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Elevator Expert on How to Move 10k People Up a 118-Floor Skyscraper [video]

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Re: Elevator Expert on How to Move 10k People Up a 118-Floor Skyscraper [video]

#61

Post by adhesive_wombat »

robertlagrant wrote: post #9
cedws wrote: post #3

Interesting video. I've often wondered what the most optimal elevator algorithm is. Imagine a scenario where a single person calls an elevator to go down, and just as they get in, a group of five people on the floor above also call the elevator to go down. We all know that the elevator would go straight down and then come back up for the people who called the elevator too late. The elevator could actually save time b…

If I remember the story correctly, the creator of Sim Tower[0] wondered the same, and discovered that the algorithms governing that were closely-guarded secrets. So he developed Sim Tower. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimTower

> algorithms governing that were closely-guarded secrets

Do many lifts have fancy algorithms in practice? I don't think I've ever had one go backwards to pick up a nearby floor, for example.

I suppose optimising where the lift loiters while empty is something I wouldn't really notice happening.

Re: Elevator Expert on How to Move 10k People Up a 118-Floor Skyscraper [video]

#62

Post by mywacaday »

myself248 wrote: post #24
cedws wrote: post #3

Interesting video. I've often wondered what the most optimal elevator algorithm is. Imagine a scenario where a single person calls an elevator to go down, and just as they get in, a group of five people on the floor above also call the elevator to go down. We all know that the elevator would go straight down and then come back up for the people who called the elevator too late. The elevator could actually save time b…

The trouble is that the call button doesn't indicate how many people want to go in a given direction, just that there's more than zero with such a desire. If you could get people to input perfect information about where they wanted to go (ideally on the way to the elevator lobby, before having arrived there), much greater optimization would be possible.

AI with a camera could give close to perfect information on how many boarded/left on each floor. Maybe it could even identify VIPs like medical personell and give them priority. Of course someone will eventually try to put a subscription model on it.

Re: Elevator Expert on How to Move 10k People Up a 118-Floor Skyscraper [video]

#63

Post by kanbara »

ukuina wrote: post #6
toomuchtodo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternoster_lift

Interesting idea but comically unsafe.

for 3 years i worked in a building with one. it was the best part of coming in in the morning and super fun. no accidents that i noticed in the time i was there.

Re: Elevator Expert on How to Move 10k People Up a 118-Floor Skyscraper [video]

#64

Post by 4gotunameagain »

brirec wrote: post #44
jvanderbot wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, somewhat related. Is there a way to play Sim Tower nowadays? I regret that I never got that last star, and think about it once or twice a year.

Try https://infinitemac.org/ Pick a System Software/Mac OS version (you probably want something like 7.5), then choose the SimTower disc from the CD-ROMs drawer at the bottom of the screen.

This has blown my mind, thank you.

...but:

  The emulator encountered an error:

  Could not load disk chunk /CD-ROM/aHR0cHM6Ly9hcmNoaXZlLm9yZy9kb3dubG9hZC9TaW1Ub3dlck1hY09TL1NJTVRPV0VSLmJpbiNNT0RFMS8yMzUy/172097536-172228608.chunk#1313: HTTP status 500: ()

Re: Elevator Expert on How to Move 10k People Up a 118-Floor Skyscraper [video]

#65

Post by NoZebra120vClip »

robertlagrant wrote: post #9
cedws wrote: post #3

Interesting video. I've often wondered what the most optimal elevator algorithm is. Imagine a scenario where a single person calls an elevator to go down, and just as they get in, a group of five people on the floor above also call the elevator to go down. We all know that the elevator would go straight down and then come back up for the people who called the elevator too late. The elevator could actually save time b…

If I remember the story correctly, the creator of Sim Tower[0] wondered the same, and discovered that the algorithms governing that were closely-guarded secrets. So he developed Sim Tower. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimTower

> algorithms governing that were closely-guarded secrets

[citation needed]

I am not sure how you derived that conclusion from the article. The passage seems to imply little else than a company spokesman declined to divulge proprietary information to some random dude who cold-called them.

Re: Elevator Expert on How to Move 10k People Up a 118-Floor Skyscraper [video]

#66

Post by Ekaros »

cedws wrote: post #3

Interesting video. I've often wondered what the most optimal elevator algorithm is. Imagine a scenario where a single person calls an elevator to go down, and just as they get in, a group of five people on the floor above also call the elevator to go down. We all know that the elevator would go straight down and then come back up for the people who called the elevator too late. The elevator could actually save time b…

> With multiple elevator shafts there's even more things to think about. Could one shaft serve a lower set of floors while another shaft serves a higher set of floors to minimise 'wasted' time travelling up and down

Yes. This is done, that is they start from bottom floors and then just don't stop at lower floors. Thus not needing to accelerate or deaccelerate.

One more fun trick is double decker cars. That is one deck of elevator only stops at even or odd floors. This being easiest way to double capacity.

Re: Elevator Expert on How to Move 10k People Up a 118-Floor Skyscraper [video]

#67

Post by Ekaros »

russellbeattie wrote: post #60

I wonder how long the carbon fiber cable lasts? We've got 100+ years of experience with steel cabling, I wonder how carbon fiber compares. When it fails, it'll probably be by snapping. I hope there's lots of redundancy in place!

Multiple cables always. And it is basically epoxy coated flat piece. So I don't think failure model is that bad.

Re: Elevator Expert on How to Move 10k People Up a 118-Floor Skyscraper [video]

#68

Post by flir »

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #31
ukuina wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting idea but comically unsafe.

There was one at the university (in the UK) my Dad worked at that was used for years with zero incidents. Lots of things from chain saws to hover mowers, or cars for that matter, are unsafe if not used with due regard for safety.

Essex still has theirs, in the library: https://library.essex.ac.uk/paternoster

Re: Elevator Expert on How to Move 10k People Up a 118-Floor Skyscraper [video]

#69

Post by DonHopkins »

NoZebra120vClip wrote: post #65
robertlagrant wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I remember the story correctly, the creator of Sim Tower[0] wondered the same, and discovered that the algorithms governing that were closely-guarded secrets. So he developed Sim Tower. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimTower

> algorithms governing that were closely-guarded secrets [citation needed] I am not sure how you derived that conclusion from the article. The passage seems to imply little else than a company spokesman declined to divulge proprietary information to some random dude who cold-called them.

I know Yoot Saito (creator of SimTower) from my time at Maxis, so I just gave him a cold call out of the blue and asked. ;) I caught him drinking Jack Daniels in a Japanese bar, but he had some time to chat.

He said he once did a big interview with BBC about SimTower (which would be worth looking up and watching if you can find it), and had a friend who worked in the elevator industry, who told him generally about how elevators worked, but much of it was secret and proprietary, so he had to come up with how they worked in the game himself, based on the general ideas he learned and his own experience and imagination.

He also said he's interested in releasing the original source code of SimTower as free open source software, like I did with the original SimCity Classic source code, so I volunteered to help him and find other people who could help. Anybody interested? ;)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13898895

nodesocket on March 17, 2017 | parent | context | favorite | on: Railroad Tycoon

Somewhat of a competitor, but any Sim Tower fans here? I was obsessed with everything Sim* but especially loved Sim Tower. Maxis was an amazing gaming company and actually my first entry into Macs. My friends dad had a Macintosh II, then classic, then LC, and I would spend hours playing games on them.

xxr on March 17, 2017 | next [–]

Interestingly, SimTower was published by Maxis but developed by OpenBook (later Vivarium), the Japanese developer that would later make Seaman for the Dreamcast.

DonHopkins on March 18, 2017 | parent | next [–]

Yoot Saito just presented a classic game postmortem of "Seaman" [1] at the recent GDC.

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20170209192219/https://schedule....

Unfortunately I wasn't there to see it, but I saw him talk earlier about Seaman at GDC 2000, and it was fascinating to learn how he was able to pull off such an unprecedented original design, even supporting speech recognition on the Dreamcast!

Announcement: Yoot Saito is coming to GDC 2017 to present a Classic Game Postmortem of Seaman! [2]

[2] http://www.gdconf.com/news/yoot-saito-coming-gdc-2017-presen...

"Yutaka "Yoot" Saito, the talented game designer known for his idiosyncratic approach to game development, will be delivering a Classic Game Postmortem on his remarkable Dreamcast game 'Seaman' at GDC 2017! Saito's game development career took off in the early '90s when he created the game that was published by Maxis as 'SimTower', but it was after he founded his own studio Vivarium that he really came into his own. Under the Vivarium banner, Saito developed the groundbreaking virtual pet game 'Seaman' (lending his own face to the titular Seaman), its striking sequel 'Seaman 2', the pinball strategy game 'Odama', and the airport baggage management puzzle game 'Aero Porter'. Now, Saito is coming to GDC 2017 to speak at length about his work creating 'Seaman', a game that left an indelible mark on the fabric of both the game industry and pop culture at large. Don't miss it!"

I just found the video of his GDC 2017 talk: Classic Game Postmortem: 'Seaman'! [3]

[3] http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1024327/Classic-Game-Postmortem...

And here's a review and summary of his talk. [4]

[4] http://www.seganerds.com/2017/03/02/yoot-saito-gives-gdc-pre...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36005602

DonHopkins 8 months ago | parent | next [–]

Like Yoot Saito's "Seaman"! (Which has The Real Nimoy.) Seaman on the Sega Dreamcast - Leonard Nimoy's intro on the day podman will give birth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdIO41Blysg

Seaman (Dreamcast) - Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IV8hCvsXy0

Seaman creator Yoot Saito on the fishy Dreamcast AI that was way ahead of its time:

https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/6/20850674/yoot-saito-interv...

>Sega’s Dreamcast was ultimately a failure, as Sony came to dominate the early-2000s market with the PlayStation 2. But Sega’s machine left behind a library of uniquely innovative and influential software. And perhaps no title was as memorable as Yutaka “Yoot” Saito’s iconoclastic Seaman, a virtual pet simulator that had you use a microphone to converse with a moody, sarcastic man-fish, with help from a narrator voiced by Leonard Nimoy.

Re: Elevator Expert on How to Move 10k People Up a 118-Floor Skyscraper [video]

#70

Post by robertlagrant »

NoZebra120vClip wrote: post #65
robertlagrant wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I remember the story correctly, the creator of Sim Tower[0] wondered the same, and discovered that the algorithms governing that were closely-guarded secrets. So he developed Sim Tower. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimTower

> algorithms governing that were closely-guarded secrets [citation needed] I am not sure how you derived that conclusion from the article. The passage seems to imply little else than a company spokesman declined to divulge proprietary information to some random dude who cold-called them.

> I am not sure how you derived that conclusion from the article.

I didn't. I was saying I was trying to remember the story.

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