SCAN elevator algorithm
AssessTechniques
An elevator dispatch strategy that serves requests while moving in one direction before reversing at the end.
Why it's here
Placed in Assess: 1 article(s) of evidence from 1 source(s), led by research-stage coverage, with 1 in the last 30 days. Confidence 24%. Low accumulated evidence, so it defaults conservatively pending more signal.
Evidence (1)
- 4Hacker News·7/31/2026researchHow Elevator Dispatch Algorithms Work
This article explains how elevator systems decide which car should answer a call, starting from simple one-car algorithms and moving to multi-car coordination. It compares SCAN and LOOK with Otis' Relative System Response (RSR), highlighting how modern systems optimize for wait-time distributions rather than average delay alone.