Sakurako Tanida

Jeudi 04 Septembre 2025, 14h00, salle E4.13b

Sakurako Tanida

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, School of Engineering

University of Tokyo

Synchronization in Elevator Dynamics and Its Implications for Transport Systems

Transportation systems aim to move people and resources efficiently, yet they often generate collective patterns not designed into their control rules, such as stop-and-go waves on highways. We explore this type of emergent order in elevator traffic using stochastic simulations and theoretical analysis. Even though elevator controllers act independently, cars can arrive at the same floor nearly simultaneously, a phenomenon we interpret as synchronization.

In the seminar, I will approach elevator traffic as a synchronization problem and examine it from several perspectives. First, I will show how a single car can behave as a self-sustained oscillator once passenger inflow exceeds a threshold. I will then demonstrate that synchronization may emerge even when cars do not always reach the top floor, and that passenger choice effectively couples their dynamics. By disentangling the interactions into attractive and repulsive components, we can further clarify how these forces shape collective behavior. Finally, I will discuss robustness, showing that synchronization persists even when elevators have different natural frequencies.

This viewpoint reveals elevator traffic as a minimal but rich model of emergent coordination in transport systems. It also points toward time-evolution equations that may guide elevator operation, and more generally collective flow, toward global optima in complex settings.

Lien teams: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3aac3d3339d1c740e0a3b81b94e49808c1%40thread.tacv2/1698658652943?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22b8c19512-2aed-471d-a8d1-9b06e7da786a%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%222ea0eb78-4abd-439c-8240-cc89774321a2%22%7d