JP4820715B2 - Vehicle allocation management system - Google Patents

Description

  According to the present invention, when there is a dispatch request for a business (taxi) that carries a customer to a destination according to a customer's request and collects a fee according to the distance and time, the business that can reach the requested location earliest The present invention relates to a vehicle allocation management system capable of instructing vehicle allocation.

  In general, for business in a suburban area (hereinafter referred to as a vehicle), a telephone call from a customer is received at a dispatch center, and an operator of the dispatch center selects a vehicle that is closest to the location instructed by the customer and is in an empty state. Instructing the vehicle to be dispatched to a designated location is performed.

  As this dispatch management system, for example, each vehicle is equipped with a wireless communication device and a GPS, and the base station transmits the position information by GPS and the dynamic information such as the empty vehicle and the actual vehicle to the base station sequentially by radio so that the base station It is known that an instruction is given to an optimal vehicle when there is a vehicle allocation request from a customer. For example, in Patent Document 1 below, the telephone number, customer code, etc. of the customer who requested the vehicle allocation are known. Describes that the boarding location (longitude, latitude) is determined from the customer database, and the vehicle nearest to that point is searched to give a vehicle dispatch instruction.

Further, in Patent Document 2, a vehicle that reaches the boarding place in the shortest time is searched and a vehicle is instructed to be dispatched. A system has been proposed for warning.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-81598 JP 2001-101586 A

  The above-described prior art vehicle allocation management system employs a polling method (a method in which vehicle information is collected by a reply signal from a vehicle in response to a polling signal transmitted from a base station). It is often done regularly at intervals of several tens of seconds to several minutes, and the operator of the dispatch center accepts a dispatch request from the customer, searches for a dispatch candidate from the specified conditions, and selects the best from among them It takes several tens of seconds to several minutes to determine what is likely to be instructed to the vehicle, and during this time the vehicle is often moving to search for customers. There is a problem that there is a possibility that the waiting time of the customer may be prolonged because it is not possible to give an accurate dispatch instruction because there is a difference between the position information grasped by the vehicle and the actual vehicle position Was Tsu.

  In addition, in order to reduce the difference between the position information grasped by the base station and the actual vehicle position, a system for acquiring vehicle information in real time by digital radio is also conceivable. Depending on the conditions of the driving location, vehicle position information may not be transmitted and received correctly in real time due to radio wave collision / interference, especially when there are many units to be managed or in urban areas, etc. There is a problem that vehicle position information is not always obtained.

  Furthermore, in the prior art, even if the position information of the vehicle grasped by the base station is close to the boarding place requested by the customer, the traveling direction of the vehicle has moved away from the destination. Even if you are far away, it may be faster to move the vehicle moving toward the destination, but select the dispatch candidate based on the distance between the boarding position and the vehicle position or the estimated arrival time obtained from the distance and the speed limit As a result, there was a problem that efficient dispatch management was not possible.

  An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems caused by the prior art, and when there is a vehicle allocation request, a vehicle allocation management system capable of accurately instructing the allocation of a commercial vehicle that can reach the requested location earliest. Is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is suitable for a vehicle allocation request based on a location information database that stores vehicle locations of a plurality of vehicles, a vehicle allocation request that includes customer boarding locations, and a vehicle location that is stored in the vehicle information database. A vehicle allocation management system comprising a reception vehicle allocation terminal for searching and outputting a vehicle, wherein the reception vehicle allocation terminal sets a first area centered on the customer boarding position; Setting a second region narrower than the first region and wider than an arbitrary region, setting a probe region excluding the second region from the first region, and the probe region And a step of searching for and outputting a vehicle located at a position based on the vehicle position information.

  According to the present invention, in the vehicle allocation management system according to the above feature, the reception vehicle allocation terminal obtains a traveling direction of the vehicle based on a plurality of vehicle positions of the same vehicle according to the passage of time, and is located in the search area. And a step of searching for a vehicle having a predetermined allowable range including a direction in which the traveling direction is directed to the customer boarding position information.

  According to the present invention, in the vehicle allocation management system according to any one of the above features, the first area is a circular area whose radius is a first distance centered on a customer boarding position, and the second area is A third feature is that the region is a circular region having a radius that is shorter than the first distance and shorter than or equal to zero.

  Further, the present invention provides a position information database for acquiring and storing vehicle positions of a plurality of vehicles according to the passage of time, a vehicle allocation request including a customer boarding position, and the vehicle allocation request based on the vehicle position stored in the vehicle information database. A vehicle allocation management program executed in a vehicle allocation management system comprising a reception vehicle allocation terminal for searching for a vehicle suitable for the vehicle, wherein a first area centered on the customer boarding position is set in the reception vehicle allocation terminal. A procedure, a second procedure for setting a second region narrower than the first region and wider than an arbitrary region, centered on the customer boarding position, and a vehicle that excludes the second region from the first region A third procedure for setting a region, a fourth procedure for obtaining a traveling direction of the vehicle based on a plurality of vehicle positions of the same vehicle according to the passage of time, a position that is located in the exploration region, and the traveling direction is the Customer ride That to execute the fifth procedure for searching a predetermined tolerance direction of the vehicle including the direction toward the position to the fourth feature.

  In the dispatch management system according to the present invention, the reception dispatching terminal has a first area centered on the customer boarding position information and a first area narrower than the first area and wider than an arbitrary area centered on the customer boarding position information. 2 is set, a search area is set by excluding the second area from the first area, and a vehicle located in the search area is searched based on the vehicle position information. Prevents the position information at the base station from deviating from the actual vehicle position due to the movement of the vehicle due to the time difference between the time when the information is acquired and the time when the operator searches and dispatches, and the waiting time of the customer is increased. This can be prevented. Further, according to the present invention, the traveling direction of a vehicle is acquired based on a plurality of vehicle position information associated with the passage of time of an arbitrary vehicle, and the traveling direction includes a direction toward the customer boarding position information in the search area. By searching for a vehicle that is in a predetermined allowable range direction, it is possible to prevent the customer's waiting time from becoming longer.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vehicle allocation management system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a vehicle allocation management system according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an internal configuration of a base station, and FIG. 3 schematically represents vehicle information transmitted from a vehicle. FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the flow of the entire vehicle allocation process in the vehicle allocation management system, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the flow of the basic vehicle search process in the vehicle allocation management system, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the donut range search process in the vehicle allocation management system. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow chart of direction designation search processing in the vehicle allocation management system, FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing a target range in the donut range search, and FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the target range in the direction designation search. FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing a target range by the combined use of a donut range search and a direction-designated probe, and FIG. 11 schematically shows a method of dividing the target range in the direction-designed search. Is a drawing illustrating manner. In all the drawings of the present embodiment, the same components are denoted by the same reference symbols in principle, and the repeated description thereof is omitted.
<Description of overall configuration>

  As shown in FIG. 1, the overall configuration of a vehicle allocation management system according to the present embodiment is a base station (vehicle allocation center) 1 of a vehicle allocation management system that communicates with a plurality of vehicles 3a to 3e via an antenna 2 that transmits and receives radio waves. And a customer terminal 6 such as a mobile phone for carrying out vehicle dispatch via the public line 5. Each of the vehicles 3a to 3e is equipped with radio communication terminals 4a to 4e for communicating with the antenna 2, a GPS unit (not shown), an AVM (automatic vehicle monitoring) operation display terminal, etc.・ Information on vehicles such as moving speed and information on vehicle dynamics such as opening stations, empty vehicles, actual vehicles, and standbys (hereinafter sometimes referred to as vehicle information) are periodically transmitted via the wireless communication terminals 4a to 4e. In addition, it has a function of receiving an instruction, a control command, or the like sent from the base station 1, and the base station 1 and the vehicles 3a to 3e are performing transmission / reception such as sequential / voice / data communication.

  In this vehicle allocation management system, the base station 1 receives a vehicle allocation request from a customer terminal 6 such as a mobile phone through the public line 5, and issues an instruction to a vehicle corresponding to the request from a plurality of vehicles according to the request. In the figure, a thick arrow indicates the direction of travel of the vehicle, and a circular area indicated by reference numeral 7 is searched by the base station 1. A range for a vehicle (a process for searching for a vehicle allocation candidate) is shown, and a circular area indicated by reference numeral 8 indicates a search exclusion range, details of which will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the internal configuration of the base station 1 includes a (wireless) communication control device 101 that is connected to the antenna 2 and controls the exchange of voice and data communications between the vehicle and each system in the base station 1. An AVM (Automatic Vehicle Monitoring) system 102 that collects and outputs vehicle information and current position of the vehicle together with map information, and a vehicle information database that stores vehicle information obtained through the communication control device 101 and the AVM 102 103, a map information database 104 for storing information such as map / traffic information, and a customer information database 107 for storing customer information such as customer name / phone number / designated destination (location / position information) registered in advance. And a PBX (Private Branch eXchange) 105 that accepts telephone calls from customers through the public line 5; A CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) server that acquires a customer's telephone number by a caller ID notification service provided by a telecommunications carrier of the public line 5 and displays and outputs customer information to an operator in cooperation with the customer information database 107 106 and a reception dispatching terminal 108 that is connected to the AVM system 102 and the CTI server 106 and is used by an operator to perform a dispatching service.

  Each of the above-described device devices includes a CPU, a memory, an HDD, etc., and each process is executed by the CPU according to a program stored in the HDD or preset information, and is read or obtained at that time. Such information is written to and read from these memories and HDDs, but may have a dedicated hardware / software configuration. The system includes a microphone, a speaker, a receiver, a headset, and various network devices for making a call with a vehicle crew or a customer. In the present embodiment, the system is not illustrated. A plurality of the reception dispatching terminals 108 are provided according to the business scale, but in the present embodiment, a single unit will be described for easy understanding.

<Explanation of vehicle information>
Next, vehicle information in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of vehicle information transmitted from the vehicle 3. The vehicle information transmission data 20 includes a channel 201 indicating a registration channel for registering the vehicle, and a vehicle in each channel. Vehicle number 202 assigned with a different number for each, latitude information 203 indicating latitude information obtained from the GPS unit of the vehicle, longitude information 204 which is longitude information obtained from the GPS unit of the vehicle, and various business states of the vehicle (For example, opening station [starting business], actual vehicle [with customers rented]], empty vehicle [in search of customers], pick-up [on the way to pick up customers according to dispatch instructions], standby [waiting Waiting for instructions], break [temporarily suspending business due to meals, etc.], vacancy [real car but will be vacant soon], closing [closed business] 205 , The traveling direction 206 which is direction information obtained from the time-series transition of the position information by GPS, the speed 207 which is speed information obtained from the time-series transition of the position information by GPS, and the communication state with the satellite in the GPS It includes a positioning state 208 indicating positioning accuracy, various statuses 209 indicating the states of various devices of the vehicle, and the like.

  In addition, although the example of each item data mentioned above was demonstrated in this embodiment, this vehicle information is not restricted to the above-mentioned thing, The addition and change of various information according to the business form and the policy of collected data However, in order to implement the present invention, at least information for identifying the vehicle, position information such as latitude and longitude, dynamic information indicating whether the vehicle is an empty vehicle or an empty vehicle, and direction information indicating the traveling direction Is necessary. Further, the vehicle information is transmitted in response to a polling signal sent from the base station in the case of the polling method, and at any timing such as the moving distance of the vehicle, the passage of time, the dynamic change, and the button operation in the case of the arbitrary call method. Called. Moreover, these combined methods may be used.

  The vehicle allocation management system according to the present invention is configured as described above, and the flow of the entire vehicle allocation process in the vehicle allocation management system will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the entire vehicle allocation processing step S1000 is roughly divided into a reception processing step S1001 for receiving a vehicle allocation by contact from a customer, and a vehicle search processing step S1002 for searching for a vehicle according to the customer request. The vehicle dispatching process is divided into a dispatching instruction step S1003 for instructing the dispatched vehicle to dispatch a vehicle, and a vehicle dispatching process is performed by sequentially executing these steps S1001 to S1003.

  The reception processing step S1001 includes a call received from the customer terminal 6 and acquires customer information from the customer information database 107 based on the caller number of the customer terminal 6 and the requirements from the customer, specifically, Step S1200 for acquiring an arbitrary matter such as a vehicle allocation location and time, and the vehicle search processing step S1002 is based on the vehicle allocation location (positional information) acquired in Step S1200 as a base point and a first predetermined range area from the base point Basic search processing step S1300 for searching for a vehicle located in (a region having a predetermined distance a centered on the base point as a radius), and from the first predetermined range region obtained in step S1300, from the base point An annular (donut-shaped) area excluding two predetermined range areas (areas having a predetermined distance b [a> b> 0] centered on the base point). Donut range searching step S1400 for searching for a vehicle located inside, direction specifying searching step S1500 for searching for the direction of travel of each vehicle searched in step S1400, and searching in step S1500 This includes a search result output step S1600 for outputting vehicle information (image output as position information or list display output in the order of proximity from the arrangement location).

  The dispatch instruction step S1003 is a dispatch vehicle determination step S1700 in which a dispatch vehicle is determined (input) by the operator's selection, and after the operator instructs the dispatch to the vehicle determined in step S1700 and the vehicle is approved. The dispatching instruction step S1800 for changing the dispatching behavior to “receiving car” and the processing step S1900 after the dispatching process for registering the receipt slip and the history from the vehicle instructed in step S1800 are completed. Note that the above-described processes are mainly performed by the AVM system 102, the CTI server 106, and the reception dispatching terminal 108 in the present embodiment.

<Operation of First Embodiment>
The vehicle allocation management system according to the first embodiment of the present invention is mainly characterized by the above-described search processing step S1002, and details of the search processing step S1002 will be described next with reference to FIG. To do. Note that the right-side flow in FIG. 5 shows details in step S1302, and the direction specifying probe in step S1500 will be described in the second embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 5, the basic search processing step S1300 of the search processing according to the present embodiment is first performed at the position obtained by the customer at the receiving step S1001 (customer boarding position: center coordinates in the search range) Step S1301 for obtaining the information of the desired latitude and longitude is desirable, and step S1302 for checking the dynamic information of all the vehicles and extracting only the dynamic information designated in advance.

  This candidate target extraction step S1302 includes a step S1303 of calling up vehicle information on the latest dynamics of all vehicles stored in the vehicle information database 103, as shown in the flow on the right side of FIG. Step S1304 for determining whether or not the vehicle information has been extracted, Step S1305 for acquiring dynamic information of the vehicle when there is remaining vehicle information to be searched in Step S1304, and the acquired dynamic information is designated. The first candidate is obtained by sequentially executing step SS1306 for determining whether or not the movement is “empty” and step S1307 that is added to the primary candidate when the movement is determined to be “empty” in step S1306. Candidate vehicles are extracted based on the dynamics of the dispatch target (“empty car”) at the level of the vehicle.

  Next, the vehicle allocation management system extracts an empty vehicle in step S1301, and then assumes that the vehicle is traveling at a predetermined distance (for example, 40 Km / h per hour) centered on the customer boarding position information. Step S1308 for calling a circular area within the minute (assuming 10 km as the distance within minutes) (the search target range 7 in FIG. 1: the first predetermined range area) and whether there are other candidate vehicles are determined. Step S1309, Step S1310 for acquiring vehicle position information of a candidate vehicle in the circular area, and determining whether or not a vehicle whose extracted dynamics are empty is positioned in the circular area. Step S1311 and step S1312, which is added as a secondary candidate if it is positioned, are repeatedly executed in order, so that the position within the circular region is determined. The process of extracting the entire vehicle unladen state performed. Note that the determination in step S1311 is whether the distance obtained from the customer boarding position information obtained in step S1301 and the vehicle position information obtained in step S1310 is shorter than the radius (distance) that is the target range obtained in step S1308. However, it is possible to compare two-dimensional coordinate values of absolute position information such as longitude and latitude, and the present invention is not limited to this.

  Next, the vehicle allocation management system according to the present embodiment executes step S1400 of the donut range search process shown in FIG. This processing is performed by using a circular area (second area) in which a vehicle close to the customer boarding position exists from a circular area (first area) within a predetermined radial distance centered on the customer boarding position information called in step S1308. 6 is a process for excluding vehicles in which the position grasped by the base station of the vehicle and the actual position differ from each other, as shown in FIG. Step S1401 for acquiring (customer boarding position) information, Step S1402 for reading vehicle information of the secondary candidate target extracted in Step S1312, and a radius region (second predetermined range region) excluded from the basic search range ), Step S1404 for determining the presence / absence of the vehicle as the secondary candidate, and the secondary candidate determined to be present by step S1404. Step S1405 of acquiring the position information of the vehicle, and determining whether or not the acquired vehicle is within the excluded radius region (second predetermined range region). When it is determined that the vehicle is within the excluded radius region, the process proceeds to step S1404. The search target range 7 shown in FIG. 1 is executed by sequentially executing the return step S1406 and the step S1407 in which the vehicle that is out of the range (not close to the customer boarding position) by the step S1406 is added as a third candidate. A process of extracting a vehicle at a position excluding the search exclusion range 8 from the vehicle is executed.

Note that the determination as to whether or not the region is within the region range in step S1406 is that the distance obtained from the customer boarding position information and the vehicle position information is shorter than the radius (distance) that is the target range obtained in step S1403. This is performed by removing or comparing two-dimensional coordinate values of absolute position information such as longitude and latitude. In addition, the inner circle (exclusion) radius in step S1403 is derived from the customer's request content or vehicle status, etc., in addition to the value set and registered in advance, similar to the outer circle radius (basic search range) in step S1308. It may be. However, this inner circle (exclusion) radius is smaller than the outer circle radius in step S1308, and when the radius is an arbitrary radius distance of zero or more, for example, a search time difference of 5 minutes (vehicle position shift), a radius of about 3 km. It is conceivable to set the distance.

  The concept of extracting vehicle allocation candidates by the vehicle allocation management system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing the target range in the donut range search according to the present embodiment. From the outer circle (region) 23 of the outer circle radius 22 called in step S1308, the inner circle radius 25 is increased. By extracting a vehicle located in an annular region excluding the circle (region) 25 as a dispatch candidate, the present system can exclude an exclusion range 27 that is close to the customer, as opposed to the vehicle 33 far from the customer. The vehicle 31 that is located in the vehicle is excluded from the vehicle allocation target, and the vehicle 32 in the annular target range 26 between the outer circle 23 and the inner circle 25 is extracted as a vehicle allocation candidate, thereby traveling away from the customer. 31 can be excluded. This vehicle allocation management system rearranges the vehicle allocation candidates obtained in this way in the order closest to the customer conditions (for example, in order of proximity to the customer boarding position) and displays them on the monitor of the reception allocation terminal 108 in FIG. 2 (step S1600: vehicle search). The result output) continues to the dispatching instruction processing step S1003 shown in FIG.

As described above, in the conventional system, in the exploration process performed based on the latest information transmitted from each vehicle and accumulated in the vehicle information database, most vehicles in operation are constantly moving. The accumulated position information is different from the actual position at the time of the exploration process and when a vehicle dispatch instruction is issued according to the result, so that the vehicle cannot be properly arranged, for example, the latest information accumulated is 20 If the information was a second ago, the actual position of the vehicle moving in a straight line at 40 km / h is different by about 200 m. In the case of the polling method, a polling signal is transmitted from the base station (allocation center). Each vehicle returns the vehicle information in turn, but the first vehicle and the last vehicle have a time difference of tens of seconds to several minutes, and the actual position is further increased. Different defect in focus, dispatch control system according to the present embodiment, by extracting the dispatch candidate in consideration of the deviation of the actual position and the stored position information, it is possible to perform more efficient dispatch. That is, in the conventional vehicle allocation management system, a high priority is given to the vehicle close to the customer boarding position, but in fact, the vehicle may pass the customer boarding position, and the vehicle may be far away from the customer boarding position. Although there was a problem that efficient dispatch management could not be performed, as described above, this embodiment solves this problem.
<Operation of Second Embodiment>

  The vehicle allocation management system according to the first embodiment of the present invention can perform efficient vehicle allocation management by excluding vehicles close to the customer vehicle allocation position, but considers the traveling direction of the vehicle. By doing so, it is possible to perform a vehicle allocation process with higher accuracy, and a vehicle allocation management system according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described next.

  FIG. 7 is a view showing a flowchart of the direction-designated search processing step S1500 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Similar to the donut range search (process) step S1400 in FIG. 6, this direction-designated search process is a process that is performed based on the basic search process S1300. As shown in FIG. Step S1501 for acquiring (customer boarding position) information, Step S1502 for reading the vehicle information of the secondary candidate target extracted in Step S1312, Step S1503 for determining the presence or absence of the vehicle as the secondary candidate, Step S1504 for obtaining information on the traveling direction for each candidate vehicle, Step S1505 for obtaining position information of the vehicle, and Step S1506 for obtaining a direction with respect to the customer boarding position from the vehicle obtained from the customer boarding position information and the vehicle position information. And the traveling direction obtained in step S1504 and the customer boarding position information obtained in step S1506 Comparing step S1507 for determining whether or not the value is within an allowable range, and step S1508 in which the vehicle determined to be within the allowable range (direction) in step S1507 is set as a third candidate for all secondary candidate vehicles. Execute sequentially.

  The allowable range (direction) in step S1507 is, for example, based on eight directions of east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, north, and northeast. When it is east, the southeast or northeast adjacent to the east in the traveling direction is also included in the range of values. Further, it may be subdivided into sixteen directions, or a certain angle with respect to the direction from the vehicle to the customer boarding position may be set as the allowable range. In the present embodiment, based on the above eight directions, the direction from the vehicle to the customer boarding position is converted to the direction of the closest angle among the eight directions, and the three directions of the two directions adjacent to the direction are within the allowable range. And Further, the acquisition of the traveling direction is performed by extracting the vehicle position information stored in the mobile station information database 103 every predetermined time. For example, the position information of the latest vehicle every three minutes It is possible to obtain the direction in which the vehicle is moving by extracting two points and analyzing the movement vector using the two points as a factor of time. This position information may be three or more points. That is, in this embodiment, the traveling direction of the vehicle is acquired by extracting a plurality of pieces of position information corresponding to the passage of time of the specific vehicle.

  The concept of extracting dispatch candidates by the dispatch management system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing a search method in which the vehicle traveling direction is added as a factor to the target range in the donut range search according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 9, the target range obtained by the basic search processing S1300 is shown. It is assumed that vehicles (31, 32, 34) corresponding to secondary candidates are located in (basic target range) 26, and these vehicles are respectively traveling in the traveling directions indicated by arrows 51, 52, 54, respectively. The direction from the vehicle acquired and determined in S1506 and S1507 to the customer boarding position and the allowable range thereof are represented as three-direction arrows 61, 62, and 64.

In the state shown in FIG. 9, the vehicle allocation management system according to the present embodiment determines that the vehicles 31 and 32 in the traveling directions 51 and 52 have the customer boarding position direction and its allowable range (allowable direction) 61 and From 62, the condition is satisfied and output as a third candidate, and the vehicle 34 operates so as to be excluded from the third candidate because the condition is not satisfied. That is, the vehicle allocation management system according to the present embodiment detects the traveling direction of the vehicle in the search area, sets three directions based on the direction from the vehicle position to the customer boarding position as an allowable range (allowable direction), By extracting the vehicle heading in the direction of the allowable range as a dispatch candidate, the deviation of the actual vehicle position due to the difference between the registration time of the information accumulated in the vehicle information database and the time at the time of search is corrected, Efficient vehicle allocation management can be performed by targeting a vehicle that is traveling in the direction of the customer boarding position.
<Description of Third Embodiment>

  The vehicle allocation management system according to the present invention can perform vehicle allocation management with higher accuracy by simultaneously performing the donut range search and the direction-designated search described in the first and second embodiments. The embodiment will be described next.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing the target range by the combined use of the donut range search and the direction specifying probe according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the search target range 26 by the donut range search is shown. If the vehicles 32 and 34 are located at the same time, the traveling direction of the vehicle 34 is away from the customer boarding position as indicated by an arrow 54, and the traveling direction of the vehicle 32 is closer to the customer boarding position as indicated by the arrow 52, both The allowable ranges (allowable azimuths) 62 and 64 of the vehicle are compared with the customer boarding positions, and the vehicle 32 within the allowable range is set as a vehicle allocation candidate.

  In the vehicle allocation management system according to the present embodiment, although the vehicle 31 is included in the vehicle allocation candidates, it is highly likely that the vehicle 31 actually passes the customer boarding position and is further away, and a vehicle allocation instruction is issued to this vehicle. Although there is a high possibility that the work efficiency will decrease, the problem of solving this problem will be improved by extracting candidate dispatches by using the combination of the donut range search and direction-directed search shown in FIG. Can do.

  In the exploration process according to the present embodiment, either the donut range exploration S1400 or the direction designation exploration S1500 may be performed first, but the acquisition and determination of directions and allowable ranges in steps S1504 to S1507 are involved. Considering the processing, it is considered that it is more efficient to perform the direction specifying probe after first performing the donut range searching process S1400 to narrow down the candidate vehicles.

In addition, as one method for increasing the efficiency of the direction-directed search processing, there is a method of dividing the target range by the direction-directed search shown in FIG. 11, which will be described below.
As shown in FIG. 11, the direction-designed search process according to the present embodiment uses the search target range (basic target range) obtained by the basic search process step S1300 in the direction of east, west, south, and north with the customer boarding position as the center. , (North-) Northeast (-East) 26a, (East-) Southeast (-South) 26b, (South-) Southwest (-West) 26c, (West-) Northwest (-North) 26d, the allowable range of the traveling direction in the northeastern direction 26a is [west, southwest, south], the allowable range of the traveling direction in the southeast direction 26b is [north, northwest, west], and the traveling direction is in the southwestern direction 26c. The allowable range of the direction is set to [North, Northeast, East] and the allowable range of the traveling direction in the northwest direction 26d is [East, Southeast, South]. There are 4 areas 2 Determining the allowable range of the determination depending on whether being in the area of a~26d throat, can be narrowed vehicle allocation candidate by being compared with the travel direction 51, 52 and 53 of each vehicle 31, 32, 34.

In other words, the direction-designed search process according to this example divides the circular search target range (basic target range) into four equal parts around the center customer boarding position, and selection conditions for vehicles located in the divided areas As described above, by selecting a vehicle in three traveling directions from the arc of each region toward the center, it is possible to search for a vehicle moving in a direction that is likely to be close to the customer boarding position.
According to this method, the dispatching efficiency can be improved in the same manner as the designated direction probe described with reference to FIG. 9 described above, and the processing can be reduced compared with the method of setting the allowable range for each vehicle to be compared. Candidate search efficiency can be improved.

  The search processing, the donut range search, and the direction specification search according to the present invention described above can be added as an additional function of the conventional vehicle allocation management system, thereby improving the efficiency of vehicle allocation management. Also, this method can be used in combination with a donut range finder as in FIG.

  As described above, the allocation candidates obtained by the donut range search or the direction specified search according to the present invention or the combination thereof are displayed in a list or an image on the reception allocation terminal 108 in FIG. 2, and the operator responds to the customer request by this display. The vehicle to be operated can be easily selected. At this time, depending on the customer request and the search result, the candidates before narrowing down may be output as selection targets. For example, when the search result is less than the number requested by the customer, candidate vehicles that only satisfy the required number may be read from lower (secondary and primary candidates) candidates.

  In each of the above embodiments, the example in which the search range and the exclusion range are set by a perfect circle having a radius of a certain distance has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other region setting methods are adopted. You may do it. For example, by adding a variable distance to which a weight is added to a distance that becomes a basic radius according to a terrain element, a traffic element, a population distribution element, a customer use element, etc., which are subject to a scope based on the search processing according to the present invention, It is possible to increase the effect, but in this case, the search range and the exclusion range are not perfect circles. However, as long as the above-described donut range search and designated direction search are performed, it goes without saying that they are included in the present invention. The same applies to the case where one or both of the search range and the exclusion range are elliptical or polygonal.

  In the description of each embodiment, the extraction condition in the dynamics is only “empty vehicle”, but “empty (scheduled vehicle)” may be added to the condition, and the business policy of the company to which the present invention is applied. For example, conditions other than those described above, for example, exclusion conditions such as “penalties” that are not considered as dispatch candidates may be added.

  In this way, the vehicle allocation candidate obtained by the donut range search or the direction designation vehicle according to the present invention, or the combination thereof, arrives at the destination (customer boarding position) earlier than the vehicle allocation candidate obtained only by the basic vehicle search process. Since many vehicles are included, the vehicle allocation management performed by this candidate can increase the vehicle allocation efficiency as compared with the conventional case.

The figure which shows the whole structure of the vehicle allocation management system by one embodiment of this invention. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an internal configuration of a base station 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically representing vehicle information transmitted from a vehicle 3. The figure which shows the flow of the whole vehicle allocation process in a vehicle allocation management system. The figure which shows the flowchart of the basic search process in a vehicle allocation management system. The figure which shows the flowchart of the donut range search process in a dispatch management system. The figure which shows the flowchart of the direction designation search process in a vehicle allocation management system. The figure which shows typically the object range in a donut range search. The figure which shows typically the object range in a direction designation | designated search vehicle. The figure which shows typically the object range by combined use of a donut range search and a direction specification probe. The figure which shows typically about the method of dividing | segmenting the target range in a direction designation | designated search vehicle.

Explanation of symbols

1: base station, 3a-3e: vehicle, 4a-4e: wireless communication terminal, 2: antenna, 5: public line, 6: customer terminal, 7: search target range, 8: search exclusion range, 20: transmission Data, 22: Outer circle radius, 25: Inner circle radius, 26: Search target range, 26a: Northeast direction, 26b: Southeast direction, 26c: Southwest direction, 26d: Northwest direction, 27: Exclusion range, 31-34: Vehicle, 51-53: Traveling direction, 61, 62, 64: Direction arrow, 101: Communication control device, 102: AVM system, 103: Vehicle information database, 104: Map information database, 106: CTI server, 107: Customer information Database, 108: Reception dispatch terminal

Claims (4)

A position information database for storing vehicle positions of a plurality of vehicles; a vehicle allocation request including customer boarding positions; and a reception allocation terminal for searching for and outputting a vehicle suitable for the vehicle allocation request based on the vehicle position stored in the vehicle information database; A vehicle allocation management system comprising:
The reception dispatching terminal is
A first step of setting a first region centered on the customer boarding position;
A second step of setting a second region centered on the customer boarding position and narrower than the first region and wider than an arbitrary region;
A third step of setting a search area excluding the second area from the first area;
A fourth step of acquiring the traveling direction of the vehicle based on a plurality of vehicle positions of the same vehicle over time;
And a fifth step of searching for and outputting a vehicle in a predetermined allowable range including the direction in which the traveling direction is directed to the customer boarding position information and located in the search area. . In the fifth step, the reception dispatching terminal,
The search area is divided into a plurality of divided areas, and an allowable range direction based on a positional relationship with the customer boarding position is set for each of the divided areas, and the vehicle search and output process is executed. The vehicle allocation management system according to claim 1. A position information database for acquiring and storing vehicle positions of a plurality of vehicles according to the passage of time, a vehicle allocation request including a customer boarding position, and a vehicle suitable for the vehicle allocation request based on the vehicle position stored in the vehicle information database. A vehicle allocation management program executed in a vehicle allocation management system comprising a reception vehicle allocation terminal for searching,
In the reception dispatching terminal,
A first procedure for setting a first area centered on the customer boarding position;
A second step of setting a second region centered on the customer boarding position and narrower than the first region and wider than an arbitrary region;
A third procedure for setting a search area excluding the second area from the first area;
A fourth procedure for acquiring the traveling direction of the vehicle based on a plurality of vehicle positions of the same vehicle over time;
A vehicle allocation management program for executing a fifth procedure for searching for and outputting a vehicle in a predetermined allowable range including a direction in which the traveling direction is directed to the customer boarding position and located in the search area. In the fifth procedure, the reception dispatching terminal
The vehicle search area is divided into a plurality of divided areas, and an allowable range direction based on a positional relationship with the customer boarding position is set for each of the divided areas, and the vehicle search and output procedure is executed. The vehicle allocation management program according to claim 3.

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