4 ms·

THIS. However, the criterion you're optimizing for is still unclear. Should it be: a) the total number of steps the elevator takes b) the average number of ste

by neil_s 11y ago

THIS. However, the criterion you're optimizing for is still unclear. Should it be: a) the total number of steps the elevator takes b) the average number of steps each user has to wait c) the maximum number of steps each user has to wait d) the 90th percentile of user waiting steps Note: here, I'm counting the steps spent waiting for an elevator as well as the steps spent in the elevator till the destination as the same, but presumably you'd want to count steps spent inside the elevator as costlier, further complicating matters. And this not even considering what happens if your algorithm answers 20 calls, without going to any destination floors, when the elevator capacity is only 10 people. That's what makes this such an interesting problem.

friendzis 11y ago
This can be accomplished in a gamified way: Game harness simulates people comming to an elevator, pressing destination button and waiting for some time (some wait longer, some wait shorter, should also depend on distance) before giving up and taking stairs. The elevator could or could not know about it's capacity. Assigning "price", optionally differentiated by input/output floors, to passenger, result would be €/time or €/level. Level - predetermined sequence of passengers. Interesting thing here is that "price" does not have to depend on distance. Taking passengers travelling short distances might look cost effective, but that could have negative effect on number of people going to a 20th floor.
emonidi 11y ago
I guess we are looking at a trade-off in every case. Is speed, waiting time, or moves(energy saving) your priority. When you order a set of six to eight elevators for a 70 story building you probably are allowed to set your preferences of how your elevators want to perform. This is why I could not get constant (100%) success rate with one universal algorithm. I always had to change something.

by neil_s 11y ago

friendzis 11y ago

This can be accomplished in a gamified way: Game harness simulates people comming to an elevator, pressing destination button and waiting for some time (some wait longer, some wait shorter, should also depend on distance) before giving up and taking stairs. The elevator could or could not know about it's capacity. Assigning "price", optionally differentiated by input/output floors, to passenger, result would be €/time or €/level. Level - predetermined sequence of passengers. Interesting thing here is that "price" does not have to depend on distance. Taking passengers travelling short distances might look cost effective, but that could have negative effect on number of people going to a 20th floor.

emonidi 11y ago

I guess we are looking at a trade-off in every case. Is speed, waiting time, or moves(energy saving) your priority. When you order a set of six to eight elevators for a 70 story building you probably are allowed to set your preferences of how your elevators want to perform. This is why I could not get constant (100%) success rate with one universal algorithm. I always had to change something.