DE102009027648B4 - Method for determining a common route section for at least two spatially separated positioning systems - Google Patents

Abstract

Method for determining a common route section for at least two spatially separated participants with positioning systems, with the routes traveled by the participants being transmitted and compared by the positioning system via a means of communication to a server after arrival at a destination and, in the event of a significant overlap of at least one route section, the participants the means of communication or another means of communication are informed about it.

Description

State of the art

The invention relates to a method for determining a common route section for at least two spatially separate positioning systems.

From the DE 196 32 296 A1 a method and a device for arranging ride sharing opportunities in a telecommunication network are known. In this method, a subscriber looking for a ride accesses a service server via a telecommunications network in order to obtain and select ride-sharing offers stored there. The service server includes an interface circuit which connects it to an exchange and which receives a call from the searching subscriber, and a data store which stores records containing details of the ride-sharing opportunities offered. In addition, the service server contains a processor which controls a voice input of input data which the searching participant enters and which contains information about the ride opportunity sought, which compares the input data with the data records and which controls a voice output of those data records which match the input data controls.

Ride-sharing agencies in metropolitan areas or on the Internet are also known. Here the provider announces a few days or weeks before the planned travel date that he wants to travel from place x to place y and is willing to take fellow travelers with him. This data can then be queried by potential interested parties, if necessary for a fee.

In addition, in the DE 103 43 486 A1 a system is described in which an up-to-date linking of position and/or route information from providers of ride-sharing opportunities on the one hand and position and/or route information from those interested in corresponding ride-sharing opportunities on the other hand takes place. In contrast to conventional mediation offers for car-sharing opportunities, which generally only coordinate departure and destination locations, the invention enables route information from the provider and the interested party to be linked.

All of this data, known from the prior art, requires an active request for ride-sharing opportunities. The participants must enter the data before or during a trip in order to be able to offer or find a ride for this special trip.

From the DE 10 2006 034 413 A1 a method is known in which a common meeting point of at least two navigation devices is automatically determined based on their current locations. Such a procedure can be particularly useful, for example, when two business people want to make an appointment at short notice, when a truck from a forwarding fleet is looking for a meeting place to exchange loads, or even when friends want to meet up.

From the EP 1 870 843 A1 a method for determining the correspondence between two moving objects is known, with two moving objects being connected to a base station and mobile communication devices via at least one cell-based radio network. A communication device is assigned to each object. Reception parameters of the mobile communication devices assigned to the objects are recorded at time intervals, with the recorded reception parameters being checked for consistency, so that in the event that the reception parameters have patterns that match in time, it is decided that both objects have the same path within the radio network take or have taken.

From the U.S. 2009/0030770A1 a method is known in which freight is assigned to different driver/truck combinations depending on commercial data and the destination.

From the DE 10 2007 042 412 A1 a method for travel planning is known in which carpooling opportunities are included in the planning, with information about the route of a means of transport that is ready to be taken along being available in a control center and, in this connection, transfer points for picking up and dropping off the passenger and the route are determined in a control center from basic trip data of a passenger is adjusted to this.

Disclosure of Invention

Proceeding from the state of the art, the invention is based on the object, using a method of the type mentioned at the outset, to form carpools for recurring journeys without actively searching.

This object is achieved by the combination of features specified in claim 1.

According to the present invention, equipped with location systems spatially separated participants, such as Vehicles, route sections covered are transmitted to a server and compared after covering the route via communication means from the navigation devices. Here, for example, GSM or GPS, which is preferably integrated in navigation devices, serve as positioning systems. If there is a significant overlap of at least one section of the route, the participants can be informed by the means of communication or other means of communication that other participants have similar driving patterns.

The expression spatially separated participants is to be understood in such a way that the participants are or use different vehicles or means of transport and not two people equipped with positioning systems who may be in the same vehicle under certain circumstances.

With a method according to the invention, it is possible to inform the participants that other participants are covering the same route sections, so that there is the possibility of forming carpools for future same routes. This makes it possible to make better use of resources without actively looking for rides before starting a journey. The utilization of means of transport and transport routes can be optimized, which also reduces emissions and protects the environment. Even if the participants do not think about a ride, they may still be offered a ride because they do not have to actively look for a ride, but are suggested carpooling based on their usual journeys, the so-called movement patterns.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the participants are informed about overlapping route sections after the same route sections have overlapped at least three times by the same participants.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, vehicles are to be found that at least partially have the same movement pattern in order to be able to cluster them, ie to put together car pools via a server or to optimize the transport of goods.

Many road users would be willing to form car pools, particularly in the case of frequently traveled routes. If the same road users then form the car pool, there is also a certain degree of security and mutual control over the formation of the car pool and thus a certain responsibility. In particular, such a method is suitable for showing the same or similar work routes or parts thereof of the participants and thus bundling them if necessary.

If, according to a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the times of day or times of the routes driven are also transmitted to the server and, if necessary, additionally compared, further exclusion criteria can be provided for many trips. In this preferred embodiment of the invention, not only are the routes or partial routes covered by the participants compared with one another, but also the times of day on which they are covered. This is particularly advantageous if, for example, car pools are to be found for participants who commute to work. When bundling goods to be transported, the time of day could possibly play a subordinate role.

In particular, a method according to the present invention has proven to be advantageous if the route overlap is more than 80% of the route driven. If the overlapping of the distances covered by the participants is as large as possible, it is also particularly easy to form a car pool. If a participant first has to drive a long detour, carpooling can also become cumbersome or no longer make sense.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the participant can also choose whether or not he wants the routes traveled to be transmitted to a server. If he drives certain routes with full passengers or does not want to take a passenger under any circumstances or would like to ride himself, he can suppress the transmission of the travel data. Or he must actively agree to the transmission of his journey data or reject it.

In a method according to the present invention, the communication means can communicate directly or indirectly with the navigation system.

The movement of the participants is preferably transmitted to the service server via communication devices such as GPS or GSM. This information can be used to cluster vehicles that have the same movement pattern, for example in order to carpool via a ser to put together or to optimize the transport of goods.

However, it would also be conceivable for the data to be stored on a storage medium located in the vehicle and to be read out via a reading device. This could be a computer with an Internet connection, for example, with the Internet then serving as a means of communication to the service server and from the service server to the subscriber.

Furthermore, the invention also relates to a system for the switching of services, such as in particular ride-sharing opportunities and transport services for carrying out a method as described above according to claim 7.

Such a system has a stationary service server and at least two participants. The system includes communication means that enable at least one exchange of information between the stationary service server and the participants and also locating means for determining and storing routes traveled and possibly the corresponding time of day of the participants.

For example, car-to-infrastructure, GSM, Bluetooth, WLAN or other radio connections could be used as means of communication for exchanging information from the vehicle to the service server.

character list

• The only figure is a schematic representation of a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention.

Description of the exemplary embodiments

A participant 10.1 moves on a day at time x from a starting point 11 to a destination 12. This route traveled is at least partly also used by various other vehicles. Participant 10.2 moves, for example, on the same day at time y from the same starting point 11 to a destination 13, which is slightly further away than destination 12. Participant 10.3 also moves on this day at time y from a starting point 14 to destination 13 .

The fact that all of these participants 10.1, 10.2, 10.3 use a similar route on the same day at a similar or even the same time when the participants are vehicles, for example, is initially unknown to the drivers.

If the vehicles 10.1, 10.2, 10.3 are equipped with a navigation system for location determination and, for example, a telematics unit for communication, namely, for example, C2I (Car to Infrastructure), the data on the vehicle movement and its start and end points can be transmitted to a server. This data is exchanged as soon as the vehicles are at the respective destination 12, 13. With the existing infrastructure for communication, the data of the route covered is queried from the vehicles after the end of the journey.

Profiles are created from the transmitted data of the routes of the vehicles and compared with each other. The exact time of the journey as well as the days of the week and possibly also the free seats in the vehicle can be stored.

If the participant has consented to the data transmission, the information can be used, for example, to put together carpools.

This comparison is preferably carried out on several days and, if necessary, also filtered to determine who carries out the route, for example every day of the week or only on certain days. Or, if applicable, a participant has only completed this route once. The profiles are preferably only created by the participants who often cover this route.

It has been shown that road users carpool best when they have a similar starting point and the same destination as possible. Although this is not necessary for the invention, according to a preferred embodiment, a comparison could be carried out in such a way that only participants with a similar starting point and the same destination are bundled, or a kind of "ranking" of the possible carpooling opportunities is carried out according to these criteria. A similar starting point 12,13 could be a starting point 12,13 which is located in a freely definable radius R around another starting point 12,13. This can also be seen from the figure.

If route data from other vehicles match their own data, the subscriber can be notified, for example, via a telematics unit or another communication unit, such as a cell phone.

In addition, it would also be possible to provide a planning tool that could be an Internet portal in which appropriately protected data for making contact can be stored.

Alternatively, the contact data could also be transmitted directly from one vehicle to another vehicle.

It should be mentioned here again that, in addition to the formation of car pools, the transport of goods can also be organized and clustered, for example. For example, several transport companies could join forces with such a system and thus find routes that are regularly driven at least partially simultaneously by several companies. With a planning tool used there, it would still be there
It is particularly important to include the charge capacity that is still available. However, this should not necessarily be an exclusion criterion, since it may still be cheaper and more environmentally friendly to use one larger vehicle than two smaller vehicles.

Claims (8)

Method for determining a common route section for at least two spatially separated participants with positioning systems, with the routes traveled by the participants being transmitted and compared by the positioning system via a means of communication to a server after arrival at a destination and, in the event of a significant overlap of at least one route section, the participants the means of communication or another means of communication are informed about it. procedure after claim 1 , whereby information about overlapping route sections of two participants is provided after the same route sections have overlapped at least three times. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the times of day or times of the routes traveled are also transmitted to the server and are additionally compared. Method according to one of the preceding claims, in which the route overlap is more than 80% of the route driven. Method according to one of the preceding claims, in which the routes traveled are only transmitted to a server with prior consent. Method according to one of the preceding claims, in which the communication means are connected directly or indirectly to the positioning system. System for the switching of services, such as in particular ride-sharing opportunities and transport services for carrying out a method according to one of the preceding claims, with at least one stationary service server and at least two participants (10.1, 10.2) equipped with location systems, the system comprising means of communication which at least exchange information between the stationary service server and the location system of the participants, the location system including the location and storage of routes traveled and, if necessary, the corresponding time of day after a trip, and communication means are also provided that enable communication between the participants. system after claim 7 , wherein the means of communication are directly or indirectly connected to the service server.

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