Literature Review

Elevator is being controlled through various systems. Prof. Omkar M. Shete et al

Types of elevator on the basis of control system:

Manually Controlled Elevator
Early elevator had no automatic landing positioning. Elevators were operated by elevator
operators using a type of dead switch .The controller on this type of elevator would often not
have many relays. Some older freight elevators are controlled by switches operated by pulling on
adjacent ropes.[ CITATION ele18 \l 1033 ]

Later on, Otis introduced manually controlled elevators with automatic leveling. The operator
could still control the speed, but when they released the controller the elevator leveled smoothly
to the nearest floor in that direction. This was one of the first steps towards the full automatic
control of elevators.[ CITATION ele18 \l 1033 ]

Dual operation elevator

A dual operation elevator usually can operate either as a manually controlled elevator or a single
automatic elevator depending upon the position of key switch. The purpose of this type of
operation may have been that during peak traffic, the elevator would operate in car switch mode
with an operator and when the building was quiet, the elevator would have run in automatic
mode. [ CITATION ele18 \l 1033 ]

Pre-register operation elevator

This type of elevator has hall & car buttons to notify the operator of stops, but would most likely
be car switch operated. When the elevator is about to reach the floor, a signal will notify the
operator to initiate the elevator to stop. After the stop is initiated, the elevator would
automatically level. This may be a self-leveling car switch operated elevator with extra features
to assist the operator. Not much is known about this type of elevator.[ CITATION ele18 \l 1033 ]

Signal operation elevator

Signal operation elevators still required an operator, but required much less effort to operate. To
operate a signal operation elevator, first, you push a switch in the direction you want to travel.
Then, you press a floor button. The floor buttons are pop-out buttons. There are no floor buttons
for the top and bottom floors. If you are going to the top or bottom floor, there is no need to press
any buttons. Then, there is a crank. You pull the crank out, and then pull it to start. Hold it there
until the elevator starts moving. The doors will close, and then the elevator will start moving.
There are probably no door sensors, so don't close the doors until everyone has gotten inside the
elevator. If there is a hall call, and the elevator is going in the direction of the hall call, and
reaches the floor, the elevator will automatically stop at that floor. When the elevator stops, pull
the switch to open, and hold it there until the doors completely open. There is also a call
annunciator panel, like on manually-controlled elevator, to tell the operator where there are hall
calls.[ CITATION ele18 \l 1033 ]

Automatic-controlled elevator
Relay-controlled

Automatic elevators began to appear as early as the 1920s. These electromechanical systems
used relay logic controllers of increasing complexity to control the speed, position and door
operation of an elevator or bank of elevators. Elevators with relay logic controllers have a device
called a "selector". Mechanical selectors use analog controls and many moving parts to
determine the car’s position. The selector uses magnetic tapes which are attached at the top of
the car. When the elevator is moving, so does the tape, which moves the mechanical gears on the
selector.[ CITATION ele18 \l 1033 ]

Otis introduces the world's first fully automatic relay logic controlled elevator system in 1924
called "Signal Control". Later in 1937, Otis introduces the Peak Period Control to automatically
schedule elevator service during high-demand periods. It helped reduce the waiting time on any
given floor by coordinating the movement of the building’s elevators.[ CITATION ele18 \l 1033 ]

Automatic elevators in the 1940s has the ability to change the car speeds, adjust their schedules
to suit traffic demand and bypassing floors when the car is fully loaded. An example of this was
the Otis "Autotronic Elevator" system which was introduced in 1948. A similar elevator system
is also invented by Westinghouse in the 1950s called "Selectomatic", while Dover came out with
the “Computamatic " elevator system in the early 1960s.[ CITATION ele18 \l 1033 ]

Relay-controllers have the advantage over newer microprocessor based systems of being
inherently failed safe because they are immune to failure due to programming error, or hardware
crashes. Also, they are extremely robust - thousands of relay controllers are still in perfect
operations which are 50-60 years old. The key disadvantages are size and power consumption -
the number of relays required increases almost exponentially with the number of floors and the
number of elevators being controlled. Relay controlled systems also have many moving parts and
require more maintenance. For this reason, microprocessor based elevator controls have steadily
replaced relay-based systems from the early 1980s onward.[ CITATION ele18 \l 1033 ]

Microprocessor control

Elevators with microprocessor controllers first appeared in 1979 when Otis, introduce the
"Elevonic 101" elevator. This elevator system uses microprocessor to control every aspect of the
elevator operation. Later in 1981, Otis introduce another fully computerized elevator system
called Elevonic 401.

Beyond the passenger interaction are a series of sensors, controllers, sequences of operation and
real-time calculations or algorithms that balance passenger demand and car availability.  Elevator
sensors provide data on car positions, car moving direction, loads, door status, hall calls, car
calls, pending up hall and down hall calls, number of runs per car, alarms, etc. The elevator
controllers made in or before 2000s are typically Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) that
may be configured for a single car, multiple cars or sized by the number of stops and including
interfaces for monitoring, voice synthesizers, etc. The controller may also have a function
enabling the testing the systems without shutdown of the elevator.

The 4 Main Types of Elevator & Lift Controls :

1. Selective Collective Operation – When you go to use a standard commercial elevator,

you know what to expect. You press the button in the hall, indicating you want to travel
to the floors above or the floors below, the elevator door opens, you and others board the
elevator. You want to go to floor 2, but someone else wants to go to floor 5, so one
passenger presses the 5 button, and you press the 2 button.  The elevator doors close and
starts going up in this instance.  The elevator then stops at floor 2, the doors open, and
you exit the elevator.  The doors close again, and the elevator proceeds to floor 5.  This
type of operation is called Selective Collective operation.  This is a standard operating
system for most commercial, and Limited Use/Limited Application (LULA) elevators.
[ CITATION SYM19 \l 1033 ]
 2. Constant Pressure – Constant Pressure control systems act exactly as they are described.
In order for the machine to move, the button must have pressure maintained, thus the
term, constant pressure.  Once the pressure is removed from the button, the machine will
stop.  This type of operation allows the user to stop mid-travel or even change direction
prior to arriving at a floor. This is the only system allowed by code for wheelchair lifts.
[ CITATION SYM19 \l 1033 ]

3. Nonselective Collective – Nonselective Collective controls are frequently used

in residential elevator applications. This type of operation is task-oriented, in that the
elevator will sequentially respond to a call.  This means that when you are at floor 2 and
push the button, the elevator will come to you, when you enter the car and press floor 1,
the car will travel to floor 1.  The elevator will respond in the order the call was received,
so if you were to press the buttons for floors 1,6,2,5, and 4 it will go to the floors in that
order.[ CITATION SYM19 \l 1033 ]

4. Single Automatic – Single automatic operation indicates that there is no collective

function to the control system. It is a task-oriented system that has a momentary push
button contact.  You will push the button once, the elevator will go to the floor requested,
and then wait for its next command.  This type of control is most frequently used
for material lift applications.[ CITATION SYM19 \l 1033 ]

PLC

A Programmable Logic Controller, or PLC, is a ruggedized computer used for industrial

automation. These controllers can automate a specific process, machine function, or even an
entire production line.

The PLC receives information from connected sensors or input devices, processes the data, and
triggers outputs based on pre-programmed parameters. Depending on the inputs and outputs, a
PLC can monitor and record run-time data such as machine productivity or operating
temperature, automatically start and stop processes, generate alarms if a machine malfunctions,
and more. Programmable Logic Controllers are a flexible and robust control solution, adaptable
to almost any application.[ CITATION 191 \l 1033 ]

A PLC Scan Process includes the following steps

 The operating system starts cycling and monitoring of time.

 The CPU starts reading the data from the input module and checks the status of all the
inputs.
 The CPU starts executing the user or application program written in relay-ladder logic or
any other PLC-programming language.
 Next, the CPU performs all the internal diagnosis and communication tasks.
 According to the program results, it writes the data into the output module so that all
outputs are updated.
 This process continues as long as the PLC is in run mode.

Physical Structure of PLC

The structure of a PLC is almost similar to a computer’s architecture.

PLC Block Diagram

Programmable Logic Controllers continuously monitors the input values from various input
sensing devices (e.g. accelerometer, weight scale, hardwired signals, etc.) and produces
corresponding output depending on the nature of production and industry.[ CITATION Ele19 \l
1033 ]

A typical block diagram of PLC consists of five parts namely:

  Rack or chassis
 Power Supply Module
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
 Input & Output Module
 Communication Interface Module
Rack or Chassis
In all PLC systems, the PLC rack or chassis forms the most important module and acts as a
backbone to the system. PLCs are available in different shapes and size. When more complex
control systems are involved, it requires larger PLC racks. Small sized PLC is equipped with
fixed I/O pin configuration. So, they have gone for modular type rack PLC, which accepts
different types of I/O modules with sliding and fit in concept. All I/O modules will be residing
inside this rack/chassis.[ CITATION Ele19 \l 1033 ]

Breakdown of PLC Rack

Power Supply Module

This module is used to provide the required power to the whole PLC system. It converts the
available AC power to DC power which is required by the CPU and I/O module. PLC generally
works on 24V DC supply. Few PLC uses an isolated power supply.[ CITATION Ele19 \l 1033 ]
CPU Module and Memory
CPU module has a central processor, ROM & RAM memory. ROM memory includes operating
system, driver and application program. RAM memory is used to store programs and data. CPU
is the brain of PLC with an octal or hexagonal microprocessor. Being a microprocessor based
CPU, it replaces timers, relays, and counters. Two types of processors as a single bit or word
processor can be incorporated with a PLC. One bit processor is used to perform logic functions.
Whereas word processors are used for processing text, numerical data, controlling and recording
data, CPU reads the input data from sensors, process it and finally sends the command to
controlling devices. DC power source, as mentioned in the previous discussion is required
voltage signals. CPU also contains other electrical parts to connect cables used by other units.
[ CITATION Ele19 \l 1033 ]

Input and Output Module

PLC has an exclusive module for interfacing inputs and output, which is called an input & output
module. Input devices can be start and stop push buttons, switches and output devices can be an
electric heater, valves, relays, etc. I/O module helps to interface input and output devices with a
microprocessor. [ CITATION Ele19 \l 1033 ]

The input module of PLC is explained in the below figure.

PLC Input Module

 Circuit Diagram of PLC Input Module

The input module of PLC does four main functions:-

1. Input module interface receives the signal from process devices at 220 V AC
2. Converts the input signal to 5 V DC that can be used by PLC
3. Isolator block is used to isolate/prevent PLC from undergoing fluctuation
4. After which the signal is sent to the output end i.e. the PLC

There are two main sections in the input module namely power section and logical section. Both
the sections are electrically isolated from each other. Initially push button is closed. So, 220 V
AC supply is given to the bridge circuit through the resistors R1 and R2. The bridge rectifier is
used to convert the AC signal into DC and zener diode is used to provide low voltage supply to
LED. When the light from LED falls on the phototransistor, it works in the conduction region.
Finally, 5V DC supply is given to the processor.[ CITATION Ele19 \l 1033 ]

The output module of PLC works similar to the input module but in the reverse process. It
interfaces the output load and processor. So here the first section would be logic session and
power section comes next. The working of the output module is shown in the below figure
 PLC Output Module

So, here when the logic high signal is generated from the processor, LED will turn ON and allow
the light to fall on a phototransistor. When the transistor goes to conduction region, it generates a
pulse to the gate of the triac. Isolator block is used to isolate the logic section and control section.
[ CITATION Ele19 \l 1033 ]

HMI
In order to interact with the PLC in real time, users need an HMI, or Human Machine Interface.
These operator interfaces can be simple displays, with a text-readout and keypad, or large
touchscreen panels more similar to consumer electronics, but either way, they enable users to
review and input information to the PLC in real time.[ CITATION San \l 1033 ]

Motor Driver
Motor driver is used to control the motor in forward and reverse direction. There are four
switching elements are used. The name H Bridge is derived from actual shape of switching
circuit which controls the motion of motor.[CITATION San \l 1033 ]

High Left High Right Low Left Low Right Description

On Off Off On Motor runs clockwise
Off On On Off Motor runs anticlockwise
On On Off Off Motor stops or decelerates
Off Off On On Motor stops or decelerates.
Figure 1: H Bridge