Show HN: Elevators

Post by Breza » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 1:51 AM UTC

n_plus_1_acc wrote: post #406

rz2k wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s also a strategy to jump the line. Say there’s a talk that just took place on the top floor roof deck of a small ~20 floor building. People who don’t want to wait in line with a hundred people, can take the stairs down one level, call the elevator on the way up to enter the car before it is filled, ride it up one level*, and then ride it all the way down to the ground floor. To prevent a riot, the building sho…

Also works for Buses and Trains. Go one stop the opposite way, then go back. This may take a couple minutes longer, but you'll have a seat for the rest of the journey.

Post by account42 » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 9:31 AM UTC

omoikane wrote: post #68

> Destination Dispatch [...] are in general worse I wonder if this is an artifact of how the author used random destinations. I worked in a building that used Destination Dispatch, and the common travel pattern seemed to be: - Everyone who is not on the ground floor generally want to go to the ground floor. - People who are on the ground floor generally travel in large groups to the same destination. This happens bec…

Post by matkoniecz » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 9:27 PM UTC

perpetuallunch wrote: post #395

matkoniecz wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would not want to be in that building if an evacuation alarm sounded. why short term/long term stay would matter here?

Because short term stays put more load on the building systems, like the lifts, than perhaps the building was designed for. Regular tenants don’t come and go at anywhere near the rate short stay guests do.

Post by NetMageSCW » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 10:56 PM UTC

richk449 wrote: post #392

sambellll wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Seems like the real reason it performed worse in this simulation is that when they implemented destination dispatch, they assigned an elevator at time of request, and had no system for reviewing and updated that assignment. I don't think it's possible to have destination dispatch AND update assignment together, in the real world. - If the user clicks floor 26 and you tell them to wait at elevator G, you can't reall…

Interesting. I didn't realize that destination dispatch told the user what elevator to take at the time of request. (I've never used it.) Why not have active display above each elevator that says what floors it is going to when it opens?

Post by NetMageSCW » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 11:36 PM UTC

pseudosudoer wrote: post #50

This is commonly referred to as the "dial-a-ride" problem, which is an optimization problem with a multi-variate cost. Back in college for my senior design project we built a multi-axis closed loop servo system which would emulate a slide guitar. The dial-a-ride problem is identical to optimizing travel for a string of notes/chords.