JP3493324B2 - Vehicle search device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle for searching for an optimal vehicle to be dispatched to a customer from vehicles of a plurality of taxis when a customer requests a vehicle to pick up the vehicle. The present invention relates to a search device, and further relates to an automatic vehicle dispatching device for dispatching the searched vehicle to a customer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to perform a vehicle allocation process for directing a vehicle such as a taxi to a customer, a vehicle having a shortest linear distance in a plane on a map is located at a customer's position from a plurality of empty vehicles. It detects and recognizes as an optimum vehicle, and issues a dispatch command to such an optimum vehicle. In such a prior art, when allocating a vehicle to a customer at the top of a mountain, for example, the vehicle having the shortest linear distance on the plane on the map is searched as the optimum vehicle and a vehicle allocation command is generated. In order to reach customers near the summit, vehicles at the bottom of such valleys have to travel long mountain roads in complicated terrain, and therefore it takes a long time for vehicles to reach customers. It will be. Therefore, when searching for the most suitable vehicle for a customer near such a summit, even if the distance in the plane on the map is longer than the distance to the vehicle at the valley bottom, it reaches the customer. It is desirable to search for a vehicle existing on a good road that requires less time as an optimum vehicle. In summary, in the prior art, the vehicle that is closest in a straight line distance in the plane on the map from the customer's position is selected and searched as the optimum vehicle, and thus it is long enough for the searched optimum vehicle to reach the customer's position. The problem is that it takes time.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle search device capable of automatically searching for a vehicle that arrives at a customer as short as possible, and an optimal vehicle search device using the vehicle search device. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic vehicle dispatching device that dispatches a vehicle.

[0004]

According to the present invention, (a) an operation area of a customer is divided into a plurality of districts, and a related value kij related to each district Di and another district Dj is set and stored. The associated value kij is set to a larger value as the time required to move between the districts Di and Dj is longer, and (b) a customer position output that outputs a signal indicating the location of the customer. Means, (c) vehicle position output means for outputting a signal indicating the position of each of a plurality of vehicles to be allocated to the customer, (d) search means, (d1) customer position output means and vehicle position main force means In response to the output of the distance calculation means for calculating the distance Lij between each position of the customer and the vehicle, and (d2) the first area signal generation means for deriving the first area signal representing the area Di in which the customer exists. And (d3) the current vehicle to be dispatched to the customer The second district signal generating means for deriving the second district signal representing the district Dj in which the location exists, and (d4) the coefficient kij stored in the district memory in response to the outputs of the first and second district signal generating means. Readout, corrected distance Si, which is the calculated value of distance Lij and related value kij
and a search means including a correction calculation means for calculating a time required for each vehicle to move from the vehicle position to the customer position by calculating j and searching for a vehicle having the minimum calculated time. Is a vehicle search device.

According to the present invention, the operation area of the customer is subdivided into a plurality of areas, and the vehicle having the minimum time for moving to the position where the customer exists is selected as the optimum vehicle. That is, by the customer position output means, for example, the first district signal indicating the district Di in which the position of the customer to which the vehicle to be dispatched exists is output, and the district Dj in which the position of the vehicle that can head to the customer exists is represented. The second district signal is output from the vehicle position output means, and thus, according to the store contents of the district memory, each district D of the customer position and each vehicle position
The vehicle having the smallest calculated value of the related value kij of i and Dj and the distance Lij is searched and selected. The vehicle selected and searched in this manner is dispatched to the customer as the optimal vehicle. Therefore, it becomes possible to search and select a vehicle as the optimum vehicle that takes as short a time as possible to reach the customer.

That is, it corresponds to an area Di in which the customer that represents the output from the customer position output means exists, and an area Dj that represents the output from the vehicle position output means and in which the positions of a plurality of vehicles to be allocated to the customer exist. The associated value kij is read from the district memory and is used to retrieve and select the vehicle in which each vehicle takes the minimum amount of time to move from the vehicle's current position to the customer's position. In this way, the vehicle can be searched so as to minimize the customer arrival time, and the optimal vehicle can be directed to the customer.

Related value kij stored in district memory
Is a coefficient to be multiplied by, for example, the straight line distance Lij on the plane of the map between the customer and each vehicle. This coefficient kij is the area Di, D in which the customer and the vehicle are respectively located.
Corresponding to the time required to move between j, the longer the time, the larger the value is set. Therefore, the correction distance Sij
(For example, Sij = Lij · kij) is calculated by the correction calculation means, and the correction distance Si thus obtained is obtained.
The vehicle having the shortest j is searched by the search means as the optimum vehicle. In this way, a vehicle that has a short customer arrival time can be directed to the customer.

The present invention divides the customer's operation area into a plurality of districts, sets and stores a related value kij related to each district Di and other districts Dj, and stores the related value kij.
Is a district memory defined corresponding to the time required to move the districts Di and Dj, a customer position output means for outputting a signal indicating the position of the customer, and a plurality of vehicles to be dispatched to the customer. In response to the outputs of the vehicle position output means for outputting a signal indicating the position, the customer position output means and the vehicle position output means, the area D is stored according to the contents stored in the area memory.
Of i and Dj, the related value k corresponding to the first district Di where the customer position exists and the second district Dj where each vehicle position exists
ij is used to set the priority of the second district Dj in the order of increasing time required for each vehicle in the second district Dj to move from the vehicle position to the customer position in the first district Di, Of the second district Dj of No. 2, the vehicle search device for searching for a vehicle existing in the second district Dj having a higher priority.

According to the present invention, the customer's operation area is subdivided into a plurality of districts, and when searching for the optimum vehicle to head to the position of the customer who belongs to one of those districts, the vehicle for each district is searched. Prioritize the areas you are searching for, which makes it easier to find the vehicle that will reach the customer as quickly as possible. That is, in the district memory, the district Di to which the position of the customer represented by the output from the customer position output means belongs and the district Dj where the position of each vehicle representing the output from the vehicle maintenance output means exists.
A related value kij related to each of the areas is stored, and the related value kij is determined corresponding to the time required to move the districts Di and Dj. When the time required for the movement is a small value, priority is given. It is determined that the higher the rank and the longer the time required to travel, the lower the priority of the area.In this way, the vehicles that should be dispatched are searched for the vehicle that requires the least time to travel to reach the customer. It becomes possible to select easily.

Such related values kij may be set to different values depending on the moving direction of the vehicle moving from one district Dj toward the customer's district Di. For example, when a vehicle needs to move on a road with heavy traffic corresponding to the moving direction, it is effective in searching for an optimum vehicle other than that.

[0011]

[0012]

Further, the present invention is characterized in that each area Di, Dj divides the operation area into a plurality of small areas smaller than each area Di, Dj, and is formed by one or a plurality of adjacent small areas. To do.

According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 8 which will be described later, the area in which the customer can operate the vehicle can be divided into a plurality of small areas smaller than the areas Di and Dj. Di and Dj are formed and set by one or more adjacent small areas. The small area has a small area equal to or smaller than the area of each of the areas Di and Dj. Thus each district Di, D
It is possible to easily set and change j.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the search means searches from a vehicle having a predetermined dynamic state or a vehicle having a predetermined attribute.

According to the present invention, the vehicle to be searched by the searching means is a predetermined dynamic state of the vehicle, for example, an actual vehicle and an empty vehicle, which are selected from among empty vehicles or have predetermined attributes. For example, the vehicle type of the vehicle such as taxi and the taxi company name to which each vehicle belongs are set, and the customer arrival time is as short as possible from the vehicle having the predetermined dynamics or the vehicle having the predetermined attribute. Search and select the vehicle as the optimal vehicle.

The present invention is also characterized in that the related value kij is changed depending on the traffic situation.

According to the present invention, the associated value kij stored in the district memory is changed depending on the traffic conditions, and for example, the running time depending on the moving direction in the morning and the evening in the time zone of one day becomes long. , And depending on at least one of the day of the week, the season of the year, etc., the associated value kij is set in the district memory. In this way, it becomes possible to easily select the optimum vehicle that should be delivered to the customer and that minimizes the customer arrival time.

Further, according to the present invention, a predetermined time W for each vehicle is set.
0 or more, including stop detection means for detecting that it is still stopped, the search means is responsive to the output of the stop detection means,
It is characterized by searching for vehicles other than the vehicle that is still stopped.

According to the invention, the stop detection means
A driver of a vehicle that detects that the vehicle has been stopped for a predetermined time W0 (for example, 30 minutes) or more and has such a long stop time is often eating or taking a break, and thus The search means does not select a vehicle having a long stopping time.

Further, it is possible that the vehicle is waiting at the waiting place and the leading vehicle is preferentially searched and selected from the waiting vehicles.

Further, the present invention includes speed detecting means for detecting the moving speed V of each vehicle, and the searching means is responsive to the output of the speed detecting means, and the moving speed V is less than a predetermined value V0 other than the vehicle. Characterized by searching for a vehicle.

According to the present invention, a vehicle whose traveling speed V detected by the speed detecting means is less than a predetermined value V0, in other words, a vehicle having a short traveling distance within a predetermined time, has traffic congestion. It is expected that you are driving on a heavy road. Therefore, the search means does not search for a vehicle having such a low moving speed V0.

A vehicle has a GPS (Global Positioning System) for detecting the latitude and longitude of the vehicle.
The speed of the vehicle is detected by the vehicle speed detecting means, the current position and speed of each vehicle thus obtained are transmitted from the vehicle, and the vehicle is detected based on the current position and speed of these vehicles. It is in a stopped state, or the moving speed V can be easily known at a remote place. The detection of the vehicle speed is omitted, only the current position of the vehicle is detected, and based on the position of this vehicle, the vehicle is stopped or the speed is low within a certain period of time is detected. You may do it.

According to the present invention, the vehicle search device described above, the first communication means for wirelessly transmitting a vehicle dispatch command signal to be dispatched to the vehicle searched by the search means of the vehicle search device, and the vehicle are respectively mounted on the vehicle. An automatic vehicle allocating apparatus including: a second communication unit that receives a vehicle allocation command signal from a first communication unit.

According to the present invention, a vehicle dispatch command signal is wirelessly transmitted from the first communication means to the vehicle searched by the vehicle search device, and a vehicle dispatch command signal is received by the second communication means mounted on the vehicle, This can instruct the customer what the vehicle should be heading for. In this way, the vehicle arrival processing operation can be automatically performed while shortening the customer arrival time as much as possible.

[0027]

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. The telephone 15 of the customer 14 can make a telephone call to the vehicle distribution center 12 from the telephone 15 of the customer 14 via the public telephone line 13 to request the vehicle allocation such as the arrival of the vehicle 16 such as taxi. There is a telephone 1 on the public telephone line 13.
The call by 5 is transmitted with a signal representative of the telephone number corresponding to that customer 14. Such a telephone service is provided by, for example, CLASS (Customer Local Area).
Signaling System) and the like. The public telephone line 13 is connected to a telephone exchange 17 provided in the dispatch center 12, and is connected to a terminal device 18 via a line 19. A customer information server 21 is connected to the line 19, and a customer memory 22 is connected to the customer information server 21. A communication control server 23 is also connected to the line 19, and a vehicle memory 24 is connected to the communication control server 23. Communication control server 23
Includes a first communication means 25, and the first communication means 25 can wirelessly communicate with a second communication means 26 mounted on the vehicle 16.

The terminal device 18 has a processing circuit 28 realized by a microcomputer.
8 is connected to line 19. The processing circuit 28 is equipped with a handset 31. The handset 31 can be used to make a telephone call with the telephone 15 of the customer 14, and the first communication means 25 can be used to make a call with the driver of the vehicle 16 by the speaker / microphone 83 of the second communication means 26. be able to. The handset 31 has a microphone 29 and a speaker 30.

Further, the processing circuit 28 is provided with a display means 32 and an input means 33. The display means 32 is realized by, for example, a cathode ray tube or a liquid crystal, and an input means 33 called a translucent flat panel is arranged above the display screen. An operator can input information by using a finger, a pen, or the like to input the coordinate position of the input unit 33 to be operated. The input means 33 is also provided with a vehicle dispatch execution switch 34 such as a push button for manually inputting the vehicle dispatch execution of the vehicle 16. The processing circuit 28 includes a memory 3 for arithmetic processing.
5 is connected. A part of this memory 35 constitutes a district memory 36.

The vehicle 16 is, for example, a taxi as described above, and the vehicle 16 is equipped with the second communication means 26. Using the speaker / microphone 83 connected to the wireless device 82, the first communication means 25 and the handset 31
The allows the driver to talk to the telephone reception operator. Further, the wireless device 82 is provided with a terminal device 84. The signal 76 (see FIG. 7A described later) received by the wireless device 82 is decoded and recognized by the terminal device 84. The terminal device 84 is provided with display means 87 such as a cathode ray tube or liquid crystal. A GPS device 89 is connected to the terminal device 84, and by communicating with a plurality of artificial satellites over the earth, the latitude and longitude indicating the current position of the vehicle 16 are detected, and the signal indicating the current position is Signal 91 shown in FIG. 7B by radio 82
Is transmitted to the first communication means 25 at a constant cycle.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a map of the operation area 38 in which the vehicle 16 is allocated to the customer 14. This operation area 3
8 is divided into a plurality of districts D1, D2, D3, .... The position 39 of the customer 14 is assumed to be located in the area D1 in FIG. 2, for example. It is assumed that the plurality of vehicles 16 are identified by individual vehicle numbers 101, 102 and 103 and are present in, for example, districts D1, D2 and D3. The linear distance on the plane of the map between the position 39 of the customer 14 and each vehicle 16 of the vehicle numbers 101 to 103 is indicated by reference numeral L1
1, L12, L13.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents stored in the customer memory 22. The customer memory 22 stores the telephone number 41 of each customer 14 and the name 42 of the customer 14, and further the latitude 43, the longitude 44, and the address 4 indicating the position of the customer 14.
5 and the written route 46 and the like are stored, and the location of the customer 14 is stored in the area Di.
(I is a natural number) is stored.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents stored in the vehicle memory 24. The vehicle allocation data 52 corresponding to the vehicle number data 51 for identifying each of the plurality of vehicles 16 is
Includes data such as whether the vehicle is an actual vehicle 53 with a customer or an empty vehicle 54 without a passenger. In the vehicle allocation data 52, when the vehicle 53 is the actual vehicle, the logic "1"
Is stored, and when it is an empty vehicle 54, a logic "1" is stored. The data 55 of the current position of each vehicle 16 includes the current latitude 56 and longitude 57 of the vehicle 16, and further includes the currently existing area Dj (j is a natural number) of the vehicle 16.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a part of the contents stored in the district memory 36. For each district Di in which the customer 14 exists,
As shown in FIG. 5, the coefficient kij, which is a related value corresponding to the area Dj in which the vehicle 16 is present, is preset and stored. This coefficient kij can be set to change, for example, every 24 hour time zone of the day in this embodiment. For example, when the customer 14 is present in the district D1 and the vehicle number 101 of the plurality of vehicles 16 is present in the district D1, the coefficient k11 is in all the plural time zones (three in this embodiment) of the day. It is set to 0.5.
Customer 14 is in district D1 and has vehicle number 10 of vehicle 16.
When 2 exists in district D2, coefficient k12 for each time zone
a, k12b and k12c (generally indicated by reference numeral k12) are set to 0.8, 1.0 and 0.7, respectively. Further, a customer 14 exists in the area D1 and the vehicle number is 10.
When vehicle 2 of 2 exists in area D3, coefficient k13
Is set to 5.0 for all time periods. In this way, the coefficient kij is set to a value when the vehicle moves to the area Di where the customer 14 exists from the area Dj where the vehicle 16 exists.

This coefficient kij is determined in accordance with the time required for movement by the vehicle 16 in the districts Di and Dj, and in addition to the actual time zone, at least one traffic condition such as the day of the week and the season. Is set to vary depending on, for example, in this embodiment, the coefficient kij
Shows that the customer 14 is in the area D1 and the vehicle 16 is in the area D2.
, The reference marks k12a, k depend on the time zone.
As indicated by 12b and k12c, it is changed and set depending on the time zone. This coefficient kij is set to a larger value as the time required to move the vehicle 16 from the area Di to Dj is longer.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the processing circuit 28 of the terminal device 18. When a telephone call is made from the telephone 15 of the customer 14 via the public telephone line 13, the telephone reception operator operates the hook switch to operate the telephone 15 of the customer 14 with the handset 31.
Make a phone call with. At this time, telephone line 1 from the customer 14
A signal representative of a telephone number through 3 is received and detected at processing circuit 28. Therefore, in step n2,
Corresponding to this telephone number, the customer information server 21 reads out the customer information such as the customer name 42 and the data 43 to 46 and Di representing the customer position shown in FIG. 3 from the customer memory 22. The customer information is displayed on the display unit 32, and the operator confirms the customer and the vehicle allocation while looking at the customer information displayed on the display unit 32, and operates the vehicle allocation execution switch 34 of the input unit 33 to perform the vehicle allocation process. Start operation.

As a result, in step n3, the processing circuit 28 causes the vehicle memory 2 to be operated by the communication control server 23.
The vehicle allocation status data 52 and the current position data 55 of the vehicle 16 stored in the No. 4 are read out. In this step n3, the vehicle number of the vacant vehicle 54 is searched for in the vehicle allocation status data 52. For example, in this embodiment, the vehicle number 1
01, 102, 103 are all empty cars. In the next step n4, the desired attribute of the empty vehicle 16 is selected. The attributes are the vehicle type of the vehicle 16 and the vehicle 1
It may be the name of the taxi company to which 6 belongs. Such attribute data 58 is previously stored and set in the vehicle memory 24 in association with each vehicle number 51.

At step n5, a straight line distance Lij between the customer 14 and each vehicle 16 which is an empty vehicle on the plane of the map is calculated and obtained. This straight line distance Lij is equal to the customer memory 2
Latitude 43 and longitude 4 of customer 14 stored in 2
4 and the latitude 56 and the longitude 57 of the vehicle 16 stored in the vehicle memory 24 can be calculated. In step n6, the coefficient kij corresponding to the time zone of the area memory 36 corresponding to the area Di of the customer 14 and the area Dj of the vehicle 16 is read.
The processing circuit 28 is provided with a timer 59 having a 24-hour clock function, whereby the coefficient kij corresponding to the time zone can be read from the district memory 36.

At step n7, the correction distance S is calculated based on the straight line distance Lij for each vehicle 16 obtained by the calculation at step n5 and the coefficient kij obtained at step n6.
ij is calculated and calculated based on Equation 1. Sij = Lij · kij (1)

In step n8, the empty vehicle 16 having the smallest correction distance Sij is searched and selected as the optimum vehicle. In step n9, the optimum vehicle 16 selected through the search in step n8 is selected for the predetermined time W0.
It is detected whether or not it is still stopped. This step n9 constitutes stop detection means. In step n9, the latitude 56 and the longitude 57, which are the current position data 55 of each empty vehicle 16, are read out at predetermined relatively short time intervals to calculate the moving distance. Thus, by obtaining the moving distance over the predetermined time W0, it is possible to detect whether or not the vehicle 16 remains stopped. The stop includes a state where the fixed position is not moved and a state where the fixed position is moved only slightly. When such a vehicle 16 remains stopped, the driver determines that eating or taking a break is not the optimal vehicle to be dispatched, and removes it from the vehicles to be dispatched.

At step n10, the moving speed V of the vehicle 16 is detected. This step n10 constitutes speed detecting means. The moving speed V is also calculated by calculating the latitude 56 and the longitude 57 of the current position data 55 in the vehicle memory 24 for each short time W10 and dividing by the moving distance A for each short time as described above. = A / W1
0) can be calculated and detected. When the specific traveling speed V of the vehicle thus obtained is less than a predetermined value V0 (V <V0), the vehicle 16 is determined to be traveling on a congested road, and should be dispatched. Remove from vehicle. The predetermined value V0 is, for example, 10 to 20.
It may be km / h or the like. In this way, when the vehicle remains stopped in step n9 or the moving speed V is less than the predetermined value V0 in step n10, the process proceeds to step n8 again, and the correction distance Sij is the next smallest among the other vehicles 16 that can be allocated. Find the best vehicle that is.

When the optimum vehicle thus selected is detected, the processing circuit 28 is detected in the next step n11.
Operates the first communication means 25 to wirelessly transmit the signal 76 shown in FIG. 7 (1). The signal 76 includes a vehicle number 77 that identifies the optimum vehicle to be dispatched, a vehicle dispatch command signal 78 that represents a command to dispatch the vehicle, and customer information 79 regarding the customer 14 to which the driver should head. The customer information 79 includes the name 42 and the position data 43 to 46 of the customer 14 in the customer memory 22 described above.

The driver of the vehicle 16 operates the response switch 97 by the vehicle dispatch command signal 78 based on the signal 76 received by the second communication means 26, and sees the display content of the display means 87 on which the customer information 79 is displayed. The customer 14
A response signal is transmitted by the radio 82 when it is possible to go to. The signal 91 transmitted from the second communication means 26 is as shown in FIG. 7 (2).
The signal 91 includes a vehicle number 92 that identifies the vehicle 16, data 93 that represents the current position of the vehicle 16, and movement data 9
Including 4 and. The current position data 93 includes the latitude 56 and the longitude 57 in the vehicle memory 24 described above, so that the processing circuit 28 can recognize the area D in which the vehicle 16 exists.
j can be detected and written to the memory 24. The dynamic data 94 is data indicating that the vehicle 16 is an actual vehicle or an empty vehicle, and such dynamic data 94 is stored as the vehicle dispatch status data 52 in the vehicle memory 24 by the processing circuit 28 as described above.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle 16 is provided with speed detecting means for detecting the vehicle speed V of the vehicle 16, and such vehicle speed V is first communicated by the radio 82. It may be transmitted to the means 25 and its speed stored in the vehicle memory 24. By storing the vehicle speed V of the vehicle 16 in the vehicle memory 24, the operation of steps n9 and n10 in FIG. 6 such as whether the vehicle 16 remains stopped or the speed is less than a predetermined value V0. Can be easily performed. In this way, the telephone reception operator may call the customer 14 with the handset 31, confirm the customer 14, and then operate the vehicle dispatch execution switch 72, after which the automatic vehicle dispatch operation is performed. Therefore, the operability of the operator is extremely good.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a part of the map for explaining the method of setting the area Di in the customer's operation area. The operation area 38 is divided into a plurality of small areas 98 smaller than the area Di. The small area 98 is, for example, a square or a rectangle, and the operation area 38 is divided into a matrix by the large number of small areas 98. Each district Di is formed by a set of small districts 98 indicated by x marks in FIG. Each district Di includes one or more sub districts 98.

In the embodiment described above, the district memory 36
The correction distance Sij is calculated by the product of the coefficient kij stored in the above and the straight-line distance Lij, and the vehicle 16 having the minimum correction distance Sij is set as the optimal vehicle.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, such a coefficient kij is set as a related value, and the time required for moving between the customer Di area Di and the vehicle 16 area Dj increases from a small value to a large value. The priority order is set from high to low. You may comprise so that the vehicle 16 which exists in the district Dj with such a high priority may be searched and dispatched.

[0048]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it becomes possible to search and select a vehicle in which the customer arrival time is as short as possible in consideration of, for example, geographical conditions. For example, in the case of a complex terrain with mountains and valleys, there are customers near the peaks, and even if the straight line distance between the customer and the vehicle at the bottom of the valley is short on the map plane, the complex terrain There are times when it may require a long mileage and therefore a long mileage, while other vehicles, for example on roads with simple terrain that run on mountain peaks, have a long distance to the customer. Can reach a customer in a shorter time than a vehicle on a valley floor. Therefore, the vehicle can be delivered to the customer and dispatched in the shortest possible time.

[0049]

[0050]

According to the present invention, a calculation is performed using the related value kij stored in the area memory, a vehicle that makes the customer arrival time as short as possible is searched and selected, and the comfortable vehicle is accurately selected. You can

A straight-line distance Lij on the plane of the map between each position of the customer and a vehicle such as an empty car that can be dispatched is calculated by the distance calculation means, and the coefficient kij stored in the area memory is multiplied to make a correction calculation. The correction distance Sij is obtained by the means, and the correction distance Si thus obtained is obtained.
Search and select the vehicle with the smallest j. This correction distance Si
j is equivalent to the customer arrival time.

According to the present invention of claim 2, for each of the plurality of districts Di and Dj, a priority is set to the district Dj to which the vehicle belongs, and it is easy to search and select a vehicle whose customer arrival time is as short as possible. This is also possible, and such a configuration also simplifies the search operation. According to the present invention of claim 3, in setting each district Di, Dj, one or a plurality of small districts are formed to be formed. This makes it possible to set the areas Di and Dj with easy workability.

According to the present invention of claim 4, the vehicle to be searched is a predetermined dynamic state, for example, an empty vehicle, or a vehicle having a predetermined attribute such as a vehicle type, a company name to which the vehicle belongs, such as taxi, or the like. It is possible to search for the vehicle from which the vehicle desired by the customer and whose customer arrival time is as short as possible can be selected.

According to the invention of claim 5, the relevant value kij stored in the district memory is a traffic situation, for example 1
Since it is changed and set depending on the time zone of the day, the day of the week, the season of the year, etc., the customer arrival time at which the vehicle arrives at the customer is calculated more accurately, and the optimum vehicle The selection of will be accurate.

According to the present invention of claim 6, it is possible to avoid searching for a vehicle having a long stopped time, such as when a driver is eating or taking a break, thereby searching for a more optimal vehicle. Will be able to.

According to the present invention of claim 7, a vehicle having a small speed over a predetermined time, that is, a moving speed V of less than a predetermined value V0 is not searched.
As a result, a vehicle or the like traveling on a road with traffic congestion is not searched, and thereby a more optimal vehicle can be searched.

According to the present invention of claim 8, the vehicle in which the customer arrival time is shortened as much as possible is searched, and the vehicle allocation command signal is transmitted from the first communication means to the second communication means mounted on the vehicle. As a result, it is possible to easily allocate the optimum vehicle to the customer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation area 38 for allocating a vehicle 16 to a customer 14.
It is a figure which shows the map of.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing contents stored in a customer memory 22.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing stored contents of a vehicle memory 24.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a part of contents stored in a district memory 36.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the processing circuit 28 of the terminal device 18.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of signals 76 and 91 output from the first and second communication means 25 and 26.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a part of the map for explaining the method of setting the district Di in the customer's operation area.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 dispatch center 13 public telephone lines 14 customers 15 telephone 16 vehicles 18,84 Terminal equipment 21 Customer Information Server 22 Customer memory 23 Communication control server 24 vehicle memory 25 First Communication Means 26 Second Communication Means 28 Processing circuit 31 handset 32,87 display means 33 Input means 34 Car dispatch execution switch 35 memory 36 district memory 38 operational areas 43,56 latitude 44,57 longitude 53 real car 54 empty car 55,93 Current position data 58 Attribute data 78 Vehicle dispatch command signal 79 Customer information 82 radio 89 GPS device 94 Dynamic data

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Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] (A) The customer's operation area is divided into a plurality of districts, a related value kij related to each area Di and another area Dj is set and stored, and the related value kij is The longer the time required to move between the areas Di and Dj is, the larger the area memory is set, (b) the customer position output means for outputting a signal indicating the position where the customer exists, and (c) the customer. Vehicle position output means for outputting a signal representing the position of each of a plurality of vehicles to be dispatched; (d) search means, and (d1) responding to outputs from the customer position output means and the vehicle position main force means, Distance calculating means for calculating a distance Lij between each position of the vehicle and the vehicle, (d2) first area signal generating means for deriving a first area signal representing the area Di in which the customer exists, and (d3) dispatching to the customer Show the district Dj where the current position of the vehicle to be A second area signal generating means for deriving a second area signal, and (d4) in response to the outputs of the first and second area signal generating means, the coefficient kij stored in the area memory is read out, and the distance Lij and the related value are read. Corrected distance Si, which is the calculated value with kij
and a search means including a correction calculation means for calculating a time required for each vehicle to move from the vehicle position to the customer position by calculating j and searching for a vehicle having the minimum calculated time. Vehicle search device. 2. A customer's operation area is divided into a plurality of districts, and a related value ki associated with each district Di and other districts Dj.
j is set and stored, and the related value kij is a district memory defined corresponding to the time required to move the districts Di and Dj, and a customer position output means for outputting a signal indicating the position of the customer. And a vehicle position output means for outputting a signal indicating the position of each of a plurality of vehicles to be dispatched to the customer, and in response to the outputs of the customer position output means and the vehicle position output means, depending on the contents stored in the area memory, the area is stored. Di,
Of Dj, the related value kij corresponding to the first district Di where the customer position exists and the second district Dj where each vehicle position exists
Using, the priority of the second district Dj is set in the order of increasing time required for each vehicle in the second district Dj to move from the vehicle position to the customer position in the first district Di, A vehicle search device comprising: a search unit that searches for a vehicle existing in the second district Dj having a higher priority among the second districts Dj. 3. Each area Di, Dj divides the operation area into a plurality of small areas smaller than each area Di, Dj and
The vehicle search device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the vehicle search device is formed by a plurality of adjacent small areas. 4. The search means selects from among vehicles having predetermined dynamics or vehicles having predetermined attributes,
The vehicle search device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle search device searches. 5. The vehicle search device according to claim 1, wherein the related value kij is changed depending on a traffic situation. 6. A vehicle that includes stop detection means for detecting that each vehicle remains stopped for a predetermined time W0 or more, and the search means responds to the output of the stop detection means and remains stopped. The vehicle search device according to claim 1, wherein a vehicle other than the above is searched. 7. A speed detecting means for detecting a moving speed V of each vehicle, wherein the searching means is responsive to an output of the speed detecting means,
The vehicle search device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle search device searches for vehicles other than a vehicle whose value is less than a predetermined value V0. 8. The vehicle search device according to claim 1, and a first communication for wirelessly transmitting a dispatch command signal to be dispatched to the vehicle searched by the search means of the vehicle search device. An automatic vehicle allocating apparatus comprising: a means and a second communication means, each of which is mounted on a vehicle and receives a vehicle allocation command signal from the first communication means.