Documentation

VT Planner Elevator Setups Guide

Guide to fixed elevator setups and Compare variants studies with car count, capacity, speed, motion, doors, passenger transfer, and service zones.

An elevator setup records one alternative for the current saved building: group size, capacity, motion, doors, passenger transfer timings, and service model.

Fixed Setup or Compare Variants

Choose the setup kind according to the question:

Kind	Use it for	Available analyses
`Fixed setup`	One defined alternative, a base case, or a reusable option.	Calculation, Simulation, and Multi-run simulation.
`Compare variants`	A sweep of car count, capacity, or rated speed using `List` or `Range` values.	Calculation batch or Simulation batch.

Use a clear Setup name and put the assumptions that distinguish the option in Notes.

Fixed elevator setup editor with group, motion, door, and service settings — Keep the identifying assumptions in the setup name and review each section before saving.View full size

Group Definition

Number of elevators: cars in the group.
Capacity: rated mass capacity.
passenger capacity: the corresponding pax value shown by VT Planner.

For Compare variants, vary only the dimensions needed to answer the comparison. The launch panel shows the resulting number of cases before execution.

Compare variants group definition with car count and capacity enabled as list variations — Enable only the values you intend to compare, then review each list or range and the resulting case count.View full size

Motion Profile

Enter:

Rated speed;
Acceleration;
Jerk;
Start delay;
Levelling delay.

Default timings provides a coherent starting point based on the selected speed. Review those values when the project has specific equipment data.

Doors and Passenger Transfer

The Doors section includes:

Door type;
Door width;
Door opening;
Door closing;
Door pre-opening.

The passenger-transfer section includes:

Loading time;
Unloading time;
Dwell time;
Lobby dwell time;
Dwell 2, the post-transfer door hold-open time at a stop.

Service Model

Choose:

Full group service when every car serves the full set of floors;
Manual zoning when cars and floors must be divided into zones.

The manual zoning editor is organized into Zones, Floor assignment, Car assignment, and Review. Every car must belong to exactly one zone, and every required served floor must be covered.

Correct missing floor coverage, missing car assignments, and other base zoning errors before saving. A setup can still be saved when only a simulation entrance-coverage issue remains unresolved; Analysis then blocks the incompatible run and explains what needs attention.

See Zoning and Transfers before using overlapping zones or transfer floors.

Save, Select, and Archive

Select Save setup. The Saved elevator setups table then shows the setup kind, cars, capacity, speed, and status.

Saved elevator setups table with the currently selected setup and its saved snapshot — Select a saved row to inspect its current status and frozen setup details before analysis.View full size

Common statuses are:

Ready: saved for the current building;
Selected: the setup currently chosen for analysis;
Outdated: saved against an older building version.

Archive alternatives that should no longer be selected. Archiving keeps the study easier to navigate without changing the frozen setup stored with an existing run.