ARTICLE
30 October 2026

Q-AWED: Adaptive-Weight Elevator Dispatching with Q-Learning Across Multiple Traffic Scenarios

Tianyun Liu1*
JERA 2026 , 10(9), 109–118; https://doi.org/10.26689/JERA.v10i9.15932
© 2026 by the Author. Licensee: Bio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty Ltd, Australia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

In different elevator transportation modes, there is a trade-off among waiting times, movements, and load balancing. This article uses adaptive-weight Q-learning, based on traffic conditions, to choose a weight scheme and use a weighted dispatch cost function, travel distance, stop proxy, load, and direction to dispatch a specific elevator. The method used 40 validation episodes and 40 test episodes to compare with seven main elevator dispatching approaches in six scenarios. Results show that Q-AWED improved by 3.88% compared with the untrained default policy, and the relevant differences were corrected using the Holm correction.

Keywords
Elevator dispatching
Q-learning
Adaptive weights
Multi-objective optimization
Traffic simulation
References

[1]       Ruokokoski M, Sorsa J, Siikonen M, et al., 2016, Assignment Formulation for the Elevator Dispatching Problem with Destination Control and Its Performance Analysis. European Journal of Operational Research, 252: 397–406.

[2]       Kompauer J, 2025, Optimizing Elevator Control with a Destination Registration System, thesis, TU Wien.

[3]       Han Y, Wang S, Ye Y, et al., 2026, Simulation Study of Elevator Group Control Scheduling Based on Real-Time Occupancy Awareness. Journal of System Simulation, 38(7): 1993–2006.

[4]       Zhu R, 2024, Research on Optimizing Elevator Operation Management Strategy Based on Mathematical Model Algorithm. SHS Web of Conferences, 200: 02010.

[5]       Lin Y, Wang Y, Zhu J, et al., 2021, A Model and a Task Scheduling Method for Double-Deep Tier-Captive SBS/RS With Alternative Elevator-Patterns. IEEE Access, 9: 146378–146391.

[6]       Yamauchi T, Ide R, Sugawara T, 2019, Fair and Effective Elevator Car Dispatching Method in Elevator Group Control System Using Cameras. Procedia Computer Science, 159: 455–464.

[7]       Gharbi A, 2024, Exploring Heuristic and Optimization Approaches for Elevator Group Control Systems. Applied Sciences, 14: 995.

[8]       Cao Z, Guo R, Tuguinay C, et al., 2022, Application of Deep Q Learning with Simulation Results for Elevator Optimization. arXiv.

[9]       Al-Sharif L, Yang Z, Hakam A, et al., 2018, Comprehensive Analysis of Elevator Static Sectoring Control Systems Using Monte Carlo Simulation. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, 39(5): 518–539.

[10]     Batosalem A, Gaba J, Ngo J, et al., 2019, Static Zoning Division Elevator Traffic Simulation Using Agent-Based Modeling. Proceedings of the 2019 Winter Simulation Conference, 145–156.

[11]     Sorsa J, Ehtamo H, Siikonen M, et al., 2009, The Elevator Dispatching Problem, manuscript submitted to Transportation Science.

Share
Back to top