JP2023153683A - Vehicle allocation management device, vehicle allocation system, and vehicle allocation method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicle allocation management device, a vehicle allocation system, and a vehicle allocation method capable of operating in consideration of a relationship with the existing vehicle allocation industry.SOLUTION: A vehicle dispatch management device operated by a first business operator is a vehicle dispatch management device comprising: a communication unit that communicates with a terminal device of a user and a communication device of an automatic driving vehicle which has been rented in advance from the first business operator to a second business operator based on a first contract, and which has been rented back from the second business operator to the first business operator based on a second contract; and a plan generation unit that generates an operation plan in which one or more users board the automatic driving vehicle and the automatic driving vehicle autonomously moves from a boarding point to an alighting point based on usage application information including at least the boarding point and the alighting point received by the communication unit from the terminal device, and that transmits the operation plan to the automatic driving vehicle using the communication unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle allocation management device, a vehicle allocation system, and a vehicle allocation method.

Conventionally, an invention related to operating an autonomous vehicle as a taxi has been disclosed (Patent Document 1).

International Publication No. 2019/163816

With conventional technology, there was a possibility that operations would not take into account the relationship with the existing ride-hailing industry.

The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and aims to provide a vehicle dispatch management device, a vehicle dispatch system, and a vehicle dispatch method that can be operated in consideration of the relationship with the existing vehicle dispatch industry. Make it one of the objectives.

The vehicle allocation management device, vehicle allocation system, and vehicle allocation method according to the present invention employ the following configuration.
(1): The vehicle dispatch management device according to one aspect of the present invention is a vehicle dispatch management device operated by a first business operator, and the vehicle dispatch management device is a vehicle dispatch management device operated by a first business operator, and the vehicle dispatch management device is a vehicle dispatch management device that a communication unit that communicates with a communication device of an automated driving vehicle that is rented from a second business operator to a second business operator and rented back from the second business operator to the first business operator based on a second contract; , based on usage application information including at least a pick-up point and a drop-off point received by the communication unit from the terminal device, one or more users get on the automated driving vehicle and the automated driving vehicle leaves the boarding point. The vehicle also includes a plan generation unit that generates a travel plan for autonomously moving to the drop-off point and transmits the travel plan to the automatic driving vehicle using the communication unit.

(2): The aspect of (1) above, further comprising a consideration calculation unit that calculates consideration to be paid from the first business operator to the second business operator based on the first contract and the second contract. It is.

(3): In the aspect of (2) above, the consideration calculation unit calculates the consideration further based on a usage fee for the automatic driving vehicle received from the user.

(4): In any of the aspects (1) to (3) above, the usage fee for the automated driving vehicle received from the user is based on a calculation method that is changed based on the relationship between demand and supply. The apparatus further includes a usage fee calculation section for calculating the usage fee.

(5): A vehicle dispatch system according to another aspect of the present invention operates on the vehicle dispatch management device according to any one of aspects (1) to (4) above and the terminal device, and operates according to the operation of the user. The vehicle also includes an application program that generates the usage application information and transmits it to the vehicle allocation management device.

(6): In a vehicle allocation method according to another aspect of the present invention, a first business operator lends an autonomous vehicle to a second business operator based on a first contract, and the second business operator enters into a second contract. based on the rental back of the self-driving vehicle to the first business operator, and the vehicle allocation management device operated by the first business operator rents back the self-driving vehicle to the first business operator based on usage application information including at least pick-up points and drop-off points. An operation plan is generated in which one or more users board the vehicle and the autonomous vehicle moves autonomously from the boarding point to the alighting point, and the plan is transmitted to the automatic vehicle.

(7): In the aspect of (6) above, the first business operator is a travel business operator that provides the self-driving vehicle to users.

(8): In the aspect of (6) or (7) above, when the self-driving vehicle is unable to operate normally, the second business operator provides an alternative vehicle to the first business operator, and The alternative vehicle is arranged to allocate the alternative vehicle based on the operation plan.

(9): In any of the aspects (6) to (8) above, the first business operator pays the second business operator consideration based on the first contract and the second contract. .

(10): In the aspect of (9) above, the first business operator pays the second business operator consideration that is further based on the usage fee for the automatic driving vehicle received from the user.

(11): In any of the aspects (6) to (10) above, the first business operator charges a usage fee for the automated driving vehicle calculated using a calculation method that is changed based on the relationship between supply and demand. is received from the user.

According to aspects (1) to (11), it is possible to conduct operations that take into account the relationship with the existing ride-hailing industry.

1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle dispatch system 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an automatic driving vehicle 200. It is a figure for explaining the processing process of automatic driving. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a contract relationship regarding an automatic driving vehicle 200. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of the operation plan 172. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of operations of each part of the vehicle dispatch system 1 from application for use to completion of use.

[overall structure]
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a vehicle dispatch management device, a vehicle dispatch system, and a vehicle dispatch method of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle dispatch system 1. The vehicle dispatch system 1 includes, for example, a vehicle dispatch application 20 that operates on a user's terminal device 10 and a vehicle dispatch management device 100. Each of the one or more terminal devices 10 and the vehicle allocation management device 100, and each of the vehicle allocation management device 100 and the one or more autonomous vehicles 200, can communicate with each other via the network NW. The network NW includes the Internet, a WAN (Wide Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), a cellular network, a provider device, a wireless base station, and the like. Note that the user's terminal device 10 may include a state in which a terminal device that can be used by an unspecified number of people, such as a terminal device in an Internet cafe, is temporarily used by the user.

[Terminal device]
The terminal device 10 is, for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, or the like. The vehicle dispatch application 20 is distributed in advance by the operator (first business operator) of the vehicle dispatch management device 100 and installed on the terminal device 10 . Alternatively, the vehicle dispatch application 20 may be distributed by a second business operator, which will be described later, and may be installed on the terminal device 10. Instead of the vehicle dispatch application 20, a general-purpose browser may be used. In that case, a membership website is provided to the terminal device 10. The vehicle dispatch application 20 is executed by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) of the terminal device 10. The vehicle dispatch application 20 generates usage application information according to the user's operation and transmits it to the vehicle dispatch management device 100. The usage application information includes, for example, the boarding point, the alighting point, the desired date and time of boarding, the number of users, and the like. The usage application information may include information on desired routes and transit points. The dispatch application 20 causes the terminal device 10 to display an interface screen for inputting these information items, and includes the input information items in the usage application.

[Autonomous driving vehicle]
First, the automatic driving vehicle 200 will be explained. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the automatic driving vehicle 200. The self-driving vehicle 200 is, for example, a vehicle having four or more wheels on which a plurality of users U can ride, but it may also be a motorcycle or other vehicle. The automatic driving vehicle 200 may be a vehicle capable of so-called unmanned automatic driving without a driver on board. The automatic driving vehicle 200 includes, for example, an external world monitoring unit 210, a communication device 220, a navigation device 230, a recommended lane determining device 240, an automatic driving control unit 250, a driving force output device 260, a brake device 262, A steering device 264 is provided.

The external world monitoring unit 210 includes, for example, a camera, a radar, a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), an object recognition device that performs sensor fusion processing based on the outputs thereof, and the like. The external environment monitoring unit 210 estimates the types of objects (in particular, vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles) that exist around the automated driving vehicle 200, and outputs the information to the automated driving control unit 250 together with information on their positions and speeds.

The communication device 220 is, for example, a wireless communication module for connecting to the network NW or directly communicating with terminal devices of other vehicles or pedestrians. The communication device 220 performs wireless communication based on Wi-Fi, cellular communication, DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications), Bluetooth (registered trademark), and other communication standards. A plurality of communication devices 220 may be prepared depending on the purpose.

The navigation device 230 includes, for example, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) 232, a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver 234, and a navigation control device 236. The HMI 232 includes, for example, a touch panel display device, a speaker, a microphone, and the like. The GNSS receiver 234 measures its own position (the position of the automatic driving vehicle 200) based on radio waves arriving from a GNSS satellite (eg, a GPS satellite). The navigation control device 236 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and various storage devices, and controls the entire navigation device 230. Map information (navigation map) is stored in the storage device. A navigation map is a map that expresses roads using nodes and links. The navigation control device 236 determines a route from the position of the automatic driving vehicle 200 determined by the GNSS receiver 234 to the destination specified using the HMI 232 with reference to the navigation map. Additionally, the navigation control device 236 may transmit the position and destination of the automated driving vehicle 200 to a navigation server (not shown) using the communication device 220, and may obtain the route returned from the navigation server. For example, the vehicle allocation management device 100 specifies destinations for the automatic driving vehicle 200, such as a first destination and a second destination. In response to this, the navigation control device 236 generates a route. Note that instead of this, the route may be specified by the vehicle allocation management device 100.

The recommended lane determining device 240 includes, for example, an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) and various storage devices. The storage device stores high-precision map information that is more detailed than the navigation map. The high-precision map information includes, for example, information such as road width, slope, curvature, and position of traffic lights for each lane. The recommended lane determining device 240 determines a preferred recommended lane for driving along the route input from the navigation device 230 and outputs it to the automatic driving control unit 250.

The automatic operation control unit 250 includes one or more processors such as a CPU or an MPU, and various storage devices. The automatic driving control unit 250 causes the automatic driving vehicle to drive in the recommended lane determined by the recommended lane determining device 240 and to avoid contact with objects whose positions and speeds are input from the external monitoring unit 210. 200 to run automatically. The automatic operation control unit 250, for example, sequentially executes various events. Events include constant speed driving events in which the vehicle travels at a constant speed in the same lane, following driving events to follow the vehicle in front, lane change events, merging events, branching events, emergency stop events, and toll charges for passing through toll gates. There are handover events for ending automatic operation and switching to manual operation. Further, during the execution of these events, avoidance actions may be planned based on the surrounding situation of the automated driving vehicle 200 (presence of surrounding vehicles and pedestrians, lane narrowing due to road construction, etc.).

Automatic driving control unit 250 generates a target trajectory on which automatic driving vehicle 200 will travel in the future. The target trajectory includes, for example, a velocity element. For example, the target trajectory is expressed as a sequence of points (trajectory points) that the vehicle M should reach. A trajectory point is a point that the own vehicle M should reach at every predetermined travel distance, and apart from that, the target speed and target acceleration at every predetermined sampling time (for example, about 0 commas [sec]) are determined according to the target trajectory. generated as part of. Alternatively, the trajectory point may be a position to be reached by the host vehicle M at each predetermined sampling time. In this case, information on target speed and target acceleration is expressed by intervals between trajectory points.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the process of automatic driving. First, as shown in the above figure, a route is determined by the navigation device 230. This route is, for example, a rough route with no lane distinctions. Next, as shown in the middle diagram, the recommended lane determining device 240 determines a recommended lane that is easy to travel along the route. Then, as shown in the figure below, the automatic driving control unit 250 generates trajectory points for driving along the recommended lane as much as possible while avoiding obstacles, etc., and adjusts the trajectory points (and accompanying speed profile). Some or all of the driving force output device 260, the brake device 262, and the steering device 264 are controlled so that the vehicle travels along the following directions. Note that such division of roles is just an example, and for example, the automatic driving control unit 250 may perform the processing in a unified manner.

The driving force output device 260 outputs driving force (torque) for driving the vehicle to the drive wheels. The driving force output device 260 includes, for example, a combination of an internal combustion engine, an electric motor, a transmission, and the like, and a power ECU that controls these. The power ECU controls the above configuration according to information input from the automatic operation control unit 250 or information input from a driving operator (not shown).

The brake device 262 includes, for example, a brake caliper, a cylinder that transmits hydraulic pressure to the brake caliper, an electric motor that generates hydraulic pressure in the cylinder, and a brake ECU. The brake ECU controls the electric motor according to information input from the automatic operation control unit 250 or information input from the driving operator, so that brake torque corresponding to the braking operation is output to each wheel. The brake device 262 may include, as a backup mechanism, a mechanism that transmits hydraulic pressure generated by operating a brake pedal included in a driving operator to a cylinder via a master cylinder. Note that the brake device 262 is not limited to the configuration described above, and may be an electronically controlled hydraulic brake device that controls an actuator according to information input from the automatic operation control unit 250 and transmits the hydraulic pressure of the master cylinder to the cylinder. Good too.

The steering device 264 includes, for example, a steering ECU and an electric motor. For example, the electric motor applies force to a rack and pinion mechanism to change the direction of the steered wheels. The steering ECU drives the electric motor to change the direction of the steered wheels according to information input from the automatic driving control unit 250 or information input from the driving operator.

[Contractual relationship]
Here, the self-driving vehicle 200 is provided with a lease contract (an example of a first contract) in advance from a first business operator who is an operator of the vehicle dispatch management device 100 to a second business operator who is a passenger transportation business operator (vehicle dispatch business). The vehicle is rented out based on the contract, and then rented back from the second business operator to the first business operator based on the second contract. The lease agreement may include maintenance costs. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a contract relationship regarding the automatic driving vehicle 200. By doing so, it is possible for the second business operator to eliminate the wasteful situation in which the number of operating vehicles is small compared to the number of authorized vehicles. The first business operator, for example, provides a ride dispatch service to users in the position of a travel business operator. By putting the first contract and the second contract in between, it is possible to freely set the usage fee received from the user without being bound by the legal framework of taxis, car sharing, etc. For example, the fare is set to be somewhere between the price of a bus and a taxi.

The second contract is, for example, a contract in which (1) the first business operator pays a fixed amount to the second business operator for a standard period such as monthly or yearly. This fixed amount is set, for example, to an amount that exceeds the consideration in the lease contract. Further, the second contract may be (2) a contract in which the usage fee received from the user is divided proportionally between the first business operator and the second business operator. In this case, it is not known which will be larger, the consideration for the lease contract or the pro-rata amount of the usage fee.

In this way, according to the system of the embodiment, it is possible to perform operations that take into account the relationship with the existing vehicle dispatch industry.

[Vehicle dispatch management device]
Returning to FIG. 1, the vehicle allocation management device 100 includes, for example, a communication section 110, a plan generation section 120, a consideration calculation section 130, a usage fee calculation section 140, and a storage section 170. The components other than the communication unit 110 and the storage unit 170 are realized by, for example, a CPU or other hardware processor executing a program (software). Some or all of these components are hardware (circuit parts) such as LSI (Large Scale Integration), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), and GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). (including circuitry), or may be realized by collaboration between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device with a non-transitory storage medium) such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage device such as a DVD or CD-ROM. It is stored in a medium (non-transitory storage medium), and may be installed by loading the storage medium into a drive device. The storage unit 170 stores information such as an operation plan 172 and a fare table 174.

The communication unit 110 communicates with each of the terminal device 10 and the communication device 220 of the automatic driving vehicle 200.

The plan generation unit 120 generates a plan for the automatic driving vehicle 200 with one or more users boarding the automatic driving vehicle 200, based on usage application information including at least a boarding point and alighting point, which the communication unit 110 receives from the terminal device 10. generates an operation plan for autonomously moving from a boarding point to an alighting point, and transmits the operation plan to the automatic driving vehicle 200 using the communication unit 110. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the operation plan 172. As shown in the figure, the operation plan 172 includes the coordinates of a departure point, a stopover point, and a destination, and the assumptions of the vehicle 200 for the vehicle ID, which is the identification information of the automatic driving vehicle 200 managed by the vehicle allocation management device 100. This is information in which the arrival time, the user ID of the user getting on the train, and the user ID of the user getting off the train at each stopover point are associated with each other. The starting point and destination are, for example, a garage prepared by the first business operator. In the operation plan 172, information on "vacant vehicles" whose operation schedules have not yet been determined is also registered. The plan generation unit 120 searches the operation plan 172, extracts the automated driving vehicle 200 that matches the usage application information, and adds information related to the usage application information to the data record related to the vehicle ID of the extracted automated driving vehicle 200. register. At this time, it is necessary to refer to the time required from the current location of the automated driving vehicle 200 to the boarding point, but this can be done using existing traffic information. The processing performed by the plan generation unit 120 may include confirmation work by an operator. The plan generation unit 120 may or may not generate an operation plan that includes carpooling with other unknown users. For example, the plan generation unit 120 generates an operation plan that does not include carpooling when the second operator is a taxi operator, and generates an operation plan that does not include carpooling when the second operator is a car sharing operator. Generate an operation plan to include the following.

The consideration calculation unit 130 calculates the consideration to be paid between the first business operator and the second business operator. (1) If the second contract is a contract in which the first business operator pays a fixed amount to the second business operator for the base period, the consideration calculation unit 130 simply deducts the consideration for the lease contract from the fixed amount. The amount to be paid from the first business operator to the second business operator is calculated. In this case, the consideration calculation unit 130 may be omitted. (2) If the second contract is a contract in which the usage fee received from the user is divided proportionally between the first business operator and the second business operator, the consideration calculation unit 130 divides the usage fee received from the user into multiple The difference between the second business operator's share of the total amount for the automated driving vehicle 200 and the total consideration of the lease contract is transferred by the first business operator to the second business operator, or the second business operator Calculated as the amount paid to

The usage fee calculation unit 140 calculates the usage fee received from the user regarding the use of the automatic driving vehicle 200. The usage fee calculation unit 140 may change the usage fee calculation method based on the relationship between demand and supply. The usage fee calculation unit 140 refers to the operation plan 172 and determines whether or not the relationship between supply and demand is tight for the time period or area related to the usage application information. The usage fee calculation unit 140 derives index information (for example, set in three stages: crowded, normal, and quiet) indicating the degree of tightness. The charge table 174 includes, for example, a charge table for "crowded", a charge table for "normal", and a charge table for "quiet", and the usage charge calculation unit 140 uses the index information as a charge table. Calculate the usage fee by referring to the corresponding fee table. Furthermore, the usage fee calculation unit 140 may discount the usage fee when the vehicle is operated by carpooling compared to when the vehicle is operated exclusively. By calculating the usage fee in this way, although the usage fee will be higher during the busy season, it will be possible to use the service at a lower price for users who aim to use the service during the off-season, thereby stimulating demand. .

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of operations of each part of the vehicle dispatch system 1 from application for use to completion of use. First, the vehicle dispatch application 20 transmits reservation application information to the vehicle dispatch management device 100 (step S1). Vehicle allocation management device 100 generates an operation plan according to the reservation application information (step S2), and transmits the operation plan to automatic driving vehicle 200 (step S3).

The automatic driving vehicle 200 moves to the boarding point included in the reservation application information (step S4), and performs a boarding acceptance operation (step S5). The boarding acceptance operation is a series of operations in which the automated driving vehicle 200 is stopped, the door is unlocked and opened, and the automated driving vehicle 200 is started when the seat belt is fastened and the start button inside the vehicle is operated. be. Next, the automatic driving vehicle 200 moves to the drop-off point included in the reservation application information (step S6).

After the automatic driving vehicle 200 starts in step S4, the vehicle allocation management device 100 automatically or remotely monitors the vehicle by an operator (step S7). If necessary, the operator may answer the call from the telephone system of the automated driving vehicle 200. In addition, if the automated driving vehicle 200 is unable to operate normally due to a system error, etc., the second business operator arranges a manually operated taxi or shared car as a substitute vehicle (alternative vehicle) and dispatches it to the location where the user is ( Step S8), the movement of the user is completed.

When the user reaches the alighting point, the automatic driving vehicle 200 performs an alighting support operation (step S9). The alighting support operation is an operation in which the automatic driving vehicle 200 is stopped, the surroundings are checked for safety, and the door is opened. When the user gets off the vehicle, the automatic driving vehicle 200 transmits a notification of completion of the operation to the vehicle allocation management device 100 (step S10). When the vehicle allocation management device 100 receives the operation completion notification, it performs a payment process to receive the usage fee from the user (step S11). The payment process may be performed using an existing credit card or bank system, or may be performed using electronic money set by the first business operator. When the payment process is completed, the vehicle dispatch management device 100 transmits a payment completion notification to the vehicle dispatch application 20 (step S12).

According to the embodiment described above, the first business operator lends an autonomous vehicle to the second business operator based on the first contract, and the second business operator lends an autonomous vehicle to the first business operator based on the second contract. The driver's vehicle is rented back, and the vehicle allocation management device operated by the first business operator rents back the driver's vehicle and, based on the usage application information including at least the pick-up point and drop-off point, rents back the driver's vehicle and returns the driver's vehicle to the driver's vehicle with one or more users boarding the driver's vehicle. By generating a travel plan for autonomously moving from the pick-up point to the drop-off point and transmitting it to the self-driving vehicle, it is possible to conduct operations that take into account relationships with the existing ride-hailing industry.

Although the mode for implementing the present invention has been described above using embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments in any way, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. can be added.

10 Terminal device 20 Vehicle allocation application 100 Vehicle allocation management device 110 Communication unit 120 Plan generation unit 130 Consideration calculation unit 140 Usage fee calculation unit 170 Storage unit 172 Operation plan 174 Charge table 200 Self-driving vehicle

Claims (11)

A vehicle dispatch management device operated by a first business operator,
A user's terminal device is lent in advance from the first business operator to a second business operator based on a first contract, and from the second business operator to the first business operator based on a second contract. a communication unit that communicates with the communication device of the automated driving vehicle rented back to the operator;
Based on usage application information including at least a pick-up point and a drop-off point received by the communication unit from the terminal device, one or more users get on the automated driving vehicle and the automated driving vehicle travels from the boarding point to the a plan generation unit that generates an operation plan for autonomously moving to a drop-off point and transmits the operation plan to the automatic driving vehicle using the communication unit;
A vehicle dispatch management device comprising: Further comprising a consideration calculation unit that calculates consideration to be paid from the first business operator to the second business operator based on the first contract and the second contract.
The vehicle allocation management device according to claim 1. The consideration calculation unit calculates the consideration further based on a usage fee for the automatic driving vehicle received from the user.
The vehicle allocation management device according to claim 2. Further comprising a usage fee calculation unit that calculates the usage fee for the automatic driving vehicle received from the user using a calculation method that is changed based on the relationship between supply and demand.
The vehicle allocation management device according to claim 1. The vehicle allocation management device according to claim 1;
an application program that operates on the terminal device, generates the usage application information according to the user's operation, and transmits the usage application information to the vehicle allocation management device;
A dispatch system equipped with The first business operator lends an autonomous vehicle to the second business operator based on the first contract,
the second business operator rents back the self-driving vehicle to the first business operator based on a second contract;
The vehicle allocation management device operated by the first business operator determines, based on usage application information including at least a pick-up point and a drop-off point, that one or more users get on the self-driving vehicle and the self-driving vehicle returns to the pick-up point. generating a travel plan for autonomously moving from to the drop-off point and transmitting it to the self-driving vehicle;
How to dispatch a vehicle. The first business operator is a travel business operator that provides the self-driving vehicle to users.
The vehicle dispatch method according to claim 6. The second business operator provides a substitute vehicle to the first business operator when the automatic driving vehicle cannot normally operate;
the first business operator allocates the alternative vehicle based on the operation plan;
The vehicle dispatch method according to claim 6. The first business operator pays the second business operator consideration based on the first contract and the second contract.
The vehicle dispatch method according to claim 6. The first business operator pays the second business operator consideration further based on the usage fee for the automated driving vehicle received from the user.
The vehicle dispatch method according to claim 9. The first business operator receives from the user a usage fee for the automated driving vehicle calculated using a calculation method that is changed based on the relationship between supply and demand.
The vehicle dispatch method according to claim 6.

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