JP2025023524A - Vehicle allocation management device and vehicle allocation management method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicle allocation managing device and a vehicle allocation managing method to increase certainty of an estimated arrival time for a vehicle at a destination.SOLUTION: The present invention is a vehicle allocation managing device including: a travelling performance information database that stores travelling performance information of an allocated vehicle; and a vehicle allocation plan creation unit that creates a vehicle allocation plan of a specified vehicle based on a recommended travelling route. The vehicle allocation plan creation unit includes: a travelling route candidate extraction unit that extracts a travelling route candidate on the basis of a vehicle allocation request from a user; an effective expected required time calculation unit that determines a variation threshold value for the variation degree of the required time for each travelling route candidate on the basis of the travelling performance information, and calculates an effective expected required time on the basis of the variation threshold value; and a travelling route determination unit that determines the recommended travelling route from the travelling route candidates on the basis of at least the effective expected required time. The travelling route determination unit determines the travelling route candidate in which the effective expected required time is small as the recommended travelling route.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle dispatch management device and a vehicle dispatch management method, and in particular to a vehicle dispatch management device and a vehicle dispatch management method that appropriately select a vehicle driving route.

Fleet management is known as a method of managing vehicle dispatch to increase vehicle utilization rate while improving user convenience. For example, in response to a user's dispatch request, several driving routes of dispatchable vehicles are searched for, and from among them, a driving route that can efficiently reach the destination is determined.

For example, the following Patent Document 1 discloses a method and system for dispatching shared vehicles that allows requests for dispatching shared taxis in real time.

JP 2019-020973 A

However, the dispatch system disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 did not take into account any variability in the estimated travel time to a user's destination when operating the vehicle. This made it difficult to increase the accuracy of the estimated arrival time of the vehicle at the destination.

The present invention aims to provide a vehicle dispatch management device and a vehicle dispatch management method that increase the reliability of the estimated arrival time of a vehicle at its destination.

The present invention according to one aspect is a vehicle dispatch management device that manages the dispatch of vehicles based on a dispatch request. The vehicle dispatch management device includes a driving record information database that stores driving record information of the dispatched vehicles, and a vehicle dispatch plan creation unit that creates a vehicle dispatch plan for the vehicles based on a recommended driving route in response to the user's vehicle dispatch request. The vehicle dispatch plan creation unit includes a driving route candidate extraction unit that extracts driving route candidates based on the vehicle dispatch request, a candidate vehicle extraction unit that extracts the vehicles based on the vehicle dispatch request, an effective expected required time calculation unit that determines a variation threshold value for the degree of variation in the required time for each of the driving route candidates calculated based on the driving record information and calculates an effective expected required time based on the variation threshold value, a driving route determination unit that determines the recommended driving route from among the driving route candidates based on at least the effective expected required time, and a vehicle dispatch instruction unit that issues a dispatch instruction to the vehicles based on the vehicle dispatch plan. The travel route determination unit then compares the effective estimated travel times of the travel route candidates and determines the travel route candidate with the shortest effective estimated travel time as the recommended travel route.

The present invention makes it possible to increase the accuracy of the estimated travel time required for a dispatched vehicle to reach its destination, thereby improving the efficiency of vehicle dispatching and improving user convenience.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle dispatch management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration model of a vehicle dispatch control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of road link travel time information in the driving performance information database of the vehicle dispatch management device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a variation threshold value in the vehicle dispatch management device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a sequence chart for explaining an outline of a vehicle dispatch service in the vehicle dispatch management system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a vehicle dispatch management process performed by the vehicle dispatch management device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a vehicle dispatch management process performed by the vehicle dispatch management device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of selection of travel route candidates based on a variation threshold value in a vehicle dispatch management device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Below, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiment described below is merely an example, and there is no intention to exclude the application of various modifications and techniques not specified below. The present invention can be implemented with various modifications (for example, combining the various embodiments) without departing from the spirit of the invention. In addition, in the description of the drawings below, the same or similar parts are represented by the same or similar reference numerals. The drawings are schematic and do not necessarily correspond to actual dimensions, ratios, etc. The drawings may also include parts with different dimensional relationships and ratios.

Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle dispatch management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the vehicle dispatch management system 1 includes a vehicle dispatch management device 10, a terminal device 20, and a vehicle V, which are connected to each other so that they can communicate with each other via a communication network N. In addition, the vehicle dispatch management system 1 can be connected via the communication network N to a road traffic information management system 30 that provides various traffic information in real time.

The vehicle dispatch management system 1 of the present disclosure provides a vehicle dispatch service using multiple vehicles V, for example, for a certain area. The vehicle dispatch service may be "on-demand" or "reserved." An "on-demand vehicle dispatch service" is a service that immediately responds to a vehicle dispatch request from a user and assigns (dispatches) a specific vehicle to the user. In other words, in an on-demand vehicle dispatch service, there is no vehicle dispatch reservation time specified by the user. Furthermore, "immediate response" is a concept that includes not only dispatching a vehicle immediately in response to a vehicle dispatch request from a user, but also a certain degree of time that is normally acceptable to the user. Furthermore, a "reserved vehicle dispatch service" is a service that dispatches a vehicle at the vehicle dispatch reservation time or time frame specified by the user.

The vehicle dispatch management device 10 is a computing device that comprehensively manages a vehicle dispatch service using multiple vehicles V in a target area. The vehicle dispatch management device 10, for example, implements a vehicle dispatch management server program and executes the vehicle dispatch management server program under the control of a processor, thereby realizing the vehicle dispatch service of the present disclosure.

The vehicle dispatch management device 10 includes various databases 12 that accumulate and manage data necessary to realize such a vehicle dispatch service. The databases 12 may include, for example, a user information database 12a, a road map information database 12b, a vehicle information database 12c, a vehicle dispatch plan database 12d, and a driving performance information database 12e (see FIG. 2). The databases 12 may be configured as part of the vehicle dispatch management device 10, or all or a part of them may be configured separately from the vehicle dispatch management device 10.

Overall, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 receives a dispatch request from a user who wishes to dispatch a vehicle V for travel or a user who wishes to deliver luggage, and creates a dispatch plan for a candidate vehicle V (candidate vehicle v) extracted from multiple vehicles V based on the dispatch request. The vehicle dispatch management device 10 determines a dispatch plan for the optimal vehicle V from the created dispatch plans, and issues dispatch instructions to the vehicle V according to the determined dispatch plan. The dispatch plan is determined, for example, in response to the user's consent.

The vehicle dispatch plan includes a driving route that defines a route from a location where vehicle V is waiting (a starting waiting location) via several points (boarding and disembarking points (starting point and destination)) along the way where the user gets on and off to a final waiting location (not necessarily the same as the initial waiting location), and an average value of the expected travel time to each point (hereinafter referred to as the "average expected travel time"). If vehicle V is waiting, the vehicle dispatch plan is newly created based on a new dispatch request, and if vehicle V is in operation, it can be updated based on a new dispatch request. In the present disclosure, vehicle dispatch management device 10 selects a driving route that is highly likely to cause vehicle V to arrive at the destination at the expected arrival time, and creates a vehicle dispatch plan based on this.

The vehicle V is a vehicle registered in the vehicle information database for use by a user. The vehicle V may be of any type (e.g., sedan, minivan, SUV, etc.). The vehicle V may be an electric vehicle (EV) powered by an on-board battery. The vehicle V may also be an autonomous vehicle (unmanned vehicle) capable of completely autonomous driving, and the level of automation may be any. The vehicle V is equipped with a control device CTL that controls the vehicle V itself or its on-board equipment (e.g., a navigation device) according to instructions from the vehicle dispatch management device 10 (see FIG. 2). The control device CTL of the vehicle V acquires current position information of the vehicle V, for example, via a GPS system, and transmits this to the vehicle dispatch management device 10. The control device CTL also receives dispatch instructions from the vehicle dispatch management device 10 and controls the operation of various devices or equipment of the vehicle V.

The terminal device 20 is, for example, a computing device that allows a user wishing to ride to make a vehicle dispatch request by operating a user interface. The terminal device 20 is, for example, a smartphone, a pad computer, a notebook personal computer, a desktop computer, etc., but is not limited to these. The terminal device 20 implements, for example, a vehicle dispatch management client program (a so-called vehicle dispatch application). The terminal device 20 executes the vehicle dispatch application under the control of the processor, thereby enabling the user to use the vehicle dispatch service of the vehicle dispatch management device 10. For example, the user can make a vehicle dispatch request from a vehicle dispatch request screen (not shown) on the user interface of the terminal device 20, and in response to this, accept the vehicle dispatch plan created by the vehicle dispatch management device 10, thereby making a reservation for a ride in the vehicle V or a reservation for baggage delivery.

The road traffic information management system 30 is an information and communication system that provides road traffic information in real time. For example, the road traffic information management system 30 collects road traffic data from vehicle sensors and cameras installed on the roads, and also collects driving data from a control device CTL mounted on the vehicle V, and manages road traffic information that is integrated, processed, and edited from these. The edited road traffic information may include, for example, information on road closures and detour routes, and the time required between points via a specific route. The road traffic information management system 30 provides road traffic information to the vehicle dispatch management device 10 and the vehicle V as appropriate.

2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration model of a vehicle dispatch management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 is configured as a functional configuration model including functional components such as a front-end processing unit 110, a vehicle dispatch plan creation unit 120, and a vehicle communication unit 130. As described above, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 also includes various databases 12. Such a functional configuration model is realized by the vehicle dispatch management device 10 executing a vehicle dispatch management server program under the control of a processor and cooperating with various hardware resources. The functional configuration model shown here is an example, and all or part of the functions of a certain functional component may be realized by other functional components. Note that, for convenience of explanation, the user's terminal device 20 and the control device CTL mounted on the vehicle V are also shown in the figure.

The user information database 12a stores and manages information about users who use the vehicle dispatch service (hereinafter referred to as "user information"). The user information includes, for example, a user ID and password, personal attributes, and information about the usage status of the vehicle dispatch service.

The road map information database 12b stores information on road maps in the target area of the vehicle dispatch service (hereinafter referred to as "road map information"). The road map information may include information necessary for route search, such as road network information, road attribute information, feature information, and environmental information. The road network information includes links (road links) and nodes (branching points). The road attribute information includes, for example, traffic regulations such as speed limits, one-way streets, no right or left turns, no parking or stopping, and road closures, road types such as residential roads and main roads (including road widths and traffic lanes), and control of traffic lights at intersections. The feature information includes, for example, the situation between buildings and roads (for example, sidewalk widths, the presence or absence of pedestrian and roadway dividers such as guardrails and shrubbery, the degree of visibility, etc.). The environmental information includes, for example, the situation of parked and stopped vehicles and pedestrians at each point by time period, the frequency of right and left turns at intersections, the frequency of parking and stopping, and the frequency of traffic accidents.

The vehicle information database 12c stores information (vehicle information) about the vehicle V available for use by the user. The vehicle information includes, for example, information about the vehicle ID, vehicle attributes (vehicle registration number, vehicle model, maximum number of passengers/maximum load capacity, manned or unmanned driving type, etc.), vehicle performance, other specifications, current dispatch plan, current location, and current status (service status, remaining battery capacity (driving range), number of passengers, etc.). The current location and/or status of the vehicle V can be updated at any time based on the location information transmitted from the vehicle V.

The vehicle dispatch plan database 12d stores a vehicle dispatch plan for the vehicle V created by the vehicle dispatch management device 10 based on a user's dispatch request. The vehicle dispatch plan includes a driving route from a starting waiting location to a terminal waiting location via several points, an average expected time required to reach each destination, etc.

The driving performance information database 12e stores information related to the past driving history of each vehicle V (hereinafter referred to as "driving performance information"). The driving performance information includes various specification information such as the operating date and time (operation start time and end time, etc.), driving route, arrival and departure times at each point (e.g. destination), driving distance, and fuel efficiency (electricity cost) for each vehicle V. The driving route is composed of, for example, the links and nodes traveled by the vehicle V. In this disclosure, the driving performance information database 12e stores road link required time information indicating the required time for each link, which is created based on the driving performance information. The road link required time information is created, for example, by the driving performance information management unit 129 described later.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of road link travel time information in a driving performance information database of a vehicle dispatch management device according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 3(a), the road link travel time information includes the average travel time and the degree of variation (e.g., variance and standard deviation) for each date type and time period for each link indicated by an identifier (ID). The road link travel time information is used to calculate the degree of variation or deviation of the travel time to the destination for each candidate travel route from the departure point to the destination based on the user's vehicle dispatch request (hereinafter referred to as "travel route candidate"). Note that Figure 3(b) shows the average expected travel time and the degree of variation for each travel route for the departure point and destination calculated based on Figure 3(a).

Returning to FIG. 2, the front-end processing unit 110 performs various processes between the user and the terminal device 20. As an example, the front-end processing unit 110 refers to the user information database 12a and performs login authentication processing in accordance with a login request from a vehicle dispatch application on the user's terminal device 20. The front-end processing unit 110 also accepts a vehicle dispatch request from the vehicle dispatch application on the user's terminal device 20, passes it to the vehicle dispatch plan creation unit 120, and interacts with the terminal device 20 to receive the user's approval or disapproval of the vehicle dispatch plan created by the vehicle dispatch plan creation unit 120 in response to this.

The vehicle dispatch plan creation unit 120 extracts candidate vehicles (candidate vehicles v) from among the vehicles V in the target area based on the given dispatch request, and creates a provisional dispatch plan for the candidate vehicles. The vehicle dispatch plan creation unit 120 proposes the provisional dispatch plan to the user, and confirms it upon receiving the user's approval. The vehicle dispatch plan creation unit 120 then stores the confirmed dispatch plan in the vehicle dispatch plan database 12d, and issues dispatch instructions to the corresponding vehicles V via the vehicle communication unit 130. When the vehicle V dispatched based on the dispatch request completes the dispatch service, it transmits driving performance information to the vehicle dispatch management device 10, and the vehicle dispatch plan creation unit 120 stores this in the driving performance information database 12e.

In the present disclosure, when creating a vehicle dispatch plan, the vehicle dispatch plan creation unit 120 extracts candidate driving routes based on a vehicle dispatch request, calculates an effective expected travel time (hereinafter referred to as the "effective expected travel time") for each candidate driving route, which is calculated based on the degree of variability in the actual travel time values indicated in the travel performance information, and narrows down the candidate driving routes according to the effective expected travel time.

The vehicle communication unit 130 exchanges various information with the vehicle V via the communication network N. For example, the vehicle communication unit 130 acquires vehicle information including the position information of the vehicle V and passes it to the vehicle allocation plan creation unit 120, and also transmits driving instructions to the vehicle V according to the vehicle allocation plan created by the vehicle allocation plan creation unit 120. In addition, the vehicle communication unit 130 acquires driving performance information from the vehicle V that has completed the vehicle allocation service and passes it to the vehicle allocation plan creation unit 120.

Next, the details of the vehicle allocation plan creation unit 120 will be described. In this disclosure, the vehicle allocation plan creation unit 120 includes, for example, a vehicle allocation request acquisition unit 121, a demand calculation unit 122, a candidate vehicle extraction unit 123, a driving route candidate extraction unit 124, a driving route determination unit 125, an effective expected travel time calculation unit 126, a vehicle allocation plan proposal unit 127, a vehicle allocation instruction unit 128, and a driving performance information management unit 129.

The dispatch request acquisition unit 121 acquires or accepts a dispatch request from a user via the front-end processing unit 110. The time when the dispatch request acquisition unit 121 acquires the dispatch request becomes the start time of timing various limit times (e.g., boarding limit time, disembarking limit time, etc.). The dispatch request acquisition unit 121 passes the acquired dispatch request to each of the demand calculation unit 122, the candidate vehicle extraction unit 123, and the travel route candidate extraction unit 124.

The demand calculation unit 122, for example, refers to various databases 12, calculates the current demand and/or predicted future demand of the vehicle V by the user based on the driving record information, etc., and outputs this as demand information. For example, the current demand may be the number of waiting vehicles V that are not assigned any driving plan at the time of receiving the driving request (the number of waiting vehicles) based on the driving record information database 12d. In addition, the future demand may be the number of vehicles V that are expected to be in demand at a specific future time or time period, such as 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and 1 hour after a reference time (for example, the current time), based on the driving record information database 12e. As will be described later, for example, when the current and/or future demand is high, the variation threshold is determined to be a value far from the average expected required time. As a result, when it is expected that there will be many user driving requests, a more reliable effective expected required time is calculated based on the variation threshold so as not to cause delays in scheduled driving. Furthermore, the variation threshold value may be dynamically determined according to the future time or time period of such demand prediction. Furthermore, the demand calculation unit 122 may predict future demand volume by taking into account, in addition to the driving record information, for example, time/seasonal factors and environmental factors such as event holding. The demand calculation unit 122 may include a demand prediction model in which machine learning is performed according to a predetermined machine learning algorithm, with, for example, operation record information or the like as explanatory variables and the predicted demand volume as an objective variable. In this way, the demand calculation unit 122 can create a vehicle plan including an optimal driving route by using the current and/or future demand volume, thereby enabling efficient operation of the vehicle V.

The candidate vehicle extraction unit 123 extracts one or more vehicles V as candidate vehicles v based on the dispatch request. For example, the candidate vehicle extraction unit 123 extracts dispatchable vehicles V that are traveling in the vicinity of the boarding and alighting points (starting point and destination) indicated in the dispatch request as candidate vehicles v. In addition, vehicles V that cannot be dispatched to the user within various time limits (e.g., boarding limit time, disembarking limit time, etc.) from the time the dispatch request is received are excluded.

The driving route candidate extraction unit 124 extracts at least one or more driving route candidates based on the dispatch request. Typically, the driving route candidates are associated with their average expected travel time. Alternatively, the driving route candidates may be associated with their expected travel time taking variability into consideration. For example, the driving route candidate extraction unit 124 extracts driving route candidates and calculates their average expected travel time by having the route search engine perform a route search while referring to the road map information database 12b based on the boarding and disembarking locations indicated in the dispatch request, and outputs them.

The effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 calculates the degree of variation in the travel time of a travel route including multiple links from the departure point to the destination for each of the extracted travel route candidates based on the road link travel time information in the travel performance information database 12e, and calculates the effective expected travel time based on the calculated degree of variation. The effective expected travel time is based on the sum of the travel times of the links that make up the travel route corresponding to the date and time period corresponding to the dispatch request. As described above, the effective expected travel time is a travel time calculated based on a variation threshold value for the degree of variation of the actual value of the travel time indicated in the travel performance information. As will be described later, the effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 determines a variation threshold value that specifies the tolerance range for the degree of variation according to a predetermined standard. The effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 calculates the effective expected travel time by applying the determined variation threshold value to the average expected travel time of the travel route candidates calculated by the route search engine.

Figure 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a variance threshold in a vehicle dispatch management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. That is, the figure shows a probability distribution of the predicted required time for a certain driving route based on driving performance information. In the present disclosure, for example, a variance threshold closer to the average value of the predicted required time is set as the first variance threshold, and a variance threshold farther from the average value than the first variance threshold is set as the second variance threshold. In other words, the second variance threshold is a value with a larger distribution range of the variance than the first variance threshold (a value that indicates a high probability of falling within that distribution range). |±σ| and |±2σ| in the standard normal distribution are examples of the first variance threshold and the second variance threshold, respectively.

Returning to FIG. 2, when the effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 determines that there is sufficient time for the next dispatch of the candidate vehicle v (e.g., travel to the next boarding location) based on the dispatch plan of the candidate vehicle v, the effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 may set the first variation threshold value closer to the average value (average expected travel time) as the variation threshold value. In other words, if the candidate vehicle v has sufficient time until the next dispatch, the degree of freedom in dispatching is high, so the variation threshold value can be determined according to other criteria. For example, the effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 calculates the time leeway using the average expected travel time for travel from the user's drop-off location to the boarding location of the other user for the boarding time at the next boarding location based on the dispatch request of the other user, and determines whether the calculated leeway exceeds a predetermined leeway allowance value.

In this case, additionally or alternatively, the effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 may further determine whether the current and/or future demand of the vehicle V is high based on a predetermined demand threshold, and if it determines that the current and/or future demand is high, set the second variation threshold to the variation threshold. This increases the reliability of the effective expected travel time based on the variation threshold.

In addition, when the effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 determines based on the dispatch plan of the candidate vehicle v that there is no leeway for the next dispatch of the candidate vehicle v (for example, travel to the boarding location), or when it determines that there is leeway but future demand is low, it may set the variation threshold to a second variation threshold that is farther from the average value than the first variation threshold. This increases the reliability of the effective expected travel time based on the variation threshold.

For example, referring to FIG. 3B, the first candidate driving route extracted has an average expected time from the departure point to the destination based on the driving performance information of 30 minutes, but the degree of variation (standard deviation) is 20 minutes, and the second candidate driving route extracted has an average expected time of 40 minutes, but the degree of variation is 5 minutes. In other words, the first candidate driving route has a shorter average expected time than the second candidate driving route, but the variation is larger. When the effective expected time calculation unit 126 determines the variation threshold value to, for example, σ according to a predetermined condition, it calculates that the effective expected time of the first candidate driving route is about 50 minutes, which represents about 68% of the total, and the effective expected time of the second candidate driving route is about 45 minutes, which represents about 68% of the total. On the other hand, when the effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 determines the variation threshold value to, for example, 2σ according to a predetermined standard, it calculates that the effective expected travel time of the first candidate driving route is about 50 minutes, which represents about 95% of the total, and that the effective expected travel time of the second candidate driving route is about 45 minutes, which represents about 95% of the total.

In addition, the effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 may dynamically set the variation threshold value according to a specific future time (e.g., 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and 1 hour from the current time) or the time period predicted by the demand calculation unit 122. For example, the effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 sets the variation threshold value farther from the average expected travel time (e.g., the second variation threshold value) the closer the future time for demand prediction is (e.g., 10 minutes later). As a result, when the demand forecast for the immediate future is high in the dispatch plan for the vehicle V, the range of the variation degree of the expected travel time is widened, and a travel route that guarantees the next dispatch as much as possible is determined. On the other hand, the effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 sets the variation threshold value closer to the average expected travel time (e.g., the first variation threshold value) the further the future time for demand prediction is (e.g., 30 minutes later). As a result, when demand is expected to be low in the near future, a route that is close to the expected travel time is determined by narrowing the range of variation in the expected travel time while minimizing the impact on the next vehicle dispatch.

Furthermore, when the effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 determines that the expected travel time to the destination is affected by road traffic information provided by the road traffic information management system 30, time and seasonal factors, and/or environmental factors such as events, the effective expected travel time calculation unit 126 may set the variation threshold closer to the average expected travel time. This allows a travel route close to the expected travel time to be determined by narrowing the range of variation in the expected travel time, even when unexpected factors are predicted to affect traffic flow.

The travel route determination unit 125 determines a recommended travel route (hereinafter referred to as a "recommended travel route") from among the travel route candidates based on the calculated average expected travel time and effective expected travel time. For example, the travel route determination unit 125 narrows down the travel route candidates by comparing the travel route candidates with each other and excluding travel route candidates with both the average expected travel time and the effective expected travel time longer than the others (i.e., narrowing down to travel routes with at least one of the average expected travel time and the effective expected travel time shorter). This makes the selection of the travel route candidates more efficient. Next, the travel route determination unit 125 selects the one with the shorter effective expected travel time from the narrowed down travel route candidates as the recommended travel route. In this case, the travel route determination unit 125 may select, for example, the travel route candidate with the shortest effective expected travel time as the recommended travel route, or may determine the travel route candidate with the shortest effective expected travel time as the recommended travel route according to other conditions such as the cruising range of the vehicle V and the vehicle dispatch plan. Once the recommended driving route is determined, the vehicle allocation plan creation unit 120 creates a vehicle allocation plan for the candidate vehicle v based on the recommended driving route.

The vehicle allocation plan proposal unit 127 proposes to the user a vehicle allocation plan created based on the determined recommended driving route, and upon receiving the user's consent to the vehicle allocation plan, finalizes the vehicle allocation plan. That is, the vehicle allocation plan proposal unit 127 transmits the vehicle allocation plan of the candidate vehicle v to the user's terminal device 20 via the front-end processing unit 110, and causes the vehicle allocation plan to be displayed on the user interface of the terminal device 20. The user accepts or rejects the vehicle allocation plan, and in response, the terminal device 20 transmits a notification of the acceptance or rejection. Upon receiving the user's consent notification via the front-end processing unit 110, the vehicle allocation plan proposal unit 127 finalizes the vehicle allocation plan.

The dispatch instruction unit 128 issues dispatch instructions to the corresponding vehicle V according to the confirmed dispatch plan. The control device CTL of the vehicle V that receives the driving instructions uses a navigation function to display a driving route according to the dispatch plan, for example, on a user interface. Alternatively, in the case of an unmanned vehicle, the control device CTL determines a detailed actual driving route according to the driving route in the dispatch plan, and controls the vehicle so that it drives autonomously along the actual driving route.

When the driving performance information management unit 129 acquires driving performance information transmitted from a vehicle V that has completed a dispatch service according to a dispatch plan via the vehicle communication unit 130, the driving performance information management unit 129 stores the information in the driving performance information database 12e. In addition, the driving performance information management unit 129 creates road link required time information including the degree of variation as shown in FIG. 3 based on the acquired driving performance information. For example, the driving performance information management unit 129 calculates the degree of variation in the required time for each road link based on the road link required time information including the required time corresponding to the date type and time zone of each road link based on the acquired driving performance information.

Figure 5 is a sequence chart for explaining an overview of the vehicle dispatch service in a vehicle dispatch management system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

First, vehicle V transmits its own location information acquired from the GPS system to the vehicle dispatch management device 10 at a predetermined timing (S501). The vehicle V acquires and transmits the location information periodically or in response to a transmission request from the vehicle dispatch management device 10. As a result, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 acquires the location information transmitted from vehicle V (S502).

Meanwhile, a user who wishes to use a vehicle dispatch service executes a vehicle dispatch app implemented in the terminal device 20 and inputs the necessary information for a vehicle dispatch request on the vehicle dispatch request screen displayed on the user interface, and the terminal device 20 then transmits a vehicle dispatch request to the vehicle dispatch management device 10 (S503). For example, a user who wishes to board a vehicle inputs the boarding and disembarking locations, the number of passengers, etc. The boarding and disembarking locations may be selected, for example, from a geographical map displayed by the vehicle dispatch app. In addition, the boarding location (loading location) may be, for example, the current location obtained by a GPS function installed in the user's smartphone.

When the vehicle dispatch management device 10 receives a dispatch request from the terminal device 20 (S504), it determines a recommended driving route based on the received dispatch request, taking into account the degree of variability in the required time, and creates a dispatch plan for vehicle V (candidate vehicle v) (S505). The vehicle dispatch management device 10 transmits the contents of the created dispatch plan to the terminal device 20 in order to propose it to the user.

When the terminal device 20 receives the contents of the dispatch plan, it displays it on the user interface as a dispatch plan proposal screen and prompts the user to accept or reject the proposed dispatch plan (S506). When the user inputs acceptance or rejection on the dispatch plan proposal screen, the terminal device 20 responds by sending an acceptance or rejection notice to the dispatch management device 10 (S507), and the dispatch management device 10 receives the acceptance or rejection notice sent from the terminal device 20 (S508). For example, if the acceptance or rejection notice indicates acceptance of the dispatch plan, the dispatch management device 10 confirms the dispatch plan of vehicle V according to the dispatch plan, sends a confirmation notice of the dispatch reservation to the terminal device 20, and sends a dispatch instruction to vehicle V according to the dispatch plan (S509).

When the terminal device 20 receives the notification of confirmation of the vehicle dispatch reservation, it displays it on the user interface to inform the user that the vehicle dispatch reservation has been confirmed (S510). On the other hand, when the vehicle V receives the dispatch instruction, it displays, for example, on a navigation screen, a driving route according to the dispatch plan indicated by the dispatch instruction in order to navigate the driver (S511). Although not shown, the vehicle V, which has completed the dispatch service according to the dispatch plan, transmits driving performance information to the vehicle dispatch management device 10. The vehicle dispatch management device 10 stores the driving performance information received from the vehicle V in the driving performance information database 12e and updates the road link travel time information.

Figures 6 and 7 are flowcharts for explaining an example of a vehicle dispatch management process by a vehicle dispatch management device according to one embodiment of the present invention. Such a process is realized by the vehicle dispatch management device executing a vehicle dispatch management server program under the control of a processor, in cooperation with various hardware resources.

As shown in FIG. 6, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 waits until a new vehicle dispatch request is received from a user (S601). Meanwhile, for example, a user wishing to ride operates a vehicle dispatch app on the user interface of the terminal device 20 to input a vehicle dispatch request. When a vehicle dispatch request is received from the user (Yes in S601), the vehicle dispatch management device 10 refers to the road map information database 12b based on the vehicle dispatch request and determines the departure point and destination (start and end points) (S602).

Next, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 extracts one or more candidate driving routes based on the determined starting and ending points by referring to the road map information database 12b (S603). That is, each candidate driving route has the same starting and ending points, but the roads (links) along the way are different. Each candidate driving route is associated with an average expected travel time.

Next, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 extracts one or more candidate vehicles v according to the departure and arrival points and the candidate driving routes (S604). For example, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 extracts a vehicle V that is waiting or moving near the departure point as a candidate vehicle v.

Next, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 calculates the effective expected travel time for the extracted travel route candidates by referring to the travel performance information database 12e (S605). When calculating the effective expected travel time, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 determines the variation threshold value according to predetermined conditions. The calculation process for the effective expected travel time will be described in detail later.

Next, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 determines the optimal one of the candidate driving routes as the recommended driving route based on the average expected travel time and the effective expected travel time of the candidate driving routes (S606). For example, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 acquires a graph of a probability density function based on travel performance information as shown in FIG. 8(a) for the candidate driving routes R1 to R3. Here, the average values (average expected travel times) of the candidate driving routes R1 to R3 are T1_ave to T3_ave, respectively, and the effective expected travel times when the variation threshold value is 2σ are T1_2σ to T3_2σ, respectively. In other words, in the graph of the probability density function shown in FIG. 8(a), the narrower the distribution width of the variation, the smaller the degree of variation in the average expected travel time.

The vehicle dispatch management device 10 first eliminates from these driving route candidates R1 to R3 those for which both the average predicted travel time and the effective predicted travel time are greater than the other driving route candidates. That is, in this example, the driving route candidate R3 is eliminated. Next, from the remaining driving route candidates R1 and R2, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 determines the driving route candidate R2 with the smallest effective predicted travel time based on the variance threshold 2σ (i.e., T1_2σ>T2_2σ) as the recommended driving route. That is, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 selects the driving route candidate R2 with the slowest average predicted travel time but the smallest degree of variance as the recommended driving route, rather than the driving route candidate R1 with the fastest average predicted travel time but the largeest degree of variance.

On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 8B, none of the travel route candidates R1 to R3 has a longer average expected travel time or a longer effective expected travel time than the other travel route candidates. In other words, the travel route candidate R2 has the longest average expected travel time T2_ave, but the effective expected travel time T2_2σ based on the variation threshold 2σ is longer than the effective expected travel time T3_2σ of the travel route candidate R3. In this case, the vehicle allocation management device 10, for example, determines the travel route candidate R1 with the shortest effective expected travel time as the recommended travel route. Alternatively, the vehicle allocation management device 10 may determine the optimal travel route as the recommended travel route from among several travel route candidates with the shortest effective expected travel time, taking into account other conditions (for example, whether an event is being held, whether lane restrictions due to road construction are in place, and/or the amount of pedestrians, etc.).

Returning to FIG. 6, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 then creates or updates a vehicle dispatch plan based on the determined driving route (S607). That is, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 determines a vehicle V to be assigned to the determined recommended driving route from among the candidate vehicles v. For example, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 excludes candidate vehicles v for which the boarding waiting time of a user who has made a new dispatch request exceeds the dispatch delay limit time.

Next, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 proposes the contents of the created/updated vehicle dispatch plan to the user (S608). That is, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 transmits the contents of the created/updated vehicle dispatch plan to the terminal device 20, and in response, the terminal device 20 displays the contents on the user interface and prompts the user to accept or reject the proposed vehicle dispatch plan.

The vehicle dispatch management device 10 determines whether or not the proposed vehicle dispatch plan has been accepted by the user (S609). If the vehicle dispatch management device 10 accepts the proposed vehicle dispatch plan from the user (Yes in S609), the vehicle dispatch management device 10 confirms the current vehicle dispatch plan (S610). The vehicle dispatch management device 10 stores the confirmed vehicle dispatch plan in the vehicle dispatch plan database 12d. Next, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 transmits a notification of confirmation of the vehicle dispatch reservation to the terminal device 20, and transmits a dispatch instruction based on the vehicle dispatch plan to the vehicle V (S611).

In response to this, if the vehicle dispatch management device 10 receives a non-acceptance (rejection) from the user of the proposed vehicle dispatch plan (No in S609), it cancels the current vehicle dispatch plan based on the user's vehicle dispatch request (S612). In this case, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 returns the temporarily held vehicle dispatch plan that was used to recreate the vehicle dispatch plan to the original held vehicle dispatch plan. If the user desires a different vehicle dispatch service, the user will make a new vehicle dispatch request.

Next, the calculation process of the effective expected travel time in the vehicle dispatch management device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 7. That is, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the details of the calculation process of the effective expected travel time (S605) shown in FIG. 6.

As shown in the figure, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 determines whether there is leeway for the next dispatch of candidate vehicle v (e.g., travel to the next boarding or disembarking location) based on the dispatch plan of the candidate vehicle v (S701). For example, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 calculates the time leeway by applying the average expected travel time required to travel from the user's disembarking location to the other user's boarding location to the boarding time at the next boarding location based on the dispatch request of the other user, and determines whether the calculated leeway exceeds a predetermined leeway tolerance value.

When the vehicle dispatch management device 10 determines that there is room for the next dispatch of the candidate vehicle v (Yes in S701), the vehicle dispatch management device 10 then determines whether future demand is expected to be high based on the demand information, using a predetermined demand threshold as a reference (S702). For example, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 refers to the driving performance information database 12e, etc., calculates the future demand amount indicated by the expected amount of user dispatch requests for the number of vehicles V that can be dispatched in a certain time period in the future, and determines whether the calculated future demand amount exceeds a predetermined demand threshold. Note that in this example, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 makes the determination based on the future demand forecast, but is not limited to this, and may make the determination based on current demand.

When the vehicle dispatch management device 10 determines that the future demand is not expected to be high (No in S702), the vehicle dispatch management device 10 sets the variation threshold to the first variation threshold (S703). As described above, the first variation threshold is a value closer to the average expected travel time (average value) than the second variation threshold. Therefore, by selecting the first variation threshold closer to the average expected travel time as the variation threshold, it is expected that a travel route with a smaller degree of variation in the travel time will be selected. In other words, when there is room in the dispatch plan for vehicle V and/or when the future demand is low, a travel route is determined such that the actual travel time of vehicle V matches the average expected travel time as closely as possible.

On the other hand, when the vehicle dispatch management device 10 determines that future demand is expected to be high (Yes in S702), the vehicle dispatch management device 10 sets the variation threshold to the second variation threshold (S704). As described above, the second variation threshold is a value farther from the average value than the first variation threshold. Therefore, by selecting the second variation threshold, which is farther from the average expected travel time, as the variation threshold, it is expected that a travel route with a large degree of variation in the travel time will be selected. In other words, when there is room in the dispatch plan for vehicle V but future demand is expected to be high, the range of the degree of variation in the expected travel time is widened, and a travel route that guarantees the next dispatch as much as possible is determined.

Furthermore, when the vehicle dispatch management device 10 determines that there is no slack in the next dispatch of the candidate vehicle v (No in S701), the vehicle dispatch management device 10 sets the variability threshold to the second variability threshold (S704). Therefore, by selecting the second variability threshold farther from the average value as the variability threshold, it is expected that a travel route with a large degree of variability in the required time will be selected. In other words, when there is no slack in the dispatch plan for vehicle V, the range of the variability in the expected required time is widened and a travel route that guarantees the next dispatch as much as possible is determined.

Next, the vehicle dispatch management device 10 calculates the effective expected travel time by applying the set variance threshold to the average expected travel time for the candidate travel routes calculated by the route search engine (S705).

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to increase the reliability of the estimated travel time for a dispatched vehicle to reach the destination, thereby improving the efficiency of vehicle dispatching and user convenience. In particular, according to this embodiment, since the variability of the average estimated travel time is taken into consideration, a travel route with a slow average estimated travel time but small variability can be selected as a recommended travel route from among candidate travel routes, thereby increasing the reliability of the estimated travel time.

The above embodiments are merely examples for explaining the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention to these embodiments. The present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the invention.

For example, the present invention according to another aspect may be a vehicle dispatch management method for managing vehicle dispatch based on a dispatch request. The method includes: accepting the vehicle dispatch request from a user; extracting a candidate driving route based on the dispatch request; calculating an average expected time required for the candidate driving route; calculating a degree of variation in the required time for each candidate driving route based on driving performance information of the vehicle stored in a driving performance information database; determining a variation threshold value for the degree of variation in the required time; calculating an effective expected time based on the variation threshold value; determining a recommended driving route from among the candidate driving route based on the average expected time and the effective expected time; creating a vehicle dispatch plan for a specific vehicle based on the recommended driving route; and issuing a dispatch instruction to the specific vehicle based on the vehicle dispatch plan. And, determining the recommended driving route includes determining the candidate driving route having at least the smallest effective expected time as the recommended driving route.

In addition, in the methods disclosed herein, steps, operations, or functions may be performed in parallel or in a different order, provided that the results are not inconsistent. The steps, operations, and functions described are provided merely as examples, and some of the steps, operations, and functions may be omitted or combined into one, or other steps, operations, or functions may be added, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In addition, although various embodiments are disclosed in this specification, specific features (technical matters) in one embodiment can be added to or replaced with specific features in another embodiment, with appropriate modifications, and such forms are also included in the gist of the present invention.

Description of the Reference Number 1... Vehicle dispatch management system 10... Vehicle dispatch management device 110... Front-end processing unit 120... Vehicle dispatch plan creation unit 121... Vehicle dispatch request acquisition unit 122... Demand calculation unit 123... Candidate vehicle extraction unit 124... Travel route candidate extraction unit 125... Travel route determination unit 126... Effective expected required time calculation unit 127... Vehicle dispatch plan proposal unit 128... Vehicle dispatch instruction unit 129... Travel record information management unit 130... Vehicle communication unit 12... Database 12a... User information database 12b... Road map information database 12c... Vehicle information database 12d... Vehicle dispatch plan database 12e... Travel record information database 20... Terminal device N... Communication network V... Vehicle CTL... Control device

Claims (13)

A vehicle dispatch management device that manages vehicle dispatch based on a vehicle dispatch request,
a travel record information database for storing travel record information of the dispatched vehicle;
a vehicle dispatch plan creation unit that creates a vehicle dispatch plan for the vehicle based on a recommended travel route in response to the vehicle dispatch request from a user;
The vehicle dispatch plan creation unit,
a travel route candidate extraction unit that extracts travel route candidates based on the vehicle dispatch request;
a candidate vehicle extraction unit that extracts the vehicle based on the vehicle dispatch request;
an effective expected travel time calculation unit that determines a variation threshold value for a degree of variation in the required time for each of the travel route candidates calculated based on the travel record information, and calculates an effective expected travel time based on the variation threshold value;
a travel route determination unit that determines the recommended travel route from among the travel route candidates based on at least the effective expected travel time;
a vehicle dispatch instruction unit that issues a dispatch instruction to the vehicles based on the vehicle dispatch plan,
the travel route determination unit compares the effective estimated travel times of the travel route candidates and determines the travel route candidate having the shorter effective estimated travel time as the recommended travel route.
Vehicle dispatch management device. The travel route candidate extraction unit calculates an average expected travel time of the extracted travel route candidates,
The travel route determination unit determines the recommended travel route based on the average estimated travel time and the effective estimated travel time.
The vehicle dispatch management device according to claim 1. the travel route determination unit narrows down the travel route candidates by excluding a travel route candidate having both the average estimated travel time and the effective estimated travel time longer than the other travel route candidates from the extracted travel route candidates.
The vehicle dispatch management device according to claim 2. the travel route determination unit determines, from the narrowed-down travel route candidates, the travel route candidate having the effective estimated travel time smaller than the other travel routes, as the specific travel route.
The vehicle dispatch management device according to claim 3. the vehicle allocation plan creation unit calculates a degree of variation in the required time based on road link required time information, the road link required time information including a required time corresponding to a date type and a time period of each road link, the road link being created based on the driving record information;
The vehicle dispatch management device according to claim 1. the effective expected travel time calculation unit determines whether the candidate vehicle has a margin for the next dispatch based on the dispatch plan of the candidate vehicle, and when determining that the candidate vehicle has a margin for the next dispatch, sets a first variation threshold value that is closer to the average expected travel time as the variation threshold value;
The vehicle dispatch management device according to claim 1. the effective expected travel time calculation unit determines whether a future demand for the vehicle is high based on a predetermined demand threshold value, and sets the first variation threshold value to the variation threshold value when it determines that the future demand is not high.
The vehicle dispatch management device according to claim 6. the effective expected travel time calculation unit determines whether a future demand for the vehicle is high based on a predetermined demand threshold, and when it determines that the future demand is high, sets a second variation threshold that is farther from the average expected travel time than the first variation threshold as the variation threshold.
The vehicle dispatch management device according to claim 6. When it is determined that there is not enough time for the next dispatch, the effective expected travel time calculation unit determines a second variation threshold value that is farther from the average expected travel time than the first variation threshold value as the variation threshold value.
The vehicle dispatch management device according to claim 6. the effective expected travel time calculation unit determines whether the current and/or future demand of the vehicle is high based on a predetermined demand threshold value, and when it determines that the current and/or future demand is high, sets a value far from the average expected travel time to the variation threshold value so that the required time falls within a distribution range of the variation degree with a high probability.
The vehicle dispatch management device according to claim 1. the effective predicted travel time calculation unit dynamically sets the variation threshold value in accordance with a future time at which a future demand for the vehicle is predicted;
The vehicle allocation management device according to claim 1. the effective expected travel time calculation unit sets the variation threshold value close to the average expected travel time when the average expected travel time is affected by road traffic information, time/seasonal factors, and/or environmental factors;
The vehicle allocation management device according to claim 1. A vehicle allocation management method for managing vehicle allocation based on a vehicle allocation request, comprising:
accepting the vehicle dispatch request from a user;
Extracting travel route candidates based on the vehicle dispatch request;
Calculating an average expected travel time for the candidate travel route;
Calculating a degree of variation in required time for each of the travel route candidates based on travel record information of the vehicle stored in a travel record information database;
determining a variability threshold for the degree of variability in the required time;
Calculating an effective expected time based on the variance threshold value;
determining a recommended travel route from among the travel route candidates based on the average estimated travel time and the effective estimated travel time;
generating a dispatch plan for a particular vehicle based on the recommended travel route;
and issuing a dispatch instruction to the specific vehicle based on the dispatch plan;
determining the recommended travel route includes determining, as the recommended travel route, the travel route candidate having at least a short effective estimated travel time.
Vehicle allocation management method

Images