I have an elevator in my 11 story building that I would like to track the patterns of, and monitor/display the current floor of. I would like to do this with a single distance sensor in the shaft powered by POE, sending its info to be displayed or pulled from a website. Time between elevator movement and display is key, otherwise no one can benefit from the data.
Long story short: are there any recommendations on ways to do this? While it is a longer distance than most sensors I see online, it should be very regular, and have a relatively large, flat area to observe. Any ideas? Or even alternative methods of implementation. (However, multiple sensors on each floor is out, as well as tapping into the actual elevator control system)
Geekgirl:
I'm not sure yet. If there was, how would you suggest using it?
If there is a pulley you can use various contact or non-contact methods to keep track of its motion. If there is a pulley and there are spokes you can use an optical sensor to measure the motion. Similarly you can put a tab (or tabs) on the side of the pulley and measure their motion with photo-interrupters.
What sort of access to the working parts of the lift do you have? (In all buildings I've been in, access to services like that have been strictly controlled and the managers wouldn't consider letting people install uncertified equipment anywhere near a lift.)