Latest Technologies for Elevators and Escalators

Evolving Technologies for Elevators and Escalators Supporting Transportation in Urban Areas
FUJITA Yoshiaki

Globally Evolving Elevators and Escalators Corresponding to Diverse Requirements of Users
SANO Hiroshi
Accompanying the growth in the world population, the concentration of population in urban areas, and the aging of society in recent years, elevators and escalators are becoming essential lifelines for vertical transportation in buildings. In addition to safety and security, demand has been increasing for measures to prevent confinement in elevator cars and the rapid recovery of operations in the event of abnormalities caused by earthquakes, anomalous weather events such as typhoons and torrential downpours, and power blackouts. Furthermore, attention is being increasingly focused on the further improvement of maintenance to ensure safety for passengers.
To fulfill the needs of overseas markets and diverse users' requirements, Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation is offering a lineup of state-of-the-art elevators and escalators and related services on the global market incorporating the latest technologies focusing on safety, security, and comfort.

Approaches Aimed at Further Improving Safety, Security, and Comfort of Elevators and Escalators
KUMAGAI Masakazu / KIKUCHI Takayuki / SOGA Munenori
The performance and quality of elevators and escalators continue to advance in response to the requirements of the times. Attention is being increasingly focused on comfort during transportation in addition to enhanced safety and reliability. Furthermore, in order to meet the growing demand for environmental harmony by means of energy saving as well as countermeasures against disasters, there is an ongoing need for the application of the latest technologies from various aspects.
Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation has been implementing a broad array of measures to provide customers with high-value-added elevators and escalators, based on its long accumulation of development experience and know-how in this field.

New-Generation ELCOSMO-E Series Standard Elevators for Chinese Market
NI Jiajie / FAN Daying / SUN Li
With the rapid urbanization taking place in China in line with the country's economic development, interest has been increasingly focused in recent years on improving housing in terms of not only quantity but also quality. Accordingly, customers' requirements for elevators have also been shifting year by year.
Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation entered the Chinese market in 1986 and established subsidiaries in China in 1995. We have been developing and supplying various types of elevators while paying close attention to customers' changing requirements. In 2016, we developed and launched new-generation standard elevators as the latest addition to the ELCOSMO-E lineup. Incorporating the results of thorough market trend analysis together with our accumulated know-how and experience, these new elevators fulfill the requirements of customers for specifications, performance, design, service, and cost.

Maintenance Support System for Elevators Utilizing IoT and ICTs
KIMURA Shuichi / KINOSHITA Eiji / HIRATE Kazuo
In the field of elevator maintenance services, continuous operation of equipment under optimally safe conditions is of critical importance for both users and system managers.
Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation has been actively contributing to the provision of safe and secure elevators by properly maintaining their operational performance through conventional periodical inspection and maintenance work by maintenance personnel and its "Super TERM" (Toshiba elevator remote maintenance) functions, which make it possible to accurately grasp the conditions of elevators at all times by means of remote monitoring and diagnosis terminals. We have developed a maintenance support system with the following enhanced functions through the introduction of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and information and communication technologies (ICTs): (1) functions aimed at achieving highly efficient service operations and improving the accuracy of inspections and speed of information communication, and (2) functions aimed at facilitating information sharing with customers using cloud services.

Global Activities Related to Renewal of Elevators
TAKATA Hideki / IIJIMA Tomoki / AKAMA Hidetoshi
Accompanying the increase in demand for elevators offering enhanced safety and sophisticated functionality together with the changes that have recently been taking place in social conditions, a conspicuous difference has arisen between the elevator maintenance work conventionally considered to be appropriate on the one hand, and shifting user requirements on the other. In particular, a movement toward the renewal of aged elevators has been actively progressing in response to the evolving needs of global markets.
In order to enhance safety and reliability and accommodate diverse needs in the domestic and overseas markets, Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation has been engaged in the renewal of elevators both by optimizing the latest technologies, and by improving the efficiency of incidental work including through an on-site survey at an existing building.

Technologies Realizing High-Speed Large-Capacity Elevators Required for High-Rise Buildings
KANNO Toyoaki / KOIZUMI Jun / SASAKI Shunta
In line with the progress of architectural technologies in recent years, high-rise buildings are increasingly being constructed in Japan and other countries, especially Middle Eastern and Asian countries in which infrastructure is being newly developed in parallel. Accordingly, there is growing demand for high-speed large-capacity elevators to safely and efficiently carry more passengers at one time.
With regard to ultrahigh speed, Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation released the world's fastest elevators for the TAIPEI 101 building, which opened in Taiwan in December 2004. These elevators achieved a rated speed of 1,010 m/min. However, the physical burden on passengers due to high-speed travel is close to reaching a limit. This has led to the need for increased capacity to enable high-speed mass transportation. In response to this trend, we have supplied large-capacity shuttle elevators with Japan's largest capacity of up to 90 passengers to the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower, which opened in October 2016. From the results obtained, we have established core technologies for the basic elements comprising the motor, rope, and control system in order to realize high-speed large-capacity elevators required for high-rise buildings.

Introduction of Rope-Sway Suppression System for Elevators at TOKYO SKYTREE^®
TANAKA Kazuhiro / NAKAJIMA Taiki / OGIMOTO Shinya
A number of projects for the construction of high-rise buildings are being planned in the metropolitan area. In elevator systems for such high-rise structures, a rope-sway emergency operation system can temporarily stop operation to prevent rope entanglement due to building sway in the event of an earthquake with long-period ground motion or strong wind. With the increasingly frequent occurrence of long-period earthquakes in recent years, however, both securing the safety of elevators in high-rise buildings and improving their operating rate are important issues to be addressed.
With this as a background, Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation has developed a system that makes it possible to continuously provide users with a safe and comfortable ride by suppressing rope sway even in high-rise buildings. We have introduced this system at TOKYO SKYTREE^® and confirmed that it improves the operating rate by reducing the number of rope-sway emergency operations compared with the conventional system. We have also confirmed the effectiveness of this system through the results of simulations of its application to buildings exceeding 300 m in height.

Elevators Offering Comfortable Ride by Application of Universal Design
KAWAGUCHI Kenichi / NAKANISHI Kota / ONODA Hiroshi / NISHIMURA Hidekazu
Applying the concept of universal design (UD), an approach that reflects users' requirements in a product through verification using a prototype product based on interviews and observed behavior， Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation is making continuous efforts to develop safe and secure elevators featuring various user-friendly functions.
As part of these efforts， we have developed a standard train station elevator (capacity: 15 passengers) that achieves an increase in the size of the car while maintaining usability and functionality， focusing in particular on wheelchair users， that can carry two wheelchairs together by realizing UD for the entire space including the landing floor of the elevator and the interior of the car， and released this type of elevator for the first time in the industry. We have also developed an elevator that insures a safe and comfortable ride using a "smart door" equipped with advanced image processing technologies， which not only prevents passengers from being accidentally caught in the door but also shortens waiting times by monitoring the area around the door and predicting whether passengers intend to ride or not from their movements.

Memory Error Analysis Methodology Contributing to Reduction in Power Consumption of Deep Learning Hardware
MARUKAME Takao / NISHI Yoshifumi / MITANI Yuichiro
The movement toward the introduction of deep learning technologies has recently accelerated in various fields. However, the high power consumption of hardware for deep learning caused by prolonged searching for optimal parameters presents a serious issue.
With this as a background, Toshiba, in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and Hokkaido University, has carried out studies on the low-power operation of deep learning hardware using the motif of a restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM), one of the unsupervised learning algorithms, in a deep belief network (DBN). We have conducted simulation experiments using RBMs implemented on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and confirmed the robustness of this system against memory errors during and after learning. Furthermore, we have established a methodology to quantitatively analyze bit error rates versus learning performance of memory performing low-voltage operation. This methodology is expected to contribute to a reduction in the power consumption of deep learning hardware during learning sequences.

High-Density FPGA Circuit Technology Using Pure-CMOS Crossbar Antifuse Memory
YASUDA Shinichi / ODA Masato / MATSUMOTO Mari
Toshiba has developed a high-density field-programmable gate array (FPGA) circuit technology using a novel crossbar antifuse memory.
This technology makes it possible to drastically reduce the circuit area and to　increase the routability through the crossbar architecture by means of an antifuse memory, which is fabricated using a pure complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process, adjacently integrated into low-voltage logic transistors. In addition, as the crossbar antifuse technique is based on the standard design rule of the advanced CMOS process, it can facilitate the development of user-customizable embedded logic in a system on a chip (SoC). Experiments on a prototype chip fabricated using 65 nm CMOS process technology have verified that it achieves a higher logic density of 1,835 look-up tables (LUTs)/mm2 compared with other FPGA technologies fabricated using the same 65 nm CMOS process.

Manufacturing Technology for Samarium-Cobalt Magnets with High Iron Concentration for Heat-Resistant Motor Equipment
HAGIWARA Masaya / SAKURADA Shinya / MAEDA Takahiro
Permanent magnets possessing both high heat-resistant demagnetization and a high maximum energy product ((BH)max) are necessary for motors such as traction motors installed in automobiles and rolling stock, which operate at relatively high temperatures.
Toshiba has been engaged in the development of a samarium-cobalt (SmCo) magnet with high iron concentration as an alternative to heat-resistant neodymium magnets with added dysprosium (Dy), and has now developed a manufacturing technology for this magnet in cooperation with Toshiba Materials Co., Ltd. This technology realizes a balance between low oxygen concentration and high density of sintered magnets through control of the particle size of the pulverized alloy powder and the application of a proprietary heat treatment. We have confirmed that a SmCo magnet experimentally produced using the newly developed mass production process achieves a high (BH)max of 265–275 kJ/m³ at room temperature. The SmCo magnet also has high resistance to demagnetization as well as a higher (BH)max at temperatures exceeding 140°C compared with heat-resistant neodymium magnets currently used in motors, thereby meeting the requirements for motors operating in high-temperature environments.

Technology for Detection of Internal Cracks in Bridges by Monitoring Acoustic Emissions
TAKAMINE Hidefumi / WATABE Kazuo / SHIOTANI Tomoki
The deterioration of social infrastructure, including bridges and other systems, is a serious social issue. With the increases in costs and human resources required for the maintenance of such infrastructure, it has become necessary to improve the efficiency of maintenance management systems.
As a solution to this issue, Toshiba has been developing a diagnostic technology to monitor the deterioration of bridges by analyzing data obtained from the measurement of acoustic emissions (AE) generated from internal cracks using sensors attached to the bridge surface. We have applied this technology to a road bridge in service and successfully detected cracks in the bridge floor slab. This technology is expected to contribute to improved efficiency of maintenance work by providing an easy means of evaluating the soundness of the interior sections of bridges.

Technology for Control of Brushless DC Motors to Achieve High Efficiency through Simple Configuration
AIZAWA Toshimitsu / KOMINATO Shinichi / OMURA Naoki
Brushless DC motors are widely used in information equipment and home appliances due to their high efficiency and quiet operation. Unlike other types of motors such as brush motors, however, when driving them there is a need for feedback control according to the motor rotation angle. Furthermore, it is essential to appropriately adjust the phase of the drive voltage in order to achieve high efficiency, because the appropriate phase may change due to the operating status of the motor such as the rotation speed and load torque. Consequently, complicated control is required to drive brushless DC motors with high efficiency.
Against this background, Toshiba has developed a technology for brushless DC motors that achieves high efficiency without the need for complicated phase adjustment. Focusing on the polarity of the motor current and induced voltage, this technology makes it possible to automatically adjust the phase of the drive voltage by matching the point of change of each polarity. We have applied this technology to a motor driver integrated circuit (IC).

FS20000S Model 200/100 Industrial Servers
TAKAYANAGI Yoichi / MAEZAWA Takuya / MURAKAMI Keisuke
Toshiba has developed the FS20000S model 200/100 industrial servers as successors to the FS5000S/FS10000S industrial servers.
These models feature Intel's latest central processing unit (CPU) architecture to achieve higher performance than the previous models and are capable of handling double the number of external storage devices compared with the FS5000S/FS10000S models of the same size. The Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) standards for commercial servers are adopted as an interface for the remote monitoring and management functions of these industrial servers. Features cultivated through our experience in the development of industrial servers, such as robustness; easy maintenance; reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS); and long-term supply and support, are also inherited from the previous models. Furthermore, the new models cater to the growing demand for new applications including edge computing for the processing of large volumes of Internet of Things (IoT) device data as well as server virtualization.