ELEVATOR OPERATING SYSTEM

I have just completed the task given as part of the syllabus required for this subject. The task requires me to get the information on the technology being used directly from a selected company. I have chosen the “Elevator Operating System” operated by ThyssenKrupp Elevator Malaysia Sdn Bhd for my topic. On 16th March 2016 I have interviewed their representative from Penang office branch, Mr. Muhammad Muazam. He is the Maintenance Technician for the company.

Here, I would like to share with you the general information about the elevator system so that we can have the basic knowledge on the machine and technology that we are using in our daily activities.

WHAT IS ELEVATOR?

Elevator is a platform, compartment, or cage raised or lowered in a vehicle shaft to transport persons or goods in a building (Collins online dictionary, n.d.) while Oxford online dictionary (n.d) defined elevator as a machine consisting of an endless belt with scoops attached used for raising grain to an upper storey for storage. For more details, Cambridge online dictionary (n.d.) defined elevator as a device like a box that moves up and down, carrying people or goods from one floor of a building to another or taking people up and down underground in a mine while from the business perspective, it is a small room in tall building which carries people or goods up and down to different levels of the building.

ELEVATOR SYSTEM

HOW ELEVATOR WORKS?

For daily elevator operations at any locations, the elevator service will only start to operate when there is the request on the elevator service by the passenger. The operations of the elevator for normal use are as follows:

1. Once the passenger press the selected button on the hall call indicator, the controller will register the request.
2. Then, the controller will send the request signal to the elevator and it will move to the requested floor.
3.  As the lift car arrived at the requested floor, the controller will then send the signal to door controller to open the doors at the requested floor to allow passenger to get into the lift car.
4. There is an overload switch which consists of bracket and the sensor located at the bottom of the lift car. The bracket will get closer to the sensor as the weight of the load increasing.
5. If the lift car is overloaded, the bracket will touch the sensor and the signal will be sent to Lift Monitoring System (LMS). LMS will then turn on the alarm and hold the doors from closing until the lift car load reduces to its maximum capacity.
6. The controller will send the signal to door controller to close the doors.
7. Passenger will just need to push the button inside the lift car to choose the destination floor.
8. Controller will register the request and send the signal to lift car to move either upwards or downwards to the requested floor.
9. Once the lift arrives at the requested floor, the controller will send signal to door controller to open doors.
10. After few seconds, the controller will send the signal to door controller to close doors. But, if the door sensor is blocked by any tangible object between the doors, it will not close and the lift car is not going to move as the landing door lock is not attach to the contact point.

HOW ELEVATOR WORKS DURING EMERGENCY?

If the building is involved in fire emergency due to the external factors, the Fire Return System needs to be activated by pressing the emergency button outside of the elevator. But, if the fire emergency causes by short circuit, the Fire Return System will be activated automatically. Once it is activated, this system will send the signal to all the elevators to move directly to the lowest floor in the building. Once arrived at the lowest floor the doors will open continuously and the elevator system will stop the operation except for the evacuation lift.

The other situation is when the elevator is not able to function due to technical problems or power failure. If that happened, there are two (2) systems that will be automatically activated which are Emergency Battery Operated Power Supply (EBOPS) and Emergency Rescue Device (ERD). Both systems will give the temporary power supply to the elevators. EBOPS will supply the electricity for the fan and the lamp (one unit each) for the period of one (1) hour for passengers to breathe while waiting for rescuer. While, ERD will supply the power to the elevator to move to the closest floor and open up the doors to allow the passenger move out from the elevator. However, not all elevators are equipped with ERD system.

How the elevator work video from YouTube:

ELECTRONIC ROAD PRICING SYSTEM

Yesterday, I went to Kuala Lumpur to pick up my friends who have just arrived from Penang. While driving to KL Sentral, the traffic was bad. There were so many cars on the road and based on my observation, most of them were driving alone in their cars. That might be one of the factors that contribute to the massive traffic congestion in Kuala Lumpur which resulted in increasing of travelling time.

In order to control the traffic volume, countries like Singapore and other big cities including London, San Diego, Stockholm and Milan have implemented Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system.

ERP is the system that will charge road users based on pay-as-you-use principle. Once vehicle pass through the ERP gantry in high traffic area, road users will be charged with certain amount (which is vary) to different road depending on the time period and traffic condition. To do so, the road users must have a valid cash card to be inserted into in-vehicle unit (IUs). Each time the road user pass through the ERP gantry, the short range radio communication will detect the IUs to deduct the ERP charges.

ERP system will not only help to control the traffic volume intro specific areas, but also to encourage road users to consider the other alternatives such as practicing car-pooling and choose other modes of transportation to travel. ERP system seems very effective to be implemented in our country especially in the Klang Valley.

However, before the implementation of ERP system, the government must first provide efficient modes of public transportation which could be the alternatives for road users. Failing which, ERP system will not be effective due to the high ERP prices that road users have to bear.

Source: Singapore Land Transport Authority’s website.

VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEM

The progress of logistics industry in Malaysia has failed to keep pace with its growth in trading process (Ha­zzuddin, 2009). The logistics industry continues to provide services with the growing importance of high valued goods transported over land. The safety of the good is very important to the industry as the value of the transported goods may value up to millions or billions of Ringgit. Apart from planning and scheduling the trips, the real time vehicle tracking allows the operations personnel to exercise the time of delivery and pick up of goods in the best manner and analyse driver’s performance.

The vehicle tracking is one of the ways to solve the transported issue including the security of the goods and also the driver’s behaviour. It is the method that is able to monitor the location, movement, status and behaviour of fleet of vehicles. It combines the Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and an electronic device fitted in the vehicle and communicating it with web-based software.

The satellite will detect the location and other data from the tracking device that has been fitted in the vehicle. The local mobile service provider will receive the data and store it in the tracking server. From the server, the company will be able to do the analysis of the trip by using all the data gathered. The server will also allow the clients or the receiver of the delivering goods to track the location of their goods during the delivering process. 

Tracking management solutions will make the system transformed into high value businesses that meet customers’ growth. The main impact of the system is to overcome any issue that happened in the road haulage industry.

PROJECTION MAPPING

I had an experience of waiting for almost 2 hours for my dinner to be served at a restaurant in Klang Valley. I am sure that most of you had the same experience as well. It was such a bad moment to wait for a long time when we are hungry.  It is all about the service efficiency of the restaurant. Once it happened, the same customer may not want to return to the restaurant as the service provided is not up to their expectation.

In order to solve this problem, one of the foreign restaurants is using “Le Petit Chef” (small chief) concept to entertain customers while waiting. 3D animation mini chef will be flashed on the table and plates via 3D animation and the motion capture. 

Below are the video of the projection mapping that I found in the YouTube. Enjoy it!

GRAVITY TRAIN

In this entry I would like to share with you about the advancement of technology in our transportation system. The service efficiency includes the speed of the transport has become part of the consideration in choosing the mode of transportation to be used.

Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co. Ltd. had introduced Shanghai Maglev which is the fastest train in the world. Shanghai Maglev trains are moving by the magnetic field that exists between the train and track. The electromagnetic activity is able to pull the train to move at the maximum speed of 430 KM/H and finished a single 30KM trip within 8 minutes (Jil Mclntosh, 2015).

  

However, that is not fast enough. With the advance technology that we have, the world is now working toward the gravity trains which will be able to speed much faster that the magnetic train. This train will use the gravity power to move the train through the tunnel across the globe. 

This train will take only 42 minutes and 12 seconds to travel from one place to another and this traveling time is still the same to all destinations. For example, traveling from London to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to China, or Paris to Houston, will take the same traveling time that is 42 minutes and 12 seconds. The train will accelerate up to 18, 000 miles per hour to the center point of gravity and decelerate on the other site towards the destination. This will be the fastest commercial transportation ever. Below is the documentary video on the gravity train system by Discovery Channel.

SERVICE OF WITHDRAWING OVER COUNTER (SWOT)

On 2nd March 2016 I went to the International Business Invention, Innovation and Design Competition organized by Core Management Science and Faculty of Business Management at Dewan Sri Budiman, Universiti teknologi MARA, Shah Alam. I was attracted by this innovation program called Service of Withdrawing Over Counter (SWOT) by Faculty of Business Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam.

The existing of numbers of Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) really helps the consumers to withdraw their money without going over the bank counters. However, the time spent with heavy traffic and long queue might bring hassle to the consumer to withdraw from ATM. This system allows consumers to get money from their account using debit or ATM card at any cashier counters at hypermarkets in Malaysia like Giant, 7-Eleven, Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia, Pos Malaysia, Mydin, Aeon, and also fuel stations like Petronas and Shell. This service is using the technology of Electronic Fun Transfer at Point Of Sale (EFTPOS). This innovation will not only convenient to the consumers, but also to reduce excessive money by retailer. This may also reduce the robbery rate. This system will operate just like ATM where the EFTPOS system will create record of payment and print receipts which can help to avoid any disputes.