GB2357353A

GB2357353A - Apparatus and method for assigning aircrew to flight schedules

Info

Publication number: GB2357353A
Application number: GB0020097A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Yohiko Teramoto; Makihiko Sato; Shunji Matsumoto
Original assignee: Fujitsu Ltd
Current assignee: Fujitsu Ltd
Priority date: 1999-08-20
Filing date: 2000-08-15
Publication date: 2001-06-20
Also published as: JP3732685B2; JP2001056829A; GB0020097D0

Abstract

A method of assigning aircrew to a flight schedule comprises the steps of storing performance data relating to the work to be scheduled 11, extracting unassigned work 12, selecting an order for the work to be undertaken 13,14 and calculating and generating schedules 15. Preferably the generated schedules are stored in the crew pattern storage device 16. Preferably the schedule may span a plurality of days. In generating the schedule, a possible flight order is retrieved from the inter flight connection means 13. Each flight recorded in the storage device 11 is represented by a genetic data pattern corresponding to a binary representation for each day. An iterative algorithm is applied by the connection computation means 15 to each flight to determine the possible route schedules by matching the ordinal positions of each genetic data pattern. The algorithm can be further applied to span over several days using a left shift technique on the genetic data pattern of the subsequent flight.

Description

2357353 GENERATION OF SCHEDULES The present invention relates to a work

schedule generation apparatus, a work schedule generating method, and a computer program (which may be stored on a storage medium) for generating schedules (work schedules).

A work schedule is required in designing a bus schedule, a truck operating schedule, a train operating schedule, a flight crew schedule, etc. In preparing these schedules, the optimum. schedule is minimizes the entire designing cost while satisfying various restrictive. conditions. In mathematics, a work schedule is a typical combinatorial problem, and it is hard to represent the work schedule by a mathematic model. Even if it can be represented by a mathematic model, it is almost impossible to obtain a perfect solution.

Conventionally, a work schedule has been manually designed. However, with the recent progress of information processing technology, it has been developed and studied to automatically design a work 2 schedule using a computer. A merit of using a computer compared with manual designing is to considerably save time in designing a schedule, and to outstandingly reduce the designing cost because of 5. alabor saving process.

A well-known conventional work schedule generation apparatus using a computer can be, for example, the employee work schedule support apparatus disclosed by the Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No.07-77936, the train schedule generation apparatus disclosed by the Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No.07-96837, etc. The above described conventional apparatuses generate a work execution schedule about the work to be performed in different periods by processing the work to be performed in a predetermined period as individual work assigned to each schedule (time).

In addition, in the above described conventional apparatuses, a method of assigning work to a crew is disclosed, but no methods of assigning a crew to plural pieces of work for different execution schedules are disclosed, thereby realizing no schedules of assigning a crew to plural pieces of work for different execution schedules.

As described above, in the conventional 3 apparatuses, the same crew cannot be assigned to the work f or different execution schedules. Therefore, when the work is performed for different execution schedules using the above described conventional apparatuses, it is necessary to process the work by dividing the work into independent pieces of work for respective schedules. That is, for example, when three types of work are performed ten times in total, it is necessary to design schedules for 10 independent pieces of work. This not only increases the processing time for a computer, but also interferes with the generation of the optimum schedule, thereby increasing the cost of generating a schedule, and possibly preventing a desired schedule from being is successfully generated.

The present invention aims at providing a work schedule generation apparatus capable of generating schedules for assigning people or resources to a plurality of tasks having different execution schedules.

The work schedule generation apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention includes the following units.

A process target work storage unit stores 4 execution schedules for a plurality of days for each piece of work to be scheduled.

A work performance order candidate selection unit selects the work to be performed after the current work stored in the process target work storage unit.

An unassigned work check unit extracts unassigned work whose execution period has not been completely assigned from the process target work storage unit.

A work performance order setting unit obtains from the work performance order candidate selection unit the work to be performed after the work extracted by the unassigned work check unit, and sets the performance orders of plural pieces of work.

A work performance schedule computation unit computes the performance schedules of the performance orders of the plural pieces of work set by the work performance order setting unit, and generates the performance schedules of the performance orders of the plural pieces of work. When the performance orders of the plural pieces of work contain the work to be connected the next day, the work performance schedule computation unit computes the executable schedules of the work to be connected the next day, and generates the performance schedules of the work spanning a plurality of days.

In the work schedule generation apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention with the above described configuration, execution schedules for a plurality of days are stored f or each piece of work to be scheduled, the performance orders of plural pieces of work are set, and the performance schedules of the performance orders of the plural pieces of work are generated, thereby collectively processing plural pieces of work of different execution schedules. Therefore, plural pieces of work of-different execution schedules can be collectively processed, and the crew schedule of the execution schedule spanning a plurality of days of the work pattern for sequentially performing plural pieces of 15. work can be quickly generated. Although a performance order of the plural pieces of work contains the work to,be connected the next day, the performance schedule of the work can be correctly computed. Therefore, the performance schedule of the work spanning a plurality of days can be generated.

The work schedule generation apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention includes the process target work storage unit, the work performance order candidate selection unit, the unassigned work check unit, the work performance order 6 setting unit, the work performance schedule computation unit, and a work performance schedule storage unit storing a work performance schedule generated by the work performance schedule computation unit, and executed according to a work performance schedule.

The unassigned work check unit according to the second aspect of the present invention extracts unassigned work from the process target work storage unit according to the execution schedule spanning a plurality of days of each piece of work stored in the process target work storage unit and the work performance schedule stored in the work performance schedule storage unit.

Thus, the work schedule generation apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention can store a work schedule, and can easily and quickly extract unassigned work according to the stored information in the process target work storage unit and the stored information in the work performance schedule storage unit.

Reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings in which:- FIG. 1 shows the principle of the work schedule generation apparatus according to the present 7 invention; FIG. 2 is a flowchart of. the algorithm of the work schedule generation apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. 3 shows the configuration and the operation of a crew work pattern generation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention (1); FIG. 4 shows the configuration and the operation of a crew work pattern generation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention (2); FIG. 5 shows the data structure of the f light data stored in a process target flight storage device; FIG. 6 shows the data structure of the crew pattern stored in a crew pattern storage device 16; FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the entire operation of the crew work pattern generation apparatus; FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the first operation of the connection schedule computation device; FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the operation of the unconnected flight check device; FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the operation of the inter-flight connection candidate selection device; FIG. 11 shows the data structure of a gene storing the connection candidate information about each flight; 8 FIG. 12 shows an example of a crew pattern spanning a plurality of days; FIG. 13 shows the structure of the output data of the crew pattern spanning a plurality of days shown in FIG. 12; FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the second operation of the connection schedule computation device; FIG. 15 shows an example of the state transition of a variable in the process according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 14; FIG. 16 shows another example of the state transition of a variable in the process according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 14; FIG. 17 shows an example of the configuration of is the module of the crew work pattern generation apparatus shown in FIG. 3; and FIG. 18 shows the configuration of the hardware of a computer realizing the crew work pattern generation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention is described below by referring to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle 9 of the work schedule generation apparatus (scheduling apparatus) embodying the present invention.

A process target work storage device 1 stores information about work for which a schedule is to be generated. An unassigned work check device 2 refers to the information about work for which a schedule is to be generated, and checks and extracts the work unassigned to a work performance pattern and its execution schedule. A work performance order candidate selection device 3 stores information for selection of work to be performed after performing a piece or work, and returns a 'candidate for work' to be performed after the work specified by a work performance setting device 4. The work performance order candidate selection device 3 returns an 'end of work' when there are no 'candidates for work'.

The work performance setting device 4 extracts unassigned work through the unassigned work check device 2, and sets the performance order of plural pieces of work depending on the work selected by the work performance order candidate selection device 3.

A work performance schedule computation device 5 computes the schedule according to which the plural pieces of work set by the work performance setting device 4 can be performed, and generates a work performance pattern which is an execution schedule of the performance order of the plural pieces of work.

A work performance schedule storage device 6 stores the work performance pattern generated by the work performance schedule computation device 5.

Next, the entire operation of the work schedule generation apparatus with the above described configuration is described below by referring to FIG.

1. (1) through (7) in [1] through [7] below correspond to the numbers assigned to the arrows shown in FIG. 1. These arrows (1) through (7) indicate reference and transmission of data and information.

The work schedule generation apparatus generates a work performance pattern in the procedures [1] through [5]. By incorporating the entire work into the work performance pattern, it generates the entire work schedule. In [1] below, the process of incorporating the entire work to be processed into a work performance pattern can be completed (the work schedule can be completely generated) by repeating the procedures [1] through [51 until the unassigned work check device 2 confirms that no unassigned work exists.

[1] The unassigned work check device 2 extracts a piece of work in which there is an execution period not yet assigned to a work performance pattern (arrow (1)), and transmits the work to the work performance setting device 4 (arrow (2)).

[2] The work performance setting device 4 determines (arrow (3)) through the work performance order candidate selection device 3 a candidate for the work to be performed after the work received from the unassigned work check device 2, and asks (arrow (4)) the unassigned work check device 2 whether or not the determined candidate for work can be assigned to a work performance pattern.

[3] The unassigned work check device 2 cheeks whether or not the corresponding work can be assigned to a work performance pattern. At this time, it refers to and checks the information about the work to be scheduled stored in the process target work storage device 1 and the work performance pattern stored in the work performance schedule storage device 6 (arrows (5)). If the work can be assigned, the unassigned work check device 2 returns the work to the work performance setting device 4 (arrow (6)).

[4] The work performance setting device 4 determines through the work performance order candidate selection device 3 the candidate for the work to be performed after the work received from the unassigned work check 12 device 2 (arrow (7)).

Similarly, the procedures in [2] and [3] are repeated until the work performance pattern can be completed. The condition of completing a work performance pattern is that the 'end of work' is selected by the work performance order candidate selection device 3, or that no candidates for unassigned work exist.

15] When a work performance pattern is completed, the work performance setting device 4 transmits the schedule information of each work in the work performance pattern to the work performance schedule computation device 5 (arrow (8)).

The work performance schedule computation device is 5 generates an execution schedule of the work performance pattern according to the schedule information received f rom the work performance setting device 4, and transmits it to the work performance schedule storage device 6 (arrow (9)). The work performance schedule storage device 6 stores the received work performance pattern with the execution schedule.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the process algorithm of the work schedule generation apparatus according to the [1] through [5] above. The process 13 algorithm of the work schedule generation apparatus is described below by referring to the flowchart in FIG. 2.

First, a variable i is initialized to 0 (step S1). Then, the unassigned work check device 2 retrieves a piece of unassigned work from the process target. work storage device 1 as work 1 (step S2)..

Unassigned work refers to work having an unassigned work performance schedule in the work schedule stored in the work performance schedule storage device 6.

Then, a work performance order setting rule storage device 4 generates a work performance schedule (work performance pattern) i starting with work 1 (step S3).. Next, the work performance order candidate selection device 3 selects as work 2, work to be performed after the work 1 (step S4). There can be a case in which no work to be next perf ormed is selected (no candidates for the work exist) in step S4.

Therefore, considering this case, it is determined whether or not. a candidate for the work (to be next performed) exists (step S5). If a candidate for the work (to be next performed) exists (YES in step S5), the unassigned work check device 2 determines whether or not the work 2 can be added to 14 a work performance schedule i (step S6). The determination in step S6 as to whether or not a performance schedule (execution schedule) for unassigned work exists in the work 2 is made by referring to the information stored in the process target work storage device 1 and the information stored in the work performance schedule storage device 6.

If it is determined in step S6 that the work 2 cannot be added to the work performance schedule i (NO in step S6), then control is returned to step S4, and a process of selecting another candidate for work is started.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S6 that the work 2 can be added to the work performance schedule i (YES in step S6), then the work performance setting device 4 adds the work 2 to the work performance schedule i (step S7).

Next, the work performance schedule computation device 5 computes the work performance schedule of the work performance schedule i (step SS). Then, control is returned to step S4 with the work 2 set as new work 1 (step S9).

As described above, when the work performance schedule i is generated by repeating the processes in step S4 through S9, and if it is determined in step S5 that there are no candidates for work, that is, no.

work to be added to the work performance schedule i (NO in step S5), then the current work performance schedule i is entered in the work performance schedule computation device 5 (step S10). Then, the value of the variable i is incremented by 1 (step Sll), and the unassigned work check device 2 determines whether or not unassigned work exists (step S12). If it is determined that unassigned work exists (YES in step S12), control is returned to step S2, and the process of generating the next work schedule 2 is started.

As described above, until it is determined that no unassigned work exists, the processes in steps S2 through S12 are repeated, one or more work performance schedules are generated, and the work performance schedules are entered in the work performance schedule storage device 6. If it is determined in step S12 that no unassigned work exists (NO in step S12), the process of generating the work performance schedules is terminated.

Described below are embodiments of the present invention. The embodiment described below is an appropriate example of generating a crew schedule (crew pattern) for operating flights.

16 FIGS. 3 and 4 are block diagrams of the configurations and operations of a crew work pattern generation apparatus 10 for operating flights according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The crew work pattern generation apparatus 10 generates a crew pattern for operating flights. A crew pattern refers to a combination of a series.of flights designating a flight for a member of a crew immediately after the work in the current flight. In this case, each of the flights operated according to predetermined schedules corresponds to the work, and a crew pattern as a combination of the flights corresponds to the work performance schedule.

Therefore, in FIGS. 3 and 4, a process target flight storage device 11 corresponds to the process target work storage device 1 shown in FIG. 1, an unconnected flight check device 12 corresponds to the unassigned work check device 2 shown in FIG. 1, an inter-flight connection candidate selection device 13 corresponds to the work performance order candidate selection device 3 shown in FIG. 1, a flight connection device 14 corresponds to the work performance setting device 4 shown in FIG. 1, a connection schedule computation device 15 corresponds to the work performance schedule computation device 17 shown in FIG. 1, and a crew pattern storage device 16 corresponds to the work performance schedule storage device 6 shown in FIG. 1.

The entire operations of the crew work pattern generation apparatus 10 are described below by referring to FIGS. 3 and 4.

In the following description, 'determining the next flight for a member of a crew working for the current flight' is represented by 'connecting a flight to another flight'. In addition, 'a state in which a crew pattern contains connected flights' is represented by 'connected', and 'a state in which a crew pattern does not contain connected flights' is represented by 'unconnected'.

In the following description, crew patterns are generated for flights A, B, and C to easily make the present embodiment understood.

Flight A: f light operated every day f rom the first day to the fifth day in the diagram Flight B: flight operated every second day from the first day to the fifth day in the diagram Flight C: flight operated on the second and fourth days In FIGS. 3 and 4, the 5-bit string enclosed in the parenthesis to the right of each of the flight A, 18 B, and C indicates the flight state (flight inf ormation) on the f irst through f if th days, and one bit corresponds to one day. The bit strings are arranged in the scheduled order. The bit in the bit strings indicates 'operated' when it is set to 1, and not operated' when it is set to 0.

When the crew work pattern generation apparatus starts the process, it is assumed that the process target flight storage device 11 stores the flight information about flight A (11111), flight B (10101), and flight C (01010). It is also assumed that the inter-flight connection candidate selection device 13 stores the connection candidate information of flight A - flight B, flight A - flight C, flight B - end, and flight C - end.

In this case, since all flights to be processed are unconnected at the process starting point, the unconnected flight check device 12 first retrieves the heading flight A (arrow (1)), and transmits the flight A to the flight connection. device 14 (arrow (2)).

The flight connection device 14 asks the inter- flight connection candidate selection device 13, and selects the flight B as a candidate for a flight to be connected to the received flight A (arrow (3)).

The flight connection device 14 inquires the flight 19 B as a candidate for a flight to be connected of the unconnected flight check device 12 to confirm whether or not the flight B has been connected, or whether or not the f light B still has an unconnected schedule (arrows (4) through At this time, the unconnected flight check device 12 refers to the f light information (10101) of the flight B in the process target flight storage device 11 and the crew pattern information in the crew pattern storage device 16, and determines that the flight B has not been connected. Then, the unconnected flight check device 12 notifies the flight connection device 14 that the flight B has not been connected.

is Upon receipt of the notification, the flight connection device 14 connects the f light A to the f light B. Then, for the f light B as well as the f light A, the f light connection device 14 selects a candidate for a flight to be next connected to (arrow (7)). In this case, the inter flight connection candidate selection device 13 returns lend' as a candidate for a connected-to flight. Thus, the flight connection device 14 completes the f irst connecting process, and transmits the first connection information (flight A - flight B > end) to the connection schedule computation device 15 (arrow (8)).

The connection schedule computation device 15 computes the flight schedule (connection schedule) for the first connection information. In this case, the flight A is operated every day while the flight B is operated every second day. Therefore, both flights A and B are operated every second day from the first day to the f if th day. As a result, the connection schedule computation device 15 computes the flight schedule (10101) for the connection information, and transmits the crew pattern indicating the first connection information and the f light schedule (10101) to the crew pattern storage device 16 (arrow (9)).

The crew pattern storage device 16 stores a crew is pattern 21 as 'flight A (10101) - flight B (10101) end'. At this point, since a part of the schedule of the flight A and the entire schedule of the flight C have not been connected, the process of generating the next crew pattern as shown in FIG. 4 is started.

In FIG. 4, the unconnected f light check device 12 first refers to the process target flight storage device 11 and the crew pattern storage device 16 to confirm that the schedules for the second and fourth days of the flight A have not been entered in the crew pattern 21 (arrow (1)'), and transmits the flight A 21 to the flight connection device 14 (arrow (2)').

Similarly, the device 14 inquires (seeks or requests) the candidate for a connected-to flight for the flight A of the inter-flight connection candidate selection device 13 (arrow (3)l Since the flight B presented as a candidate for a connected-to flight by the inter flight connection candidate selection device 13 has already been connected to the flight A, the flight connection device 14 inquires again the candidate for a connected-to flight for the flight A of the inter flight connection candidate selection device 13.

Upon receipt of the inquiry, the inter-flight connection candidate selection device 13 returns to the flight connection device 14 the flight C which is different from the flight B as the previous response (arrow M). The flight connection device 14 performs the process as described above (arrow (5)' through (W), and transmits the second connection information (flight A - flight C - end) to the connection schedule computation device 15 (arrow (9) 1). The connection schedule computation device 15 generates the flight schedule (01010) for the second connection information as in the case of the above described first connection information, generates a crew pattern indicating the second connection 22 information and the flight (01010), and transmits the result to the crew pattern storage device 16 (arrow (9)''). The crew pattern storage device 16 stores a crew pattern 22 as f light A (01010) - f light C (01010) - end'.

Then, the unconnected f light check device 12 checks an unconnected flight, confirms that all flights to be processed (f lights A, B, and C) have been connected according to the stored information in the process target flight storage device 11 and the crew pattern storage device 16, and completes the process of generating the crew patterns.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the data structure of the flight schedule information about the flights A, B, and C stored by the process target flight storage device 11.

In FIG. 5, the flight schedule information about each of the f lights A, B, and C is stored as an individual record. The record comprises the f ields of a flight identification number, a flight name, a departure time, a departure airport, an arrival time, an arrival airport, and a flight schedule.

in the example shown in FIG. 5, the records of the flight schedule information of the flights A, B, and C are stored in lines 1, 2, and 3. For example, 23 the record of the flight A stores the information that the flight A leaves FUK (Fukuoka) at 9:30, and arrives at HND (Haneda) at 11:00, and is operated every day from the first day through the fifth day.

In addition, according to the record shown in FIG. 5, the connections.of flight A - flight B and flight A - flight C can be realized. The inter-f light I connection candidate selection device 13 can generate the connection information 'flight A -4 flight B and flight A - flight C' from the record stored in the process target flight storage device 11.

Then, FIG. 6 shows the data structures of the first and second crew patterns stored in the crew pattern storage device 16.

As shown in FIG. 6, the above described first and second crew patterns are stored in the crew pattern storage device 16 as a record comprising the fields of an identification number of a crew pattern, the number of days of the crew pattern, a flight schedule of a crew pattern, an identification number of the first flight of a crew pattern (corresponding to the identification number of the flight shown in FIG. 5), and an identification number of the second flight of a crew pattern (corresponding to the identification number of the f light shown in FIG. 5). In this 24 example, the identification numbers 0001 and 0002 are respectively assigned to the f irst and second crew patterns. The number of days of the crew pattern as the second field of the above described record refers to a value obtained by considering a crew pattern spanning a plurality of days, and a value indicating that the corresponding line data corresponds to the data of which day in the crew pattern spanning the plurality of days.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the entire operation of the crew work pattern generation apparatus 10. The process algorithm of the crew work pattern generation apparatus 10 is described below by referring to the flowchart in FIG. 7.

First, the variable i is initialized to 0 (step S21). Then, the unconnected flight check device 12 retrieves one unconnected f light from the process target f light storage device 11 as a f light 1 (step S22). An unconnected flight refers to a flight for which there are unassigned flight schedules in the crew schedule (crew pattern) stored in the crew pattern storage device 16.

Then, the flight connection device 14 generates a crew pattern i headed by the flight 1 (step S23).

Next, the inter-f light connection candidate selection device 13 selects a flight as a flight 2 to be operated af ter the f light 1 (step S24). In step S24, there can be the case in which a f light to be next operated cannot be successfully selected.

Therefore, it is determined whether or not a candidate for a flight to be connected (a flight to be next operated) exists (step S25). If a candidate for a flight to be connected exists (YES in step S25), then the unconnected flight check device 12 determines whether.or not the flight 2 can be connected to the crew pattern i (step S26). The determination in step S26 as to whether or not there are still unassigned flight schedules for the flight 2 is made by referring to the stored information in the process target flight storage device 11 and the stored information in the crew pattern storage device 16.

Then, if it is determined in step S26 that the flight 2 cannot be added to the crew pattern i (NO in step S26), then control is returned to step S24, and a process of selecting another candidate for an appropriate flight is started.

in the other hand, if it is determined in step S26 that the f light 2 can be connected to the crew pattern i (YES in step S26), then the flight connection device 14 adds the f light 2 to the crew 26 pattern i (step S27).

Then, the connection schedule computation device computes the flight schedule of the crew pattern i (step S28), thereby returning control to step S24 with the f light 2 def ined as a new f light 1 (step S29).

As described above, the crew pattern i and the flight schedule are generated by repeating the processes in steps S24 through S29. If it is determined in step S25 that a candidate for an appropriate f light does not exist, that is, that a f light to be added to the crew pattern i does not exist (NO in step S25), then the current crew pattern i and the f light schedule are entered in the crew pattern storage device 16 (step S30). Then, the value of the variable i is incremented by 1 (step S31), and the unconnected flight check device 12- determines whether or not an unassigned flight exists (step S32).

If it determines that an unassigned flight exists (YES in step S32), then control is returned to step S22, and the process of generating the next crew pattern 2 is started.

As described above, the processes in steps S22 through S32 are repeated until it is determined that there are no unassigned flights, one or more crew 27 patterns are generated, and the generated crew patterns and the flight schedule are entered in the crew pattern storage device 16. Then, if it is determined in step S32 that no unassigned flights exist (NO in step S22),, then the process of generating crew patterns is terminated.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the process of generating a flight schedule performed by the connection schedule computation device 15.

Computing the connection schedule of the crew pattern 21 shown in FIG. 4 is deseribed below as an example of the process.

First, the crew pattern for which a connection schedule is computed is defined as a crew pattern 1 (step S41). Then, the flight schedule 1 is initialized as operable every day (11111) (step S42).

Then, all flights contained in the crew pattern 1 are retrieved, and the group of the retrieved flights is defined as a flight group 1 (step S43).

As a result, in the example shown in FIG. 2, a flight group 2 = {flight A, flight B}.

Then, a flight is retrieved from the flight group 1, and is defined as a flight 1 (step S44). In this case, it is assumed that the flight A has been retrieved.

28 Then, the unconnected f light schedule of the flight 1 and the flight schedule 1 are ANDed, and the result is defined as a flight schedule 1 (step S45).

In this case, since no crew pattern has been stored in crew pattern storage device 16 yet, there is no unconnected flight schedules for the flight 1. As.a result, the flight schedule 1 (11111). The unconnected flight schedule is obtained from the unconnected flight check device 12 as described later.

Then, it is determined whether or not all flights contained in the flight group 1 have been processed (step S46). In this case, since the flight B has not been processed, the determination is NO, and control is returned to step S44.

Then the flight B is retrieved from the flight group 1, and is defined as a flight 1 (step S44), and the process in step S45 is performed on the f light B. In this case, since the unconnected f light schedule for the flight B is (10101), and the flight schedule 1 is (11111), the flight schedule 1 is updated into (10101).

Next, it is determined in step S46 that the process has been completed on all flights (YES in step S46), and the obtained flight schedule 1 (10101) is defined as the flight schedule for the crew pattern 29 1, thereby terminating the process.

As a result, (10101) is obtained as a flight schedule of the crew pattern 21. Similarly, in the above described process, the flight schedule (01010) can be obtained f or the crew pattern 22 shown in FIG.

5.

FIG..9 is a flowchart of the process of computing an unconnected schedule by the unconnected f light cheek device 12.

First, the flight to be checked which is inquired by the connection schedule computation device 15 is defined as a flight 1 (step S51). Then, the original f light schedule of the f light 1 is retrieved f rom the process target flight storage device 11, and the f light schedule is def ined as a f light schedule 1 (step S52).

Then, a crew pattern is retrieved from the crew pattern storage device 16, and is defined as a crew pattern 1 (step S53). Next, it is determined whether or not the flight 1 is contained in the crew pattern 1 (step S54). If it is determined that the flight 1 is contained (YES in step S54), then the flight schedule for the flight 1 contained in the crew pattern 1 is retrieved, and is def ined as a f light schedule 2 (step S55). On the other hand. if it is determined in step S54 that the f light 1 is not contained (NO in step S54), then control is passed to step.S47.

Then, the flight schedule specified in the flight schedule 2 is removed' from the f light schedule 1 to obtain the unconnected flight schedule of the flight 1, and the result is def ined as a flight schedule I (step S6). This removing process.is performed by a logic operation of, for example, f (flight schedule 1) AND (NOT (flight schedule 2)).

As shown in FIG. 3, when the crew pattern storage device 16 stores the crew pattern 21, and when the f light to be checked is the f light A, the f light schedule 1 = (11111) is obtained in step S52, and the flight schedule 2 = (10101) is obtained in step S55.

Therefore, (01010) can be obtained as the unconnected flight schedule of the flight A in step S56.

Then, it is determined whether or not all crew patterns stored in the crew pattern storage device 16 have been processed (step S57). If there is an unprocessed crew pattern, then control is returned to step S53.

As described above, the processes in steps S53 through S57 are repeated, an unconnected flight schedule 1 for the flight 1 is generated according to 31 the original flight schedule for the flight 1 stored in the process target f light storage device 11 and the crew pattern stored in the crew pattern storage device 16, and the result is returned to the work performance schedule computation device 5 (step S58), thereby terminating the process.

When the crew pattern 21 is stored in the crew pattern storage device 16 as shown in FIG. 3 by the process performed by the unconnected flight check device 12, (11111) is obtained as an unconnected schedule for the flight A, and the unconnected schedule information is returned to the connection schedule computation device 15. Similarly, (00000) is obtained as an unconnected schedule for the f light is B. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the operation of the inter-flight connection candidate selection device 13.

The flowchart in FIG. 10 is an example of the inter flight connection candidate selection device 13 obtaining the connection candidate information of each flight as a gene of an GA (genetic algorithm).

The inter-flight connection candidate selection device 13 obtains the connection candidate information about the flights A, B, and C from a gene 30 shown in FIG. 11. The gene 30 stores the connection candidate 32 information about the flights A, B, C, individually. The connection candidate information of each flight is formed by an integer array, and the values of the elements of each array indicate the identification number of a candidate for a flight to be connected. The order of the elements of an array corresponds to the priority of a candidate for a connection. The smaller. the order number of an array element is, the higher priority the array element has.

In the example shown in FIG. 11, the connection candidate information about. the flight A is [ 2, 3, 0, ..], the first candidate for a connection for the f light A is the f light B, and the second candidate for a connection for the flight A is the flight C. In is addition, the third candidate for a connection for the flight A has not been set (the array element value of 0 indicates 'not set').

According to the flowchart shown in FIG. 10, it is first assumed that a flight for which a candidate for a connection is to be selected is the f light 1 (step S71). In this case, it is assumed that the flight A is set as the flight 1.

Then, The connection candidate information corresponding to the flight 1 is retrieved from the connection candidate information about the gene 30, 33 and is defined as a connection candidate group 1 (step S72). Thus, the connection candidate information [2, 3, 0,...] about the flight A is set as a connection candidate group 1.

Then, the variable i is initialized to 0 (step S73), the i-th candidate for a connection is retrieved from the connection candidate group 1, and is defined as a flight B. A candidate for a connection for the connection candidate group 1 is assumed to start with the 0-th candidate.

Then, it is determined whether or not the flight 2 has ever been returned as a candidate for a connection to the flight 1 (step S75). If the flight 2 has not been returned as a candidate for a is connection to the flight 1 (NO in step S75), then the flight 2 is returned as a candidate for a connection to the f light 1 to the flight connection device 14 (step S79), thereby terminating the process. Thus, if the flight B has not been returned as a candidate for a connection to the flight A, then the flight B is returned as a candidate for a connection to the flight -A to the flight connection device 14. The information about the previous return for the above described determination is stored in the memory.

If it is determined in step S75 that the flight 34 2 has ever been returned as a candidate for a connection to the flight 1 (YES in step S75), then the value of the variable i is incremented by 1 (step S76), and it is determined whether or not all candidates for a connection in the connection candidate group 1 have been checked (step S77). The determination can be made by comparing the value of the variable i with the number of the candidates for a connection in the connection candidate group 1.

If it is determined that all candidates for a connection in the connection candidate group 1 have not been checked (NO in step S77), then control is returned to step S74.

- As described above, if a candidate for a f light is ito be connected to the f light 1 cannot be detected even by repeating the processes in steps S74 through S77, it is assumed that the determination in step S77 is YES, and the f light connection device 14 is notified that there are no candidates for a flight to be connected to the f light 1 (step S78), thereby terminating the process.

Described below is an embodiment of generating a crew pattern spanning a plurality of days.

FIG. 12 shows a crew pattern spanning a plurality of days (two days in this example). In the crew pattern shown in FIG. 12, the crew starts on the second and third days. during the period of the schedule. That is, the crew pattern is f light A flight B - flight C for the first day for the crew, and flight D - flight E for the second day for the crew.

FIG. 13 shows an example of output data corresponding to the crew pattern shown in FIG. 12.

In this example, the crew pattern for the first day for the crew is recorded in the record in line 1, and the crew pattern for the second day for the crew is recorded in the record in line 2. Since the format of the record shown in FIG. 13 is similar to the format of the record shown in FIG. 6, the detailed is explanation is omitted here. The identification numbers of the flights A, B, C, D, and E are respectively 0001, 0002, 0003, 0004, and 0005.

When a crew pattern spans a plurality of days, a record is generated for each crew pattern on each day as shown in FIG. 13. However, the crew pattern identification numbers are the same.

Briefly described below is the algorithm for determining whether or not the flight C can be connected to the flight D on the next day. To make the f light C be connectable to the f light D on the 36 next day, it is necessary to contain unconnected flight schedules with the patterns shifted by one day from each other, and to contain a schedule common with the unconnected flight schedule of the flight D. That is, the following algorithm is set.

[1] The unconnected flight schedule of the flight C is shif ted by one day (by shifting one to the right the bit string of the flight schedule).

[2] The unconnected flight schedule of the flight D and the schedule obtained in [1] above are ANDed.

[3] If the AND operation result in [2] above are not all 0 of a bit string, it is determined that the flight C can be connected to the flight D on the next day.

is in practice, various restriction conditions (restrictions of crew work period, restrictions of an airport), etc. are also considered.

The crew pattern shown in FIG. 12 is an example in which the AND operation result in [21 above is (00110).

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the process algorithm of the connection schedule computation device 15 in case of generating a crew pattern spanning a plurality of days. The flowchart is compared with FIGS. 15 and 16 as follows. FIGS. 15 37 and 16 show the procedure of the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 14 in which the connection schedule of the crew pattern shown in. FIG. 12 is computed.

FIG. 15 shows the'state transition of the process shown in.the flowchart in FIG. 15 for computing the connection schedule for the crew pattern in which the unassigned flight schedule (unconnected flight schedule) for the flights A, B, and C for the first day is (01100), and the unassigned flight schedule for the f lights D and E for the second day is (00110).

The characters A through J added to the left of each step shown in FIG. 14 correspond to the same characters shown in FIG. 15. Each line shown in FIG.

indicates the states of the variable i, the f light schedule 1, the flight schedule 2, the flight schedule 3, and the flight group 1 in each step of. the flowchart shown in FIG. 14 Described below is the flowchart shown in FIG.

14. First described are the variables used in the flowchart.

variable i: indicates the ordinal day of the crew pattern which is being processed in the computation process.

flight schedule 1: stores in the computation process 38 the flight schedule according to which the crew pattern can be operated in the format of a f light schedule on the first day of the crew pattern.

flight schedule 2: indicates the schedule according to which the flight contained on the day (i-th day) to be processed can be operated in the computation process.

flight schedule 3: indicates the flight schedule corresponding to the first day of the crew pattern according to the flight schedule 2.

For example, when the flight schedule 2 is (00111), and i = 2 (on the second day), the f light schedule 3 on the f irst day corresponding to these values is (01111).

According to the flowchart shown in FIG. 14, the crew pattern f or which a connection schedule is computed is defined as a crew pattern 1 (step S91).

Then, the f light schedule 1 is initialized to the information (11111) indicating that flight is operated all days (step S92).

Then, the variable i is initialized to 1 (step S93), and all f lights on the i-th day are retrieved from the crew pattern 1 (step S94). As a result, as indicated by the line D shown in FIG. 16, the flight group 1 is fflight A, flight B, flight C).

39 Then, the unconnected flight check device 12 is inquired about unassigned f light schedules of all flights contained in the flight group 1, the unassigned f light schedules are ANDed, and the AND operation result is def ined as a f light schedule 2 (step S94). This process obtains the f light schedule common in all f lights contained in the f light group 1. As a result, as indicated by the line E shown in FIG. 15, (01100) is obtained as a flight schedule 2.

Then, the flight schedule 2 is converted into the flight schedule for the first day of the crew pattern, and the conversion result is def ined as a flight schedule 3 (step S96). In this case, as indicated by the line F shown in FIG. 15, (01100) is obtained as a flight schedule 3. Since the process is performed on the first day (i = 1), the flight schedule 2 = the flight schedule 3.

Next, the flight schedule 3 and the flight schedule 1 are ANDed, and the AND operation result is def ined as a f light schedule 1 (step S97). This process is performed to retrieve the flight schedule common between the f light schedule 3 and the f light schedule 1. As a result, as indicated by the line G shown in FIG. 15, (01100) is obtained as a f light schedule 1.

Then, the value of the variable i is incremented by 1 (step S98), and it is determined whether or not the variable i is larger than the number of days of the crew pattern 1 (step S99). In this case, since the number of days of the crew pattern 1 is 2, the determination in step S99 is NO, and control is returned to step S94.

All flights on the second day (i = 2) are retrieved from the crew pattern 1, and the group of the flights is defined as a flight group 1 (step S94).

As a result, as indicated by the second D line shown in FIG. 15,. the flight group 1 is {flight D, flight E).

Then, the unconnected flight check device 12 is is inquired about the unconnected flight schedule of the flights D and E contained in the flight group 1, the flight schedule common between the flight D and the f light E is computed, and is def ined as a f light schedule 2 (step S95). As a result, as indicated by the second E line shown in FIG. 15, the flight schedule 2.is (00110).

Next, the flight schedule 2 is converted into the flight schedule for the first day of the crew pattern 1, and is defined as a flight schedule 3 (step S96).

As a result, as indicated by the second F line shown 41 in FIG. 15, the flight schedule 3 is (01100).

Then, the flight schedule 3 and the flight schedule 1 are ANDed, and the AND operation result is defined as a flight schedule 1 (step S97). As a result, as indicated by the second G line shown in FIG. 15, the flight schedule 1 is (01100).

Next, the value of the variable i is incremented by 1 (step S98). As a result.. as indicated by the second H line shown in FIG. 15, the value of the variable i is 3, and the connection schedule computation device 15 determines in step S99 that the value of i is larger than the number (=2) of days of the crew pattern 1, and the f light schedule 1 is a flight schedule of the crew pattern 1 for the first day (step S99). As a result, as indicated by the line J shown in FIG. 15, the flight schedule of the crew pattern 1 for the f irst day is determined to be (01100).

in this case, the f light schedule of the crew pattern 1 for the second day is determined to be (00110) based on the above described flight schedule for the first day.

FIG. 16 shows the states of the variable i, the flight schedule 1, the flight schedule 2, the flight schedule 3, and the f light group 1 in each step in 42 case of applying the algorithm according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 14 to the computation of the connection schedule of the crew pattern in which the unassigned flight schedule (unconnected flight schedule) of the flights A, B, and C for the f irst day is (01100), and the unassigned flight schedule of the f lights D and E for the second day is (00110). In the example shown in FIG. 16, the connection schedule computation device 15 executes the algorithm according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 14 to obtain the crew pattern spanning two days as in the case shown in FIG.

15.

In the description of the flowchart shown in FIG.

14, described is only the example in which the algorithm is applied to the computation of the connection schedule of a crew pattern spanning two days to make the algorithm of the flowchart shown in FIG. 14 easily understood. However, the flowchart shown in FIG. 14 can also be applied to the computation of the connection schedule of the crew pattern spanning three days or more. This will be easily understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.

FIG. 17 shows an example of the configuration of the module of the crew work pattern generation apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 3.

43 In FIG. 17, a processing unit 40 can be, for example, a personal computer, etc. The unconnected flight check device 12, the inter-flight connection candidate selection device 13, and the connection schedule co mputation device 15 are installed as the software executed by the processing unit 40. The process target flight storage device 11 and the crew pattern storage device 16 are memory to be connected to the processing unit 40. In addition, the inter flight connection candidate selection device 13 can be, for example, the software to be operated in a work station, connected to the processing unit 40. The processing unit 40 can also execute the inter-flight connection candidate selection device 13.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of the hardware configuration of a computer realizing the crew work pattern generation apparatus 10 according to the present invention.

In FIG. 18, a computer 100 comprises a CPU 101, ROM 102 connected to the CPU 101 through a bus 108, RAM 103, an external storage device 104, a storage medium drive device 105, an input/output device 106, and a communications interface 107.

A program (the unconnected f light check device 12, the inter-flight connection candidate selection 44 device 13, the f light connection device 14, and the connection schedule computation device 15) for realizing the process performed by the crew work pattern generation apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is stored in the external storage device 104, or a portable storage medium. 109. The program stored in the portable storage medium 109 installed in the external storage device 104 or the storage medium drive device 105 is loaded onto the RAM 103, and executed by the CPU 101.

After the execution, the function of the above described crew work pattern generation apparatus 10 is realized. In this execution, for example, the function of the OS, etc. stored in the ROM 102 can be used.

The communications interface 107 communicates data, messages, etc. with an information provider 300 through a communications line 200, and downloads the program held by the information provider 300 onto the RAM 103 and the external storage device 104. Thus, the downloaded program is executed by the CPU 101, and realizes the function of the crew work pattern generation apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Furthermore, the program f or realizing the function of the crew work pattern generation apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention can be remotely executed by a computer on an information provider 400 side to receive a generated crew pattern only.

The input/output'device 106 comprises an output device such as a display of a CRT, an LCD, a PDP, etc., a printer, etc., and an input device comprising a pointing device, etc. such as a keyboard, a mouse, etc. It is used as an input device for use in inputting information required when a user activates the crew work pattern generation apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and when the crew work pattern generation apparatus generates a crew pattern. In addition, the input/output device 106 is also used to output a crew pattern generated by the crew work pattern generation apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present :Lnvention.

The portable storage medium 109 can be a floppy disk, various types of CD (compact disk), various types of DVD, PC cards, etc. In addition, the external storage device 104 is a hard disk device, a magneto-optical storage device, etc., and can also be used for the process target flight storage device 11 and the crew pattern storage device 16.

46 A communications line 300 is a wired or a radio circuit, and is practically a line of various types such as a LAN, a MAN, A WAN, Internet, Intranet, Extranet, a satellite line, etc.

The present invention.is not limited to the above described applications. For example, it can be applied to a crew work schedule generation apparatus for other transportation such as a bus, a train, etc.

The present invention is not limited to scheduling "work" in the usual sense but may be applied to any kind of'task, event or pastime to which people or resources are assigned. Such people may include performers, players, sportsmen and the like and such resources may include vehicles, processing equipment, telecommunications bandwidth and so on.

As described above, according to the present invention, a work performance schedule for assigning personnel to plural pieces of work having different executlion,schedules can be generated. In addition, according to the present invention, the work for different execution schedules can be collectively processed without dividing into each time period.

Therefore, a crew pattern can be quickly generated.

Furthermore, since the number of combinations to be checked whether or not each work can be executed can be reduced, the optimum work schedule can be generated even when the number of combinations is very large.

47

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A work schedule generation apparatus, comprising:

process target work storage means (1) for storing performance schedules for a plurality of days for each piece of work to be scheduled; work performance order candidate selection means (3) for selecting work to be performed after the work stored in said process target work storage means (1); unassigned. work check means (2) for extracting unassigned work whose execution period has not been completely assigned from said process target work storage means (1); work performance order setting means (4) for obtaining from said work performance order candidate selection means (3) the work to be performed after the work extracted by said unassigned work check means (2), and setting performance orders of plural pieces of work; and work performance schedule computation means (5) for computing the performance schedules of the performance orders of the plural pieces of work set by said work performance order setting means (4), and generating the performance schedules of the performance orders of the plural pieces of work.

48

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising work performance schedule storage means (6) storing the work performance schedule generated by said work performance 'schedule computation means (5).

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said unassigned work check means (2) extracts unassigned work from said process target work storage means (1) according to a performance schedule spanning a plurality of days of each piece of work stored in said process target work storage means (1) and the work performance schedule stored in said work performance schedule storage means (6).

4. Ihe apparatus according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein said work performance schedule computation means (5) computes executable schedules of work to be connected next day, and generates the performance schedules of the work spanning a plurality of days when the performance orders of the plural pieces of work contain the work to be connected the next day.

5. A work schedule generating method, comprising:

(a) storing performance schedules for a plurality 49 of days for each piece of work to be scheduled; (b) extracting unassigned work whose execution period has not been completely assigned from said stored work (S2); (c) selecting work to be performed after the extracted work, and setting performance orders of plural pieces of work (S3 through S.7); and (d) computing performance schedules of the set performance orders of the plural pieces of work, and generating the performance schedules of the performance orders of the plural pieces of work (S8 through S12).

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising (e) storing the work performance schedule generated in said step (c).

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein in said step (b), unassigned work is extracted according to a performance schedule spanning a p lurality of days of each piece of work stored in said step (e), and the work perfornEmce schedule stored in said step (a) (S51 through S58).

8. The method according to claim 5, 6, or 7, ein in said step (d), executable schedules of work to be connected next day are computed, and the performance schedules of the work spanning a plurality of days are generated when the performance orders of the plural pieces of work contain the work to be connected the next day (S91 through S100).

9. A computer program containing computer-readable program code means directing a ccoputer to per the ef:

(a) storing performance schedules for a plurality of days for each piece of work to be scheduled; (b) extracting unassigned work whose execution period has not been completely assigned from said stored work (S2); (c) selecting work to be performed af ter the extracted work, and setting performance orders of plural pieces of work (S3 through S7); and (d) computing performance schedules of the set performance orders of the plural pieces of work, and generating the performance schedules of the performance orders of the plural pieces of work (S8 through S12).

10. The computer program according to claim 9, further 51 comprising program code means for a step of:

(e) storing a work performance schedule generated in said step (c).

11. The computer program according to claim 10, wherein in said step (b), unassigned work is extracted according to an execution schedule spanning a plurality of days of each piece of work stored in said step (e), and the work performance schedule stored in said step (a) (S51 through S58).

12. The computer program according to claim 9, wherein in said step (d), executable schedules of work to is be connected next day are computed, and the performance schedules of the work spanning a plurality of days are generated when the performance orders of the plural pieces of work contain the work to be connected the next day (S91 through S100).

13. A storage medium on which is stored the computer program of any of claims 9 to 12.

14. A schedule generation apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of the accompanying drawings.

15. A schedule generating method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of the accompanying drawings.

16. A computer program for implementing on a general purpose computer a schedule generation apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of the accompanying drawings.