Elevator Riddle – Maxxpayne

Posted on October 11, 2023 by maxxpayne
  1. Upon receiving a signal from the Down button on the fourth floor: a. Activate sensors to detect passengers in the vicinity of the elevator doors. b. If no passengers are detected within a reasonable time frame, keep the doors closed.
  2. When passengers are detected: a. Open the elevator doors promptly. b. Wait for a reasonable amount of time to allow passengers to enter.
  3. After passengers enter the elevator: a. Activate sensors to determine the number of passengers on board. b. Record each passenger’s desired floor.
  4. Prioritize floor stops based on the following criteria: a. If only one passenger is on board, proceed directly to their desired floor. b. If multiple passengers are present, prioritize stops based on the order in which passengers entered.
  5. Close the doors promptly after passengers have entered and recorded their desired floors.
  6. While in transit, continue to monitor the sensors for any additional passengers: a. If new passengers are detected, open the doors and repeat the process from step 2. b. If no new passengers are detected, proceed with the programmed route.
  7. Upon reaching each floor, open the doors and allow passengers to exit.
  8. If a passenger requests to exit, prioritize stopping at that floor even if it wasn’t initially requested by other passengers.
  9. After a brief waiting period for passengers to exit, close the doors and resume the journey.
  10. Continue following the programmed route until all recorded floor requests have been fulfilled.
  11. Once all floor requests are fulfilled, return to the ground floor or a designated resting position.
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8 Responses to Elevator Riddle – Maxxpayne

  1. davidbdale's avatar davidbdale says:
    October 12, 2023 at 12:36 pm

    Maxx, you’ve misread the assignment.
    There’s good work here, but you won’t be graded well until you write a set of instructions FOR THE ELEVATOR, not for A PERSON WHO WANTS TO RIDE THE ELEVATOR.

    Return to the assignment page and look for clarification on what the assignment requires.

    Reply
  2. davidbdale's avatar davidbdale says:
    October 19, 2023 at 1:06 pm

    These are fascination descriptions of a very different elevator operating protocol than I’m familiar with, MaxxPayne. Deeply intriguing . . . AND . . . I have lots of questions.

    I’ll ask just a few of them here:

    You say:

    If there are multiple passengers with different floor requests, the elevator should prioritize the floor requests based on an internal algorithm or a first-come, first-served basis.

    —Imagine the situation of five passengers entering on the first floor.
    —In chronological order, these unrelated passengers press Destination Buttons 12, 2, 10, 4, and 8.
    —Now imagine how pissed off the last-to-press passenger (8) will be when 4 TIMES(!) the elevator passes by her floor without stopping BECAUSE it was following a “first-pressed-first-served protocol.

    You say:

    If equipped with a ‘Close Door’ button, passengers may press it to expedite the door-closing process, but the elevator should also automatically close the doors if not pressed.

    —You’re the God of the Elevator, MaxxPayne, so it’s completely up to you how long the elevator would wait before closing the doors. Your instruction doesn’t help and seems to leave the elevator in charge of deciding the interval. It may elect NEVER to close the doors.

    Strictly speaking, your bulleted items are NOT INSTRUCTIONS; they’re EXPLANATIONS to a human reader of how the elevator functions.

    It wouldn’t be hard to turn some of your explanations into instructions. For example:

    3. When a passenger is detected, the elevator should automatically open its doors.

    becomes:

    When a passenger is detected, OPEN the doors.

    The elevator might not take the hint in the first version, but it will have to comply with the second version.

    YOUR CHOICE:
    You’ve put a lot of effort into your version, so I won’t penalize you if you want to improve your DESCRIPTIONS instead of converting them all to INSTRUCTIONS. Either way works for me at this stage of the experiment.

    Regraded.
    Further revisions are always encouraged, and regrades are always available following substantial improvements.
    Should you revise, your Beloved Professor will not automatically notice.
    So, if you desire a Regrade, put your post back into Feedback Please and let me know you’ve earned fresh consideration.
    I’ll decide whether the improvements are substantial.
    (Try not to make things worse. 🙂 )

    Reply
  3. maxxpayne's avatar maxxpayne says:
    December 3, 2023 at 5:55 pm

    Hi Professor, I have made changes to my Elevator Riddle paper. Kindly review it and consider changing my grade if you feel substantial improvements have been made.

    Reply
    • davidbdale's avatar davidbdale says:
      December 6, 2023 at 7:11 pm

      I don’t see improvement, Maxx. These sound like proposals for an odd elevator system you’re suggesting to a designer. Your elevator doesn’t wait for prospective passengers to press a button in the hallway. Instead it senses their presence and opens the door for them. (Presumably it would open the door for anyone standing near the door whether they wanted an elevator or not.) It then somehow determines how many passengers have entered based on I don’t know what system. It detects their desired floors from some other means that are not described, too. I won’t be changing this generous grade.

      Reply
  4. maxxpayne's avatar maxxpayne says:
    December 15, 2023 at 6:23 pm

    Hi professor, I have made further revisions for this draft. Kindly take a look in it and consider changing my grade. Thank you.

    Reply
  5. davidbdale's avatar davidbdale says:
    December 15, 2023 at 6:46 pm

    This is a crazy rule for any elevator:

    If multiple passengers are present, prioritize stops based on the order in which passengers entered.

    Please think through what would happen if passengers pressed 14, 2, 12, 3, and 10 in that order.

    Also, there’s no sensor that will track what button the third person to enter pressed unless everyone presses buttons in the order they entered. And how would it react if a helpful passenger pressed buttons for everyone in whatever order they told him what floor they wanted to go to?

    I’d be happy to regrade this for you, but your rules should make sense.

    Reply
  6. davidbdale's avatar davidbdale says:
    December 15, 2023 at 6:55 pm

    Please don’t bother. You don’t need the grade, and you don’t seem to get this assignment at all. It’s OK. Nobody does everything well.

    Reply

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