JP2024059531A - Delivery Systems and Programs - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To efficiently deliver parcels using a delivery robot. [Solution] A delivery system includes a delivery robot, a first autonomous vehicle equipped with one or more delivery robots, which moves to the vicinity of the delivery destination of the parcel and dismounts the delivery robot loaded with the parcel from the vicinity of the delivery destination, and a second autonomous vehicle equipped with a space for deploying the delivery robot, a robot movement device for moving the delivery robot into and out of the space, a drive device, and an information processing device. The information processing device controls the robot movement device and drive device to return the delivery robot that has delivered the parcel to the space, and to remove the delivery robot from the space and hand it over to the first autonomous vehicle when the second autonomous vehicle encounters a first autonomous vehicle that has an insufficient number of delivery robots while traveling. [Selected Figure] Figure 8

Description

The present invention relates to a delivery system and a program.

Patent document 1 describes a vehicle with an autonomous driving function. Patent document 2 describes a delivery robot that delivers packages.

JP 2022-035198 A JP 2022-152847 A

When delivering parcels using a vehicle with an autonomous driving function, the tasks of unloading the parcels from the vehicle and delivering the parcels to the destination must be performed by humans, which requires labor costs. For this reason, it is possible to deploy multiple delivery robots in the vehicle and use the delivery robots to deliver the parcels from the vehicle to the destination. However, if the delivery robots have left the vehicle to make a delivery, the delivery robots cannot be used, which may result in the parcels not being delivered efficiently.

The present invention was developed in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to solve the above problems.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a delivery system, the delivery system including: a plurality of delivery robots for delivering packages to delivery destinations;
A first autonomous vehicle that is equipped with one or more of the delivery robots, moves to a location near a delivery destination of the package, and disembarks the delivery robot carrying the package from the location near the delivery destination;
a second autonomous vehicle including a space for arranging the delivery robot, a robot movement device for moving the delivery robot into and out of the space, a drive device, and an information processing device;
The information processing device controls the robot movement device and the drive device to retrieve the delivery robot that has delivered the package back to the space, and when the second autonomous vehicle encounters the first autonomous vehicle which has an insufficient number of delivery robots while traveling, to remove the delivery robot from the space and hand it over to the first autonomous vehicle.

In addition, in the delivery system of the present invention, the information processing device may control the robot movement device and the drive device to remove the delivery robot from the space and hand it over to the first autonomous vehicle while driving the first autonomous vehicle and the second autonomous vehicle.

In addition, in the delivery system of the present invention, the information processing device may control the robot movement device and the drive device to receive the delivery robot from the first autonomous vehicle when the second autonomous vehicle encounters the first autonomous vehicle with an excessive number of delivery robots deployed while traveling.

In addition, in the delivery system of the present invention, the information processing device may control the robot movement device and the drive device to receive the delivery robot from the first autonomous vehicle while driving the second autonomous vehicle.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a program is provided for causing a computer to function as an information processing device of the delivery system of the present invention.

Note that the above summary of the invention does not list all of the necessary features of the present invention. Also, subcombinations of these features may also be inventions.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional side view of a first autonomous vehicle used in the delivery system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first autonomous vehicle used in the delivery system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a moving device arranged on the lowest layer. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a moving device arranged on the lowest layer. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an autonomous vehicle used in the automatic unloading system according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of an information processing device of a first autonomous driving vehicle. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing routine executed by an information processing device of the first autonomous driving vehicle. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a second autonomous vehicle used in the delivery system according to this embodiment. A figure showing an example of the functional configuration of an information processing device of a second autonomous driving vehicle. A diagram to explain the handover of a delivery robot from a second autonomous vehicle to a first autonomous vehicle. A figure that shows an example of a processing routine executed by an information processing device of a second autonomous driving vehicle. A figure showing roughly another example of the functional configuration of an information processing device of the second autonomous driving vehicle. A diagram to explain the handover of a delivery robot from a second autonomous vehicle to a first autonomous vehicle. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of computer hardware that functions as an information processing device.

The present invention will be described below through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Furthermore, not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

In the delivery system according to this embodiment, an autonomous vehicle is used. The autonomous vehicle is, for example, a Level 6 autonomous vehicle. Conventional non-autonomous vehicles are equipped with a steering wheel, but a Level 6 autonomous vehicle does not require a steering wheel, making it possible to design the interior space of the vehicle to be spacious. Level 6 is a level that represents autonomous driving, and is equivalent to a level higher than Level 5, which represents fully autonomous driving. Although Level 5 represents fully autonomous driving, it is at the same level as a human being driving, and there is still a possibility of accidents occurring. Level 6 represents a level higher than Level 5, and is equivalent to a level where the probability of accidents occurring is lower than Level 5. Level 6 is realized, for example, by control at the nanosecond level.

Figure 1 is a partially sectional side view of a first autonomous vehicle used in the delivery system according to this embodiment, and Figure 2 is a perspective view of the first autonomous vehicle used in the delivery system according to this embodiment. The first autonomous vehicle 10 has a first space 1 having at least one floor for carrying luggage, and a second space 2 below the first space 1.

The first autonomous vehicle 10 has, for example, a total length of 4 m, a height of 1.8 m, and a width of 1.9 m, and the height of the second space 2 is 80 cm, but is not limited to this.

In this embodiment, the first space 1 has three levels 1A-1C, and openings 4A-4C are formed in one corner of the floors 3A-3C of each of the levels 1A-1C. The openings 4A-4C have a size that allows luggage to be loaded onto the first autonomous vehicle 10 to pass through. The opening 4C is used to move luggage from level 1C to level 1B, and the opening 4B is used to move luggage from level 1B to level 1A. Note that the first space 1 is not limited to three levels, and may have one or two levels, or four or more levels.

A moving device 20 is installed on the lowest level 1A of the first space 1 to move luggage P to the opening 4A. The moving device 20 includes a first bar 21 and a second bar 22. The first bar 21 has a cylindrical shape, extends in the direction of substantially the entire width of the first autonomous vehicle 10, and is disposed on the floor 3A of the lowest level 1A. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the first bar 21 moves in the direction of arrow A by rolling on the floor 3A of the lowest level 1A using a driving device 23, and moves luggage P on the floor 3A of the lowest level 1A to the vicinity of the opening 4A.

The second bar 22 also has a cylindrical shape and is disposed on the floor 3A of the bottom layer 1A approximately parallel to the first bar 21. The second bar 22 is reciprocated in its longitudinal direction by the drive unit 24, and pushes the luggage P that has been moved to the vicinity of the opening 4A in the direction of arrow B toward the opening 4A, causing the luggage P to drop from the opening 4A into the second space 2.

In the second space 2, multiple delivery robots 15 are deployed for delivering packages P to delivery destinations. One of the multiple delivery robots 15 is parked at a predetermined position in the second space 2. The predetermined position is a position where the package P dropped from the opening 4A can be received. In addition, a drive unit 12 for driving the first autonomous vehicle 10 and an information processing device 14 are arranged in the second space 2. The drive unit 12 includes a battery, a motor, a control device for controlling autonomous driving, and the like. The information processing device 14 will be described later.

A door 5 for opening the second space 2 to the outside is attached to one side of the first autonomous vehicle 10, with its lower end rotatable. The door 5 is attached to a predetermined position where one of the delivery robots 15 is parked. When the door 5 is opened as shown in FIG. 5, the upper end of the door 5 comes into contact with the ground, and the door 5 functions as a ramp for the delivery robot 15 to enter and exit the first autonomous vehicle 10.

The delivery robot 15 is a quadrupedal robot that has a loading platform 16 on its back for placing luggage P. When the delivery robot 15 receives the luggage P, it delivers the luggage P to the destination of the received luggage P. When one delivery robot 15 gets off the first autonomous vehicle 10 to deliver the luggage P, the other delivery robot 15 deployed in the second space 2 moves to a predetermined position and stops there, ready to receive the luggage P.

The operation of the first autonomous vehicle 10 is controlled by an information processing device 14 disposed in the second space 2.

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of an example of an information processing device of the first autonomous vehicle 10. The information processing device 14 is connected to a sensor 18 mounted on the first autonomous vehicle 10.

The sensor 18 detects the position of the baggage P in the first space 1 in the first autonomous vehicle 10, and the open/close state of the door 5 in the second space 2. The sensor 18 may be a high-performance camera, a solid-state LiDAR, a multi-color laser coaxial displacement meter, or a variety of other sensors. Other examples of the sensor 18 include a vibration meter, a thermo camera, a hardness meter, a radar, a LiDAR, a high-pixel, telephoto, ultra-wide-angle, 360-degree, high-performance camera, vision recognition, fine sound, ultrasound, vibration, infrared, ultraviolet, electromagnetic waves, temperature, humidity, spot AI weather forecast, high-precision multi-channel GPS, low-altitude satellite information, or long-tail incident AI data.

The information processing device 14 includes an information acquisition unit 140, a control unit 142, and an information storage unit 144. The information acquisition unit 140 acquires location information of the luggage P detected by the sensor 18.

The control unit 142 uses the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 140 and AI (artificial intelligence) to control the operation of the first bar 21 and the second bar 22 of the mobile device 20.

For example, the control unit 142 executes each of the following processes. Note that before executing the following processes, the control unit 142 moves the first autonomous vehicle 10 to the vicinity of the delivery destination of the package P. The vicinity of the delivery destination is, for example, a location within 1 to 2 kilometers of the delivery destination.

(1) Drive the drive device 23 to roll the first bar 21 so as to move the luggage P on the floor of the lowest level 1A to the vicinity of the opening 4A.
(2) By driving the drive device 24 to move the second bar 22 toward the luggage P, the luggage P that has moved near the opening 4A is pushed toward the opening 4A, causing the luggage P to fall through the opening 4A.
(3) Upon detecting that the luggage P has fallen, the driving devices 23, 24 are driven to return the first bar 21 and the second bar 22 to their initial positions.
(4) The delivery robot 15 detects that it has received the package P and opens the door 5. This causes the delivery robot 15 to get off the first autonomous vehicle 10 and deliver the package P to the destination.
(5) Detects that the delivery robot 15 has disembarked from the first autonomous vehicle 10 and closes the door 5.

Figure 7 is a diagram that shows an example of a processing routine executed by the information processing device of the first autonomous vehicle 10. For example, when dropping a package P on the floor of the lowest floor 1A into the second space 2 through the opening 4A, the information processing device 14 repeatedly executes the flowchart shown in Figure 7.

In step S<b>100 , the information acquisition unit 140 acquires the position information of the baggage P detected by the sensor 18 .
In step S102, the control unit 142 uses the position information of the luggage P acquired in step S100 and the AI to drive the drive device 23 to move the luggage P by the first bar 21 to the vicinity of the opening 4A.
In step S104, the control unit 142 drives the drive device 24 to cause the second bar 22 to push the luggage P toward the opening 4A, causing the luggage P to drop through the opening 4A.

When the dropped package P is placed on the delivery robot 15, the door 5 is opened, the delivery robot 15 descends the slope that is installed, disembarks from the first autonomous vehicle 10, and delivers the package P to the delivery destination.

Next, a second autonomous vehicle used in the delivery system according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the second autonomous vehicle used in the delivery system according to this embodiment. The second autonomous vehicle 30 has a space 31 in which the delivery robots 15 are deployed. In FIG. 8, four delivery robots 15 are deployed in the space 31.

The second autonomous vehicle 30 has, for example, a total length of 4 m, a height of 0.6 m, and a width of 1.9 m, but is not limited to this.

The second autonomous vehicle 30 is also provided with a drive device 32 for driving the second autonomous vehicle 30, a robot movement device 34, and an information processing device 36. The drive device 32 includes a battery, a motor, a control device for controlling the autonomous driving, and the like. The information processing device 36 will be described later.

The robot movement device 34 is attached to the side of the second autonomous vehicle 30, and is driven to return the delivery robot 15 that has finished delivering the package P to the space 31, and to remove the delivery robot 15 from the space 31. The robot movement device 34 has two arms 37. The base end of the arm 37 is fixed to the second autonomous vehicle 30. The number of arms 37 is not limited to two. The number of robot movement devices 34 is not limited to one. The robot movement device 34 may be attached to both sides of the second autonomous vehicle 30, or may be attached to the front and rear of the second autonomous vehicle 30 instead of or in addition to both sides.

The arm 37 has multiple rods 37a and multiple joints 37b. For example, the joints 37b are provided between the two rods 37a, allowing the two rods 37a to rotate relatively. Each joint 37b has an actuator such as a motor. The rods 37a rotate relatively via each joint 37b, allowing the arm 37 to extend and retract and to rotate 360 degrees.

A gripper 37c that grips the delivery robot 15 is provided at the tip of the arm 37. The gripper 37c is, for example, a suction cup, and grips the delivery robot 15 by suction from a compressor (not shown). The gripper 37c may be a so-called robot hand.

The robot movement device 34 grasps the delivery robot 15 with the grasping portion 37c provided on each of the two arms 37. In this way, the robot movement device 34 grasps the delivery robot 15 at two points, and can stably retrieve the delivery robot 15 and transfer the delivery robot 15 to the first autonomous vehicle 10.

Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of an example of an information processing device of the second autonomous vehicle 30. The information processing device 36 of the second autonomous vehicle 30 is connected to a sensor 40 mounted on the second autonomous vehicle 30.

The sensor 40 detects the position of the delivery robot 15 when the delivery robot 15 is retrieved, the number of delivery robots 15 deployed in nearby first autonomous vehicles 10, and the position of the first autonomous vehicle 10 that will hand over the delivery robot 15. The sensor 40 detects this information, for example, every nanosecond. The sensor 40 may be the same as the sensor 18.

The information processing device 36 includes an information acquisition unit 150, a control unit 152, and an information storage unit 154. The information acquisition unit 150 acquires the position information of the delivery robot 15 that has delivered the package P and is detected by the sensor 40.

The control unit 152 drives the drive device 32 to move the second autonomous vehicle 30 to the position of the delivery robot 15 based on the position information of the delivery robot 15. Then, it drives the robot movement device 34 to retrieve the delivery robot 15 to the space 31. When retrieving the delivery robot 15, the control unit 152 may stop the second autonomous vehicle 30, or may control the drive device 32 to decelerate and move the second autonomous vehicle 30 while retrieving the delivery robot 15.

In addition, the information acquisition unit 150 acquires information on the number of delivery robots 15 deployed in the first autonomous vehicle 10 that encounters the second autonomous vehicle 30 while the second autonomous vehicle 30 is traveling. The acquisition of the number information is performed by the sensor 40 detecting a signal that is transmitted from the first autonomous vehicle 10 and indicates the number of deployed delivery robots 15.

The control unit 152 determines whether the number of delivery robots 15 deployed in the first autonomous vehicle 10 is insufficient or excessive based on the information on the number of delivery robots 15. The determination of whether the number of delivery robots 15 is insufficient may be performed by determining whether the number of delivery robots 15 is within a predetermined range. If the number of delivery robots 15 deployed in the first autonomous vehicle 10 is insufficient, the control unit 152 drives the robot movement device 34 to take the delivery robot 15 out of the space 31 and hand it over to the first autonomous vehicle 10. The first autonomous vehicle 10 opens the door 5 and receives the delivery robot 15 from the second autonomous vehicle 30.

The information storage unit 154 is realized by a storage medium such as a semiconductor memory element such as a RAM or a flash memory. The information storage unit 154 stores various programs executed by the control unit 152. The information storage unit 154 stores information acquired by the information acquisition unit 150.

The delivery robot 15 may be handed over from the second autonomous vehicle 30 to the first autonomous vehicle 10 by stopping the first autonomous vehicle 10 and the second autonomous vehicle 30, but is not limited to this. The delivery robot 15 may be handed over while the first autonomous vehicle 10 and the second autonomous vehicle 30 are traveling. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the delivery robot 15 may be handed over while the first autonomous vehicle 10 and the second autonomous vehicle 30 are traveling side by side at the same speed in the direction of the arrow A. In addition, when the door 5 of the first autonomous vehicle 10 is provided on the front or rear side of the first autonomous vehicle 10, the delivery robot 15 may be handed over while the second autonomous vehicle 30 is following the first autonomous vehicle 10, or while the second autonomous vehicle 30 is following the first autonomous vehicle 10.

As described above, for example, the control unit 152 executes the following processes.
(1) Retrieve the delivery robot 15 that has already delivered the package P.
(2) Determine whether the number of delivery robots 15 deployed on the first autonomous vehicle 10 encountered while traveling is excessive or insufficient.
(3) When the number of delivery robots 15 is insufficient, the delivery robots 15 are handed over.

Figure 11 is a diagram that shows an example of a processing routine executed by the information processing device of the second autonomous vehicle 30. The information processing device 36 repeatedly executes the flowchart shown in Figure 11 while the second autonomous vehicle 30 is traveling.

In step S110, the information acquisition unit 150 detects, by the sensor 40, the delivery robot 15 that has delivered the package P.
In step S112, the control unit 152 drives the robot moving device 34 to retrieve the delivery robot 15.
In step S114, it is determined whether the number of delivery robots 15 deployed in the first autonomous vehicle 10 encountered during driving is excessive or insufficient.
In step S116, if the number of delivery robots 15 on the first autonomous vehicle 10 is insufficient, the delivery robots 15 are handed over to the first autonomous vehicle 10.

According to this embodiment, luggage P on the bottom layer 1A of the first space 1 is moved to the opening 4A by the moving device 20, dropped from the opening 4A and placed on the delivery robot 15. The delivery robot 15 then delivers the luggage P to the destination and then returns to the first autonomous vehicle 10. This allows the luggage P to be automatically unloaded from the vehicle and the luggage P to be automatically delivered. This therefore saves on labor costs for the work.

In addition, a door 5 is provided in the second space 2, and the door 5 functions as a ramp for the delivery robot 15 to enter and exit the first autonomous vehicle 10. This not only provides a crime prevention measure for the first autonomous vehicle 10, but also allows the delivery robot 15 to easily enter and exit.

In addition, the second autonomous vehicle 30 is configured to collect the delivery robot 15 that has already delivered the package P, which prevents the delivery robot 15 from being left abandoned after delivering the package P.

In addition, if the second autonomous vehicle 30 encounters a first autonomous vehicle 10 that is short of delivery robots 15 while traveling, the second autonomous vehicle 30 transfers the delivery robots 15 to the first autonomous vehicle 10. This allows an appropriate number of delivery robots 15 to be deployed on the first autonomous vehicle 10, and as a result, packages P can be delivered efficiently.

By transferring the delivery robot 15 while the first autonomous vehicle 10 and the second autonomous vehicle 30 are still traveling, the delivery robot 15 can be transferred efficiently.

In the above embodiment, the process is described when the number of delivery robots 15 deployed on the first autonomous vehicle 10 is insufficient. However, there may be cases where the number of delivery robots 15 deployed on the first autonomous vehicle 10 is excessive. In this case, the second autonomous vehicle 30 may receive the delivery robot 15 from the first autonomous vehicle 10. Even in this case, the first autonomous vehicle 10 and the second autonomous vehicle 30 may be stopped to transfer the delivery robot 15, or the delivery robot 15 may be transferred while the first autonomous vehicle 10 and the second autonomous vehicle 30 are traveling.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the robot movement device 34 grasps the delivery robot 15 with the arm 37 and moves the delivery robot 15 into and out of the space 31 of the second autonomous vehicle 30, but this is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 12, a door 38 for opening the space 31 to the outside may be provided on one side of the second autonomous vehicle 30 as a robot movement device. The door 38 is attached to the side of the second autonomous vehicle 30 so that its lower end can rotate. The door 38 may be provided in multiple locations on the side and front and rear surfaces of the second autonomous vehicle 30.

In this case, when the second autonomous vehicle 30 detects a delivery robot 15 that has delivered package P, it stops nearby and opens the door 38. When the door 38 opens, the upper end of the door 38 comes into contact with the ground, and the door 38 functions as a ramp for the delivery robot 15 to enter and exit the second autonomous vehicle 30. Since the delivery robot 15 can move on its own, it climbs the ramp created by the door 38 and is collected in the space 31.

In this case, the delivery robot 15 can be handed over to the first autonomous vehicle 10 while the vehicle is moving by connecting the door 5 of the first autonomous vehicle 10 to the door 38 of the second autonomous vehicle 30, as shown in FIG. 13, and having the delivery robot 15 move autonomously through the passageway formed by the connection.

Figure 14 shows an example of a hardware configuration of a computer 1200 functioning as an information processing device 14. A program installed on the computer 1200 can cause the computer 1200 to function as one or more "parts" of the device according to this embodiment, or to execute operations or one or more "parts" associated with the device according to this embodiment, and/or to execute a process or steps of the process according to this embodiment. Such a program can be executed by the CPU 1212 to cause the computer 1200 to execute specific operations associated with some or all of the blocks of the flowcharts and block diagrams described in this specification.

The computer 1200 according to this embodiment includes a CPU 1212, a RAM 1214, and a graphics controller 1216, which are connected to each other by a host controller 1210. The computer 1200 also includes input/output units such as a communication interface 1222, a storage device 1224, a DVD drive, and an IC card drive, which are connected to the host controller 1210 via an input/output controller 1220. The DVD drive may be a DVD-ROM drive, a DVD-RAM drive, etc. The storage device 1224 may be a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, etc. The computer 1200 also includes input/output units such as a ROM 1230 and a keyboard, which are connected to the input/output controller 1220 via an input/output chip 1240.

The CPU 1212 operates according to the programs stored in the ROM 1230 and the RAM 1214, thereby controlling each unit. The graphics controller 1216 acquires image data generated by the CPU 1212 into a frame buffer or the like provided in the RAM 1214 or into itself, and causes the image data to be displayed on the display device 1218.

The communication interface 1222 communicates with other electronic devices via a network. The storage device 1224 stores programs and data used by the CPU 1212 in the computer 1200. The DVD drive reads programs or data from a DVD-ROM or the like and provides them to the storage device 1224. The IC card drive reads programs and data from an IC card and/or writes programs and data to an IC card.

ROM 1230 stores therein a boot program, etc., executed by computer 1200 upon activation, and/or a program that depends on the hardware of computer 1200. I/O chip 1240 may also connect various I/O units to I/O controller 1220 via USB ports, parallel ports, serial ports, keyboard ports, mouse ports, etc.

The programs are provided by a computer-readable storage medium such as a DVD-ROM or an IC card. The programs are read from the computer-readable storage medium, installed in storage device 1224, RAM 1214, or ROM 1230, which are also examples of computer-readable storage media, and executed by CPU 1212. The information processing described in these programs is read by computer 1200, and brings about cooperation between the programs and the various types of hardware resources described above. An apparatus or method may be constructed by realizing the operation or processing of information according to the use of computer 1200.

For example, when communication is performed between computer 1200 and an external device, CPU 1212 may execute a communication program loaded into RAM 1214 and instruct communication interface 1222 to perform communication processing based on the processing described in the communication program. Under the control of CPU 1212, communication interface 1222 reads transmission data stored in a transmission buffer area provided in RAM 1214, storage device 1224, a DVD-ROM, or a recording medium such as an IC card, and transmits the read transmission data to the network, or writes received data received from the network to a reception buffer area or the like provided on the recording medium.

The CPU 1212 may also cause all or a necessary portion of a file or database stored in an external recording medium such as the storage device 1224, a DVD drive (DVD-ROM), an IC card, etc. to be read into the RAM 1214, and perform various types of processing on the data on the RAM 1214. The CPU 1212 may then write back the processed data to the external recording medium.

Various types of information, such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored in the recording medium and may undergo information processing. The CPU 1212 may execute various types of processing on the data read from the RAM 1214, including various types of operations, information processing, conditional judgment, conditional branching, unconditional branching, information search/replacement, etc., as described throughout the present invention and specified by the instruction sequence of the program, and write back the results to the RAM 1214. The CPU 1212 may also search for information in a file, database, etc. in the recording medium. For example, when a plurality of entries, each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute, are stored in the recording medium, the CPU 1212 may search for an entry whose attribute value of the first attribute matches a specified condition from among the plurality of entries, read the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry, and thereby obtain the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute that satisfies a predetermined condition.

The above-described programs or software modules may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium on the computer 1200 or in the vicinity of the computer 1200. In addition, a recording medium such as a hard disk or RAM provided in a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as a computer-readable storage medium, thereby providing the programs to the computer 1200 via the network.

The blocks in the flowcharts and block diagrams in this embodiment may represent stages of a process in which an operation is performed or "parts" of a device responsible for performing the operation. Particular stages and "parts" may be implemented by dedicated circuitry, programmable circuitry provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, and/or a processor provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium. The dedicated circuitry may include digital and/or analog hardware circuitry, and may include integrated circuits (ICs) and/or discrete circuits. The programmable circuitry may include reconfigurable hardware circuitry including AND, OR, XOR, NAND, NOR, and other logical operations, flip-flops, registers, and memory elements, such as, for example, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic arrays (PLAs), and the like.

A computer-readable storage medium may include any tangible device capable of storing instructions that are executed by a suitable device, such that a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon comprises an article of manufacture that includes instructions that can be executed to create means for performing the operations specified in the flowchart or block diagram. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include electronic storage media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, electromagnetic storage media, semiconductor storage media, and the like. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include floppy disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memories (RAMs), read-only memories (ROMs), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs or flash memories), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), static random access memories (SRAMs), compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs), digital versatile disks (DVDs), Blu-ray disks, memory sticks, integrated circuit cards, and the like.

The computer readable instructions may include either assembler instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data, or source or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages such as Smalltalk (registered trademark), JAVA (registered trademark), C++, etc., and conventional procedural programming languages such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages.

The computer-readable instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, or a programmable circuit, either locally or over a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, to cause the processor of the general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, or a programmable circuit, to execute the computer-readable instructions to generate means for performing the operations specified in the flowcharts or block diagrams. Examples of processors include computer processors, processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, microcontrollers, etc.

The present invention has been described above using an embodiment, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiment. It is clear to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiment. It is clear from the claims that forms with such modifications or improvements can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

The order of execution of each process, such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages, in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, specifications, and drawings is not specifically stated as "before" or "prior to," and it should be noted that the processes may be performed in any order, unless the output of a previous process is used in a later process. Even if the operational flow in the claims, specifications, and drawings is explained using "first," "next," etc. for convenience, it does not mean that it is necessary to perform the processes in this order.

The present invention has been described above using an embodiment, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiment. It is clear to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiment. It is clear from the claims that forms with such modifications or improvements can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

The order of execution of each process, such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages, in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, specifications, and drawings is not specifically stated as "before" or "prior to," and it should be noted that the processes may be performed in any order, unless the output of a previous process is used in a later process. Even if the operational flow in the claims, specifications, and drawings is explained using "first," "next," etc. for convenience, it does not mean that it is necessary to perform the processes in this order.

1 First space, 2 Second space, 4A to 4C Opening, 5, 38 Door, 10 First automated driving vehicle, 12, 32 Driving device, 14, 36 Information processing device, 15 Delivery robot, 18, 40 Sensor, 20 Moving device, 21 First bar, 22 Second bar, 23, 24, 31 Driving device, 30 Second automated driving vehicle, 31 Space, 34 Robot moving device, 37 Arm, 40 Sensor, 140, 150 Information acquisition unit, 142, 152 Control unit, 144, 154 Information storage unit, 1200 Computer, 1210 Host controller, 1212 CPU, 1214 RAM, 1216 Graphic controller, 1218 Display device, 1220 Input/output controller, 1222 Communication interface, 1224 Storage device, 1230 ROM, 1240 Input/Output Chip

Claims (5)

A plurality of delivery robots for delivering packages to destinations;
A first autonomous vehicle that is equipped with one or more of the delivery robots, moves to a location near a delivery destination of the package, and disembarks the delivery robot carrying the package from the location near the delivery destination;
a second autonomous vehicle including a space for arranging the delivery robot, a robot movement device for moving the delivery robot into and out of the space, a drive device, and an information processing device;
The information processing device controls the robot movement device and the drive device to retrieve the delivery robot that has delivered the package back to the space, and when the second autonomous vehicle encounters the first autonomous vehicle which has an insufficient number of delivery robots while traveling, to remove the delivery robot from the space and hand it over to the first autonomous vehicle. The delivery system according to claim 1, wherein the information processing device controls the robot movement device and the drive device to take the delivery robot out of the space and hand it over to the first autonomous vehicle while driving the first autonomous vehicle and the second autonomous vehicle. The delivery system according to claim 1, wherein the information processing device controls the robot movement device and the drive device to receive the delivery robot from the first autonomous vehicle when the second autonomous vehicle encounters the first autonomous vehicle with an excessive number of delivery robots deployed while traveling. The delivery system according to claim 3, wherein the information processing device controls the robot movement device and the drive device to receive the delivery robot from the first autonomous vehicle while driving the second autonomous vehicle. A program for causing a computer to function as the information processing device of the delivery system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.