JP2816294B2 - Dynamic type physical distribution automatic navigation apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dynamic logistics system which is provided at a distribution center or the like and which can automatically organize a train schedule of a vehicle to improve the efficiency of delivery when the cargo of a shipper is delivered to a destination under predetermined delivery conditions. The present invention relates to an automatic navigation device and method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art To improve the efficiency of logistics (all operations related to goods from sales to procurement), energy saving,
First, it is necessary to deal with environmental and traffic problems. Specifically, measures to improve loading efficiency and effectively use vehicles (reduce the number of empty vehicles) are needed. For this reason, there is a need for the development of a delivery system for promoting joint delivery and improving operation efficiency. Furthermore, in order to reduce logistics costs, it is necessary to realize low-cost operations using advanced logistics technology and know-how. To do so requires significant logistics investment.

As described above, in order to efficiently develop a joint delivery system, it is desired to realize a low-cost delivery plan and reduce logistics costs through the maintenance of an information system.

[0004] At a distribution center (accumulation and storage location of luggage), which is currently a distribution base, receiving delivery requests from a plurality of shippers, the corresponding luggage is picked up from a warehouse.
For example, a form of joint delivery is adopted in which the delivery is mixed and delivered to the same vehicle for each direction, and the delivery plan is processed by a delivery system (computer).

[0005] By the way, in a conventional delivery plan by a vehicle dispatching apparatus, package information (items, quantities, destinations, etc., of the package) periodically transmitted from a plurality of shippers is used as a processing timing of the dispatch plan, and the direction of the vehicle owned by the distribution center is considered. A method is adopted in which work to be separately assigned is batch processed.

That is, such a delivery plan includes, in addition to the package information, distance information (distance-price system table by shipper, etc.), vehicle information (transport company, type of vehicle, etc.), and destination information (destination side). , Etc.) are all processed on the basis of static (presumable and unique) static information. At present, on the input side of the above-mentioned vehicle dispatching device, the line between the shipper and the distribution center is online and the baggage information is connected by data transmission, and the processing result is specifically allocated to each vehicle. The package information, the destination, the approximate delivery order, etc. are printed out and passed to the driver.

[0007]

For this reason, in the conventional delivery plan, the delivery plan cannot be changed even if the situation changes after the delivery plan is determined. The change in the situation is due to dynamic (variable which cannot be assumed in advance) dynamic information, and specifically includes traffic congestion, change in the schedule of vehicles, ships, and airplanes, and package information from shippers. Is constantly fluctuating. The interruption of the package information may be requested by a shipper near the delivery route at the time of delivery, and the new package information will necessitate a change in the entire delivery plan.

Conventionally, it has been impossible to cope with a change in the situation due to the dynamic information, and there is no means for reflecting the processing of the dynamic information in a vehicle allocation plan. Therefore, when a problem occurs in the delivery plan according to the change in the situation, the processing often depends on the capability of the driving vehicle of the vehicle planned for the delivery. This reduces the certainty of the delivery plan itself, and may lead to a reduction in delivery efficiency. In addition, in the conventional delivery plan, a general delivery order for delivering the package to a plurality of destinations was obtained. However, since the destination name, address, and the like were displayed, the driving vehicle of the vehicle indicated the location of the plurality of destinations. If you are not familiar with the geography, such as knowing in advance, there is a problem that the delivery efficiency will be extremely lowered, and it will be necessary to change the delivery plan, and if this is recognized at the distribution center and reflected in the overall delivery plan No.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and can automatically and easily realize a package delivery plan with a simple device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dynamic physical distribution automatic navigation apparatus and method capable of flexibly correcting a dispatch even if a new luggage collection request occurs at the site.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an automatic navigation system for dynamic logistics according to the present invention receives a delivery request of a package from a plurality of shippers, and transfers the package from a distribution base such as a warehouse. An automatic logistics navigation system for allocating vehicles to be delivered to destinations and causing vehicles to carry out a delivery operation in accordance with a predetermined vehicle allocation plan, wherein a package information input means for inputting content information of packages from a shipper ( 10), static information processing means (3) which receives the package information from the package information inputting means and creates a shipping instruction file integrating the items and destinations of each shipper;
A dynamic information processing means (5) for receiving a change information that changes every moment and outputting a corresponding change request is arranged at the distribution base,
Means for extracting map information in a range in which each of the plurality of destinations created in the shipping instruction file is described from the road map and the map information indicating the location of the destination stored and held in advance; Means for converting a road in to an equivalent route of a set of links having an intersection as a node;
Means for adding a static constraint condition such as preset distance information to the equivalent route to search for the shortest route between any two destinations, and refer to the shortest route between the obtained two points Means for simulating a delivery route by reconnecting links so that all destinations are connected by one delivery route and minimizing the travel time of the delivery (9, 59). Communication means (40, 41) disposed at said distribution base and said vehicle, respectively provided at said distribution base and said vehicle, and capable of bidirectionally transmitting said package information and simulated delivery route;
With the configuration, the delivery plan editing means is configured to sequentially re-execute the processing of each of the internal means at the time of a change request due to the dynamic change and simulate the shortest delivery route again, It is characterized by mutually transmitting between the distribution base and the delivery vehicle via the communication means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle, an interrupt information input for inputting a new static constraint corresponding to a request for interrupting a package from a shipper during the delivery operation is performed. Means (51), wherein the delivery plan editing means (59) arranged in the vehicle is adapted to input dynamic data and destination data as new static information indicated by the interrupt request. And the processing of each of the internal means is sequentially executed again to simulate the shortest delivery route again, and the delivery route is mutually transmitted between the distribution base and the delivery vehicle via the communication means. It is good also as a structure which performs.

Further, as described in claim 3, the distribution base is provided with operation information input means (14) for taking in the current position of the vehicle using satellite communication and the delivery plan editing means (9, 59). An operation monitoring means (7) for outputting the degree of progress of the delivery operation every time the created delivery route is compared with the current vehicle position output by the operation information input means may be provided.

Further, the method of the present invention receives a delivery request of a package from a plurality of shippers, dispatches a vehicle to deliver the package to a destination starting from a distribution base such as a warehouse, and arranges the vehicle with a predetermined dispatch plan. Is a logistics automatic navigation method for carrying out delivery operations in accordance with the requirements described above. A first step of creating a shipping instruction file, and extracting map information in a range in which each of the plurality of destinations created in the shipping instruction file is described, from a road map and map information indicating a position of a destination stored and held in advance. A second step of converting a road in the extracted map information into an equivalent route of a set of a plurality of links having an intersection as a node; A fourth step of searching for the shortest route between any two destinations by adding a static constraint condition such as distance information set in advance, and referring to the shortest route between the two points obtained above, A fifth step of simulating a delivery route by connecting links so that destinations are connected by one delivery route and minimizing the travel time of the delivery; and A sixth step of simulating the delivery route again by sequentially executing the processing of the first to fourth steps again in response to the input change request when a dynamic change occurs;
When a request for picking up new luggage is issued to a vehicle that is performing a delivery operation, the first luggage is stored in correspondence with the new destination to be input.
And a seventh step of sequentially simulating the delivery route by sequentially executing the processes of the fourth to fourth steps again.

[0014]

When the package information is input from the shipper, the delivery destination for the package is processed by the delivery plan creating means 1. The luggage is allocated to a predetermined vehicle for each course, and a distribution plan such as a route is automatically created. The driver of each vehicle delivers the package to the destination according to this delivery plan. Also, a shipment interruption request from the shipper during the delivery is input to the interruption information input means 51, and the delivery plan created by the delivery plan creation means 1 is sent to the delivery plan change means 5
5 and a new vehicle allocation plan is created. Thereby, even if there is an interrupt request, a new delivery plan corresponding to the interrupt request is created. Also, vehicles that are delivering packages are
The position is obtained as operation information, and can be checked against the delivery plan by the operation monitoring means 7, and the progress of the delivery operation can be confirmed.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a general configuration of a dynamic physical distribution automatic navigation apparatus according to the present invention.
This device is installed in each of the distribution center and the vehicle to be delivered.
The distribution plan creation means 1 installed in the distribution center and constituting the central part is constituted by a microcomputer such as a CPU and a memory, and is roughly divided into a static information processing means 3 for processing the static information; Information processing means 5 for processing the traffic and operation monitoring means 7 for monitoring the actual operation status
Having. Further, a delivery plan changing means 55 substantially similar to the delivery plan creation means is provided on the vehicle side, and includes an interrupt information processing means 57, a delivery plan reediting means 59, and the like.

First, the configuration of the distribution center will be described. A delivery request from each shipper at a plurality of locations is input to the package information input means 10 in a predetermined data format via online and output to the static information processing means 3. The static information input means 3 includes an inventory management device 20 (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-41320).
No.) is connected to obtain inventory information.

The output of the static information processing means 3 is output to the delivery plan editing means 9 to edit the delivery plan. A map information search device 25 (disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-184474) is connected to the delivery plan editing means 9 to obtain map information of a destination. The output of the delivery plan editing means 9 is
It is output to a display output means 30 such as a CRT or a printer.

The change information input means 12 receives online or operationally input change information such as road conditions, operation schedules, etc., which changes every time.
Output to the dynamic information processing means 5. Dynamic information processing means 5
Outputs a change request to the delivery plan edited by the delivery plan editing means 9 according to the type of information and the degree of change.

The delivery service is actually operated in accordance with the delivery plan created by the delivery plan creation means 1. The operation status is determined by the fact that the position of the vehicle is always operated by the satellite communication device mounted on the vehicle. The information is input to the operation information input unit 14 as information. Therefore, the operation monitoring means 7
Then, the actual operation status of the delivery plan created by the delivery plan editing means 9 is monitored, and the display output means 30
Output.

Next, details of each of the above components will be described. The data input to the package information input means 10 as a delivery request from the shipper includes a shipper code, an item code of the package, a destination code, and the like. As shown in FIG. 2, the static information processing means 3 has a master file of a shipper, an item, and a destination, and uses the shipper code shown in FIG. Obtainable. Further, information such as an item name, a volume, a capacity, a unit price, and a packing style can be obtained from an item file by using the item code shown in FIG. Similarly, information such as a district code, a destination name, an address, a designated time, and notes can be obtained from the destination code shown in FIG.

Although not shown, similar master files include a delivery distance-transportation fee file, a transportation company,
There are files about vehicles and drivers. These pieces of information are used each time there is a business request (such as inventory management, freight calculation, time management, and delivery order calculation, which will be described later). These codes and master files are sequentially updated for new shippers, destinations, and items.

The static information processing means 3 outputs a shipping instruction to the inventory management device 20 to pick up articles of the corresponding item based on the item code. at the same time,
The inventory management device 20 updates the inventory information. The picked-up article is sent to a designated vehicle based on the delivery plan created by the delivery plan editing means 9.

The shipping instruction in the static information processing means 3 is:
As shown in FIG. 3, it is created on a shipping instruction file as an updatable data file. This shipping instruction file includes destination data which is a parent file of FIG. 7A and item data as a child file of FIG.
The destination data includes a shipping date, a shipper code, a destination code, a designated time, a shipping company, notes, and the like. The item data includes a shipping date, a shipper code, a destination code, an item code, a packing category, a quantity, and the like. The destination data and the item data have a hierarchical structure corresponding to each other as shown in FIG. 3C, and convenience for each operation such as confirmation, collation, and readout of required item contents is obtained. .

Next, the following change information shown in FIG. When there is a change in the vehicle information such as a regular flight truck or the schedule such as the departure time of a ship or an aircraft, the change data is input to the schedule information input means 12a. In addition, information on traffic signals indicating the degree of congestion of road traffic in the city, and information on traffic signal switching timing (beacon) used by police,
It is input to the traffic light information input means 12b. Further, road information of the Ministry of Construction used on the expressway is input to the road-to-vehicle information input means 12c. Each time such information is input, the dynamic information processing means 5 is switched via the switching output means 12d.
Is output to

The dynamic information processing means 5 integrates the change information clocked from the change information input means 12,
A change request is output to the delivery plan editing means with a priority order given according to the degree of change of each information.

After the static information processing means 3 processes the data of each shipper's item for each destination, the processed data is output to the delivery plan editing means 9.
Similarly, change information from the dynamic information processing means 5 is also output to the delivery plan editing means 9.

The delivery plan editing means 9 creates a delivery plan for efficiently distributing items of each shipper to each destination. For this reason, the delivery plan editing means 9 first edits the destination for each district predetermined in the district master file. As shown in FIG. 5, the district file includes a district code, a district name, district coordinates XY, a standard time for traveling to the district (standard time for entering the district from the distribution center), an average traveling speed in the district, and a basic shipping charge for the district. Etc., and are created in advance.

The configuration of the district coordinates XY indicating the destination in the district file is determined by setting the delivery point on the map as described in the specification of the map information search apparatus described above.
It is a -Y coordinate point, which is composed of a map number for each region and XY points in the map number. Not all the map information is stored in the map format, but data of the XY points. This can reduce the load on the calculation process in order to obtain.

The information of this district file is processed on a shipping instruction sorting file which is a data file. The shipping instruction sorting file has a hierarchical structure of course data as a parent file in FIG. 6A, destination data in FIG. 6B, and item data in FIG. 6C. The course data consists of the course number, the route order of this course number, the number of stopover destinations and the estimated total distance, the departure time and end time of this course, the total weight, loading rate, amount of money, vehicle number, vehicle belonging code, driver code, etc. It is configured. The destination data includes the shipping date, shipper code, course number, in-course order for each destination, in-course and district, and in-course and in-area order, destination code, total transported amount and weight by destination, estimated arrival time,
It consists of designated time, shipping company designation, driver designation, etc. The item data includes a course number, a shipper code, a destination code, an item code, an item name, a package classification, a package, a quantity, a weight, a volume weight, and the like for each item.

In creating this shipping sorting file,
Each of the course numbers is assigned to each of the predetermined areas by the map information search device. Hereinafter, since a delivery plan is created within the predetermined area, the file creation process can be speeded up. . First, in the course data creation, after collecting a plurality of destinations corresponding to this area for each course number from the static information processing means 3, the quantity of articles that can be loaded on the vehicle for delivery is selected and the destination data is selected. , Item data is created.

Next, each of the plurality of destinations is connected by one route by a route calculation process in which the calculation range is within the predetermined area. The route creation is simulated by a general calculation, a neural technology, and a Monte Carlo method using a numerical processor. If you express the calculation on the map specifically,
As shown in FIG. 7, the delivery route in the course of the destination is simulated based on the distance of the shortest route connecting the destinations A, B, and C on the road, and at the same time, the scheduled arrival time is added. Then, the scheduled delivery route arrival time is changed as described later due to a change in the dynamic information.

When the course data, the destination data, and the item data are created, each file has a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. The map shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on a CRT as a display output unit 30 on a screen. Further, a configuration in which a map is superimposed on a film on which the order of each destination is printed as in the case of the map information search device may be adopted. still,
The present application is different from the map information search device in that routes between destinations are connected. At the time of display, the visual recognition is facilitated by changing the route of the road on the map to a different color or changing the thickness of the line.

When the course data is simulated, a dispatch status table shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, which is the contents of the shipping sorting file, is displayed on the CRT. The dispatch status table shown in FIG. 9 is a list (top screen) showing the dispatch status for each course, and the course numbers 101 to 101 are shown as shown.
The vehicle number, the tonnage of each vehicle, the number of destinations, and the loading ratio are displayed in frames for each of the courses up to 109. FIG.
0 and FIG. 11 are lower screens of FIG. 9 described above. On the screen of FIG. 10, details of each course (delivery destination, estimated arrival time, etc.)
Is displayed, and in FIG. 11, the delivery content for each destination is displayed. When the inside of each course frame in FIG. 9 is designated with a mouse, the screen can be switched to each of the screens in FIGS. 10 and 11, and the automatic dispatch device can be designated by designating a permanent function area provided on the right side of the screen with the mouse. Operations such as display switching of each function of the device itself and input / output of information can be performed.

As described above, the delivery plan creator 1 simulates the package from the shipper at the destination by a predetermined route. This process is determined based on the package information from the shipper, and is determined for each course. The vehicle allocation status automatically distributed to the vehicle and the simulated vehicle allocation status can be changed immediately by a CRT as the display output means 30, while the vehicle allocation status table shown in FIG. The delivery operation can be performed only by handing out what is printed out by the printer.

The operation of the above-mentioned automatic vehicle allocation is processed based on the static information. The operation when the dynamic information changes will be described below. Change information input means 14
When a change in dynamic information is input to the
Outputs a change request to the simulated delivery plan. Specifically, if there is a change in the various diamonds, the ship that was going to be used, the delay of the airplane,
Due to cancellation, alternative means of transport will be searched. The traffic congestion state is determined based on changes in traffic signal information and road-to-vehicle information.

Accordingly, the contents of the shipping instruction sorting file shown in FIG. 6 are changed. For example, the route order, departure time, and end time are changed in the course data of FIG. 7A, and the order within the course, the order of the district, and the order within the district are changed in the destination data of FIG. Specifically, the destination order shown in FIG.
A, B, and C, but if there is information (traffic light information) where the road on the way from A to B is crowded, avoid this crowded road or change the route order (for example, A, C, B). Similarly, if the passing expressway is congested, the route is changed such as to avoid this congested section. However, at the time of this change, if a designated time for delivery, which is a request for the destination, is set, this item is given priority processing.

Since the total time required for delivery changes due to this change, delivery cannot be performed according to the above-mentioned vehicle allocation status table.
Determines whether or not to simulate a new delivery plan and update the dispatch status table. When a new problem occurs during the change, the problem is displayed in the problem display area 31 at the bottom of the screen in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the configuration of the delivery plan creating means 1 installed in the above-mentioned distribution center as the central side is substantially the same as that of the delivery plan changing means 55 for the vehicle (mobile) to be delivered. Is also provided. Wireless communication means 40, 41 between these distribution centers and vehicles.
The delivery plan created by the delivery plan editing means 9 on the distribution center side is provided in the vehicle via the communication means 40 and 41. The delivery schedule re-editing means 55 can be transferred to the display dispatching means 59, and the same display state table can be read out by the display output means 31 mounted on the vehicle.

In this vehicle, interrupt information input means 51 for inputting interrupt information when there is an interrupted package, such as a request for pickup during delivery, and change information input for inputting changes in road conditions. Means 53 are provided,
These pieces of interrupt information are input to the interrupt information processing means 57. The interrupt information input means 51 and the change information input means 53 have the same configuration as the baggage information input means 10 and the change information input means 12 provided at the distribution center.

The information input to the interrupt information input means 51 is a shipper code, an item code, a destination code, etc. of the package to be collected, and a bar code and fixed data are easily input by the bar code scanner. The details can be supplemented by function keys, numeric keys, and the like. At the time of delivery and collection, a map describing the area of the corresponding course is provided in the vehicle, and a plurality of predetermined district frames on this map are provided with a corresponding address to be entered. A bar code indicating address information of a simplified content such as a chome is provided. By simply reading this barcode with a scanner, the input of map information to the map information input device 26 in the vehicle can be greatly facilitated.

Based on the interrupt information, the interrupt information processing means 57 outputs to the delivery plan re-editing means 59 an interrupt signal for interrupting the dispatch status table. The delivery plan reediting means 59 reedits the dispatch status table by this interruption, and outputs the dispatched status table after the reediting to the display output means 31 mounted on the vehicle. The delivery plan changing means 55 is different only in that a new delivery plan is created on the vehicle side based on interrupt information and change information as input conditions. The basic processing is the same as that of the delivery plan creating means 1 installed in the distribution center described above.

According to the above arrangement, when a vehicle of a certain course number is in the middle of delivering a package in a predetermined area, and the vehicle is directly requested by a shipper in the vicinity of the delivery route to the vehicle, the request for collection is received. The information is input to the interrupt information input means 51 provided in the vehicle, and in accordance with this, the vehicle delivery plan changing means 55 changes the contents of the shipping instruction sorting file such as package information, route order, etc., and re-edits the dispatch status table. Therefore, the interruption request can be accepted only on the vehicle side without meeting the processing of the distribution center.

The route order on the new dispatch status table is obtained by the map information retrieval device 26 mounted on the vehicle, and the driving vehicle can easily determine the destination location and route order based on this map information. And a reliable delivery operation according to the new delivery plan can be performed. The new dispatch status table re-edited on the vehicle side can be transmitted to the central distribution center via the communication means 40 and 41, and the contents of the interrupt information can be obtained even at the central location.

The dynamic physical distribution automatic navigation system described above monitors the delivery status of the vehicle being delivered. That is, the current position of each vehicle being delivered can be confirmed by satellite communication, and when the position is input to the operation monitoring device 7 via the operation information input means 14, the operation monitoring device 7 By collating the prepared dispatch status table with the actual progress of the delivery, it can be confirmed whether or not the delivery operation is being performed according to the arrival time in the dispatch status table shown in FIG. At the same time, on the display screen of the map search device 25 shown in FIG. 7, the display color of the planned route and the color of the route portion up to the current position of the vehicle are changed and displayed, thereby confirming the progress of the delivery on the map. can do. The confirmation on the map can be easily performed via the display output means 31 using the map information search device 26 mounted on the vehicle.

For this reason, even after the dispatch status table is updated due to changes in various dynamic information or interrupt information, unexpected factors that cannot be included in the dynamic information appear in the actual operation status. Become. Therefore, even in the case where delivery cannot be performed according to the updated vehicle allocation status table, the configuration for monitoring the operation facilitates extraction of a problem that has occurred during the actual operation.

Next, a specific method of calculating the route in the delivery plan editing means 9 will be described. Delivery plan editing means 9
Performs a route calculation process for a plurality of destinations within the predetermined area as a calculation range, and connects each of the destinations with one route. Specifically, for each destination on the map shown in FIG. 12, only each destination and road are converted into an image as shown in FIG. This imaged information is obtained by the map information search device 25, and the map information (for example, address information,
Not all symbols, building outlines, roads, etc.) are imaged. That is, only destinations (for example, five destinations A to E shown in FIG. 13 and corresponding to each building in FIG. 13) and roads are extracted and imaged, so unnecessary information is deleted. Thus, the map processing is not burdened by the CPU.

Next, the imaged destination and road are replaced by the equivalent route shown in FIG. This equivalent route is obtained by obtaining the location information of each destination on the XY coordinate axes from the map information search device 25, and then linearly connecting nodes (nodes) with intersections of roads connecting the destinations A to E as nodes. ) And get it. For example, a road indicated by a thick line in FIG. 13 (a similar thick line portion on the map of FIG. 12) corresponds to this, and an equivalent route is created for this road as shown in FIG. The road of each destination is quantified by this equivalent route, and the calculation described later can be facilitated.

By the way, the distance information of each link (between nodes) of this equivalent route is measured in advance on a map shown in FIG.
5 (for reference, distance information in Km units is shown in each link portion shown in FIG. 14). At the same time, the average speed of each link (known as speed information of road traffic; unit Km / h) is input to the change information input means 12 as clock change information. The average speed is the traffic light information and road-vehicle information.

Therefore, the delivery plan editing means 9 calculates the consumption time (Min) spent on each link portion based on the distance information (Km) and the average speed (Km / h) of each link portion that are input. Thereafter, the delivery plan editing means 9 obtains the total required time for delivery by connecting the nodes. The conditions at this time include a condition for connecting a plurality of destinations by one route and a condition for minimizing the total consumption time required for delivery, and the calculation is performed using the Monte Carlo method.

In the Monte Carlo method, information necessary for the above conditions (imaged information shown in FIG. 13) is obtained from the map information search device 25 and random numbers are generated to connect arbitrary nodes to nodes. First, simulate a temporary route. Thereafter, the link time is gradually reduced, and if the total required time is long, the connection between different nodes is repeatedly simulated. (FIG. 15
Shows the time Min consumed by each link in each link. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, all the destinations of the delivery are sequentially simulated as the delivery route H shown in FIG. By the connection change between the nodes at the time of the simulation, for example, a part of the connection is changed as shown by a dotted line. Finally, a delivery route H connected in the shortest time is obtained. Since the delivery route H at this time is a numerical operation based on the equivalent route, the calculation load on the delivery plan editing means 9 is small, and the calculation itself can be performed in a short time.

At the time of creating a delivery route based on this equivalent route, as shown in FIG. 17, road conditions on the route to be passed are referred to. The road condition is fixed and input to the static information processing means 3 in advance, and one-way information, intersection information, and passage restriction information are stored in the form of identifiers (specifically, bit information). It is a thing.

The details will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
In the one-way link portion shown in (1), it is referred to whether or not the direction can pass at the time of the simulation. For example, if the passage is permitted, bit 1 is set. If the passage is prohibited, the link is deleted from the equivalent route by referring to bit 0 if the direction to be passed is prohibited. Only in the case of bit 1 that is possible, a link of this portion is provided, and it is determined whether or not the link can be used for the delivery route H. For example, in FIG. 16, when the node P is one-way impassable in the passing direction of the delivery route H, this node P is deleted, and thus the delivery route H is replaced by a node (a dotted line portion in FIG. 16) in another short time portion. Passed to destination C
To reach.

Similarly, as the passage restriction information shown in FIG. 17B, there is a state that the link to be passed is under construction and whether or not the link is allowed to pass, and also, as shown in FIG. 17C. There are restrictions on passage depending on the model. For example, if the number of vehicles that can pass through a certain node is up to 2t, if the vehicle to be used is 4t, this node is prohibited. The pass restriction information is also referred to as bit information in the process of creating the delivery route H as described above.

The intersection information shown in FIG. 17 (d) is a diagram of each node portion. As shown in FIG. 17 (e), each node is stored as a bit in the form of a determinant. FIG. 17D shows a case where the node (intersection) is a three-way road. When the vehicle enters from each direction as shown in FIG. In this figure, the direction K1 corresponding to bit 0 is shown.
From the right to the direction K3. This intersection information is also bit-referenced at each node passing through in the process of creating the delivery route H, the link in the entry-prohibited direction from the traveling direction of the delivery route H is deleted, and the other delivery routes H Will be used.

As described above, when creating the delivery route H, the road conditions to be passed are processed as usable or not using a simple method of only referring to the bits. This can be performed in a short time with a small burden, and can be created in accordance with the actual delivery work. It should be noted that this bit processing of road conditions is not limited to roads, but is also applied to airplane departure and arrival conditions on air routes and ship departure and arrival conditions on sea routes. It is effectively used in automatic creation of delivery routes for dynamic information.

The simulated route is developed again on a simplified map of only roads and each destination as shown in FIG. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the delivery route in the course of the destination is simulated based on the distance on the road of the shortest route connecting the destinations A to E, and the scheduled arrival time is added at the same time. . In addition, the display output means 30 outputs a vehicle allocation status table shown in FIG.

The stop time (garden time) from arrival at each destination to departure again differs for each destination, and each garden time is determined by static information (static constraint conditions). 6B is created in advance as destination data shown in FIG. 6B, and is added to the total consumption time (required time) of the simulated route. 6A and 6B, the number of destinations, total distance, delivery time (time from departure time to end time), designated delivery time, and destination Garden time in the
There are road conditions, intersection information, and the like of delivery vehicles, and a delivery route excluding dynamic changes (only based on static information) is created based on these. Further, the scheduled delivery route arrival time is changed by a change in the dynamic information. The scheduled delivery route arrival time is changed by inputting dynamic information when there is a dynamic change. The dynamic information (dynamic constraint condition) includes:
There are a designated delivery time, whether or not the destination order has been changed, road conditions, intersection conditions, and the like, and the delivery route is re-created again with these dynamic constraints added.

[0058]

According to the present invention, the delivery plan editing means extracts the map information of the destination range based on the delivery plan for delivering the package of the shipper to the destination, converts it into an equivalent route comprising links and nodes, and In this configuration, the shortest route connecting each destination by one forward route is determined by adding a static constraint condition such as distance information stored in advance to the equivalent route, and the delivery route is specifically simulated on the apparatus. As a result, the dispatching plan can be grasped in advance, and even when there is a dynamic change, it is possible to respond promptly, thereby improving the efficiency of delivery. In addition, dynamic change information such as road conditions that change with time is requested by a change request of dynamic information processing means.
Since the delivery route is simulated to be connected again by one route, the delivery route can be output as a practical delivery plan corresponding to this change information, and the simulated result is set to a state closer to reality. Therefore, delivery according to this simulation can be performed. In addition, the changed delivery plan can be transmitted between the distribution base and the vehicle via the communication means, and the actual delivery work can be made closer to the delivery plan.

Further, even if there is an interruption request for the package from the shipper during the delivery, the delivery plan can be changed by the delivery plan editing means provided on the vehicle side, so that the interruption request can be quickly responded. Even if there is an interrupt request, the entire delivery work can be smoothly performed only by following the changed delivery plan.

The current position of the vehicle such as a vehicle performing the actual delivery operation is output from the operation information input means via satellite communication, and is delivered each time the operation monitoring means checks the created delivery plan. You can check the progress of work. Thereby, since the progress of the actual delivery operation with respect to the change in the road conditions and the delivery plan re-edited by the interrupt request can be confirmed, the delivery plan itself can be evaluated, for example, the problem can be easily extracted. become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the general configuration of a dynamic physical distribution automatic navigation device according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are diagrams showing master files of items stored in advance for a shipper, an item, and a destination of a package, respectively.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show shipping instruction files as data files created in a delivery process, wherein FIG. 3A shows destination data of a package and FIG. 3B shows item data. FIG. 3C is a diagram showing a parent-child file structure between FIGS.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a change information input unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a district file in which the destination is edited in advance for each district to which the package is delivered.

FIG. 6 shows a shipping instruction sorting file as a data file created in a delivery process for each package by course;
(A) is course data, (b) is destination data, and (c) is item data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing destinations as a delivery plan and the order of routes.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a structure between the shipping instruction sorting files.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a dispatch status list.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing details of a vehicle allocation status table for each course.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing details of delivery contents of each destination.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a plurality of destinations on an actual map.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an equivalent route in which a plurality of destinations are connected by straight lines from the image of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating the calculation of the time consumed by each link portion for the equivalent route shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a diagram in which each destination is connected in the shortest time from the equivalent route shown in FIG. 15;

FIGS. 17A and 17B are diagrams showing identifier information relating to road conditions, wherein FIG. 17A shows one-way traffic, FIG. 17B shows construction work, FIG. 17C shows vehicle type restrictions, and FIG. 17D shows an image of an intersection;
(E) is identifier information related to the intersection.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Distribution plan creation means, 3 ... Static information processing means, 5 ... Dynamic information processing means, 7 ... Operation monitoring means, 9 ... Distribution plan editing means, 10 ... Package information input means, 12 ... Change information input means 14 ... operation information input means, 20 ... inventory management device, 2
5, 26: map information search device, 30, 31, display output means, 40, 41: communication means, 51: interrupt information input means, 55: delivery plan changing means, 57: interrupt information processing means, 59: delivery plan Editing means.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G06F 17/60 JICST Science and Technology Literature Database

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] Claims: 1. A package delivery request is received from a plurality of shippers, and the package is delivered to a destination starting from a distribution base such as a warehouse.
An automatic logistics navigation system for arranging vehicles to be sent and causing the vehicles to perform a delivery operation in accordance with a predetermined vehicle allocation plan, wherein a package information input means (10) for inputting content information of packages from a shipper. Receiving the package information from the package information input means,
Static information to create a shipping instruction file that integrates
The information processing means (3) and the dynamic information processing means (5) for receiving a change information that changes with time, such as road conditions, and outputting a corresponding change request, to the physical distribution base.
A road map and a map showing the location of the destination, which are placed at points and stored and held in advance
From the information, a plurality of each created in the shipping instruction file
Means for extracting map information in a range in which the destination is described;
The roads in the extracted map information are defined as intersections as nodes.
Means for converting to an equivalent route of a set of multiple links,
Static information such as distance information set in advance is added to the equivalent route.
The shortest route between any two destinations with additional constraints
And a shortest route between the obtained two points.
All destinations are linked by one delivery route
Re-links to minimize travel time
Means to simulate delivery routes
The logistics base and the delivery schedule editing means (9, 59) to
The luggage information, which is disposed in the vehicle and provided in the logistics base and the vehicle, respectively;
And a simulated communication means for enabling transmission of delivery routes in both directions (40, 41), by having a, the delivery schedule editing means, change request by the dynamic change
At times, the processing of each of the internal means is sequentially executed again to minimize the shortest distribution.
The delivery route is simulated again, and the delivery route is
To the distribution base and the delivery vehicle via the communication means.
A dynamic physical distribution automatic navigation system characterized by mutual transmission between the two . 2. The vehicle receives a new interrupt request from a shipper performing a delivery operation and responds to the request by a new static.
Interruption information input means (5) for inputting constraint conditions
The delivery plan editing means (59) provided with 1) and arranged in the vehicle.
Is an item that is new static information indicated by the interrupt request.
Dynamic constraints corresponding to data and destination data input
With the addition of
Re-simulate the short delivery route and re-
Communication between the distribution base and the delivery vehicle via the communication means.
2. The dynamic type physical distribution automatic navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic transmission is configured to mutually transmit the data. The method according to claim 3, wherein the distribution bases, the operation information input means for loading the current position of the vehicle using a satellite communication (14), delivery Le created by the delivery schedule editing means (9, 59)
2. An automatic navigation system according to claim 1, further comprising an operation monitoring means (7) for outputting a progress degree of a delivery operation every time the vehicle position is compared with a current vehicle position outputted by said operation information input means. . 4. Receiving a package delivery request from a plurality of shippers and delivering the package to a destination starting from a distribution base such as a warehouse.
An automatic distribution logistics navigation method for allocating vehicles to be sent and causing vehicles to carry out delivery operations in accordance with a predetermined vehicle allocation plan, based on master files for shippers, items, and destinations, A first step of creating a shipping instruction file in which the items and destinations of each shipper are integrated in response to a delivery request, and a road map stored in advance and a map indicating the location of the destination
From the information, a plurality of each created in the shipping instruction file
Second step for extracting map information in the area where the destination is described
And the road in the extracted map information
3rd step of converting to an equivalent route of a set of multiple links
And a static information such as preset distance information for the equivalent route.
The shortest route between any two destinations with additional constraints
4th step of searching for a list, and referring to the shortest route between the two points obtained above,
Are connected by two delivery routes and the travel time of the delivery is minimized.
Change the link so that the delivery route is stained
A fifth step of Yureto, the when the dynamic changes in road conditions such as after the delivery route has been created occurs, prior to correspond to the changed input required
Distribution serial first to be again sequentially perform processing in the fourth step
A sixth step of simulating the forwarding route again, and, when a request for collection of a new package is issued to the vehicle performing the delivery operation , the first step is performed in accordance with the new destination input.
Through the fourth step are sequentially executed again to
A dynamic logistics automatic navigation method , comprising the steps of: simulating the logistics again .