JP2009199498A - Vehicle charging system and vehicle charging method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle charging system capable of suppressing required manual aid and capable of easily and appropriately charging a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: A virtual area leaving detecting part 11 monitors whether a vehicle 10 leaves a virtual area 13 during a limited time period when an engine of the vehicle 10 is started or operating, and notifies a management server 20 that the vehicle 10 leaves the virtual area 13 when the vehicle 10 leaves the virtual area 13 during the limited time period. When receiving that the vehicle leaves the virtual area 13, the management server 20 transmits a charging request to the charging server 30. The charging server 30 charges the vehicle 10 in response to the charging request. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle charging system and a vehicle charging method.

For example, in a foreign country or the like, there may be a time limit for prohibiting the use of vehicles (running on public roads). If you really want to use the vehicle during the time limit, you need to pay in advance with a coupon. If this is violated, the police arrest the driver of the vehicle and impose a fine on the driver.
However, there are limits to the manual check system, and the detection accuracy of violating vehicles is low.
Therefore, it is conceivable to monitor the use of the vehicle in the time limit period by detecting and grasping the current position of the vehicle, and to charge for use when used.

Conventional technologies include, for example, a mobile communication system such as a mobile phone system or a PHS that constantly detects and grasps the current position in order to suppress the entry of a vehicle into a specific area with heavy traffic congestion and to charge the entered vehicle. There has been proposed a technique for detecting and grasping the position of a vehicle using a system or GPS (Global Positioning System) and charging a vehicle entering a specific area (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2). .
JP 2003-099834 A Japanese translation of PCT publication No. 2002-522851

  However, the above-described conventional technique aims to suppress the entry of the vehicle into the specific area, and there is a problem that it is not possible to charge the vehicle used in the time limit.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to reduce the necessary manpower and to easily and appropriately charge a vehicle charging system and vehicle charging method. Is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides a vehicle billing system including an on-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle and a server device that communicates with the on-vehicle device via a network. Current time acquisition means for acquiring time, virtual area acquisition means for acquiring a geographical area that is geographically fixed within a predetermined range of the vehicle, and the current time is a time limit for restricting travel of the vehicle A detection means for detecting whether or not a vehicle exists in the virtual area, and when the detection means detects that the vehicle has moved out of the virtual area, it notifies that the vehicle has left the virtual area. A vehicle billing system comprising: a billing unit that bills the vehicle when the vehicle device is notified that the vehicle has left the virtual area. is there.

According to the present invention, when the current time is in the time limit, if it is detected that the vehicle has left the virtual area geographically fixed to the predetermined range centered on the stopped vehicle, Charge the vehicle.
Therefore, it can be detected with high accuracy and certainty that the vehicle has moved to the time limit. Further, when the vehicle leaves the virtual area during the time limit, automatic billing can save the trouble of paying with a coupon or the like, and convenience can be improved.

  According to the present invention, in the above invention, the virtual area acquisition unit acquires the virtual area in advance, or acquires the virtual area based on position information at the time of starting or stopping the engine. .

  According to the present invention, the virtual area is acquired in advance, or the virtual area is acquired based on the position information at the time of engine start or stop, so that the size or shape of the virtual area changes depending on the stop position. Even if it exists, it can respond flexibly and it can detect with high accuracy and certain that the vehicle has moved to the time limit.

  The present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, the size of the virtual region is variable according to a stop place of the vehicle.

  According to the present invention, even if it is a limited time zone, such as whether the place where the vehicle stopped is a private parking lot or a public parking lot, the movable range differs depending on the parked location. Can also respond.

  In the present invention according to the present invention, the virtual area includes a buffer area for preventing erroneous detection of the vehicle leaving the virtual area.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the exit determination from being repeated near the boundary of the virtual region.

  The present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, the vehicle-mounted device further includes storage means for storing calendar information indicating a time zone in which the time limit is set.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily and quickly determine whether or not it is the time limit period without inquiring the server device one by one.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides a vehicle billing method for billing a vehicle moving in a predetermined time limit by a server device, the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle. The step of acquiring the current time, the step of acquiring a virtual region geographically fixed to a predetermined range of the vehicle by the vehicle-mounted device, and the vehicle-mounted device when the current time is a time limit Detecting whether or not there is a vehicle in the virtual area; and when detecting that the vehicle has moved out of the virtual area, the vehicle-mounted device notifies that the vehicle has left the virtual area. And a step of charging the corresponding vehicle by the server device when notified that the vehicle has moved out of the virtual area from the vehicle-mounted device.

  According to the present invention, manpower required for monitoring can be suppressed, and charging can be performed easily and appropriately.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle billing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the virtual region exit notification unit 11 in which the virtual region exit notification unit 11 and the billing process execution unit 12 are mounted on the vehicle 10 is centered on the vehicle 10 at a predetermined timing (when the engine is started or stopped). The virtual area 13 is set in the predetermined range, and whether or not the virtual area 13 is exited is monitored. When the vehicle 10 exits the virtual area 13 during the time limit for prohibiting the use of the vehicle, the wide area network ( The mobile phone communication system or the like) is connected to the Internet 15 via 14 and notifies the management server 20 that the user has left.

  In addition, the virtual area exit notification unit 11 can notify the current position of the vehicle, trajectory information, and the like in response to a request from the management server 20, and can also respond to a firmware update request. In response to a charging request from the charging server 30, the charging process execution unit 12 executes a charging process when the vehicle 10 leaves the virtual area 13 during the time limit. In FIG. 1, only one vehicle 10 is shown, but in actuality, for example, a maximum of about 50,000 is assumed.

  The management server 20 broadcasts information about the virtual area 13 (virtual area information), information about the time limit (calendar information), and the like to each vehicle 10 via the Internet 15 and the wide area network 14 by broadcast. In addition, after transmitting by broadcast, when there is a vehicle 10 that has not completed reception of information, or individually different virtual area information is transmitted individually. The broadcast transmission is performed for a predetermined period (several days to several tens of days), thereby preventing the reception-side vehicle from being unreceived. Further, it may be requested from the vehicle side to the management server 20 that it has not been received and retransmitted. At this time, it is also possible to transmit only unreceived packets by converting the data by broadcast transmission into a packet format.

  When the management server 20 is notified from the vehicle 10 that the virtual area has been exited within the time limit, the management server 20 requests the charging server 30 to execute the charging process. In addition, the management server 20 can request the virtual region exit notification unit 11 of the vehicle 10 for the current position of the vehicle 10, trajectory information, firmware update, and the like. The billing server 30 charges the target vehicle 10 in response to a billing process execution request from the management server 20.

  A PDA (Personal Data Assistance) 40 is a terminal carried by an inspector and connects to the Internet 15 from a predetermined access point and accesses the management server 20 to check the charging status of the vehicle. It is. In FIG. 1, only one PDA 40 is shown, but a plurality of PDAs 40 are actually assumed.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the virtual area exit notification unit according to the present embodiment. In the figure, the virtual region exit notification unit 11 includes an engine start detection unit 11-1, a memory unit 11-2, a virtual region setting unit 11-3, a communication unit 11-4, a GPS control unit 11-5, and a control unit 11. -6. The engine start detection unit 11-1 detects that the vehicle engine has been started or that the engine is in operation, and notifies the control unit 11-6. The memory unit 11-2 holds virtual area information broadcast from the management server 20, calendar information, and the like. The virtual area setting unit 11-3 sets the virtual area 13 according to the virtual area information held in the memory unit 11-2, and according to the calendar information, in a time limit where the use of the vehicle 10 is restricted. It is determined whether or not the virtual area 13 has been withdrawn, and when it is detected that the virtual area 13 has been withdrawn during the time limit, a notification to that effect is sent to the control unit 11-6.

  The communication unit 11-4 connects to the Internet 15 via the wide area network 14 and communicates with the management server 20 and the accounting server 30. The GPS control unit 11-5 acquires the current time and current position using GPS, and notifies the control unit 11-6. The control unit 11-6 controls the operation of each part of the virtual area exit notification unit 11. When the engine start detection unit 11-1 detects that the engine is starting or operating, the GPS control unit 11-5 The current time and current position are acquired from the virtual area setting unit 11-3, the virtual area setting unit 11-3 is activated, and when the virtual area setting unit 11-3 is notified of the withdrawal of the virtual area 13, the fact that the virtual area 13 has exited is indicated. A series of operations of notifying the management server 20 via the notification unit 11-4 is performed.

  Next, FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a virtual area set by the above-described virtual area exit notification unit 11 according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, when the engine of the vehicle 10 is started, the virtual region 13 is set around the vehicle 10 at that time. The virtual region 13 has a size of, for example, 10 m square, and is a region having absolute coordinates with respect to the current position of the vehicle 10, that is, a region fixed to geographical coordinates. In the illustrated example, the virtual region 13 has a rectangular shape, but is not limited thereto, and may have another shape such as a circle.

  Further, a buffer area 13-1 is set around the virtual area 13 in order to prevent erroneous detection of the exit determination of the vehicle 10 from the virtual area 13 (repetition of the exit determination near the boundary). The size of the virtual area 13 can be changed by the virtual area information from the management server 20 according to the place where the vehicle 10 is stopped (personal parking lot, public parking lot, etc.). For this reason, although not described in detail in the present embodiment, when the vehicle 10 is parked (when the engine is stopped), the stop position is notified to the management server 20, and the management server 20 sets the parking location. The size of the corresponding virtual area 13 can be set and notified to the corresponding vehicle 10 as virtual area information.

  Next, FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the calendar information described above according to the present embodiment. The calendar information describes the time zone that restricts the use of the vehicle for each date. Depending on the day of the week, public holidays, and holidays, which time zone is an unrestricted time zone and which time zone is a restricted time zone. It is possible to recognize. The virtual area exit notification unit 11 described above determines whether or not the vehicle 10 has exited the virtual area 13 during the time limit by referring to the calendar information. In the present embodiment, calendar information for at least two months is held in consideration of changes in holidays and holidays.

  Next, FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the virtual area exit notification unit and the accounting process execution unit according to the present embodiment. The flowchart is executed at predetermined time intervals or when the engine is started. The virtual area exit notification unit 11 determines whether the engine is started by the engine start detection unit 11-1 or whether the engine is operating (step S1). If the engine is neither starting nor operating, the process ends. On the other hand, when the engine is started or is operating, the current time and current position are acquired from the GPS control unit 11-5 (step S2), and the calendar information is referred to according to the current time, and the time limit is set. It is determined whether or not it is a belt (step S3). And when it is not a time limit zone, it returns to Step S1.

  On the other hand, if it is the time limit, the virtual area 13 centered on the vehicle 10 is set according to the current position and the virtual area information (step S4). Next, it is determined whether or not the vehicle 10 is in the virtual region 13 from the current position acquired from the GPS control unit 11-5 (step S5). When the vehicle 10 is in the virtual area 13, it is determined whether or not the engine has been stopped (step S6). If the engine has not been stopped, the GPS control unit 11-5 again returns the current value. The time and the current position are acquired (step S7), and the process returns to step S5 to determine whether it is in the virtual area 13. Thereafter, when the user is in the virtual area 13, it is determined whether or not the virtual area 13 has been withdrawn until the engine is stopped. Then, when the engine is stopped in the virtual area 13, the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the user leaves the virtual area 13, the calendar information is referred to according to the current time, and it is determined whether or not the time limit is reached (step S8). If the time limit is not reached, that is, the time limit is set when the engine is started, the vehicle 10 is not charged without leaving the virtual area 13 and without being charged. Can be moved, the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is a time limit when leaving the virtual area 13, the management server 20 is notified that the virtual area 13 has been left out (step S9), and the charging server 30 and the charging process execution unit 12 are notified. The charging process is executed between the two (step S10). Then, after the accounting process ends, the process ends.

  With the above-described processing, it is possible to detect with high accuracy and certainty that the vehicle 10 has left the virtual region 13 during the time limit. Further, when the vehicle 10 leaves the virtual area 13 during the time limit, automatic billing can save the trouble of paying with a coupon or the like, and convenience can be improved.

  When the vehicle 10 is traveling during the time limit, the virtual region 13 is set during traveling from the above-described flowchart. Since the virtual area 13 is an area fixed to geographical coordinates, a running vehicle will be charged immediately when it leaves the virtual area 13 by immediately leaving the virtual area 13. become. Therefore, it can be seen that the billing process functions effectively even when the vehicle 10 is traveling during the time limit.

  Next, FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the vehicle billing system according to the present embodiment. First, the management server 20 transmits virtual area information and calendar information to the vehicle 10 by broadcast transmission at a predetermined timing (when there is a change in virtual area information, calendar information, etc.) (SS1). . In the vehicle 10, the virtual area exit detection unit 11 receives virtual area information and calendar information and sets various parameters (SS2).

  Next, as described above, when it is detected that the vehicle 10 has left the virtual area 13 (SS3), the virtual area exit detection unit 11 notifies the management server 20 that the vehicle 10 has exited (SS4). . When receiving information that the management server 20 has left the virtual area 13, the management server 20 transmits a charging request to the charging server 30 (SS5). The billing server 30 notifies that the vehicle 10 is billed in response to the billing request (SS6).

  In the vehicle 10, the virtual area exit detection unit 11 receives the billing notification and sends it to the billing process execution unit 12 (SS7). The billing process execution unit 12 executes billing processing according to a predetermined procedure, and sends a billing response to the virtual area exit detection unit 11 (SS8). The virtual area exit detection unit 11 transmits the accounting response to the accounting server 30 (SS9). Upon receiving the billing response, the billing server 30 executes billing processing such as debiting a charge from the bank account of the driver of the vehicle 10 registered in advance, records the billing (SS10), and billing result To the management server 20 (SS11). The management server 20 records that the vehicle 10 has been charged according to the charging result (SS12).

  In this way, by recording the accounting result in the management server 20, when the inspector finds a traveling vehicle, the PDA 40 accesses the management server 20 from a predetermined access point, and the vehicle 10 By checking the billing status, it is possible to easily confirm whether the vehicle is in violation or has been charged.

  In the above-described embodiment, the virtual area 13 is set when the engine of the vehicle is started or is being driven. However, when the vehicle is stopped in the multilevel parking lot or the underground parking lot, There may be a case where the current position cannot be acquired from the GPS control unit 11-5 when starting. In this case, since the virtual area 13 cannot be set, the latest current position at the time when the engine is stopped (in the case of a multilevel parking lot or an underground parking lot, the position at the time of entry) is stored, and the next time When the engine is started, the current position at the time of the stop may be notified to the management server 20, the virtual area information corresponding to the current position may be acquired from the management server 20, and the virtual area 13 may be set. As a result, even if the current position cannot be acquired at the time of engine start, the virtual area 13 is set based on the virtual area information from the management server 20, so that the virtual position according to the current position at the time of stop and the amount of movement after the engine start It is possible to detect exit from the area 13.

That is, as processing,
(1) Since the current position cannot be acquired when the engine is started, the final position is stored when the engine is stopped.
(2) At the next engine start, in order to acquire the virtual area from the management server 20, the position of (1) is transmitted to the management server 20, and the virtual area information corresponding to the current position is indicated on the management server 20 side. To the on-vehicle device.
(3) The vehicle-mounted device calculates the movement amount of the vehicle with the current position of (1) as a reference point, and compares it with the virtual region 13 obtained in (2) to detect exit from the virtual region 13.
Here, the current position is not obtained from the management server 20, but is acquired by GPS or a position from the reference point (1) and position estimation based on dead reckoning.

  In the present embodiment, a program for realizing the functions of the virtual area exit detection unit 11, the server device 20, the billing server device 30 and the like described above is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium and recorded on this recording medium. The encoded program and the decoded process may be performed by causing the computer system to read and execute the program. Here, the “computer system” may include an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices. Further, the “computer system” includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW system is used. The “computer-readable recording medium” means a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a writable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory, a portable medium such as a CD-ROM, a hard disk built in a computer system, etc. This is a storage device.

  Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” means a volatile memory (for example, DRAM (Dynamic DRAM) in a computer system that becomes a server or a client when a program is transmitted through a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. Random Access Memory)), etc., which hold programs for a certain period of time. The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line. The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle charging system by embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the virtual area leaving notification part by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the virtual area set by the virtual area leaving notification part mentioned above by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of the calendar information mentioned above by this embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the virtual area exit notification part and charging process execution part by this embodiment. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of the vehicle charging system by this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle 11 Virtual area exit notification part 11-1 Engine start detection part 11-2 Memory part 11-3 Virtual area setting part 11-4 Communication part 11-5 GPS control part 11-6 Control part 12 Charge process execution part 13 Virtual Area 13-1 Buffer area 14 Wide area network 15 Internet 20 Management server 30 Billing server 40 PDA

Claims (6)

A vehicle billing system having an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle and a server device that communicates with the on-vehicle device via a network,
The in-vehicle device is
Current time acquisition means for acquiring the current time;
Virtual area acquisition means for acquiring a geographical area fixed in a predetermined range of the vehicle;
Detecting means for detecting whether or not a vehicle is present in the virtual area when the current time is a time limit for restricting travel of the vehicle;
A notification means for notifying that the vehicle has moved out of the virtual area when the detection means detects that the vehicle has moved out of the virtual area;
The server device
A vehicle billing system comprising billing means for billing a corresponding vehicle when notified that the vehicle has left the virtual area. The virtual area setting means includes
2. The vehicle billing system according to claim 1, wherein the virtual area is acquired in advance, or the virtual area is acquired based on position information when the engine is started or stopped.   The vehicle charging system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the size of the virtual area is variable according to a stop position of the vehicle.   The vehicle charging system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the virtual area includes a buffer area for preventing erroneous detection of the vehicle leaving the virtual area. The in-vehicle device is
The vehicle charging system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising storage means for storing calendar information indicating which time zone is set as the time limit. . A vehicle billing method for billing a vehicle moving in a predetermined time limit by a server device,
Acquiring the current time by the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle;
Acquiring a virtual region geographically fixed to a predetermined range of the vehicle by the vehicle-mounted device;
If the current time is a time limit, the vehicle-mounted device detects whether a vehicle exists in the virtual area;
When it is detected that the vehicle has moved outside the virtual area, the vehicle-mounted device notifies that the vehicle has left the virtual area;
The vehicle charging method comprising: charging the corresponding vehicle by the server device when notified that the vehicle has moved out of the virtual area from the vehicle-mounted device.

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