JP2009289192A - Carpool system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a carpool system suitably supporting carpool in various situations considering present states of a carpool requester requesting carpool and a carpool providing vehicle for carpooling the carpool requester. <P>SOLUTION: A carpool information management center 3 manages current locations of carpool providing vehicles 7, and when a carpool requester 4 transmits a carpool request information to the carpool information management center 3 by a communication terminal 5, the carpool information management center 3 retrieves a carpool providing vehicle 7 suitable for the carpool based on the current locations of the carpool requester 4 and the carpool providing vehicle 7, transmits the carpool request information to the retrieved carpool providing vehicle 7, determines whether the carpool providing vehicle 7 to which the carpool request information is transmitted performs operation for permitting carpool of the carpool requester or not, and when the operation for permitting carpool is performed, transmits the information of the carpool providing vehicle 7 permitting the carpool to the carpool requester transmitting the carpool request. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a carpooling system that supports vehicle sharing for a plurality of users heading to the same destination.

  Conventionally, at present, when global warming is a concern, efficient use of vehicles such as passenger cars and trucks has become an important social issue. Therefore, it is conceivable to carry out so-called carpooling in which another person's car heading in the same direction is allowed to ride up to a certain section or destination. In addition, in areas where public transportation is not sufficient, car sharing is still an important means of transportation for those who cannot drive a car.

However, carpooling occurs accidentally and has the disadvantage that it cannot be used on a daily basis with planning. Therefore, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-281238, based on the carpooling offer information from the carpooling provider that permits the riding on the driving vehicle and the carpooling request information from the carpooling requester who desires the carpooling, A technique has been proposed in which a matching combination is created from the riding schedule data to create a carpool schedule record, and the contents are notified to the parties. As a result, the user can perform carpooling with a plan.
JP 2003-281238 A (page 5-6, FIGS. 2 to 4)

  Here, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, the carpooling provider side and the carpooling client side manage carpooling based on information (departure time, departure place, destination, passing point, etc.) registered in advance respectively. Yes. However, the carpool provider may not actually travel according to the registered schedule. For example, the schedule may be delayed due to the departure time being delayed from the schedule or being involved in a traffic jam while traveling. In addition, when a detour is taken or a road to be traveled is closed due to construction or the like, the car may travel on a different route from the planned route. Similarly, the carpooler does not always go to the destination at the registered schedule time.

  As a result, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, efficient carpooling can be provided only when the carpooling provider and the carpooling client act according to a schedule registered in advance. Therefore, it was desired to provide a convenient carpooling system that satisfies the demands of carpooling providers and carpooling clients under various circumstances without being limited to such limited situations. .

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described conventional problems, and in order to carry out carpooling in consideration of the current situation of a carpool providing vehicle for sharing a carpooler who desires carpooling and a carpooler. It is an object of the present invention to provide a carpooling system that can transmit information on a person who wants to share a car to a suitable carpool providing vehicle and can appropriately support carpooling in various situations.

In order to achieve the above object, the carpooling system (1) according to claim 1 of the present application includes information acquisition means (20) for acquiring information on the current position of the carpooler (4) who desires carpooling, and the carpooling request. Vehicle search means (20) for searching for a vehicle (7) that travels within a predetermined range based on the current position of the user and that travels to the same destination as the carpooler, and searched by the vehicle search means And an information transmission means (20) for transmitting information on the carpooler to the vehicle.
A vehicle that travels within a predetermined range based on the current position of the carpooler is a vehicle that travels within an area within a predetermined distance centered on the carpooler, or within the same secondary mesh as the carpooler. A vehicle that travels in an area in a municipality, or a vehicle that includes a planned travel route in an area within a predetermined distance centered on a carpooler.

  The carpooling system (1) according to claim 2 is the carpooling system according to claim 1, wherein the information on the carpooler (4) transmitted by the information transmitting means (20) is transmitted to the carpooling system (1). Information display means (43) for displaying in the vehicle (7) to which the information was transmitted and the driver of the vehicle displaying the information on the carpooler allowed the carpooler to allow the carpooler to board And permission vehicle information providing means (20) for providing vehicle information to the carpooler.

  Further, the carpooling system (1) according to claim 3 is the carpooling system according to claim 2, wherein the information display means (43) includes the information transmitted by the information transmitting means (20). And a route display means (43) for displaying a route to the destination via the current position of the carpooler.

  Further, the carpooling system (1) according to claim 4 is the carpooling system according to claim 1 to claim 3, wherein the information of the vehicle (7) retrieved by the vehicle retrieval means (20) is obtained. Vehicle information providing means (20) to be provided to the carpooler (4), and desired vehicle specifying means (20) for identifying the vehicle selected by the carpooler among the vehicles searched by the vehicle search means. The information transmitting means (20) transmits the information on the carpooler to the vehicle specified by the desired vehicle specifying means.

  According to the carpooling system according to claim 1 having the above-described configuration, the carpooling system is suitable for performing carpooling in consideration of the current situation of the carpooling vehicle that carries the carpooler who desires carpooling and the carpooler. Information on the carpooler can be transmitted to the car sharing vehicle. As a result, it is possible to appropriately support carpooling under various circumstances.

  Further, according to the carpooling system described in claim 2, when information on the carpooler is transmitted to a vehicle suitable for carpooling the carpooler, and the vehicle permits the carpooler to ride Since the vehicle-related information is provided to the carpooler, the vehicle providing the carpool can determine whether or not to share the car with reference to the carpooler's information. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of trouble at the time of carpooling and allow the carpooling to be performed safely.

  In addition, according to the carpooling system described in claim 3, a vehicle that permits carpooling can reach the destination by an appropriate route even when a carpooler is traveling while traveling. It becomes.

  Furthermore, according to the carpooling system described in claim 4, the carpooler can select a vehicle to be cared for by referring to information on the vehicle that is a carpooling candidate before carpooling. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of trouble at the time of carpooling and allow the carpooling to be performed safely.

  DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, a carpool system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings based on first to third embodiments embodied.

[First Embodiment]
First, a schematic configuration of the carpool system 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a carpool system 1 according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the carpooling system 1 according to the first embodiment includes (a) an information management server 2 that performs various control processes, and provides a carpooling request for carpooling and a carpooling person who desires carpooling. Carpooling information management center 3 that manages the situation of the vehicle in real time, (b) a communication terminal 5 possessed by the carpooler 4 and (c) a navigation device 6 that carries the carpooler vehicle 7 that carries the carpooler together. And basically consists of The information management server 2 and the communication terminal 5 and the information management server 2 and the navigation device 6 are configured to be able to transmit and receive electronic data to and from each other via the network communication network 8.
As the communication terminal 5, an information communication terminal having a function of specifying the current position such as GPS is used. For example, a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a personal computer, or the like is applicable.
In the following embodiments, the carpooler 4 and the driver of the carpool providing vehicle 7 are both employees of the same company (hereinafter referred to as “Company A”). In both cases, it is assumed that company A is the destination.

Here, the carpool information management center 3 manages the situation (current position, etc.) of the carpool providing vehicle 7 registered in advance as a member, and receives carpooling request information from the carpooler 4 who is also registered as a member. This is a carpool support center that searches for a carpool providing vehicle 7 that is suitable for riding in the carpooling provided vehicle 7 registered as a member, and distributes information on the carpooling desired vehicle 7 to the searched carpool providing vehicle 7.
In addition, when the carpool providing vehicle 7 to which the information on the carpooler has been distributed permits the carpooler 4 to share the carpooling information management center 3, the carpooling information management center 3 displays the information on the carpool providing vehicle 7 that permits the carpooler 4. Provide against.
The carpool information management center 3 includes information (name, department, vehicle type, etc.) regarding the carpooler 4 who has registered as a member, the carpooling vehicle 7 and the driver of the carpooling vehicle 7 (hereinafter referred to as carpooling provider). Stored in advance.

The car sharing service vehicle 7 is a vehicle that has been registered in the car sharing information management center 3 in advance by a car sharing provider, who is an employee of company A, among vehicles traveling on roads throughout the country. A vehicle used for commuting.
Further, a navigation device 6 and a communication module 9 are installed in the carpool providing vehicle 7. The navigation device 6 is an in-vehicle device that displays a map around the vehicle position based on stored map data, and searches and guides a route to a set destination. Further, the navigation device 6 according to the first embodiment guides information on the carpooler 4 received from the carpool information management center 3 as will be described later. Further, a search for a route for reaching the destination (company A in the first embodiment) via the current position of the carpooler 4 and guidance for the searched route are also performed.
On the other hand, the communication module 9 is a vehicle communication device that includes a mobile phone, DCM (Data Communication Module), and the like. The car sharing providing vehicle 7 transmits / receives information to / from the car sharing information management center 3 via the communication module 9. The detailed configuration of the navigation device 6 will be described later.

The network communication network 8 includes a large number of base stations arranged in various parts of the country and a communication company that manages and controls each base station. The base station and the communication company are connected to each other by wire (optical fiber, ISDN, etc.) or wirelessly. It is configured by connecting.
Here, the base station has a transceiver (transmitter / receiver) for communicating with the communication terminal 5 and the communication module 9 and an antenna. The base station performs wireless communication between the communication companies, while at the end of the network communication network 8, the communication between the communication terminal 5 and the communication module 9 in the range (cell) within which the radio waves of the base station reach can be shared 3 to relay to.

  Next, the configuration of the information management server 2 provided in the carpool information management center 3 constituting the carpool system 1 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information management server 2 according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the information management server 2 is registered as an information management ECU (information acquisition means, vehicle search means, information transmission means, permitted vehicle information provision means) 20 and information recording means connected to the information management ECU 20. An information DB 25, a carpool management information DB 26, a map information DB 27, and a center communication device 28 are provided.

  When the information management ECU 20 receives the carpooling request information from the carpooler 4, the information management ECU 20 searches for a carpooling vehicle 7 suitable for carrying the carpooler 4 together, An information transmission process for transmitting information on the applicant 4 and a permission vehicle for providing information on the vehicle for sharing 7 that allows the passenger 4 to share the vehicle when the vehicle permission information for permitting the vehicle sharing from the vehicle 7 is received. The control device performs various controls in the carpool information management center 3 such as information provision processing. The information management ECU 20 includes a CPU 21 as an arithmetic device and a control device, a RAM 22 used as a working memory when the CPU 21 performs various arithmetic processes, various control programs, and a carpool-providing vehicle management processing program (FIG. 18) described later. (See FIG. 19), a car 23 (see FIG. 19), a carpool information provision processing program (see FIG. 20), etc., and an internal storage device such as a flash memory 24 for recording the program read from the ROM 23. .

  The registration information DB 25 is a storage unit that stores registration information related to the carpooler 4 and the car sharing vehicle 7. The registration information stored in the registration information DB 25 includes a registration ID, name, address, department, contact information, etc. for the carpooler 4. Further, the car sharing service vehicle 7 includes a registration ID, a vehicle type, a number, a contact address, the name of the owner (that is, the carpooling service provider), a department, and the like. The contact information of the carpooler 4 is the address of the communication terminal 5 possessed by the carpooler 4, and the contact information of the carpool providing vehicle 7 is the address of the communication module 9 installed in the carpooling vehicle 7. Corresponds. Therefore, the carpool information management center 3 can transmit information to the specific communication terminal 5 and the navigation device 6 by referring to the information stored in the registration information DB 25. In addition, when the information is received, it is possible to specify the user of the communication terminal 5 or the navigation device 6 that is the transmission source.

In addition, the carpool management information DB 26 stores location management information for managing the current position of the carpool providing vehicle 7, carpooling request information transmitted from the carpooler 4, and ride permission information transmitted from the carpool providing vehicle 7. Means.
Here, the position management information is information for specifying the current position of the all-carpool providing vehicle 7 registered as a member as shown in FIG. In the carpool system 1 according to the first embodiment, the registration ID and information on the current position coordinates of the vehicle detected by the GPS are transmitted from each carpool providing vehicle 7 to the carpool information management center 3 every predetermined time (for example, 60 sec). Is done. Then, the information management server 2 sequentially updates the position management information stored in the carpool management information DB 26 based on the information transmitted from each carpool providing vehicle 7. Therefore, the information management server 2 can always manage the current position of the all-carpool providing vehicle 7 by referring to the carpool management information DB 26. In addition, when the destination where the carpool providing vehicle 7 is heading is known, it is desirable to store the destination in addition to the current position in the carpool management information DB 26.
The carpool request information is information transmitted from the communication terminal 5 to the carpool information management center 3 when the carpooler 4 desires carpooling to the company A. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the “registration ID”, “name”, “department”, “time when the carpool request was issued”, “current position of the carpooler” Information. If “registration ID”, “name”, and “department” are stored in association with the registration information DB 25 in advance, “registration ID”, “time of requesting carpooling”, Only the “current position” may be stored in the carpool management information DB 26.
On the other hand, the sharing information is transmitted from the sharing service providing vehicle 7 to the sharing information management center 3 when the sharing request permits the sharing of the sharing requester 4 when the information regarding the sharing request 4 is transmitted to the sharing service vehicle 7. Information sent to Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the “registration ID”, “vehicle type”, “car body color”, “number” of the carpool providing vehicle 7 that allowed the carpooler 4 to ride together, “name” of the carpooling provider "," Department ", and" Information on the expected arrival time of the carpooler at the current location ". If the “registration ID”, “vehicle type”, “car body color”, “number”, “name” and “department” of the carpool provider are stored in advance in association with the registration information DB 25, “ Only the “registration ID” and “estimated arrival time of the carpooler's current position” may be stored in the carpool management information DB 26.

  The map information DB 27 is, for example, link data regarding roads (links), node data regarding node points, map display data for displaying a map, intersection data regarding each intersection, search data for searching a route, and facilities. It is a storage means for storing facility data, search data for searching points, and the like. Then, the information management ECU 20 specifies the positions of the carpooler 4 and the carpooling vehicle 7 on the map based on the position information acquired from the communication terminal 5 and the carpooling vehicle 7 and the map information stored in the map information DB 27. Perform map matching processing.

  On the other hand, the center communication device 28 is a communication device for communicating with the communication terminal 5 and the car sharing vehicle 7 via the network communication network 8.

  Next, the structure of the communication terminal 5 which comprises the carpool system 1 is demonstrated in detail using FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication terminal 5 constituting the carpool system 1.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, the communication terminal 5 has a data bus BUS, a CPU 31, a memory 32 storing user information (registration ID, name, department, etc.) regarding the carpooler 4 who owns the communication terminal 5, A transmission / reception circuit unit (RF) 33 for transmitting / receiving signals to / from a base station of the network communication network 8, and an RF (Radio Frequency) signal received by the transmission / reception circuit unit 33 is converted into a baseband signal and the baseband signal is converted into a baseband signal. A baseband processing unit 34 for converting to an RF signal, an input / output unit 37 that is an interface with a microphone 35, a speaker 36, and the like, a display 38 that includes a liquid crystal display panel, and an input operation unit that includes a keyboard, a jog dial, and the like 39 and the GPS 40 are connected to each other.

  Here, the CPU 31 built in the communication terminal 5 is a control unit of the communication terminal 5 that executes various operations in accordance with an operation program stored in the memory 32. Various processing contents of the CPU 31 are displayed on the display 38 as necessary.

  In addition to user information (registration ID, name, department, etc.) relating to the carpooler 4 who owns the communication terminal 5, the memory 32 includes a carpooling desired information transmission process program (see FIG. 8) and a carpool vehicle information provision process program which will be described later. (Refer to FIG. 10).

The display 38 is disposed on one surface of the housing, and a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like is used. Then, various information such as the contents input by the input operation unit 39 and the Internet site are displayed.
Furthermore, in the communication terminal 5 according to the first embodiment, when the user wishes to share a car, information related to the car sharing vehicle 7 that allows the user to ride together is displayed (see FIG. 11).

  The input operation unit 39 includes various keys such as a number / character input key, a cursor key for moving a cursor for selecting displayed contents, and an enter key for confirming selection. When the user wishes to share the car, the user inputs an operation to the effect that he / she wishes to share the car using the input operation unit 39.

  In addition, the GPS 40 can detect the current position and the current time of the communication terminal 5 (that is, the carpooler 4) by receiving radio waves generated by the artificial satellite.

Next, a schematic configuration of the navigation device 6 mounted on the carpool providing vehicle 7 constituting the carpooling system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the navigation device 6 mounted on the carpool providing vehicle 7 according to the first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 7, the navigation device 6 according to the first embodiment includes a current position detection unit 41 that detects the current position of the vehicle, a data recording unit 42 that records various data, and input information. Based on the navigation ECU (information display means, route display means) 43 that performs various arithmetic processing, an operation unit 44 that receives operations from the operator, and a liquid crystal display 45 that displays information such as a map to the operator. And a speaker 46 that outputs voice guidance related to route guidance, a DVD drive 47 that reads a DVD that is a storage medium storing a program, and a communication module 9 that communicates with the carpool information management center 3. ing.

Below, each component which comprises the navigation apparatus 6 is demonstrated in order.
The current position detection unit 41 includes a GPS 51, a geomagnetic sensor 52, a vehicle speed sensor 53, a steering sensor 54, a gyro sensor 55, and the like, and detects the current position, direction, traveling speed, current time, and the like of the own vehicle. Is possible. Here, in particular, the vehicle speed sensor 53 is a sensor for detecting a moving distance and a vehicle speed of the vehicle, generates a pulse according to the rotation of the wheel of the vehicle, and outputs a pulse signal to the navigation ECU 43. And navigation ECU43 calculates the rotational speed and moving distance of a wheel by counting the generated pulse. Note that the navigation device 6 does not have to include all of the above five types of sensors, and the navigation device 6 may include only one or more of these types of sensors.

  Further, the data recording unit 42 reads out a hard disk (not shown) as an external storage device and a recording medium, a navigation map information DB 56 and a user information DB 57 recorded on the hard disk, a predetermined program, and the like, and stores predetermined data on the hard disk. And a recording head (not shown) which is a driver for writing.

  Here, the navigation map information DB 56 basically has the same configuration as the map information DB 27 of the carpool information management center 3. For example, link data regarding roads (links), node data regarding node points, and maps are stored. The storage means stores map display data for display, intersection data for each intersection, search data for searching for a route, facility data for facilities, search data for searching for points, and the like.

  Further, the user information DB 57 includes vehicle information (registration ID, vehicle type, body color, number, etc.) relating to the carpool providing vehicle 7 on which the navigation device 6 is mounted, and information relating to the carpooling provider driving the carpool providing vehicle 7 ( (Name, department, etc.).

  On the other hand, the navigation ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 43 receives a guidance route setting process for setting a guidance route from the current position to the destination when the destination is selected, and carpooling desired information from the carpool information management center 3. Information display processing for displaying information related to the carpooler 4 when searching for, and searching for a guide route that reaches the destination (company A in the first embodiment) via the current position of the carpooler 4 who desires carpooling The entire navigation device 6 such as a shared route guidance process to be guided and an information transmission process for transmitting information related to the shared vehicle 7 to the shared information management center 3 when the shared rider permits the shared rider 4 to ride together. This is an electronic control unit that performs control. The CPU 61 as the arithmetic device and the control device, the RAM 61 that is used as a working memory when the CPU 61 performs various arithmetic processes, stores the route data when the route is searched, and the control program. In addition, an internal storage device such as a ROM 63 in which a vehicle position information provision processing program (see FIG. 13) and a carpool information provision processing program (see FIG. 14) described later are recorded, and a flash memory 64 in which a program read out from the ROM 63 is recorded. It has.

  The operation unit 44 is operated, for example, when inputting a destination as a guidance end point, and includes a plurality of operation switches (not shown) such as various keys and buttons. The navigation ECU 43 performs control to execute various corresponding operations based on switch signals output by pressing the switches. The touch panel provided on the front surface of the liquid crystal display 45 can also be used. The operation unit 44 may also be used for inputting a departure place as a guidance start point.

  The liquid crystal display 45 is provided on the center console or the panel surface in the interior of the vehicle, and displays a map image around the vehicle position in a normal state. When a guide route to the destination is set, an image showing the guide route is displayed superimposed on the map image. Further, in the navigation device 6 according to the first embodiment, when the carpooling request information is received from the carpooling information management center 3, information on the carpooler 4 is displayed, or the purpose is via the current position of the carpooler 4. Displaying the guide route that reaches the ground (company A in the first embodiment) is also performed.

  The speaker 46 is provided on the center console or the panel surface in the interior of the vehicle and outputs guidance voices, warning sounds, and the like.

  Next, a sharing request information transmission processing program executed in the communication terminal 5 configuring the carpool system 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the carpool desired information transmission processing program according to the first embodiment. Here, the sharing request information transmission processing program is executed after the power of the communication terminal is turned on and a predetermined program starting operation is performed, and information of the sharing requester 4 who has requested the sharing is sent to the sharing information management center 3. Is a program to send. Note that the programs shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 10 below are stored in the memory 32 and executed by the CPU 31.

  First, in the carpooling request information transmission processing program, in step (hereinafter abbreviated as “S”) 1, the CPU 31 determines whether or not a predetermined operation for requesting carpooling has been performed by the carpooler 4 who possesses the communication terminal 5. judge. Here, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an operation screen displayed on the display 38 of the communication terminal 5 after starting the terminal-side carpooling support processing program. When the operation screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed, the carpooler 4 selects either “YES” or “NO” using the input operation unit 39. When the “YES” button is selected, the CPU 31 determines that an operation for offering a request for carpooling has been performed by the carpooler 4 having the communication terminal 5. On the other hand, when the “NO” button is selected, the CPU 31 determines that an operation for requesting the carpooling by the carpooler 4 who has the communication terminal 5 has not been performed.

  If it is determined as a result of the determination in S1 that the carpooler 4 who possesses the communication terminal 5 has performed an operation for requesting carpooling (S1: YES), the process proceeds to S2. On the other hand, when it is determined that the operation for requesting carpooling has not been performed by the carpooler 4 who possesses the communication terminal 5 (S1: NO), the carpooling request information transmission processing program is terminated.

  In S <b> 2, the CPU 31 acquires user information related to the carpooler 4 who has the communication terminal 5 and the current position of the communication terminal 5. The user information acquired in S2 is the “registration ID”, “name”, and “department” of the carpooler 4 who owns the communication terminal 5 and is acquired by reading from the memory 32. Further, the current position is acquired by the GPS 40 mounted on the communication terminal 5.

  Next, in S3, the CPU 31 transmits the user information regarding the carpooler 4 acquired in S2 and the current position of the communication terminal 5 to the carpool information management center 3 as carpooling desired information. The carpool information management center 3 that has received the carpool request information searches for an appropriate carpool-providing vehicle 7 on which the carpooler is to ride as described later (S53).

  Next, the shared vehicle information provision processing program executed in the communication terminal 5 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the shared vehicle information provision processing program according to the first embodiment. Here, the shared vehicle information provision processing program is executed every predetermined period (for example, 200 ms) after the communication terminal is turned on, and the shared vehicle that allows the shared rider 4 who requested the shared vehicle to share the shared vehicle. 7 is a program that provides information on item 7.

  First, in the shared vehicle information provision processing program, in S11, the CPU 31 determines whether information has been transmitted from the shared information management center 3.

  If it is determined that information has been transmitted from the carpool information management center 3 (S11: YES), the transmitted information is received and temporarily stored in the memory 32 (S12). Thereafter, the process proceeds to S13. On the other hand, when it is determined that no information is transmitted from the carpool information management center 3 (S11: NO), the carpool vehicle information provision processing program is terminated.

  In S13, the CPU 31 determines whether the information received in S12 is the boarding permission information or the boarding prohibition information. Here, the boarding permission information is information (S64) transmitted from the carpool information management center 3 when there is a carpool providing vehicle 7 that allows the carpooler 4 who has the communication terminal 5 to travel together. , Information on the car sharing service 7 that allowed the car sharing ("Registered ID", "Vehicle type", "Car body color", "Number", "Name" of the carpooling provider, "Department", "Current position of the carpooler" On the other hand, the information indicating that the vehicle cannot be used is included in the case where there is no suitable car sharing vehicle 7 for the carpooler 4 who has the communication terminal 5 to ride on, or the appropriate car sharing providing vehicle 7 This information is transmitted from the carpool information management center 3 (S52, S65) when the carpool providing vehicle 7 refuses to board the car.

  And when it determines with the information received by said S12 being boarding permission information (S13: YES), the received boarding permission information is output from the display 38 or the speaker 36 (S14). Here, FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an output example of the boarding permission information in S14. As shown in FIG. 11, on the display 38 of the communication terminal 5, “A vehicle that carries you is found. The vehicle is XX, the number is XX, and the driver is △ section XXX. Arrival time Is about xx hour xx minutes ". As a result, the carpooler 4 can grasp what kind of vehicle the car will be shared from now on and what kind of person the driver is. It is also possible to grasp the time at which the vehicle to be shared will arrive. In addition, you may make it output the audio | voice of the content same as the content displayed on the display 38 from the speaker 36. FIG.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the information received in S12 is information that disables riding (S13: NO), it is informed that sharing is not possible (S15). Here, FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of guidance in S15. As shown in FIG. 12, a text “No vehicle was found. Please search again after a while.” Is displayed on the display 38 of the communication terminal 5. As a result, the carpooler 4 can grasp that an appropriate vehicle to be shared is not found at the present time. In addition, you may make it output the audio | voice of the content same as the content displayed on the display 38 from the speaker 36. FIG. Thereafter, the carpool vehicle information provision processing program is terminated.

  Next, the host vehicle position information provision processing program executed in the navigation device 6 constituting the carpool system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the vehicle position information provision processing program according to the first embodiment. Here, the own vehicle position information provision processing program is repeatedly executed at a predetermined time interval (for example, every 200 ms) after the ignition of the carpool providing vehicle 7 is turned on, and the current position of the own vehicle is shared at the predetermined time interval. It is a program to send to. Note that the programs shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 13 and 14 below are stored in the RAM 62, ROM 63, and the like provided in the navigation ECU 43 and executed by the CPU 61.

  First, in the own vehicle position information provision processing program, in S21, the CPU 61 determines whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 60 seconds) has elapsed since the current position information of the own vehicle was transmitted to the carpool information management center 3 last time. .

  If it is determined that a predetermined time has elapsed since the current position information of the vehicle was transmitted to the carpool information management center 3 last time (S21: YES), the process proceeds to S22. On the other hand, if it is determined that the predetermined time has not elapsed since the current position information of the vehicle was transmitted to the carpool information management center 3 last time (S21: NO), the vehicle position information provision processing program is terminated. To do.

  In S <b> 22, the CPU 61 acquires the current position of the vehicle by the GPS 51. Thereafter, the current position of the host vehicle acquired in S22 is transmitted to the carpool information management center 3 as the current position information together with the registration ID of the host vehicle read from the user information DB 57. Then, the carpool information management center 3 manages the current position of the carpool providing vehicle 7 based on the transmitted information (S43). Thereafter, the vehicle position information provision processing program is terminated.

  Next, a carpool information provision processing program executed in the navigation device 6 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the carpool information provision processing program according to the first embodiment. Here, the carpool information provision processing program is repeatedly executed at a predetermined time interval (for example, every 200 ms) after the ignition of the carpool providing vehicle 7 is turned on, and guides information on the carpooler 4 who has requested the carpooling, This is a program for determining whether or not the carpool provider who drives the carpool providing vehicle 7 permits the carpooling.

  First, in the carpool information provision processing program, in S31, the CPU 61 determines whether or not carpool information is transmitted from the carpool information management center 3. Here, the carpooling request information is when the carpooling requester 4 offers a request for carpooling, and the carpooling provision vehicle 7 in which the navigation device 6 is installed by the carpooling information management center 3 indicates the carpooling requester 4. This information is transmitted from the carpool information management center 3 when the vehicle is searched for as an appropriate vehicle for riding together. The carpooling request information includes information on the carpooler 4 who requested the carpooling request ("registration ID", "name", "department", "time when the carpooling request was issued", "current position of the carpooler" ”).

  If it is determined that the carpool information management center 3 has transmitted the desired carpool information (S31: YES), the transmitted information is received and temporarily stored in the flash memory 64 (S32). Thereafter, the process proceeds to S33. On the other hand, when it is determined that no sharing request information is transmitted from the sharing information management center 3 (S31: NO), the sharing vehicle information provision processing program is terminated.

  Subsequently, in S33, the CPU 61 requests the car from the departure point (for example, the current position of the vehicle) based on the carpool request information received in S32 and the link data and node data stored in the navigation map information DB 56. A route that reaches the destination (company A in the first embodiment) via the current position of the carpooler 4 that has been issued is searched. Then, an optimum guide route is specified based on the result of the route search. Further, the estimated arrival time at the current position of the carpooler when traveling along the guide route is also calculated based on the map information. The route search process is performed using a known Dijkstra method or the like. In addition, when a plurality of shared carpooling information is received, a search is made for each piece of information received via the current position of the carpooler 4.

  Thereafter, in S34, the CPU 61 guides the driver (that is, the carpooling provider) using the liquid crystal display 45 and the speaker 46 with the carpool desired information received in S32 and the guidance route specified in S33. Here, FIG. 15 to FIG. 17 are diagrams showing the guidance screen for the desired car sharing information and the guidance route by the navigation device 6.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the liquid crystal display 45 displays a map image around the own vehicle, a mark 71 indicating the current position of the carpooler 4, and an information window 72 indicating information of the carpooler 4. For example, in the guidance example shown in FIG. 15, there is a carpooler 4 who has requested carpooling at 8:17 on the left front of the vehicle, and has requested carpooling at 8:13 on the right front of the vehicle. It is a guidance screen displayed when the carpooler 4 exists.

  FIG. 16 is a detailed guidance screen that is displayed when the mark 71 located on the left front side of the vehicle is selected by the touch panel or the like after the guidance screen shown in FIG. 15 is displayed. In the guidance example shown in FIG. 16, a detailed information window 75 showing more detailed information of the carpooler 4 located in the left front of the host vehicle is displayed. The guide route 76 that reaches the destination (company A in the first embodiment) via the current position of the carpooler 4 selected from the current position of the host vehicle is also displayed. Here, in the detailed information window 75, the distance to the carpool point where the carpooler 4 on the left front of the selected host vehicle is placed and the expected arrival time to the carpool point are displayed. In addition, an option of whether or not to share the selected carpooler 4 is also displayed.

  On the other hand, FIG. 17 is a detailed guidance screen displayed when the mark 71 located on the right front side of the vehicle is selected by the touch panel or the like after the guidance screen shown in FIG. 15 is displayed. In the guidance example shown in FIG. 16, a detailed information window 77 showing more detailed information of the carpooler 4 located in front of the host vehicle is displayed. In addition, a guide route 78 that reaches the destination (company A in the first embodiment) via the current position of the carpooler 4 selected from the current position of the vehicle is also displayed. Here, in the detailed information window 77, the distance to the carpool point on which the carpooler 4 on the right front of the selected host vehicle is placed and the expected arrival time at the carpool point are displayed. In addition, an option for whether or not to share the selected carpooler 4 is also displayed. Note that S34 corresponds to processing of the information display unit and the route display unit.

  Subsequently, in S <b> 35, the CPU 61 determines whether or not the user of the navigation device 6 (i.e., the carpool provider) has performed a passenger permission operation. Specifically, when the “YES” button is selected in the detailed information windows 75 and 77 shown in FIG. 16 and FIG. 17, the CPU 61 performs an operation for allowing the rider 4 to ride together. Determine that it was done. On the other hand, when the “NO” button is selected in the detailed information windows 75 and 77 shown in FIG. 16 and FIG. 17, the CPU 61 performs an operation of refusing to ride the carpooler 4 by the carpool provider. judge.

  As a result of the determination in S35, when it is determined that the carpooling provider has performed an operation of permitting the carpooler 4 to ride together (S35: YES), the carpooling permission information is transmitted to the carpool information management center 3. (S36). Here, the sharing permission information includes information (“registration ID”, etc.) for specifying the carpooler 4 who is permitted to ride, information about the own vehicle (“registration ID”, “vehicle type”, “vehicle color”, It includes “number”, “name” of the carpool provider, “department”, and “estimated arrival time of the carpooler at the current position.” The carpool information management center 3 to which the carpool permission information is transmitted The information of the car sharing vehicle 7 that allowed the sharing is delivered to the communication terminal 5 of the carpooler 4 who has been permitted the sharing.

  On the other hand, as a result of the determination in S35, when it is determined by the carpool provider that an operation of rejecting the carpooler 4 is requested (S35: NO), the carpool rejection information is sent to the carpool information management center 3. Transmit (S37). Then, the sharing information management center 3 to which the sharing rejection information is transmitted distributes information indicating that the sharing vehicle 7 that allowed the sharing was not found to the communication terminal 5 of the sharing requester 4 who was denied the sharing.

  Next, a carpool providing vehicle management processing program executed in the information management server 2 constituting the carpooling system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 18 is a flowchart of the carpool providing vehicle management processing program according to the first embodiment. Here, the carpool providing vehicle management processing program is a program that is repeatedly executed at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 200 ms) and manages the current position of the carpool providing vehicle 7. The programs shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 18 to 20 below are stored in the RAM 22, ROM 23, etc., and are executed by the CPU 21.

  First, in the carpool providing vehicle management processing program, in S41, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the current position information is transmitted from the carpool providing vehicle 7. Here, the current position information is information transmitted from each of the carpool providing vehicles 7 to the carpool information management center 3 at predetermined time intervals in S23. The current position information includes information on “registration ID” and “current position coordinates” of the carpool providing vehicle 7 that is the transmission source.

  If it is determined that the current position information has been transmitted from the car sharing vehicle 7 (S41: YES), the transmitted information is received and temporarily stored in the flash memory 24 (S42). Thereafter, the process proceeds to S43. On the other hand, when it is determined that the current position information is not transmitted from the carpool providing vehicle 7 (S41: NO), the carpool providing vehicle management processing program is terminated.

  In S43, the CPU 21 updates the management data of the carpool providing vehicle 7 based on the current position information received in S42. Specifically, first, a map matching process for specifying the position of the carpool providing vehicle 7 of the transmission source on the map based on the map information stored in the map information DB 27 is performed. And the position coordinate which specifies the present position of the carpool providing vehicle 7 of a transmission source is updated to a new value among the position management information which specifies the current position of the all carpool providing vehicle 7 stored in the carpool management information DB 26. .

  Next, a vehicle search processing program executed in the information management server 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 19 is a flowchart of the vehicle search processing program according to the first embodiment. Here, the vehicle search processing program is a program that is repeatedly executed at a predetermined time interval (for example, every 200 ms) and searches for the car sharing providing vehicle 7 suitable for the carpooler 4 to ride on.

  First, in the vehicle search processing program, in S <b> 51, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the carpool desired information has been transmitted from the communication terminal 5. Here, the carpooling request information is information transmitted from the communication terminal 5 possessed by the carpooler 4 who has requested carpooling in S3 to the carpool information management center 3. The carpooling request information includes information on the “registration ID”, “name”, and “department” of the carpooler 4 as the transmission source.

  When it is determined that the carpooling request information has been transmitted from the communication terminal 5 (S51: YES), the transmitted information is received and stored in the carpool management information DB 26 (S52). Thereafter, the process proceeds to S53. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no carpool request information transmitted from the communication terminal 5 (S51: NO), the vehicle search processing program is terminated. Note that S52 corresponds to the processing of the information acquisition unit.

Subsequently, in S53, the CPU 21 based on the carpool request information received in S52 and the position management information stored in the carpool management information DB 26 (information on the current position of the all-carpool providing vehicle 7, see FIG. 3), A search is made for a car sharing vehicle 7 that travels within a predetermined range based on the current position of the carpooler 4 who is the sender of the carpool request information.
Note that the predetermined range based on the current position of the carpooler 4 is, for example, an area within a radius of 1 km centered on the carpooler. Moreover, it is good also as the area in the same secondary mesh as the carpooler 4 or a municipality. Further, in S53, a vehicle in which the planned travel route is included in an area within a predetermined distance centered on the carpooler may be searched. Note that S53 corresponds to the processing of the vehicle search means.

Thereafter, in S54, the CPU 21 determines whether or not at least one corresponding car sharing vehicle has been searched as a result of the search in S53. Then, when it is determined that at least one corresponding carpool providing vehicle has been searched (S54: YES), carpooling request information is transmitted to the searched carpool providing vehicle 7 (S55). When a plurality of car sharing providing vehicles 7 are searched, the car sharing providing information is transmitted to the car sharing providing vehicle 7 that is closest to the car sharing desirer 4. Then, the car sharing providing vehicle 7 to which the carpooling request information is transmitted determines whether or not the carpooler is to be ridden based on the received carpooling request information (S34, S35). Further, S55 corresponds to the processing of the information transmission unit.
If a plurality of car sharing provision vehicles 7 are searched, the car sharing provision vehicle 7 is provided with the earliest expected arrival time at the current position of the carpooling candidate instead of the car sharing provision vehicle 7 closest to the carpooling candidate 4. You may make it transmit carpool desired information with respect to the vehicle 7. FIG. Further, the estimated arrival time of the carpooler's current position at the current position is calculated by the CPU 21 based on the map information stored in the map information DB 27 and the current position of the carpool providing vehicle 7 that has been searched.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that no corresponding carpool providing vehicle has been searched (S54: NO), the boarding disabling information is transmitted to the communication terminal 5 that has transmitted the carpooling request information (S56). Then, the communication terminal 5 to which the boarding disabling information is transmitted informs the user (that is, the carpooler who has requested carpooling) that carpooling cannot be performed (S15). Thereafter, the vehicle search processing program ends.

  Next, a carpool information provision processing program executed in the information management server 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 20 is a flowchart of the carpool information provision processing program according to the first embodiment. Here, the carpool information provision processing program is a program that is repeatedly executed at a predetermined time interval (for example, every 200 ms) and provides information on the carpool providing vehicle 7 that permits the carpooler 4 to ride together.

  First, in the carpooling information provision processing program, in S61, the CPU 21 determines whether information has been transmitted from the carpooling provision vehicle 7.

  If it is determined that information is transmitted from the car sharing vehicle 7 (S61: YES), the transmitted information is received and temporarily stored in the flash memory 24 (S62). Thereafter, the process proceeds to S63. On the other hand, when it is determined that no information is transmitted from the carpool providing vehicle 7 (S61: NO), the carpool information providing process program is terminated.

  In S63, the CPU 21 determines whether the information received in S62 is the passenger permission information or the passenger rejection information. Here, the sharing permission information is information transmitted from the sharing vehicle 7 (S36) when the sharing vehicle 7 to which the sharing request information is transmitted permits the sharing of the sharing requester, and permits the sharing. Information related to the car sharing service 7 of the transmission source (“registration ID”, “car type”, “car body color”, “number”, “name”, “department” of the carpooling provider, and “current position of the carpooler” On the other hand, the sharing rejection information is information transmitted from the sharing vehicle 7 (S37) when the sharing vehicle 7 to which the sharing request information is transmitted rejects the sharing request. It is.

  Then, when it is determined that the information received in S62 is the sharing permission information (S63: YES), the boarding permission for notifying the transmitting communication terminal 5 that transmitted the sharing request information that the sharing is possible. Information is transmitted (S64). In addition, the boarding permission information is the information related to the car sharing provision vehicle 7 permitted to board the same as the boarding permission information ("registration ID", "vehicle type", "body color", "number", "name" of the carpooling provider). , “Department”, “estimated arrival time of carpooler at current position.” Then, communication terminal 5 to which the boarding permission information is transmitted outputs the received boarding permission information from display 38 or speaker 36. (S14) Note that S664 corresponds to the processing of the permitted vehicle information providing means.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the information received in S62 is the sharing rejection information (S63: NO), it is not possible to board the vehicle to notify the transmission source communication terminal 5 that transmitted the sharing request information that the sharing cannot be performed. Is transmitted (S65). And the communication terminal 5 to which boarding impossible information was transmitted guides a user that sharing cannot be performed (S15). Thereafter, the carpool information provision processing program ends.

As described above in detail, in the carpooling system 1 according to the first embodiment, the carpool information management center 3 manages the current position of the carpool providing vehicle 7 (S43), and the carpooler 4 uses the communication terminal 5. When the carpooling request information is transmitted to the carpooling information management center 3 (S3), the carpooling information management center 3 is suitable for carpooling based on the carpooling person 4 and the current position of the carpool providing vehicle 7. The provided vehicle 7 is searched (S53), the carpool providing information is transmitted to the searched carpool providing vehicle 7 (S55), and the carpool providing vehicle 7 to which the carpooling desired information is transmitted is shared by the carpooling provider. It is determined whether or not a permitting operation has been performed (S35), and when the permitting operation is performed, the sharing request that allows the sharing request to the sharing requester who has requested the sharing. Since the information on the vehicle 7 is transmitted (S64), the car sharing vehicle suitable for carpooling is considered in consideration of the current situation of the carpooling providing vehicle 7 that shares the carpooling requester 4 and the carpooling applicant who wish to share the car. 7, information on the corresponding carpooler can be transmitted. As a result, it is possible to appropriately support carpooling in various situations.
In addition, the carpool providing vehicle 7 can determine whether or not to perform carpooling by referring to the information of the carpooler 4. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of trouble at the time of carpooling and allow the carpooling to be performed safely.
In addition, since the route to the destination via the current position of the carpooler is displayed via the navigation device 6 in the carpool providing vehicle 7 that permits the carpooling, the carpooler can be accompanied by the car while traveling. Even in the case of making it, it becomes possible to reach the destination by an appropriate route.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, the car riding system according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the same reference numerals as those of the carpooling system 1 according to the first embodiment in FIGS. 1 to 20 are the same as or equivalent to those of the carpooling system 1 according to the first embodiment. Is shown.

The schematic configuration of the carpool system according to the second embodiment is substantially the same as that of the carpool system 1 according to the first embodiment. Various control processes are also substantially the same as those in the carpool system 1 according to the first embodiment.
However, in the carpooling system 1 according to the first embodiment, the carpool information management center 3 has selected an appropriate carpool providing vehicle 7 to carry the carpooler 4 (S53 to S56). The carpooling system according to the second embodiment is different from the carpooling system 1 according to the first embodiment in that the carpooler 4 who has requested carpooling selects the carpool providing vehicle 7 to be carpooled from now on. .

  Hereinafter, a vehicle search processing program executed in the information management server 2 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 21 is a flowchart of the vehicle search processing program according to the second embodiment. Here, the vehicle search processing program is repeatedly executed at a predetermined time interval (for example, every 200 ms), searches for a car sharing provision vehicle 7 suitable for the carpooler 4 to ride on, and transmits the search result to the communication terminal 5. It is a program.

  First, in the vehicle search processing program according to the second embodiment, in S <b> 101, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the car sharing information is transmitted from the communication terminal 5. Here, the carpooling request information is information transmitted from the communication terminal 5 possessed by the carpooler 4 who has requested carpooling in S3 to the carpool information management center 3. The carpooling request information includes information on the “registration ID”, “name”, and “department” of the carpooler 4 as the transmission source.

  If it is determined that the carpooling request information has been transmitted from the communication terminal 5 (S101: YES), the transmitted information is received and stored in the carpool management information DB 26 (S102). Thereafter, the process proceeds to S53. On the other hand, when it is determined that no carpool request information is transmitted from the communication terminal 5 (S102: NO), the vehicle search processing program is terminated.

Subsequently, in S103, the CPU 21 based on the carpool request information received in S102 and the position management information stored in the carpool management information DB 26 (information on the current position of the all-carpool providing vehicle 7, see FIG. 3), A search is made for a car sharing vehicle 7 that travels within a predetermined range based on the current position of the carpooler 4 who is the sender of the carpool request information.
Note that the predetermined range based on the current position of the carpooler 4 is, for example, an area within a radius of 1 km centered on the carpooler. Moreover, it is good also as the area in the same secondary mesh as the carpooler 4 or a municipality. Further, in S53, a vehicle in which the planned travel route is included in an area within a predetermined distance centered on the carpooler may be searched.

  Thereafter, in S104, the CPU 21 determines whether or not at least one corresponding car sharing vehicle has been searched as a result of the search in S103. If it is determined that at least one corresponding carpool providing vehicle has been searched (S104: YES), information related to the searched all carpool providing vehicles 7 ("vehicle type", "name" of the carpool provider, “Department”, “Expected arrival time of current applicant's current position”) is transmitted as search vehicle information to the communication terminal 5 that has transmitted the desired vehicle sharing information (S105). Thereafter, the process proceeds to S107. The estimated arrival time at the current position of the carpooler is calculated by the CPU 21 based on the map information stored in the map information DB 27 and the searched current position of the carpool providing vehicle 7. Then, the communication terminal 5 to which the information related to the searched car sharing providing vehicle 7 is transmitted causes the user to select a vehicle to perform carpooling based on the received information related to the car sharing providing vehicle 7 (S114 to S116). Note that S105 corresponds to the processing of the vehicle information providing means.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that no corresponding carpool providing vehicle has been searched (S104: NO), the boarding disabling information is transmitted to the communication terminal 5 that has transmitted the carpooling request information (S106). Then, the communication terminal 5 to which the boarding disabling information is transmitted informs the user (that is, the carpooler who has requested carpooling) that the carpooling cannot be performed (S119). Thereafter, the vehicle search processing program ends.

  In S107, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the selected vehicle information is transmitted from the communication terminal 5. Here, the selected vehicle information is information transmitted from the communication terminal 5 to which the search vehicle information is transmitted in S105 to the carpool information management center 3. The selected vehicle information includes information related to the “registration ID” of the carpool providing vehicle 7 that is selected as a vehicle that the carpooler 4 of the transmission source desires to share.

  If it is determined that the selected vehicle information has been transmitted from the communication terminal 5 (S107: YES), the transmitted information is received and stored in the carpool management information DB 26 (S108). Further, the car sharing vehicle 7 selected by the carpooler 4 based on the received selected vehicle information is specified. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S109. In S109, the CPU 21 transmits the carpool request information to the carpool providing vehicle 7 selected by the carpooler 4. Then, the car sharing providing vehicle 7 to which the carpooling request information is transmitted determines whether or not the carpooler is to be ridden based on the received carpooling request information (S34, S35). Note that S108 corresponds to the processing of the desired vehicle specifying means.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no transmission of the desired carpooling information from the communication terminal 5 (S107: NO), the information related to the carpool providing vehicle 7 searched in S105 is transmitted to the communication terminal 5 for a predetermined time ( It is determined whether or not (for example, 1 minute) has elapsed (S110). And when it determines with predetermined time not having passed (S110: NO), it waits until predetermined time passes. On the other hand, when it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed (S110: YES), the vehicle search processing program is terminated without transmitting the carpooling desired information to the carpool providing vehicle 7.

  Next, a shared vehicle information provision processing program executed in the communication terminal 5 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 22 is a flowchart of a shared vehicle information provision processing program according to the second embodiment. Here, the shared vehicle information provision processing program is executed every predetermined period (for example, 200 ms) after the communication terminal is turned on, and the sharing vehicle 4 of the nearby shared vehicle 7 is offered to the shared vehicle requester 4 who requests the shared vehicle. It is a program that provides information and information on the carpool providing vehicle 7 that permits the same ride.

  First, in the shared vehicle information provision processing program, in S111, the CPU 31 determines whether or not information has been transmitted from the shared information management center 3.

  If it is determined that information has been transmitted from the carpool information management center 3 (S111: YES), the transmitted information is received and temporarily stored in the memory 32 (S112). Thereafter, the process proceeds to S113. On the other hand, when it is determined that no information is transmitted from the carpool information management center 3 (S111: NO), the carpool vehicle information provision processing program is terminated.

  In S113, the CPU 31 determines whether the information received in S112 is searched vehicle information. Here, the search vehicle information is information related to the carpool providing vehicle 7 searched in S103.

If it is determined that the information received in S112 is searched vehicle information (S113: YES), the received searched vehicle information is output from the display 38 or the speaker 36 (S114). Here, FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an output example of searched vehicle information in S114. As shown in FIG. 23, the display 38 of the communication terminal 5 displays detailed information on the all-carpool providing vehicle 7 that travels within a predetermined range based on the current position of the carpooler 4. Specifically, the estimated time of arrival at the current location of the user, the vehicle type, and the driver's name. As a result, the carpooler 4 can grasp what kind of vehicle each car sharing vehicle 7 located in the vicinity is and what kind of person the driver is. In addition, it is possible to grasp the time at which each car sharing vehicle 7 arrives. In addition, you may make it output the audio | voice of the content same as the content displayed on the display 38 from the speaker 36. FIG.
In addition, a cursor 81 is displayed on the display 38, and by operating the input operation unit 39, any one of the carpool providing vehicles 7 on which information is displayed can be selected.

  Next, in S115, the CPU 31 determines whether or not one car sharing vehicle 7 has been selected from among the car sharing vehicles 7 displayed on the display 38. And when it determines with the carpool providing vehicle 7 not being selected, it waits until it selects. On the other hand, when the carpool providing vehicle 7 is selected, information (registration ID, etc.) of the selected carpool providing vehicle 7 is transmitted to the carpool information management center 3 as selected vehicle information (S116). Then, the carpool information management center 3 to which the selected vehicle information has been transmitted transmits information regarding the carpooler to the carpool providing vehicle 7 selected by the communication terminal 5 (S108).

  On the other hand, in S117, the CPU 31 determines whether the information received in S112 is the boarding permission information or the boarding disabling information. Here, the boarding permission information is information (S64) transmitted from the carpool information management center 3 when there is a carpool providing vehicle 7 that allows the carpooler 4 who has the communication terminal 5 to travel together. , Information on the car sharing service 7 that allowed the car sharing ("Registered ID", "Vehicle type", "Car body color", "Number", "Name" of the carpooling provider, "Department", "Current position of the carpooler" On the other hand, the information indicating that the vehicle cannot be used is included in the case where there is no suitable car sharing vehicle 7 for the carpooler 4 who has the communication terminal 5 to ride on, or the appropriate car sharing providing vehicle 7 This information is transmitted from the carpool information management center 3 (S106, S65) when the carpool providing vehicle 7 refuses to board the car.

  If it is determined that the information received in S112 is boarding permission information (S117: YES), the received boarding permission information is output from the display 38 or the speaker 36 (S118). The output example of the boarding permission information has already been described with reference to FIG.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the information received in S112 is information that is not permitted to ride (S117: NO), it is informed that carpooling is not possible (S119). The guidance example in S119 has already been described with reference to FIG. Thereafter, the carpool vehicle information provision processing program is terminated.

  As explained in detail above, in the carpooling system according to the second embodiment, the carpool information management center 3 manages the current position of the carpooling vehicle 7 (S43), and the carpooler 4 uses the communication terminal 5 When the carpool information is transmitted to the carpool information management center 3 (S3), the carpool information management center 3 provides a carpool suitable for carpooling based on the carpooler 4 and the current position of the carpool providing vehicle 7. The vehicle 7 is searched (S103), information relating to the searched carpool providing vehicle 7 is provided to the carpooler 4 (S105), and the carpooling request information is transmitted to the carpool providing vehicle 7 selected by the carpooler (S109). Therefore, the carpooler 4 can select the vehicle to be shared by referring to the information on the shared vehicle 7 that is a candidate for the shared vehicle before performing the shared vehicle. . Thereby, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of trouble at the time of carpooling and allow the carpooling to be performed safely.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a car riding system according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the same reference numerals as those of the carpooling system 1 according to the first embodiment in FIGS. 1 to 20 are the same as or equivalent to those of the carpooling system 1 according to the first embodiment. Is shown.

The schematic configuration of the carpool system according to the third embodiment is substantially the same as that of the carpool system 1 according to the first embodiment. Various control processes are also substantially the same as those in the carpool system 1 according to the first embodiment.
However, in the carpooling system 1 according to the first embodiment, the carpooler 4 and the carpool providing vehicle 7 both support carpooling when the company A is the destination, whereas in the carpooling system 1 according to the second embodiment, The carpooling system is different from the carpooling system 1 according to the first embodiment in that carpooling support is provided when the company A is the departure place and the home is the destination of the company.

  First, a schematic configuration of the carpool system 101 according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing the carpool system 1 according to the third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 24, the carpooling system 101 according to the third embodiment includes a carpooling information management center 3, a carpooler-side communication terminal 102 possessed by the carpooler 4, and carpooling provided by the carpooling provider. The communication terminal 103 is basically composed of the person-side communication terminal 103. Further, the information management server 2 and the carpooler side communication terminal 102, and the information management server 2 and the carpool provider side communication terminal 103 are configured to be able to transmit / receive electronic data to / from each other via the network communication network 8.
The specific configurations of the carpooler side communication terminal 102 and the carpool provider side communication terminal 103 are the same as those of the communication terminal 5 (see FIG. 6) according to the first embodiment.

Further, in the carpooler communication terminal 102 constituting the carpooling system 101 according to the third embodiment, the carpooling request information transmission processing program (FIG. 8) executed by the communication terminal 5 according to the first embodiment, carpooling A program similar to the vehicle information provision processing program (FIG. 10) is executed.
However, the following points are different from the program executed by the communication terminal 5 according to the first embodiment.

First, the user information acquired in S2 includes a place where a pickup is desired (for example, a bus stop or a station) and a desired return time. Also, the current position is not acquired. Note that the location where the pick-up is desired and the desired return time are input to the communication terminal 5 by the carpooler 4 when the carpooler 4 performs a predetermined operation for requesting carpooling.
In S3, in addition to the "registration ID", "name", and "department" of the carpooler 4 who owns this communication terminal 5, the location where the pick-up is desired and the desired time of return are also shared as carpooling information. Transmit to the information management center 3. Also, the current position is not transmitted.

Moreover, the boarding permission information received from the carpool information management center 3 in S12 includes the parking position where the car of the carpooling provider who has permitted carpooling is parked and the scheduled departure time. Further, the estimated arrival time of the carpooler at the current position is not transmitted from the carpool information management center 3.
In S14, in addition to the information on the vehicle to be shared and the information on the driver, information on the parking position where the vehicle of the carpooling provider permitted to share the vehicle and the scheduled departure time are also displayed from the display 38 and the speaker 36. Output. Here, FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an output example of information on the parking position where the vehicle of the carpool provider is parked among the output examples of the boarding permission information in S14. As shown in FIG. 25, a map image 111 around the parking lot of company A is displayed on the display 38 of the communication terminal 5. Furthermore, the name and position of the parking lot where the vehicle of the carpooling provider who has permitted the carpooling is parked is displayed. Thereby, the carpooler 4 can grasp the place to go for carpooling.

Moreover, in the carpool provider side communication terminal 103 constituting the carpooling system 101 according to the third embodiment, the carpool providing vehicle search processing program (FIG. 19) executed by the navigation device 6 according to the first embodiment, A program similar to the information provision processing program (FIG. 20) is executed.
However, it differs from the program executed by the information management server 2 according to the first embodiment in the following points.

In S53, a carpool provider that satisfies the following conditions (a) to (d) is searched. (A) A driver of the carpool providing vehicle 7, (b) the carpool providing vehicle 7 is parked at the company A, and (c) a predetermined distance (for example, 1 km) from the “location where the pick-up is desired” of the carpooler 4 The travel plan route when returning home is included, and (d) the carpool provider who plans to go home at approximately the same time (eg, within 30 minutes before and after) as the rider's desired return time.
Further, in S55, the carpooling request information is transmitted to the carpooling provider side communication terminal 103 possessed by the found carpooling provider. Thereby, the carpooling provider can grasp the information of the carpooler in advance through the communication terminal possessed.

  In S61, it is determined whether information has been transmitted from the carpool provider side communication terminal 103.

As described in detail above, in the carpooling system 101 according to the third embodiment, when the carpooler 4 transmits the carpooling information to the carpool information management center 3 using the communication terminal 5 (S3), the carpool information The management center 3 searches for a carpooling provider suitable for carpooling based on the pick-up location of the carpooler 4 and the desired time of returning home (S53), and transmits the carpooling request information to the found carpooling provider. (S55), it is determined whether or not the carpooling provider to whom the carpooling request information has been transmitted has performed an operation for permitting the carpooler to ride together (S35). Since the information of the carpooling provider who allowed the carpooling is transmitted to the carpooler who issued the carpooling (S64), the current carpooling provider who shares the carpooling requester 4 who wishes to share the car and the carpooling person's current car Situation into consideration, the piggybacking provider suitable for performing the joining, it is possible to transmit the information of the corresponding joining seekers. As a result, it is possible to appropriately support carpooling in various situations.
In addition, the carpool providing vehicle 7 can determine whether or not to perform carpooling by referring to the information of the carpooler 4. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of trouble at the time of carpooling and allow the carpooling to be performed safely.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
For example, in the first to third embodiments, the case where the carpooler 4 and the driver of the carpool providing vehicle 7 are both employees of the same company A has been described. Also good. Moreover, the employee of the company in the same area (city, prefecture) may be sufficient. However, in that case, it is necessary for the carpool information management center 3 to manage the destination where the carpooler 4 and the carpool providing vehicle 7 are currently heading.

  In the first and second embodiments, the communication terminal 5 detects the current position by the GPS 40, and transmits the detected current position information to the carpool information management center 3. The carpool information management center 3 is a mobile phone. The current position of the communication terminal 5 may be acquired from the company. For example, in the Cell-ID method, by receiving a signal from the communication terminal 5, the location cell of the communication terminal 5 is determined by specifying the resident cell of the communication terminal 5 (in the case of a sector, sector unit). To do. When a mobile phone is used for the communication module 9, the carpool information management center 3 can acquire the current position of the carpool providing vehicle 7 by the same technique.

  Further, in the first embodiment, when a plurality of carpool providing vehicles 7 are searched in S53, one vehicle is selected from the searched carpool providing vehicles 7 and carpool request information is transmitted (S55). However, it is also possible to transmit the carpool request information to the searched all-carpool providing vehicle 7. In this case, when the sharing permission information is obtained from a plurality of the car sharing providing vehicles 7, the car sharing information management center 3 selects the optimum car sharing providing vehicle 7, and the carpooling requesting vehicle 4 is added to the selected car sharing providing vehicle 7. Configure to ride together.

  Further, the search for the car sharing vehicle and the car sharing provider (S53, S103) may be performed by a communication terminal or a navigation device. Further, the search for the route to reach the destination via the current position of the carpooler (S33) may be performed by the carpool information management center or the communication terminal.

It is a schematic structure figure showing a carpool system concerning a 1st embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of especially the carpool information management center of the carpooling system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the position management information memorize | stored in carpool management information DB26. It is the figure which showed the carpool desired information memorize | stored in carpool management information DB26. It is the figure which showed the sharing permission information memorize | stored in carpool management information DB26. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the communication terminal especially of the carpooling system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of especially the navigation apparatus of the carpooling system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the carpool desired information transmission processing program which the communication terminal 5 which concerns on 1st Embodiment performs. It is the figure which showed the operation screen displayed on the display of a communication terminal after starting a terminal side carpooling support processing program. It is a flowchart of the shared vehicle information provision process program which the communication terminal 5 which concerns on 1st Embodiment performs. It is the figure which showed the example of output of the boarding permission information in step 14 It is the figure which showed the example of guidance in step 15. It is a flowchart of the own vehicle position information provision process program which the navigation apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment performs. It is a flowchart of the carpool information provision processing program which the navigation apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment performs. It is the figure which showed the guidance screen of carpool desired information and a guidance route by a navigation apparatus. It is the figure which showed the guidance screen of carpool desired information and a guidance route by a navigation apparatus. It is the figure which showed the guidance screen of carpool desired information and a guidance route by a navigation apparatus. It is a flowchart of a carpool providing vehicle management processing program executed by the information management server according to the first embodiment. It is a flowchart of the vehicle search processing program which the information management server which concerns on 1st Embodiment performs. It is a flowchart of the carpool information provision processing program which the information management server which concerns on 1st Embodiment performs. It is a flowchart of the vehicle search processing program which the information management server which concerns on 2nd Embodiment performs. It is a flowchart of the shared vehicle information provision process program which the communication terminal which concerns on 2nd Embodiment performs. It is the figure which showed the output example of the search vehicle information in step 114. FIG. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the carpooling system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the output example of the information of the parking position where the car of a carpool provider is parked.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,101 Carpooling system 2 Information management server 4 Carpooling person 3 Carpooling information management center 6 Navigation device 7 Carpooling vehicle 20 Information management ECU
31 CPU
43 Navigation ECU
102 Carpooler side communication terminal 103 Carpool provider side communication terminal

Claims (4)

Information acquisition means for acquiring information on the current position of the carpooler who wishes to share,
Vehicle search means for searching for a vehicle that travels within a predetermined range based on the current position of the carpooler and that travels to the same destination as the carpooler;
An information transmission means for transmitting information on the carpooler to the vehicle searched by the vehicle search means; Information display means for displaying the information of the carpooler transmitted by the information transmission means on the vehicle from which the information was transmitted;
A vehicle information providing means for providing information on a vehicle permitted to ride together to the rider when the driver of the vehicle displaying the information of the rider wishing to share the rider The shared ride system according to claim 1.   The information display means includes route display means for displaying a route to the destination via the current position of the carpooler based on the information transmitted by the information transmission means. Item 3. The carpooling system according to Item 2. Vehicle information providing means for providing vehicle information searched by the vehicle search means to the carpooler;
Desired vehicle specifying means for specifying the vehicle selected by the carpooler among the vehicles searched by the vehicle search means,
4. The carpooling system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the information transmitting unit transmits information on the carpooler to the vehicle specified by the desired vehicle specifying unit.

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