JP2002190096A - Vehicle operation management device and control program for it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase a car dispatch ratio and to shorten a user collection time for better service by always giving a dispatch instruction to an optimum taxi while taking not only a distance to the user but individual conditions of taxis into consideration. SOLUTION: An empty car is selected on the basis of vehicle information received from taxis M1-Mn, and it is determined whether the empty car is located within a dispatch instruction exclusion area such as a customer waiting motor pool in station premises and unavailable for the dispatch instruction or located in another place and available for the dispatch instruction. In arrival of a dispatch demand from a user, a taxi in the nearest distance to the user location is selected from the taxis determined to be available for dispatch in an automatic mode, and the dispatch instruction is transmitted to this taxi. In display of a taxi display icon, a display color for the taxi available for the dispatch instruction is made different from that of an unavailable taxi.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle operation management device having a function of monitoring the operation status of a taxi and giving a dispatch instruction to an empty taxi via a wireless line, and a control program therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, taxis have been operated by GPS (Global
GPS-AVM (Automatic Vehicle Moni) managed by using Positioning System and mobile wireless network
toring) system is in practical use.

[0003] This type of system is composed of, for example, a radio base station in which a vehicle operation management device is installed, and a dispatch instruction reception control device mounted in each taxi. The dispatch instruction receiving device includes a GPS receiver and a mobile wireless device. The information indicating the dynamics of each taxi, that is, whether the taxi is a real vehicle carrying a user, an empty vehicle, or being forwarded, is represented by G
Along with the position information measured by the PS receiver, it is transmitted from the mobile wireless device to the wireless base station via a wireless line. The vehicle operation management device grasps the operation status of each taxi based on the transmission information, and when a dispatch request arrives from the user in this state, the distance to the requesting user is determined based on the operation status. A taxi closest to the user is selected, and a dispatch instruction is sent to this taxi via a wireless line so that the taxi is directed to the location of the user.

[0004] By using such a system, the dynamics and the position of each taxi can be intensively and accurately grasped by the vehicle operation management device, thereby efficiently issuing dispatch instructions and greatly increasing the taxi dispatch efficiency. Can be increased.

[0005]

However, in this type of conventional system, generally, when a dispatch request is received from a user, a taxi is selected based only on the short distance to the user and a dispatch instruction is given. I try to give. For this reason, if a taxi that has been given a dispatch instruction is waiting for customers or getting caught in traffic jams, for example, at the rotary in front of the station, it will not be possible to move immediately, so it will take a long time to arrive at the user's location. It may take some time. This leads to a decrease in dispatch efficiency and a decrease in service to the user, which is very undesirable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its object is to always give a dispatch instruction to an optimal taxi in consideration of not only the distance to the user but also the individual situation of the taxi. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle operation management device and a control program for the same, which can improve the dispatch efficiency of the vehicle and improve the serviceability by shortening the pick-up time of the user.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention collects vehicle information including information indicating the dynamics and positions of a plurality of vehicles via a radio line, and collects the collected information. Selecting an empty vehicle that can be dispatched from the plurality of vehicles based on the obtained vehicle information, and further, based on the vehicle information of the selected empty vehicle, the empty vehicle is an appropriate vehicle as a dispatching instruction target. It is determined whether or not. Then, in this state, when a vehicle allocation request arrives from the user,
Based on the position information of the user and the collected vehicle information, a vehicle that is closest in distance or time to the user is selected from the vehicles determined to be appropriate by the determination, and this selection is performed. A dispatch instruction is transmitted to the selected vehicle via a wireless line.

Specifically, based on the position information of the selected empty vehicle, it is determined whether or not the empty vehicle is present at a location where a customer queue is to be formed. Then, the vehicle closest to the user in terms of distance or time is selected from the remaining vehicles excluding the determined vehicle.

Alternatively, it is determined based on the position information of the selected empty vehicle and the detection information of the traffic congestion location whether or not the empty vehicle is present in the traffic congestion location. Then, the vehicle closest to the user in terms of distance or time is selected from the remaining vehicles excluding the determined vehicle.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when selecting a vehicle to which a dispatch instruction is given, not only the distance to the user but also the situation of the vehicle, such as when it is in a customer queue or when it is present in a traffic jam location In consideration of the above, it is possible to always select the optimal taxi. For this reason, it is possible to increase the vehicle allocation efficiency, and to shorten the time required for the user to pick up, thereby improving the serviceability.

According to the present invention, when display information indicating the operation state of the vehicle is created and displayed based on the vehicle information collected by the vehicle information collection means, it is determined that the display information is inappropriate as a vehicle allocation instruction target. It is also characterized in that the display pattern of the vehicle is different from the display pattern of the vehicle determined to be appropriate. In this case, when the operator manually selects the vehicle to be dispatched while viewing the display information of the operation state of each vehicle, the operator selects and designates the vehicle determined to be inappropriate as the dispatching target. Can be prevented.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a taxi operation management system including a vehicle operation management device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This system comprises a radio base station BS provided with a vehicle operation management device, and a plurality of mobile stations connected to the radio base station BS via a radio line of a mobile radio network. These mobile stations are taxis M1 to Mn in the present embodiment.

Each of the taxis M1 to Mn is equipped with a dispatch instruction reception control device, a GPS receiver, and a mobile radio. The vehicle allocation instruction reception control device wirelessly transmits the position information of the own vehicle measured by the GPS receiver and the dynamics of the own vehicle, that is, information indicating whether the vehicle is carrying a customer, whether the vehicle is empty or empty, from the mobile wireless device. The signal is transmitted to the wireless base station BS via a line. Also, the mobile dispatcher receives the dispatch instruction information transmitted from the radio base station BS via the radio line, and if the dispatch instruction information is directed to the own vehicle, outputs the instruction content from the speaker. Is displayed together with the display.

On the other hand, as a basic function, the vehicle operation management device collects and stores and manages vehicle information including its position information and dynamic information from each of the taxis M1 to Mn, and stores and manages the vehicle information when a vehicle allocation request comes from a user. A function of selecting a taxi located at the shortest distance to the user from empty taxis based on the stored vehicle information of each taxi and instructing the taxi to dispatch the taxi.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the vehicle operation management device will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration. That is, the radio signals transmitted from the taxis M1 to Mn via the radio line are input to the radio unit 12 after being received by the antenna 11. The radio section 12 performs low noise amplification of the radio signal, frequency conversion to an intermediate frequency signal or a baseband signal, and demodulation processing. The demodulated signal is input to the control section 13.

The control unit 13 is connected to an audio processing unit 14, a display unit 17, a printer 18, an input unit 19, and a storage unit 20, respectively. The voice processing unit 14 includes the control unit 13
The voice data output from the taxi driver is converted into an analog voice signal and output from the speaker 15. At the same time, the voice signal of the operator input to the microphone 16 is converted into voice data and then supplied to the control unit 13.

The display unit 17 has a CRT or LCD display, and displays display data indicating the operating state of the taxis M1 to Mn supplied from the control unit 13. Printer 18
Prints out the print data output from the control unit 13. The input unit 19 includes a keyboard and a mouse, and supplies instruction data of the operator input to the control unit 13 by operating the keyboard and the mouse.

The storage section 20 has a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area includes a vehicle information collection control program 21, a vehicle condition determination program 22, a vehicle allocation instruction control program 23,
An operation state display control program 24 is stored.

The vehicle information collection control program 21 receives vehicle information sent from each of the taxis M1 to Mn via a wireless line periodically or when the state changes, and stores the vehicle information in the data storage area of the storage unit 20. . Vehicle information includes
As described above, the position information of the taxi measured by the GPS receiver and the information indicating the dynamics of the taxi are included.

The vehicle condition determination program 22 first determines whether or not the vehicle is empty based on the dynamic information based on the vehicle information of each taxi M1 to Mn stored in the data storage area. Next, for each taxi determined to be empty, its location information is registered in advance in a dispatch instruction exclusion area MP.
It is determined whether or not a dispatch instruction is possible or impossible by comparing the position information with the position information.

When a vehicle allocation request arrives from a user, the vehicle allocation instruction control program 23 recognizes a position indicating the location of the requesting user. In the case of the automatic mode, a taxi which is located at the shortest distance to the location of the requesting user is selected from the taxis determined to be dispatchable by the vehicle status determination program 22.
A dispatch instruction is transmitted to this taxi. On the other hand, in the case of the manual mode, a taxi within a predetermined distance from the user is selected based on the position information of the user and the position information of each taxi M1 to Mn stored in the data storage area. Then, a dispatch instruction is transmitted to the selected taxi designated by the operator.

The operation state display control program 24 creates display data for displaying the operation state of the taxi based on the dynamic information and the position information stored in the data storage area for each of the taxis M1 to Mn. Then, the display data is displayed on the display unit 17. At the same time, the taxis selected within the vehicle allocation instruction control program 23 and within a predetermined distance from the user are arranged and displayed in order of distance. At this time, the display color of a taxi for which dispatch is possible and the display color of a taxi for which dispatch is impossible are made different from each other based on the determination result of the vehicle status determination program 22.

Next, the operation of the vehicle operation management device configured as described above will be described. 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing the control procedure and contents, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the location of a taxi.

(1) Vehicle Information Collection Control As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle operation management device monitors the arrival of vehicle information from each of the taxis M1 to Mn in step 3a, and issues a vehicle allocation instruction from the user in step 3e. Watching for the arrival.

In this state, when the vehicle information arrives from the taxis M1 to Mn, the vehicle operation management device first proceeds to step 3
After receiving the vehicle information in b, the corresponding vehicle information stored in the data storage area in the storage unit 20 is updated to the newly received information.

Next, in step 3c, the vehicle operation management device determines whether or not each taxi M1 to Mn is empty based on the dynamic information based on the vehicle information stored in the data storage area. Then, for each taxi determined to be empty, the location information is compared with the location information of the dispatch instruction exclusion area MP registered in advance to determine whether dispatch is possible or impossible. Here, as the dispatching instruction exclusion area MP, for example, a customer waiting vehicle pool provided in a station yard as shown in FIG. 5 is applied. The reason is, for example, taxis M5 and M6 in the figure,
This is because, depending on the parking position, it may not be possible to move immediately even after receiving the dispatch instruction.

Subsequently, in step 3d, each taxi M1 is stored on the basis of the latest vehicle information of each taxi M1 to Mn stored in the data storage area in the storage unit 20.
The display data indicating the operation state of the Mn to ＭｎMn is recreated, and the data being displayed on the display unit 17 is updated to the new display data.

Thereafter, similarly, every time vehicle information arrives from the taxis M1 to Mn, the vehicle information stored in the data storage area of the storage unit 20 is updated, the determination as to whether or not a vehicle allocation instruction is possible, and the display data are updated. Done.

(2) Vehicle Allocation Instruction Control During the above-mentioned vehicle allocation request monitoring, the user receives a vehicle allocation request, for example, by telephone, and the operator inputs a command indicating that the vehicle allocation request has occurred and the user's location. Let's say you input from As shown in FIG. 4, when the vehicle operation management device captures the input information of the operator in step 4a, the vehicle operation management device obtains, for example, the latitude and longitude from the input location data of the user and the previously stored map information in step 4b. The user's current location information consisting of data is obtained.

Next, in step 4c, the vehicle operation management device determines whether the automatic mode or the manual mode is set as the dispatch instruction mode. If the automatic mode has been set, step 4
The process proceeds to step d, where one of the taxis that has been determined to be able to issue a dispatch instruction in step 3c is selected as one of the taxis located at the shortest distance to the location of the requesting user. Then, a dispatch instruction is transmitted to the selected taxi in step 4e.

On the other hand, if the manual mode is set, the vehicle operation management device proceeds to step 4f, where the position information of the user obtained in step 4b and the data storage area in the storage unit 20 are stored. A predetermined number (for example, up to 7) of empty taxis within a predetermined distance from the user, based on the position information of each taxi M1 to Mn stored in the
Select). Then, the display data of the selected taxi is displayed on the display unit 17 in ascending order of the distance.

In this display, in step 4g, the vehicle operation management device first displays the display colors of the taxis that can be dispatched and the display of the unacceptable taxis in accordance with the determination result of step 3c. Make the color different. FIG. 6 shows an example of the display result.
In the figure, the hatched display icons indicate taxis for which dispatch is impossible, and the non-hatched display icons indicate taxis for which dispatch is possible.

In this state, in accordance with the display data, the operator performs an operation for selecting a taxi closest to the user among the taxis that can be dispatched, for example, a taxi M4 in the example shown in FIG. Suppose. Then, the vehicle operation management device shifts from step 4h to step 4i, and transmits a dispatch instruction to the selected and designated taxi. The taxi selection / designation operation is performed, for example, by setting the mouse pointer on the display icon of the taxi to be selected on the display screen and then clicking the mouse.

Thereafter, similarly, every time a dispatch request is received from a user, a taxi that can be dispatched except for a taxi existing in the dispatch instruction exclusion area MP, such as a pool for waiting for customers in the station yard, is provided. A taxi closest in distance to the location is selected, and a dispatch instruction is transmitted to this taxi.

As described above, in this embodiment, an empty vehicle is selected based on the vehicle information received from the taxis M1 to Mn, and this empty vehicle exists in the dispatching instruction exclusion area MP such as a passenger waiting pool in the station yard. It is determined whether the vehicle is a vehicle that cannot be dispatched or a vehicle that exists in another place and can be dispatched. Then, when a dispatch request is received from the user, in the automatic mode, a taxi that is closest in distance to the user among the taxis determined to be dispatchable is selected, and a dispatch instruction is transmitted to this taxi. I am trying to do it.

Therefore, when selecting a taxi to which a dispatch instruction is given, it is possible to always select an optimal taxi in consideration of not only the distance to the user but also whether or not the dispatch is possible. Become. For this reason, it is possible to increase the vehicle allocation efficiency, and to shorten the time required for the user to pick up, thereby improving the serviceability.

In the manual mode, each taxi M
Based on the vehicle information received from 1 to Mn, an empty taxi within a predetermined distance from the user is selected, and the display icons of the selected taxi are displayed on the display unit 17 in ascending order of distance. In this display, the display color of a taxi for which a dispatch instruction can be made among the taxis to be displayed is different from the display color of a taxi which cannot be dispatched.

Therefore, when the operator manually selects and designates a vehicle to be dispatched, an appropriate taxi and an inappropriate taxi can be clearly identified as dispatched objects, and as a result, an inappropriate taxi can be identified. Can be prevented beforehand.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the embodiment, the position information and the dynamic information of each taxi are transmitted from the taxi to the vehicle operation management device periodically, but may be transmitted in response to a request from the vehicle operation management device. When the position information and the dynamic information change, the taxi may autonomously transmit the changed information to the vehicle operation management device.

In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which a passenger waiting vehicle pool in a station premises is applied as a vehicle allocation instruction exclusion area. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to set a traffic congestion location on a main road as a dispatching instruction exclusion area and exclude taxis existing in this area from dispatching instruction targets. The traffic congestion location is, for example, VICS (Vehicle Information Communic
ation System).

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to a system for managing the operation of a taxi has been described as an example. However, the present invention can be applied to other vehicles such as a pickup and delivery vehicle operated by a courier other than a taxi. is there.

In addition, the configuration of the vehicle operation management device, the control procedure of the vehicle information collection control program, the vehicle condition determination program, the vehicle allocation instruction control program, the operation state display control program, and the contents thereof do not depart from the present invention. Various modifications can be made.

[0044]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, vehicle information including information indicating the dynamics and positions of a plurality of vehicles is collected via a wireless line, and the collected vehicle information is also collected. And selecting an empty vehicle that can be dispatched from among the plurality of vehicles, and further determining whether or not the empty vehicle is an appropriate vehicle as a dispatch instruction target based on the vehicle information of the selected empty vehicle. I do. Then, when a dispatch request arrives from the user in this state, based on the position information of the user and the collected vehicle information, a distance from the vehicle determined to be appropriate by the determination to the user is determined. The vehicle that is closest in terms of time or time is selected, and a dispatch instruction is transmitted to the selected vehicle via a wireless line.

Therefore, according to the present invention, not only the distance to the user but also the individual situation of the taxi is considered,
You can always give dispatch instructions to the best taxi, which will increase dispatch efficiency,
It is possible to provide a vehicle operation management device and a control program for the vehicle operation management device, which can improve serviceability by shortening a user's pick-up time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a taxi operation management system including a vehicle operation management device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the vehicle operation management device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure and contents of vehicle information collection control by the vehicle operation management device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure and contents of a vehicle allocation instruction control by the vehicle operation management device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a taxi operation management control operation by the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of a display result of a dispatch instruction candidate in the vehicle operation management device shown in FIG. 2;

[Description of Signs] BS: Radio base stations equipped with a vehicle operation management device M1 to Mn: Taxi as a mobile station MP: Dispatch instruction exclusion area 11: Antenna 12: Radio unit 13, Control unit 14: Voice processing unit 15: Speaker 16 Microphone 17 Display unit 18 Printer 19 Input unit 20 Storage unit 21 Vehicle information collection control program 22 Vehicle status determination program 23 Vehicle allocation instruction control program 24 Operation status display control program

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. Vehicle information collecting means for collecting and storing vehicle information including information indicating the dynamics and positions of a plurality of vehicles via a wireless line, and vehicle information collected by the vehicle information collecting means. Based on the vehicle information of the empty vehicle selected by the first selecting means, based on Determining means for determining whether or not the vehicle is appropriate as a vehicle allocation instruction target; and when a vehicle allocation request arrives from the user, the determining means based on the position information of the user and the collected vehicle information. Selecting a vehicle that is closest to the user in terms of distance or time from the vehicles determined to be appropriate by the user, and selecting the vehicle selected by the second selecting device via a wireless line. Hand dispatch finger Fleet management apparatus characterized by comprising a distribution instruction transmitting means for transmitting. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines, based on the position information of the empty vehicle selected by the first selecting unit, whether the empty vehicle is present at a location forming a customer queue. The selecting means of (2) selects the vehicle closest in distance or time to the user from the remaining vehicles excluding the vehicles determined to be present at the location where the customer queue is formed by the determining means. The vehicle operation management device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines whether or not the empty vehicle is located at the traffic congestion location based on the position information of the empty vehicle selected by the first selection unit and the detection information of the traffic congestion location. Determining, the second selecting means selects a vehicle closest in distance or time to the user from the remaining vehicles excluding the vehicles determined to be present in the congestion location by the determining means. The vehicle operation management device according to claim 1, wherein the operation is performed. 4. A display unit for creating and displaying display information indicating an operation state of the vehicle based on the vehicle information collected by the vehicle information collection unit, and based on a determination result of the determination unit. 2. A display pattern control means for making a display pattern of a vehicle determined to be inappropriate as a vehicle allocation instruction target different from a display pattern of a vehicle determined to be appropriate.
The vehicle operation management device according to the above. 5. A method for collecting and storing vehicle information including information indicating the dynamics and positions of the vehicles from a plurality of vehicles via a wireless line, and storing the vehicle information based on the collected vehicle information. Selecting an empty vehicle capable of dispatch instruction from the vehicles; and, based on the vehicle information of the selected empty vehicle, determining whether the empty vehicle is an appropriate vehicle as a dispatch instruction target. When a dispatch request arrives from the user, based on the location information of the user and the collected vehicle information, distance or time to the user from among the vehicles determined to be appropriate as dispatch instruction targets. Selecting a vehicle closest to the vehicle, and transmitting a vehicle allocation instruction to the vehicle selected in this step via a wireless line. Program.