenger press the alarm button, it will send the signal to ask the system to turn on the buzzer.

Turn power on/ off

Turn the power on or off of the elevator.

Project Specifications

Door sensor: the door opening at most 5 second.

Weight sensor: the elevator can carry 450 kg at least.

Project Constraints

The most important issues for goals of the project are listed below:

Environmental Effects

The elevator has a positive impact for the convenience of the people and their service. It mustnot have a negative impact on the environment such as ( rise of the smoke - produce waste that causes pollution of environment )

Economical Effects

Energy is running the elevator. And in order to save money, we should save energy as much as we can such as (turn off the light when the elevator is not running - reduce operating costs).

Health, Safety and Security Effects

Elevator must have a safety attributes that protects emergency cases such as (fire – Overweight).

Ergonomic

Elevator is a convenient way for people. It moves people to the upper floors without effort. They are air conditioners and fans to stay air cold.

Social

Elevators may feature talking devices as an accessibility aid for the blind. In addition to floor arrival notifications, the computer announces the direction of travel, and notifies the passengers before the doors are to close.

Validation Process

To be sure that design of our project has marked all constraints and specifications, we have several method to know our accomplishment.

Test the project in the lab

To know if the project achieve all specifications and constraints, we have to test it in the lab, which is a major step in our project.

Simulation

We haveto do simulation before we test the project in the lab.The advantage of doing this is that we can know if there are any mistakes so that we can correct it.

Checklist

To assess the tasks of the project during working on it.

CHAPTER-2 CONCEPTUAL DESIGN

Introduction

Our next target is to find the best method to design the elevator control. We have to find many alternatives for the elevator. Also the best component for controller. In addition, we should select a scientific method to compare between the alternative. Remember that the alternative has to satisfy some specifications and constrains such as opening the door at least 5 second, it should carry 450 kg at least.

Alternatives Solutions to the General Problem

There are different solutions to transport the people between the floors.The following are some them:

Using stairs.

Using escalators.

Using elevators.

Stairs are barrier to disabled and also can be difficult with people who have children or luggage. Escalators needs enough space inside the building to move from one floor to anotherin itis not appropriate for people with disabilities.Transition between floors by elevator is the most appropriate solution which we can implement because it saves time and effort and is suitable for all people. Also it does not need large areas.

Relevant Alternatives Solutions

PIC Microcontroller

Figure 2.1 PIC microcontroller

microcontroller is a processor with embedded memory and RAM and you can use it to control the projects . it allows you building a circuit which has external RAM, ROM and peripheral chips.

It is a useful device which has many modules like EEPROM, Timers, Analogue comparators and UART.

In fact, PIC microcontroller is an amazingly powerful fully featured processor with internal RAM, EEROM FLASH memory and peripherals.  One of the smallest ones occupies the space of a 555 timer but has a 10bit analog to digital converter , 1k of memory space , 2 timers and I/O ports a comparator a watch dog timer .

Advantages:

It is a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) design.

Only thirty seven instructions to learn.

Its code is extremely efficient.

It is low cost, high clock speed.

Built in oscillator with selectable speeds.

Easy entry level, in circuit programming plus in circuit debugging PICKit units.

Wide range of interfaces.

(Delete)Lots of bang for the buck. These chips pack lots of power and space.

In-System Programmable flash--can easily program chips.

Many peripherals. A whole bunch of internal and external interrupt sources.

Internal RC oscillators can be used on many chips to reduce part count further.

Flexible interrupt module with multiple internal/external interrupt sources.

Disadvantages:

There are difficulties when you want to use interrupts.

When the *.hex file is generated, it is not optimized, therefore you do not know the size of program memory used.

Most compilers for this language use windows environment.

.(Delete)Its mechanical drive components, such as contactors and brushes

The instruction set are very strong reduced.

Arduino Microcontroller

Figure 2.2 Arduino microcontroller

The Arduino microcontroller is an open-source hardware controller which is designed to easily interface with a variety of sensors (to register user inputs), and to drive the responses and behaviors of external components such as LEDs, motors, and speakers (to respond to user inputs). One of its most important features is its ease of programmability even by users with little technical expertise -- an aspect which has made it a tool of choice for artists and designers in the creation of interactive objects and spaces.

Their goal was to create an electronics prototyping platform which further simplified the Wiring platform, making it as accessible as possible for non-technical users in the creative field. As a result, the Arduino incorporated the following characteristics: a programming environment based on Processing language, the ability to program the board via a standard USB connection, and a low price point.

Today, the Arduino microcontroller has become one of the most popular prototyping platforms in the world, and is a prime example of how hardware and software technologies originally created for military, business, and scientific applications can be repurposed to serve the needs of individuals creating projects in the realms of new media art and design [4].

Advantages:

Arduino boards are relatively inexpensive compared to other microcontroller platforms.

The Arduino software runs on Windows, Macintosh OSX, and Linux operating systems.

Simple, clear programming environment.

Open source and extensible software.

Open source and extensible hardware.

Disadvantages:

C/C++ code often very low-level (bit-shifting, etc.), hard to understand initially.

No step-by-step debugging possible without major modification efforts.

Shield concept flawed: Pin conflicts between shields, shield must be directly attached to the MCU board.

FPGA

Figure 2.3 FPGA

The historical roots of FPGAs are in complex programmable logic devices(CPLDs) of the early to mid-1980s. Ross Freeman, Xilinx co-founder, invented the field programmable gate array in 1984. FPGAs include a relatively large number of programmable logic elements. FPGAs typically range from tens of thousands to several million.

The FPGA architectures, on the other hand, are dominated by interconnect. This makes them far more flexible (in terms of the range of designs that are practical for implementation within them) but also far more complex to design for.

Some FPGAs have the capability of partial re-configuration that lets one portion of the device be re-programmed while other portions continue running [6].

Advantages [7]:

Increasing IC design costs.

Lack of R&D sources and VLSI design engineers.

FPGA offers time-to-market advantage.

Weak economy asking for low-cost technologies.

FPGA can be re-programmed in the field to fix bugs,

Reusability, and lower non-recurring engineering costs.

Some FPGAs have the capability of partial re-configuration that lets one portion of the device be re- programmed while other portions continue running.

Disadvantages :

Not a right device for high volume applications

Costlier than custom silicon

No on-chip analog functions.

High power.

Large configuration time and compilation time in FPGAs compared with general-purpose processor.

Comparing Alternatives and Deciding About the Solution

Pugh's Method is a tool by which you can logically compare different options based on some predefined criterion. This in turn will help with the selection of the best possible option. Pugh’s method is that it uses to evaluate each alternatives based on objectives. For each comparison, the concept being evaluated is judged to be either better than ("+1" score), about the same ("0" score), or worse than the datum ("-1" score). Table 2.1 shows the Pugh's method for the project.

Table 2.1 Pugh's method for the project

#

Objective

Wight

DATUM

PIC Microcontroller

ArduinoMicrocontroller

FPGA

1

Cost

7

1

1

-1

2

Interface

6

1

0

0

3

Power

8

1

1

1

4

Programming

7

1

-1

0

5

Flexibility

8

0

0

1

6

Timer

5

1

1

0

7

Interrupt

7

0

1

0

8

ADC/DAC

5

1

1

0

Total positive (+)

6

5

2

Total negative (-)

0

1

1

Total score (sum product)

38

25

9

After we used the Pugh's method for elevator control, PIC Microcontroller is the best option between the three alternatives.

Design Methodology

Theflow chart shown in (figure 2.4) shows the flow in which we shall finish our project.

Figure 2.4 FPGADesign methodology

Work Plan and Timing Diagram

In the table 2.2,shown below we write the tasks that we had to in order to complete the project.

Table 2.2 Tasks required to complete the project

#

Task

Needed Skills

1

Literature Search

Search

2

Write Project Specifications

Elevator control background

3

Select Validation Procedure

Search

4

Design alternative methods

Search

5

Compare the alternative

General knowledge

6

Select from the alternative

Search

7

Study the PIC

PIC background

8

Search for the components of the project (PIC, motor, 7 segment, LEDs)

Elevator control background

9

Select and buy the components

Market search

10

MikroC program to write the code

MikroC programming

11

Simulate the project

Proteus programming

12

Setup the project

PIC knowledge

13

Test the project

Lab knowledge

14

Writing Final Report

Writing

The figure 2.5 shows the Gantt chart for elevator controller project.

Figure 2.5Gantt chart for elevator controller project

Distribution of Team Roles and Responsibilities

Team roles and contributions helps team members to understand the purpose of team working. Also, it helps team to focus on the goal. Team roles and contributions defined team members, resources, how they can make decision and rules to work together.

Table 2.3 Specializations of team members

Team Members

Departments of Engineering

1-Mohannad KhaledAljerisi

Electrical Engineering – computers

2- Maher Hassan AL-Sereihy

Electrical Engineering - Electronics and communications

3- Abdulrahman Al- marhabi

Electrical Engineering - Electronics and communications

4- Abdulrahman Faisal Aloufi

Electrical Engineering - Electronics and communications

Table 2.4 Member Tasks

Team Members

Main Task in Team

1-Mohannad KhaledAljerisi

Programmer

2- Maher Hassan AL-Sereihy

Writer – team portfolio

3- Abdulrahman Al- marhabi

Communicate with coordinator and customer

4- Abdulrahman Faisal Aloufi

Leader

Table 2.5 Team Rules

Team Rules

1. Respect between members.

2. Responsibility.

3. Prepare and Participate in meeting.

4. Trust between members.

5. Learn from each other.

6. Working together.

7. All member focus on the same goal.