JP2019040391A - Vehicle dispatch system using passenger applicant detection apparatus equipped in driverless vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a passenger applicant detection apparatus allowing a passenger applicant to easily request vehicle dispatch, and a vehicle dispatch system using the apparatus.SOLUTION: A passenger applicant detection apparatus includes: an image data generation unit 21 which images the surroundings to generate image data; an image data analysis unit 22 which determines whether there is a passenger applicant around on the basis of the generated image data; an availability determination unit 24A which determines whether the vehicle is ready for carrying the passenger applicant or not; and a control unit 23 which controls operation state of the image data generation unit 21 and the image data analysis unit 22. When the determination result is affirmative, the control unit 23 enables both of the image data generation unit 21 and the image data analysis unit 22. When the determination result is negative, the control unit 23 disables at least one of the image data generation unit 21 and the image data analysis unit 22.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a boarding person detection device provided in a vehicle capable of driving unattended, and to a vehicle allocation system that dispatches the vehicle to a boarding person based on the detection result of the apparatus.

  Conventionally, a vehicle capable of manned traveling by a human manual operation and unmanned traveling not by a human manual operation has been used (for example, see Patent Document 1). For example, in the field of distribution warehouses, normal cargo handling operations are left to unmanned vehicles, and only emergency cargo handling operations are carried out manually by humans riding on vehicles. For this reason, it is preferable that the unmanned vehicle is configured to move to the boarding requester in response to a request for dispatch by the boarding requester.

  A boarding applicant can make a request for dispatch through a mobile terminal (see, for example, Patent Document 2). When a person who wishes to board operates a mobile terminal and requests a vehicle allocation, the mobile terminal informs the vehicle allocation management center that a vehicle allocation request has been made, and then requests to board an appropriate vehicle from the vehicle allocation management center. An order is made to go to the person.

JP 2010-222108 A Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-210417

  However, the above-mentioned request for dispatch has a problem that the operation of the mobile terminal is troublesome and a problem that the request for dispatch cannot be made if the mobile terminal is lost.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a boarding person detection apparatus capable of facilitating a request for boarding by a boarding person and a boarding system using the apparatus. And

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a passenger desire detection device according to the present invention is a passenger desire detection device provided in a vehicle capable of unmanned traveling, and generates image data by photographing the periphery and generating image data. And an image data analysis unit for determining whether or not there is a passenger who desires boarding based on the image data generated by the image data generating unit, and in a state where the vehicle can board the passenger who wants to board A boarding availability determination unit that determines whether or not there is a control unit that controls operation states of the image data generation unit and the image data analysis unit, and the control unit can determine a result of the determination by the boarding availability determination unit. In the case where both the image data generation unit and the image data analysis unit are operable, and when the determination result is negative, at least one of the image data generation unit and the image data analysis unit is disabled. Characterized by a.

  When the vehicle is a cargo handling vehicle, the boarding availability determination unit of the above-described boarding person detection device includes, for example, a first sensor that detects the presence or absence of a load. If the first sensor detects a load, the determination result is rejected. In the case where the first sensor does not detect the load, the determination result can be accepted.

  In this case, the boarding availability determination unit further includes a second sensor that detects the presence or absence of a passenger. When the second sensor detects a passenger, the determination result is displayed regardless of the detection result of the first sensor. It is also possible to adopt a configuration of “no”.

  On the other hand, when the vehicle is an unmanned taxi, the boarding availability determination unit of the above-described boarding person detection device further includes, for example, a third sensor that detects the presence or absence of a passenger, and when the third sensor detects a passenger, If the result is negative and the third sensor does not detect a passenger, the determination result can be accepted.

  The image data analysis unit of the above-described boarding person detection device, for example, when the image data includes data relating to a person taking a predetermined pose or data relating to a person in a predetermined position, It can be determined that there is a person who wants to board.

  In order to solve the above problems, a vehicle allocation system according to the present invention is a vehicle allocation system including a plurality of vehicles capable of unmanned traveling and a management device capable of communicating with each of the vehicles, An image data generation unit that shoots the periphery and generates image data, an image data analysis unit that determines whether there is a person who wants to board the periphery based on the image data generated by the image data generation unit, A control unit that includes a boarding availability determination unit that determines whether or not the vehicle is in a state in which a person who wants to board can be boarded, and a control unit that controls operation states of the image data generation unit and the image data analysis unit; When the determination result by the boarding availability determination unit is acceptable, both the image data generation unit and the image data analysis unit are operable, and when the determination result is negative, image data generation is performed. And at least one of the image data analysis unit and the management device, when the image data analysis unit of the vehicle determines that there is a passenger who wants to board, It is made to go to.

  Here, even if it is determined that there is a passenger who wishes to board the vehicle, the vehicle data management unit determines that another vehicle heading for the passenger who wishes to ride is present. If present, it is preferable not to direct the vehicle to the person who wants to board.

  When the vehicle is a cargo handling vehicle, the boarding availability determination unit of the vehicle allocation system includes, for example, a first sensor that detects the presence or absence of a load. If the first sensor detects a load, the determination result is negative. If one sensor does not detect the load, the determination result can be accepted.

  In this case, the boarding availability determination unit further includes a second sensor that detects the presence or absence of a passenger. When the second sensor detects a passenger, the determination result is displayed regardless of the detection result of the first sensor. It is also possible to adopt a configuration of “no”.

  On the other hand, when the vehicle is an unmanned taxi, the boarding availability determination unit of the vehicle allocation system further includes, for example, a third sensor that detects the presence or absence of a passenger. If the third sensor detects a passenger, the determination result is rejected. And when a 3rd sensor does not detect a passenger, the result of a judgment can be taken.

  The image data analysis unit of the above-mentioned vehicle allocation system, for example, if the image data includes data relating to a person taking a predetermined pose or data relating to a person in a predetermined position, It can be determined that there is a problem.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the boarding applicant detection apparatus which can make the request | requirement of dispatch by the boarding applicant easy, and the dispatch system using this apparatus can be provided.

It is a block diagram of the dispatch system which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is a block diagram of the boarding person detection apparatus which concerns on 1st Example of this invention shown by FIG. It is a block diagram of the dispatch system which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a passenger desire detection device according to a second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a passenger detection device and a vehicle allocation system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First embodiment]
As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle allocation system 1A according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of vehicles 2 (2a, 2b, 2c,...) That can run unattended, and a management device that can communicate with each of these vehicles. 3 is provided. In this embodiment, the vehicle 2 is a forklift (loading vehicle). In the following description, reference numerals 2a, 2b, 2c,... Are used when indicating a specific vehicle, and reference numeral 2 is used otherwise.

  The vehicle 2 includes a passenger desire detection device 20A and a battery 28 that supplies power to the passenger desire detection device 20A. Naturally, the vehicle 2 also includes a cargo handling device such as a fork, a traveling motor for driving the traveling wheels, and a handle operated by the passenger. The battery 28 may supply power to a portion other than the passenger desire detection device 20A (for example, a traveling motor).

  When the boarding applicant detection device 20A detects the boarding applicant, the boarding applicant detection device 20A reports the fact to the management device 3. The configuration of the passenger desire detection device 20A will be described in detail later.

  The management device 3 includes a vehicle state storage unit 30 and a dispatching command unit 31.

  The vehicle state storage unit 30 stores the latest state of each vehicle 2. The state of the vehicle 2 stored in the vehicle state storage unit 30 includes at least whether or not the vehicle 2 is in the process of heading to the person who wants to board.

  When the dispatch command unit 31 receives a report from any one of the vehicles 2 (for example, the vehicle 2a) that a passenger who wants to board is detected, the vehicle dispatching unit 31 refers to the vehicle state storage unit 30 and sends the vehicle 2a to the passenger who wants to board. Decide if you want to go. In other words, the dispatch command unit 31 determines whether or not to send a dispatch command signal to the vehicle 2a.

  Specifically, when the vehicle dispatch command unit 31 receives a report from the vehicle 2a that the person who wishes to board the vehicle is detected, the vehicle dispatch command unit 31 refers to the vehicle state storage unit 30 in the vehicles 2b, 2c. It is confirmed whether or not there is already a vehicle moving to the person who wants to board. And the dispatch command part 31 determines not transmitting a dispatch command signal to the vehicle 2a, when such a vehicle exists. This is because it is useless to direct a plurality of vehicles 2 to the person who wants to board. On the other hand, when there is no such vehicle, the vehicle allocation command unit 31 determines to transmit a vehicle allocation command signal to the vehicle 2a. With this as a trigger, the vehicle 2a starts moving to the person who wants to board.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the boarding person detection device 20A according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes an image data generation unit 21, an image data analysis unit 22, a control unit 23, and a boarding availability determination unit 24A. I have.

  The image data generation unit 21 is an omnidirectional camera provided at the highest position of the vehicle 2 (for example, a head guard that protects the passenger from falling objects). The image data generation unit 21 captures the periphery of the vehicle 2 at a predetermined frequency and generates image data. In the present embodiment, the frequency is set to 30 times / second.

  Based on the image data generated by the image data generation unit 21, the image data analysis unit 22 determines whether or not there is a passenger who wants to board. In the present embodiment, the image data analysis unit 22 recognizes a person who wishes to board if the image data includes data related to a person who is taking a predetermined pose for requesting dispatch. At the same time, the determination result is “there is a boarding applicant” and is reported to the management device 3. On the other hand, when the image data does not include data relating to such a person, the image data analysis unit 22 sets the determination result to “no passengers to be boarded”.

  The boarding availability determination unit 24 </ b> A includes a first sensor 25 and a second sensor 26. The first sensor 25 is a load sensor provided in the vicinity of the fork. The first sensor 25 can detect the amount of load applied to the fork, that is, the presence or absence of a load. The second sensor 26 includes a floor switch provided on the floor where the passenger stands. The second sensor 26 can detect the presence or absence of a passenger.

  The boarding availability determination unit 24A (for example, the boarding availability determination unit 24A of the vehicle 2a) is in a state in which the vehicle 2a can board the person who wants to board based on the detection results of the first sensor 25 and the second sensor 26. It is determined whether or not there is. More specifically, the boarding availability determination unit 24A of the vehicle 2a sets the determination result to “No” when there is a load on the vehicle 2a. The boarding availability determination unit 24A of the vehicle 2a also sets the determination result to “No” even when there is already a passenger in the vehicle 2a. That is, the boarding availability determination unit 24A sets the determination result to “permitted” only when there is no cargo and there is no passenger.

  When the determination result of the boarding availability determination unit 24A is “OK”, the control unit 23 sets the image data generation unit 21 and the image data analysis unit 22 in an operable state. As a result, the image data generation unit 21 and the image data analysis unit 22 detect a person who wants to board in the vicinity as described above while consuming the power of the battery 28. On the other hand, when the determination result of the boarding availability determination unit 24A is “No”, the control unit 23 makes at least one of the image data generation unit 21 and the image data analysis unit 22 inoperable. As a result, it is impossible to detect a person who wants to board the vehicle, but the power consumed by the image data generation unit 21 and the image data analysis unit 22 is reduced (preferably, zero).

  If there is already a passenger, even if a passenger who wishes to board is detected, the passenger who wants to board cannot be boarded. In addition, when there is a load, even if the detected boarding person is boarded, the boarding person cannot perform a desired cargo handling operation. That is, in these cases, it is useless to detect the person who wants to board. According to the vehicle allocation system 1A and the passenger desire detection device 20A according to the present embodiment, when it is useless to detect the passenger who wants to board, at least one of the image data generator 21 and the image data analyzer 22 cannot be operated. By setting the state, consumption of the battery 28 can be suppressed.

  In addition, according to the vehicle allocation system 1A and the passenger requesting device 20A according to the present embodiment, the vehicle 2 is allocated to the passenger who wants to board the passenger only by taking a predetermined pose. Can be facilitated.

[Second Embodiment]
As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle allocation system 1B according to the second embodiment of the present invention is different from the vehicle allocation system 1A in that the vehicle 2 includes a passenger desire detection measure 20B instead of the passenger desire detection measure 20A. doing. And as shown in FIG. 4, the boarding applicant detection measure 20B according to the present embodiment is different from the boarding applicant detection measure 20A in that it includes a boarding availability determination unit 24B instead of the boarding availability determination unit 24A. ing. In the present embodiment, the vehicle 2 is an unmanned taxi.

  The boarding availability determination unit 24 </ b> B includes a third sensor 27. The third sensor 27 is a seating switch provided on a seat on which a passenger (passenger) sits. The third sensor 27 can detect the presence or absence of a passenger.

  The boarding availability determination unit 24B (for example, the boarding availability determination unit 24B of the vehicle 2a) is in a state in which the vehicle 2a can board a passenger who wishes to board (a new passenger) based on the detection result of the third sensor 27. It is determined whether or not there is. More specifically, the boarding availability determination unit 24B of the vehicle 2a sets the determination result to “No” when there are passengers, and sets the determination result to “Yes” when there are no passengers.

  As in the first embodiment, when the determination result of the boarding availability determination unit 24B is “Yes”, the control unit 23 sets the image data generation unit 21 and the image data analysis unit 22 in an operable state, and determines whether boarding is possible. When the determination result of the unit 24B is “No”, at least one of the image data generation unit 21 and the image data analysis unit 22 is made inoperable.

  According to the vehicle allocation system 1B and the passenger desire detection device 20B according to the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the consumption of the battery 28 is suppressed by preventing unnecessary detection of new passengers. Can do.

[Modification]
As mentioned above, although the Example of the vehicle allocation system and the passenger desire detection device according to the present invention has been described, the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the configuration of the example, and the modifications illustrated below are also the present invention. include.

  For example, the image data analysis unit 22 of the first and second embodiments recognizes a person who wishes to board when the image data includes data relating to a person at a predetermined position. The determination result may be “there is a person who wants to board”, or may be determined by a method other than this.

  Further, the boarding availability determination unit 24A in the first embodiment may omit the second sensor 26. In this case, the boarding availability determination unit 24A determines whether or not it is possible to board the boarding applicant based only on the presence or absence of the cargo.

  Further, the vehicle 2 is not limited to the forklift in the first embodiment and the unmanned taxi in the second embodiment.

1A, 1B Vehicle allocation system 2, 2a, 2b, 2c Vehicles 20A, 20B Boarding person detection device 21 Image data generation unit 22 Image data analysis unit 23 Control units 24A, 24B Boarding availability determination unit 25 First sensor 26 Second sensor 27 Third sensor 28 Battery 3 Management device 30 Vehicle state storage unit 31 Allocation command unit

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle allocation system using the riding applicant detection equipment which can facilitate the vehicle allocation request by passenger seekers.

To solve the above SL problem, dispatch system according to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle allocation system comprising: a plurality of vehicle capable unmanned, and respectively capable of communicating management system for a vehicle, each vehicle, An image data generation unit that shoots the periphery and generates image data, an image data analysis unit that determines whether there is a person who wants to board the periphery based on the image data generated by the image data generation unit, and the vehicle Includes a boarding availability determination unit that determines whether or not it is in a state in which a person who wants to board can be boarded, and a control unit that controls operation states of the image data generation unit and the image data analysis unit, and includes image data analysis parts are reported if the data relating to a person who is in a predetermined position is included in the image data, to the management device the result of the determination as to determine that there are passengers who wish, the control unit, tower When the determination result by the determination unit is acceptable, both the image data generation unit and the image data analysis unit are made operable. When the determination result is negative, the image data generation unit and the image data analysis are performed. When at least one of the units is made inoperable and the management device receives a report from the image data analysis unit of the vehicle that there is a passenger who wants to board, the management device directs the vehicle to the passenger who wants to ride It is characterized by.

Here, even if the management device of the vehicle allocation system receives a report that there is a passenger who wishes to board from the image data analysis unit of the vehicle, another vehicle heading for the passenger who wants to board If present, it is preferable not to direct the vehicle to the person who wants to board.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle allocation system using the riding applicant detection equipment which can facilitate the vehicle allocation request by passenger seekers.

Claims (11)

A passenger detection device provided in a vehicle capable of unmanned traveling,
An image data generation unit that shoots the periphery and generates image data;
Based on the image data generated by the image data generation unit, an image data analysis unit that determines whether or not there is a person who wants to board the periphery,
A boarding availability determination unit that determines whether or not the vehicle is in a state where it is possible to board the boarding applicant;
A control unit for controlling an operation state of the image data generation unit and the image data analysis unit;
With
When the determination result by the boarding availability determination unit is acceptable, the control unit sets both the image data generation unit and the image data analysis unit to an operable state, and the determination result is negative. A passenger desire detection apparatus characterized in that at least one of the image data generation unit and the image data analysis unit is rendered inoperable. The vehicle is a cargo handling vehicle,
The boarding availability determination unit includes a first sensor that detects the presence or absence of a load. If the first sensor detects the load, the determination result is denied, and the first sensor does not detect the load. The boarding person detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the result of the determination is acceptable in the case of a failure. The boarding availability determination unit further includes a second sensor that detects presence / absence of a passenger, and when the second sensor detects the passenger, the determination result is obtained regardless of a detection result of the first sensor. The boarding person detection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the boarding person detection apparatus is not. The vehicle is an unmanned taxi,
The boarding availability determination unit further includes a third sensor that detects the presence or absence of a passenger. When the third sensor detects the passenger, the determination result is denied, and the third sensor detects the passenger. The boarding person detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination result is acceptable when there is not. When the image data analysis unit includes data relating to a person taking a predetermined pose, or data relating to a person in a predetermined position, the image data includes the person who wishes to board The boarding person detection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the determination is made. A vehicle allocation system comprising a plurality of unmanned vehicles and a management device capable of communicating with each of the vehicles,
Each of the vehicles
An image data generation unit that shoots the periphery and generates image data;
Based on the image data generated by the image data generation unit, an image data analysis unit that determines whether or not there is a person who wants to board the periphery,
A boarding availability determination unit that determines whether or not the vehicle is in a state where it is possible to board the boarding applicant;
A control unit for controlling an operation state of the image data generation unit and the image data analysis unit;
Including
When the determination result by the boarding availability determination unit is acceptable, the control unit sets both the image data generation unit and the image data analysis unit to an operable state, and the determination result is negative. Is in an inoperable state at least one of the image data generation unit and the image data analysis unit,
The vehicle management system according to claim 1, wherein when the image data analysis unit of the vehicle determines that the boarding applicant is present, the management device directs the vehicle to the boarding applicant. Even if the management device determines that there is a person who wants to board by the image data analysis unit of the vehicle, there is a case where there is another vehicle heading for the person who wants to board. The vehicle allocation system according to claim 6, wherein the vehicle is not directed toward the boarding applicant. The vehicle is a cargo handling vehicle,
The boarding availability determination unit includes a first sensor that detects the presence or absence of a load. If the first sensor detects the load, the determination result is denied, and the first sensor does not detect the load. The vehicle allocation system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the result of the determination is acceptable in the case of failure. The boarding availability determination unit further includes a second sensor that detects presence / absence of a passenger, and when the second sensor detects the passenger, the determination result is obtained regardless of a detection result of the first sensor. The vehicle allocation system according to claim 8, wherein: The vehicle is an unmanned taxi,
The boarding availability determination unit further includes a third sensor that detects the presence or absence of a passenger. When the third sensor detects the passenger, the determination result is denied, and the third sensor detects the passenger. 8. The vehicle allocation system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the result of the determination is acceptable when there is not. When the image data analysis unit includes data relating to a person taking a predetermined pose, or data relating to a person in a predetermined position, the image data includes the person who wishes to board The vehicle allocation system according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein a determination is made.

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