JP2001076294A - Vehicle retrieving device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To retrieve a vehicle such as taxi, minimizing the time reaching a customer. SOLUTION: A coefficient kij corresponding to districts Di, Dj obtained by plurally dividing the operation area of a customer 14 is set to a district memory 36 to be stored. At the time of having a call for requesting a pick-up car from a customer 14, a distance arithmetic means calculates a linear distance Lij on the plane of a map between the district Di where the position of the customer stored in a customer memory 22 exists and each of the district Dj of each of plural empty vehicles corresponding to the telephone number. The coefficient kij is set to be smaller with the reduction of time required for moving to the district Di of the customer from the district Dj of the vehicle. A correction arithmetic means obtains a corrected distance Sij (=Lij.kij) by calculation. Among corrected distances Sij of the respective vehicles obtained like this way, a vehicle having the shortest corrected distance Sij is retrieved and selected as an optimal vehicle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle for retrieving an optimal vehicle to be dispatched to a customer from a plurality of taxis or the like when a customer receives a call-in request, for example, by telephone. The present invention relates to a search device, and more particularly, to an automatic dispatching device that performs a dispatching operation for directing a searched vehicle to a customer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to perform a vehicle allocation process for directing a vehicle such as a taxi to a customer, a vehicle having a shortest straight distance within a plane on a map is located at a position of the customer among a plurality of empty vehicles. The vehicle is detected and recognized as an optimal vehicle, and a dispatch instruction is issued to such an optimal vehicle. In such prior art, for example, when dispatching to a customer at the top of a mountain, a vehicle having the shortest straight-line distance in a plane on a map is searched as an optimal vehicle, and a dispatch instruction is generated. In order to reach a customer near the summit, a vehicle located at the bottom of such a valley has to travel along a long mountain road in complicated terrain, and therefore, it takes a long time for the vehicle to reach the customer. Will be. Therefore, when searching for a vehicle optimal for a customer near such a mountaintop, the customer reaches the customer even if the distance in the plane on the map is longer than the distance between the above-mentioned vehicle at the bottom of the valley. It is desired to search for a vehicle existing on a good road that requires a short time as an optimum vehicle. In summary, in the prior art, the closest vehicle in a straight line distance from the customer's position in a plane on the map is selected and searched as the optimum vehicle, and thus it takes a long time for the searched optimum vehicle to reach the customer's position. There is a problem that time is required.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle search device capable of automatically searching for a vehicle that arrives at a customer as short as possible, and an optimum vehicle search device using the vehicle search device. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic dispatching device for distributing vehicles.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a district memory for dividing a customer's operation area into a plurality of districts and storing the divided areas.
Customer position output means for outputting a signal indicating the position of the customer, vehicle position output means for outputting a signal indicating the position of each of a plurality of vehicles to be dispatched to the customer, customer position output means and vehicle position output means And a search means for searching for a vehicle in which the district Di where the customer location is located and the district Dj where each vehicle location is located are in response to the store contents of the district memory. Device.

According to the present invention, the operation area of a customer is subdivided into a plurality of districts, and a vehicle in the same district as a customer is preferentially selected as an optimal vehicle. That is, the customer position output means outputs, for example, a signal indicating the position of the customer to which the vehicle to be dispatched should head, and a signal indicating the position of the vehicle to which the vehicle can head toward the customer from the vehicle position output means. Of each store Di, Dj between the customer position and each vehicle position
Search for and select a vehicle with the same name. The vehicle selected by the search is allocated to the customer as the optimum vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to search for and select a vehicle as short as possible to reach the customer as an optimal vehicle.

Further, according to the present invention, the operation area of a customer is divided into a plurality of districts, a related value kij relating to each district Di and another district Dj is set and stored, and the related value kij is stored.
Is a district memory determined according to the time required to move the districts Di and Dj, a customer location output means for outputting a signal indicating the location of the customer, and a plurality of vehicles to be dispatched to the customer. In response to the output of the vehicle position output means for outputting a signal representing the position, and the outputs of the customer position output means and the vehicle position output means, the area Di where the customer position is present and each vehicle position are present according to the store contents of the area memory. Using the related value kij corresponding to the district Dj, the priority order of the district Dj is set in the order of increasing the time required for each vehicle to move from the vehicle position to the customer position from a smaller value to a higher value. And a search means for searching for a vehicle existing in the district Dj of the vehicle.

According to the present invention, a customer's operation area is subdivided into a plurality of districts, and when searching for an optimal vehicle to be directed to a position of a customer belonging to one of those districts, a vehicle is divided for each district. The priorities of the districts to be searched are set, so that it is possible to easily search for a vehicle in which the time to reach the customer is as short as possible. That is, in the district memory, there is a relationship between the district Di to which the position of the customer represented by the output from the customer position output means belongs and the district Dj to which the position of each vehicle representing the output from the vehicle maintenance output means exists. The value kij is stored, and the related value kij is determined in accordance with the time required for the movement of the districts Di, Dj. It is determined that the priority of the area will be lower as the time required for the area becomes longer, and it is possible to search for and select the vehicle to be dispatched that has the least time required to reach the customer. It is easily possible.

[0008] Such a related value kij may be set to a different value depending on the moving direction in which the vehicle moves from one district Dj toward a certain customer's district Di. For example, when a vehicle needs to travel on a road with heavy traffic corresponding to the traveling direction, it is effective in searching for other optimal vehicles.

Further, according to the present invention, the operation area of the customer is divided into a plurality of districts, a related value kij relating to each district Di and another district Dj is set and stored, and the related value kij is stored.
Is a district memory determined according to the time required to move the districts Di and Dj, a customer location output means for outputting a signal indicating the location of the customer, and a plurality of vehicles to be dispatched to the customer. In response to the output of the vehicle position output means for outputting a signal representing the position, and the outputs of the customer position output means and the vehicle position output means, the area Di where the customer position is present and each vehicle position are present according to the store contents of the area memory. Search means for calculating and predicting the time required for each vehicle to move from the vehicle position to the customer position using the associated value kij corresponding to the district Dj, and searching for the vehicle with the minimum calculated time. And a vehicle search device.

According to the present invention, a district Di where the customer representing the output from the customer position output means exists, and a district where the positions of a plurality of vehicles to be dispatched to the customer representing the output from the vehicle position output means exist. The related value kij corresponding to Dj is read from the district memory, and using this related value kij, a vehicle that requires the minimum time for each vehicle to move from the current position of the vehicle to the customer position is searched. select. In this way, the search is done to make the vehicle as short as possible to the customer,
The optimal vehicle can be directed to the customer.

Further, according to the present invention, the related value kij stored in the district memory is a coefficient, and is set to a larger value as the time required for movement between the districts Di and Dj becomes longer.
The search means responds to the outputs of the customer position output means and the vehicle position main means, and calculates distance Lij between each position of the customer and the vehicle, and a first area representing the area Di where the customer is located. First district signal generating means for deriving a signal, second district signal generating means for deriving a second district signal representing a district Dj in which the current position of the vehicle to be dispatched to the customer is located,
In response to the output of the first and second district signal generating means, the coefficient kij stored in the district memory is read, and the distance Lij is read.
Calculated value of the coefficient kij and the coefficient kij, for example, a correction distance S which is a product
and ij for calculating ij.

According to the present invention, the related place kij stored in the district memory is a coefficient to be multiplied by the linear distance Lij on the map plane between the customer and each vehicle. The coefficient kij is calculated in the district D where the customer and the vehicle are located.
This corresponds to the time required for the movement between i and Dj, and the longer the time is, the larger the value is set. Therefore, the correction distance S
ij (= Lij · kij) is calculated and calculated by the correction calculation means, and the vehicle having the shortest correction distance Sij obtained as described above is searched by the search means as the optimum vehicle.
In this manner, a vehicle with a short customer arrival time can be directed to the customer.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that each area Di, Dj divides an operation area into a plurality of small areas smaller than each area Di, Dj and is formed by one or a plurality of adjacent small areas. I do.

According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 8 to be described later, an area in which a vehicle can be dispatched, which is an operation area of a customer, is divided into a plurality of small areas smaller than each of the areas Di and Dj. Di and Dj are formed and set by one or a plurality of adjacent small districts. The small district has a small area equal to or less than the area of each district Di, Dj. Thus each district Di, D
j can be easily set and changed.

Further, the invention is characterized in that the search means searches for a vehicle having a predetermined dynamic state or a vehicle having a predetermined attribute.

According to the present invention, the vehicle to be searched by the search means is selected from a predetermined dynamic state of the vehicle, for example, an actual vehicle and an empty vehicle from among the empty vehicles, or a predetermined attribute. For example, the type of vehicle such as taxi and the name of the taxi company to which each vehicle belongs are set, and the customer arrival time is shortened as much as possible from vehicles having such predetermined dynamics or vehicles having predetermined attributes. Search and select the vehicle as the optimal vehicle.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the related value kij is changed depending on the traffic situation.

According to the present invention, the related value kij stored in the district memory is changed depending on the traffic condition. For example, in the time period of the day, the traveling time depending on the moving direction in the morning and evening becomes longer. , And depending on at least one of the day of the week and the season of the year, etc., an associated value kij is set in the district memory. In this way, it is possible to easily select the most appropriate vehicle that minimizes the customer arrival time from the vehicles to be dispatched to the customer.

Further, according to the present invention, each vehicle has a predetermined time W
0 or more, including stop detection means for detecting that the stop state is maintained, the search means responds to the output of the stop detection means,
It is characterized by searching for vehicles other than the vehicle that has been stopped.

According to the present invention, the stop detecting means
It is detected that the vehicle has been stopped for a predetermined time W0 (for example, 30 minutes) or more, and a driver of a vehicle having such a long stop time is often eating or taking a break, and therefore, such Selection of a vehicle having a long stop time is not performed by the search means.

Further, it is also possible that a vehicle is waiting at a waiting place, and that the leading vehicle is searched and selected from the waiting vehicles with priority.

Further, the present invention includes speed detecting means for detecting the moving speed V of each vehicle, and the searching means responds to the output of the speed detecting means, and detects the speed of the vehicle other than the vehicle whose moving speed V is less than a predetermined value V0. It is characterized by searching for a vehicle.

According to the present invention, a vehicle in which the moving speed V of the vehicle detected by the speed detecting means is less than the predetermined value V0, in other words, a vehicle having a short traveling distance within a predetermined time, has a traffic jam. It is expected that you are driving on a severe road. Therefore, the search means does not search for a vehicle having such a low moving speed V0.

The vehicle has a GPS (Global Positioning System) for detecting the latitude and longitude of the vehicle.
The speed of the vehicle is detected by a vehicle speed detecting means, the current position and speed of each vehicle thus obtained are transmitted from the vehicle, and the vehicle is detected based on the current position and speed of the vehicle. It is in a stopped state or the moving speed V can be easily known from a remote place. The detection of the vehicle speed is omitted, and only the current position of the vehicle is detected, and based on the position of the vehicle, it is detected by calculating that the vehicle is in a stopped state or the speed within a certain period of time is low. You may make it.

According to the present invention, there is provided the vehicle search device, first communication means for wirelessly transmitting a dispatch command signal to be dispatched to the vehicle searched by the search means of the vehicle search device, And a second communication means for receiving a dispatch command signal from the first communication means.

According to the present invention, a dispatch command signal is wirelessly transmitted from the first communication means to the vehicle searched by the vehicle search device, and the dispatch command signal is received by the second communication means mounted on the vehicle. This allows the customer to be instructed that the vehicle should head. In this way, the vehicle allocation processing operation can be automatically performed with the customer arrival time as short as possible.

[0027]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. The dispatch center 12 receives a call from a telephone 15 of a customer 14 via a public telephone line 13 to request dispatch of a vehicle 16 such as a taxi. The telephone 1 is connected to the public telephone line 13.
The call made by 5 includes a signal representing the telephone number corresponding to the customer 14 and is transmitted. Such a telephone service is, for example, a CLASS (Customer Local Area)
Signaling System). The public telephone line 13 is connected to a telephone exchange 17 provided in the dispatch center 12, and is connected to a terminal device 18 via a line 19. A customer information server 21 is connected to the line 19, and a customer memory 22 is connected to the customer information server 21. A communication control server 23 is connected to the line 19, and a vehicle memory 24 is connected to the communication control server 23. Communication control server 23
Includes a first communication unit 25, which can communicate wirelessly with a second communication unit 26 mounted on the vehicle 16.

The terminal device 18 has a processing circuit 28 realized by a microcomputer.
8 is connected to line 19. The processing circuit 28 includes a handset 31. Using this handset 31, a telephone call can be made with the telephone 15 of the customer 14, and a call can be made with the driver of the vehicle 16 through the first communication means 25 by the speaker / microphone 83 of the second communication means 26. be able to. The handset 31 has a microphone 29 and a speaker 30.

Further, the processing circuit 28 is provided with a display means 32 and an input means 33. The display means 32 is realized by, for example, a cathode ray tube or a liquid crystal, and an input means 33 called a translucent flat panel is disposed above the display screen. The operator can input the coordinate position of the input means 33 by a finger or a pen or the like, thereby inputting information. The input means 33 is also provided with a vehicle allocation execution switch 34 such as a push button for manually inputting an instruction to execute vehicle allocation of the vehicle 16. The processing circuit 28 includes a memory 3 for arithmetic processing.
5 is connected. A part of the memory 35 constitutes a district memory 36.

The vehicle 16 is, for example, a taxi as described above, and the vehicle 16 has a second communication means 26 mounted thereon. First communication means 25 and handset 31 using speaker / microphone 83 connected to radio 82
This allows the driver to talk to the telephone reception operator. Further, the wireless device 82 includes a terminal device 84. A signal 76 (see FIG. 7A described later) received by the wireless device 82 is decoded and recognized by the terminal device 84. The terminal device 84 includes a display means 87 such as a cathode ray tube or a liquid crystal. A GPS device 89 is connected to the terminal device 84 and detects latitude and longitude representing the current position of the vehicle 16 by communicating with a plurality of artificial satellites above the earth. A signal representing the current position is: The signal 91 shown in FIG.
Is transmitted to the first communication means 25 at a constant cycle.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a map of an operation area 38 in which the vehicle 16 is allocated to the customer 14. This operation area 3
8 is divided into a plurality of districts D1, D2, D3,. It is assumed that the position 39 of the customer 14 is located, for example, in the district D1 in FIG. The plurality of vehicles 16 are identified by individual vehicle numbers 101, 102, and 103, and are assumed to exist in, for example, the districts D1, D2, and D3. The linear distance on the plane of the map between the position 39 of the customer 14 and each of the vehicles 16 of the vehicle numbers 101 to 103 is represented by a reference L1.
1, L12 and L13.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents stored in the customer memory 22. The customer memory 22 stores a telephone number 41 for each customer 14, a name 42 of the customer 14, a latitude 43, a longitude 44, and an address 4 representing the position of the customer 14.
5 and directions 46 expressed in sentences are stored, and further, the district Di where the position of the customer 14 exists is stored.
(I is a natural number) is stored.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents stored in the vehicle memory 24. The vehicle allocation status data 52 corresponding to the vehicle number data 51 for identifying each of the plurality of vehicles 16 is
Is an actual vehicle 53 carrying a customer, or an empty vehicle 54 not carrying a passenger. In the vehicle allocation status data 52, when the vehicle is the actual vehicle 53, the logic "1"
Are stored, and when the vehicle is empty 54, the logic “1” is stored. The data 55 of the current position of each vehicle 16 includes the current latitude 56 and longitude 57 of the vehicle 16, and further includes the current location Dj (j is a natural number) of the vehicle 16.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a part of the contents stored in the district memory 36. As shown in FIG. For each district Di where the customer 14 exists,
As shown in FIG. 5, a coefficient kij which is a related value corresponding to the area Dj where the vehicle 16 exists is set and stored in advance. The coefficient kij can be changed and set, for example, in this embodiment for each 24-hour time zone of the day. For example, when the customer 14 is located in the district D1 and the vehicle number 101 of the plurality of vehicles 16 is located in the district D1, the coefficient k11 is determined in all of a plurality of (three in this embodiment) time periods of the day. It is set to 0.5.
The customer 14 is located in the area D1 and has the vehicle number 10 of the vehicle 16.
When 2 exists in the district D2, the coefficient k12 for each time zone
a, k12b, and k12c (generally indicated by reference numeral k12) are set to 0.8, 1.0, and 0.7, respectively. Further, the customer 14 exists in the district D1, and the vehicle number 10
When the second vehicle 16 exists in the area D3, the coefficient k13
Is set to 5.0 over all time periods. In this way, the value of the coefficient kij is determined when the vehicle 16 moves from the district Dj where the vehicle 16 exists to the district Di where the customer 14 exists.

The coefficient kij is determined in accordance with the time required for the vehicle 16 to move in the districts Di and Dj, and includes at least one traffic condition such as day of the week and season in addition to the actual time zone. . For example, in this embodiment, the coefficient kij
Means that customer 14 is in district D1 and vehicle 16 is in district D2
, When the time zone is changed, the reference characters k12a, k12
As shown by 12b and k12c, the setting is changed depending on the time zone. The coefficient kij is set to a larger value as the time required for the movement of the vehicle 16 from the district Di to Dj is longer.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the processing circuit 28 of the terminal device 18. When a call is received from the telephone 14 of the customer 14 via the public telephone line 13, the telephone reception operator operates the hook switch and operates the handset 31 to operate the telephone 15 of the customer 14.
Make a phone call with. At this time, the telephone line 1 from the customer 14
A signal representing the telephone number via 3 is received and detected in processing circuit 28. Therefore, in step n2,
In response to this telephone number, the customer information server 21 reads customer information such as the customer name 42 and the data 43 to 46, Di indicating the customer position shown in FIG. The customer information is displayed on the display means 32, and the operator confirms the customer and the vehicle allocation while viewing the customer information displayed on the display means 32, operates the vehicle allocation execution switch 34 of the input means 33, and executes the vehicle allocation processing. Start the operation.

Thus, in step n3, the processing circuit 28 controls the vehicle memory 2 by the operation of the communication control server 23.
4 and the data 55 of the current position of the vehicle 16 are read out. In this step n3, the vehicle allocation status data 52 is searched for a vehicle number that is an empty vehicle 54. For example, in this embodiment, the vehicle number 1 is used.
01, 102 and 103 are all empty. In the next step n4, a desired attribute of the empty vehicle 16 is selected. The attribute is the type of the vehicle 16, the vehicle 1
It may be the name of a taxi company to which 6 belongs. Such attribute data 58 is stored and set in advance in the vehicle memory 24 corresponding to each vehicle number 51.

In step n5, a linear distance Lij between the customer 14 and each of the empty vehicles 16 on the map plane is calculated and obtained. This linear distance Lij is stored in the customer memory 2
Latitude 43 and Longitude 4 of customer 14 stored in 2
4 and the latitude 56 and the longitude 57 of the vehicle 16 stored in the vehicle memory 24 can be calculated. In step n6, the coefficient kij corresponding to the time zone of the district memory 36 corresponding to the district Di of the customer 14 and the district Dj of the vehicle 16 is read.
The processing circuit 28 is provided with a timer 59 having a 24-hour clock function, whereby the coefficient kij corresponding to the time zone can be read from the district memory 36.

In step n7, the correction distance S is calculated based on the linear distance Lij for each vehicle 16 calculated in step n5 and the coefficient kij obtained in step n6.
ij is calculated and calculated based on Equation 1. Sij = Lij.kij (1)

In step n8, an empty vehicle 16 having the minimum correction distance Sij is searched for and selected as an optimum vehicle. In step n9, the optimum vehicle 16 searched and selected in step n8 is set to the predetermined time W0.
It is detected whether or not the operation has been stopped. This step n9 constitutes a stop detecting means. In Step n9, the latitude 56 and longitude 57, which are the current position data 55 of each empty vehicle 16, are read out at predetermined relatively short time intervals, and the travel distance is calculated. By determining the moving distance over the predetermined time W0 in this manner, it is possible to detect whether or not the vehicle 16 remains stopped. The stop includes a state where the fixed position is not moved and a state where the fixed position is moved only slightly. When such a vehicle 16 remains stopped, the driver determines that the meal or the break is not the optimal vehicle to be dispatched, and removes the vehicle from the vehicle to be dispatched.

At step n10, the moving speed V of the vehicle 16 is detected. This step n10 constitutes a speed detecting means. The moving speed V is also calculated by calculating the latitude 56 and the longitude 57 of the current position data 55 in the vehicle memory 24 for each short time W10 and dividing by the moving distance A for each short time as described above. = A / W1
0) can be calculated and detected. When the specific moving speed V of the vehicle thus obtained is less than the predetermined value V0 (V <V0), the vehicle 16 is determined to be traveling on a congested road, for example, and should be dispatched. Remove from vehicle. The predetermined value V0 is, for example, 10 to 20.
km / h. Thus, when the vehicle remains stopped in step n9 or when the moving speed V is less than the predetermined value V0 in step n10, the process returns to step n8, and the correction distance Sij is the next smallest among the other vehicles 16 that can be dispatched. To find the best vehicle.

When the optimum vehicle selected in this way is detected, the processing circuit 28 is executed in the next step n11.
Operates the first communication means 25 to wirelessly transmit the signal 76 shown in FIG. 7A. The signal 76 includes a vehicle number 77 for identifying an optimal vehicle to be dispatched, a dispatch command signal 78 indicating a command to dispatch, and customer information 79 about the customer 14 to which the driver should go. The customer information 79 includes the data 43 to 46 of the name 42 and the position of the customer 14 in the customer memory 22 described above.

The driver of the vehicle 16 operates the response switch 97 in response to the dispatch command signal 78 based on the signal 76 received by the second communication means 26, and looks at the display contents of the display means 87 on which the customer information 79 is displayed. And the customer 14
, The response signal is transmitted by the wireless device 82. The signal 91 transmitted from the second communication means 26 is as shown in FIG.
The signal 91 includes a vehicle number 92 for identifying the vehicle 16, data 93 representing the current position of the vehicle 16, and dynamic data 9.
4 is included. The current position data 93 includes the latitude 56 and the longitude 57 in the above-mentioned vehicle memory 24, so that the processing circuit 28 determines the area D where the vehicle 16 exists.
j can be detected and written to the memory 24. The dynamic data 94 is data indicating that the vehicle 16 is an actual vehicle or an empty vehicle. Such dynamic data 94 is stored by the processing circuit 28 as the allocation status data 52 of the vehicle memory 24 as described above.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle 16 is provided with speed detecting means for detecting the vehicle speed V of the vehicle 16. The speed may be transmitted to the means 25 and the speed may be stored in the vehicle memory 24. When the vehicle speed V of the vehicle 16 is stored in the vehicle memory 24, the operations of steps n9 and n10 in FIG. 6 indicate whether the vehicle 16 remains stopped or the speed is less than a predetermined value V0. Can be easily performed. In this way, the telephone reception operator may communicate with the customer 14 using the handset 31, and after confirming the customer 14, operate the dispatch execution switch 72, and thereafter, the automatic dispatch operation is performed. Therefore, the operability of the operator is extremely good.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a part of a map for explaining a technique for setting a district Di in the customer's operation area. The operation area 38 is divided into a plurality of small districts 98 smaller than the district Di. The small area 98 is, for example, a square or a rectangle, and the operation area 38 is divided into a matrix by such a large number of small areas 98. Each district Di is formed by a set of small districts 98 indicated by x in FIG. Each district Di includes one or more small districts 98.

In the above-described embodiment, the correction distance Sij is calculated by the product of the coefficient kij stored in the district memory 36 and the linear distance Lij, and the vehicle 16 having the minimum correction distance Sij is determined as the optimum vehicle. Although it is configured to perform vehicle allocation, in another embodiment of the present invention, the area Di where the customer 14 exists is read from the customer memory 22 without using such a coefficient kij, and the vehicle allocation such as an empty vehicle is performed. The vehicle 16 that satisfies the possible conditions is read from the vehicle memory 24, and the area Dj where the vehicle 16 is located is detected. Thus, the areas Di and Dj where the customers 16 and the vehicle 16 are located are the same. The vehicle 16 may be searched.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, such a coefficient kij is used as a related value, and the time required for the customer 14 to move between the district Di and the district Dj where the vehicle 16 exists is increased from a small value. The priority is set in order from the highest to the lowest. The vehicle 16 existing in the district Dj having a higher priority may be searched and dispatched.

[0048]

According to the first to third aspects of the present invention, it is possible to search for and select a vehicle in which the customer arrival time is as short as possible in consideration of geographical conditions and the like. For example, in the case of a complex terrain with valleys and peaks, there are customers near the summit, and on the map plane, even if the linear distance between the customer and the vehicle at the bottom of the valley is short on the map plane, the complex terrain There are times when a long mileage, and thus a long mileage, is needed, whereas other vehicles, for example on simple terrain roads running on mountain peaks, have long distances to customers. Also, it can reach the customer in a shorter time than the vehicle at the bottom of the valley. Therefore, the vehicle can be delivered and dispatched to the customer in the shortest possible time.

In particular, according to the present invention, when the locations Di and Dj where the customer position and the vehicle position are the same are the same, such a vehicle is preferentially searched. In addition, the calculation operation can be shortened.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of districts D
For each i, Dj, the priority order is set for the district Dj to which the vehicle belongs, and it is easy to search and select the vehicle with the shortest possible customer arrival time. Be simplified.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a calculation is performed using the related value kij stored in the district memory, and a vehicle having a customer arrival time as short as possible is searched for and selected, and the comfortable vehicle is selected. Can be done accurately.

Further, according to the present invention, a straight line distance Lij on a map plane between each position of the customer and a vehicle such as an empty vehicle that can be dispatched is calculated by the distance calculation means and stored in the district memory. The correction distance Sij is obtained by the correction operation means by multiplying the coefficient kij by the calculated coefficient kij, and a vehicle having the minimum correction distance Sij obtained in this way is searched for and selected. This correction distance Sij is equivalent to the customer arrival time.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, each area Di,
In setting Dj, one or a plurality of small districts are collectively formed. As a result, the districts Di and Dj can be set with easy workability.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the vehicle to be searched is a vehicle having a predetermined dynamic state, for example, an empty vehicle, or a vehicle having a predetermined attribute, for example, a company name to which the vehicle belongs, such as a vehicle type and taxi. A search is made from among them, and this makes it possible to select a vehicle that is desired by the customer and that minimizes the customer arrival time.

According to the present invention, the related value kij stored in the district memory changes depending on traffic conditions, for example, time of day, day of week, and season of year. Therefore, the customer arrival time at which the vehicle reaches the customer is calculated more accurately, and the selection of the optimal vehicle becomes accurate.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, a search is not made for a vehicle that has been stopped for a long time, such as when the driver is eating or taking a break, thereby searching for a more optimal vehicle. Will be able to

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, a vehicle whose speed over a predetermined time is low, that is, a vehicle whose traveling speed V is less than a predetermined value V0, is not searched, so that the vehicle travels on a congested road. A search is not made for a vehicle or the like, which enables a search for a more optimal vehicle.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, a vehicle having a customer arrival time as short as possible is searched for, and a dispatch command signal is transmitted from the first communication means to the second communication means mounted on the vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to easily dispatch the most suitable vehicle to the customer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation area 38 for distributing vehicles 16 to customers 14.
FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing store contents of a customer memory 22;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing contents stored in a vehicle memory 24;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a part of contents stored in a district memory 36;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the processing circuit of the terminal device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of signals 76 and 91 output from first and second communication means 25 and 26;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a part of a map for explaining a method of setting a district Di in an operation area of a customer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Vehicle dispatch center 13 Public telephone line 14 Customer 15 Telephone 16 Vehicle 18,84 Terminal device 21 Customer information server 22 Customer memory 23 Communication control server 24 Vehicle memory 25 First communication means 26 Second communication means 28 Processing circuit 31 Handset 32, 87 display means 33 input means 34 vehicle allocation execution switch 35 memory 36 district memory 38 operation area 43,56 latitude 44,57 longitude 53 actual vehicle 54 empty vehicle 55,93 current position data 58 attribute data 78 vehicle allocation instruction signal 79 customer information 82 radio 89 GPS device 94 Dynamic data

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A district memory for dividing a customer's operation area into a plurality of districts for storage, a customer location output means for outputting a signal indicating the location of a customer, and a plurality of vehicles for each of a plurality of vehicles to be dispatched to the customer. A vehicle position output means for outputting a signal indicating the position; and a district Di in which the customer position is present and each vehicle position are present in response to the outputs of the customer position output means and the vehicle position output means, according to the store contents of the district memory. A search unit that searches for a vehicle having the same area Dj. 2. An operation area of a customer is divided into a plurality of districts, and a related value ki relating to each district Di and another district Dj.
j is set and stored, and the associated value kij is stored in a district memory determined according to the time required for the movement of the districts Di and Dj, and a customer position output means for outputting a signal indicating the position where the customer exists. And vehicle position output means for outputting a signal representing the position of each of a plurality of vehicles to be dispatched to the customer; and responding to the outputs of the customer position output means and the vehicle position output means, and storing the customer position based on the store contents of the district memory. Using the related value kij corresponding to the area Di where the vehicle exists and the area Dj where each vehicle location exists, the time required for each vehicle to move from the vehicle location to the customer location increases from the smaller value to the area Dj in the descending order. A search unit configured to set a priority order and search for a vehicle existing in a higher priority area Dj. 3. An operation area of a customer is divided into a plurality of districts, and a related value ki relating to each district Di and another district Dj.
j is set and stored, and the associated value kij is stored in a district memory determined according to the time required for the movement of the districts Di and Dj, and a customer position output means for outputting a signal indicating the position where the customer exists. And vehicle position output means for outputting a signal representing the position of each of a plurality of vehicles to be dispatched to the customer; and responding to the outputs of the customer position output means and the vehicle position output means, and storing the customer position based on the store contents of the district memory. The time required for each vehicle to move from the vehicle position to the customer position is calculated and predicted using the associated value kij corresponding to the area Di where the vehicle exists and the area Dj where each vehicle position exists. A vehicle search device that searches for a vehicle with a minimum time. 4. A related value kij stored in a district memory.
Is a coefficient, and is set to a larger value as the time required for the movement between the districts Di and Dj is longer. The search means responds to the outputs of the customer position output means and the vehicle position main means, and Distance calculating means for calculating the distance Lij between the vehicle and each position; first area signal generating means for deriving a first area signal indicating the area Di where the customer is located; District Dj where the location is located
A second district signal generating means for deriving a second district signal representing the following: a coefficient kij stored in a district memory is read in response to an output of the first and second district signal generating means, and a distance Lij is read.
2. The vehicle search device according to claim 1, further comprising: a correction operation unit that calculates a correction distance Sij that is an operation value of the coefficient kij. 5. Each district Di, Dj divides an operation area into a plurality of small districts smaller than each district Di, Dj.
5. The vehicle search device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle search device is formed by a plurality of adjacent small districts. 6. The search means selects a vehicle having a predetermined dynamic state or a vehicle having a predetermined attribute.
The vehicle search device according to claim 1, wherein the search is performed. 7. The vehicle search device according to claim 1, wherein the related value kij is changed depending on a traffic condition. 8. A stop detecting means for detecting that each vehicle remains stopped for a predetermined time W0 or more, and the search means responds to an output of the stop detecting means and outputs a signal indicating that the vehicle remains stopped. The vehicle search device according to claim 1, wherein a vehicle other than the vehicle is searched. 9. A speed detecting means for detecting a moving speed V of each vehicle, wherein the searching means responds to an output of the speed detecting means, and
The vehicle search device according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein a vehicle other than a vehicle having a value less than a predetermined value V0 is searched. 10. A vehicle search device according to claim 1, and a first communication for wirelessly transmitting a dispatch command signal to be dispatched to the vehicle searched by the search means of the vehicle search device. Means, and a second communication means mounted on the vehicle and receiving a dispatch command signal from the first communication means.