Elevator Bank
Overview and Key Concepts
An object representing a bank of elevators for transporting people between different floors (grids) in an A* network.
The Elevator Bank is used to simulate elevators moving people between different floors of a facility. The Elevator Bank acts as a custom A* bridge between A* grids that are stacked on top of each other along a model's z-axis.
Create an elevator bank by dragging it from the library. Then expand its x-axis size to define the desired number of elevators. See Working with A* Navigation for more instruction on adding an Elevator Bank to your model.
Events
On Traveler Arrival
The OnTravelerArrival event fires when a traveler arrives at the elevator bank to transfer floors.
It has the following parameters:
| Event Parameter | Type | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Traveler | TaskExecuter | The traveler that is arriving at the elevator bank. |
| DestFloorZ | double | The z location of the destination floor that the traveler is going to. |
On Traveler Continue
The OnTravelerContinue event fires when a traveler is finished using the elevator bank and continues on the A* network.
It has the following parameters:
| Event Parameter | Type | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Traveler | TaskExecuter | The traveler that is arriving at the elevator bank. |
The elevator bank also relays events of the bank elevator. When listening to these events via the elevator bank (using Process Flow's Wait For Event or Event-Triggered Source activities), you need to define the rank of the target elevator that you want to listen to.
States
The Elevator Bank does not implement a state profile. Instead refer to Bank Elevator states.
Statistics
The Elevator Bank does not implement any of its own statistics. Instead refer to Bank Elevator statistics.
Properties Panels
The Elevator Bank object uses the following properties panels:
Bank Elevator
A Bank Elevator, or simply an elevator, is an individual elevator within an elevator bank. You will primarily interface with elevators in an elevator bank through the ElevatorBank and ElevatorBank.Elevator FlexScript interfaces. However, you may also want to listen to an individual elevator's events, or collect state information on it.
Elevator Events
On Floor Arrival
The OnFloorArrival event fires when the elevator arrives at a floor.
It has the following parameters:
| Event Parameter | Type | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Floor Z | double | The z location of the floor at which the elevator has arrived. |
On Floor Departure
The OnFloorDeparture event fires when the elevator departs a floor.
It has the following parameters:
| Event Parameter | Type | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Next Floor Z | double | The z location of the next floor that the elevator is going to. |
| Last Floor Z | double | The z location of the floor that the elevator is departing from. |
On Idle
The OnIdle event fires when the elevator finishes at a floor and does not find another floor to go to.
This event does not have any associated parameters
On Traveler Entry
The OnTravelerEntry event fires when a traveler enters the elevator.
It has the following parameters:
| Event Parameter | Type | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Traveler | TaskExecuter | The traveler that is entering the elevator. |
On Traveler Exit
The OnTravelerExit event fires when a traveler exits the elevator.
It has the following parameters:
| Event Parameter | Type | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Traveler | TaskExecuter | The traveler that is exiting the elevator. |
Elevator General States
The elevator's general state profile uses the following states.
Idle
The elevator is idle and stationary.
Busy
The elevator is currently opening or closing its door.
Loading
Travelers are entering the elevator.
Unloading
Travelers are exiting the elevator.
Travel Empty
The elevator is moving between floors and does not contain any travelers.
Travel Loaded
The elevator is moving between floors and contains one or more travelers.
Elevator Custom Profile States
The elevator includes a custom profile, profile 1, that uses the following states.
Idle
The elevator is idle and stationary.
Opening Door
The elevator is opening its doors.
Closing Door
The elevator is closing its doors.
Exiting Travelers
Travelers are exiting the elevator.
Entering Travelers
Travelers are entering the elevator.
Moving
The elevator is moving to a floor to fulfill a request.
Idle Moving
The elevator is moving to a floor but not to fulfill a request. This state will only be used if you expressly tell the elevator to move to a "home" location when it becomes idle.
Elevator Statistics
The elevator uses the same statistics as a task executer. See Task Executer Concepts - Statistics for an explanation of these statistics.
Traveler Events
A* Travelers that use the elevator bank will also have the following events that you can listen to.
On Elevator Bank Arrival
The OnElevatorBankArrival event fires when the traveler arrives at an elevator bank to move between floors. It is fired at the same time as the elevator bank's OnTravelerArrival event, but here the event is owned by the traveler, not the elevator bank.
It has the following parameters:
| Event Parameter | Type | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Elevator Bank | ElevatorBank | The elevator bank that the traveler is arriving at. |
| Dest Floor Z | double | The z location of the traveler's destination floor. |
On Elevator Entry
The OnElevatorEntry event fires when the traveler enters an elevator. It is fired at the same time as the elevator's OnTravelerEntry event, but here the event is owned by the traveler, not the elevator.
It has the following parameters:
| Event Parameter | Type | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Elevator | ElevatorBank.Elevator | The elevator that the traveler is entering. |
On Elevator Exit
The OnElevatorExit event fires when the traveler enters an elevator. It is fired at the same time as the elevator's OnTravelerExit event, but here the event is owned by the traveler, not the elevator.
It has the following parameters:
| Event Parameter | Type | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Elevator | ElevatorBank.Elevator | The elevator that the traveler is exiting. |
On Elevator Bank Continue
The OnElevatorBankContinue event fires when the traveler continues from an elevator bank, resuming normal A* travel. It is fired at the same time as the elevator bank's OnTravelerContinue event, but here the event is owned by the traveler, not the elevator bank.
It has the following parameters:
| Event Parameter | Type | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Elevator Bank | ElevatorBank | The elevator bank that the traveler is arriving at. |