How Does an Elevator Know Which Floor to Go to?

When a passenger presses a floor button, the request is sent to the elevator controller — a computer that manages motor direction, speed, and door operations. The controller tracks the cab's position using a rotary encoder on the motor shaft or magnetic sensors in the shaft. It compiles all pending requests and runs a scheduling algorithm to minimise total travel time and wait times. Modern destination-dispatch systems ask riders to enter their desired floor before boarding, grouping passengers heading in the same direction to reduce stops. The controller communicates with the motor drive (typically a variable-frequency drive) to accelerate, decelerate, and level the cab precisely at each floor.