JP5796517B2 - Mobile object merging support device, mobile object merging support system, and mobile object merging route determination method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile unit joining support apparatus, a mobile unit joining support system, and a mobile unit joining route determination method.

  As an attempt to increase the transportation efficiency of automobiles, there is a concept of consolidating and transporting a plurality of personnel and cargo that are heading separately to a destination. When transporting with a plurality of vehicles, if the time and route are substantially the same, it is possible to move with a smaller number of vehicles by joining the moving vehicles and replacing passengers and cargo.

  There is a technology related to platooning. Convoy travel is a technology that allows a plurality of vehicles to travel at short inter-vehicle distances by computer control. It is expected to reduce air resistance and improve fuel efficiency by automating throttle control by gathering multiple vehicles traveling on the same route and running in a platoon.

  As a technique for aggregating a plurality of passengers and cargoes heading for a destination, Patent Document 1 describes a technique for joining a plurality of vehicles each going to a destination at an intermediate point between both vehicles. Transportation costs can be saved by replacing crew members and cargo at confluences or starting platooning.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, it is determined whether or not a carpooler can be picked up based on the current position and destination of both vehicles and the fuel remaining amount of the vehicle in a mode in which a carpooler rides in a vehicle owned by a carpooler. The technology to do is described. According to this technique, it is possible to extract and join a carpooler who is at a point where the increase in fuel consumption falls within a certain range.

JP 2004-294068 A JP 2010-67061 A

  The technique described in Patent Document 1 is a technique for joining passengers and cargo while minimizing the travel distance for joining. However, since the technology determines a merge point only based on geographical conditions, there is a problem that it does not take into account deterioration in convenience due to merge, such as an increase in required time and waiting time.

  For example, if cargo is concentrated at one point until the loading capacity is full, it can be moved with less fuel consumption, but the required time to the destination becomes longer. In this way, when considering merging passengers and cargo that are moving separately toward the same destination, the route that gives the best fuel efficiency and loading efficiency and the route that takes into account the convenience of the user are not necessarily the same. There is a problem that they do not match.

Moreover, since the technique of patent document 2 searches for the subject who the increase in fuel consumption is settled in a fixed range on the assumption that it joins, it is better to join each other than to run independently. It is not possible to determine whether the overall cost is reduced. That is,
In some cases, there is a problem that the total cost may increase by joining.

  In order to solve these problems, it is necessary to determine the merging route in which the merging effect appears appropriately after judging the merging effect for each route.

  On the other hand, in the case of merging a plurality of vehicles, the best merging point can be determined by extracting all the merging points that can be used and verifying the merging effect with brute force. However, when the route is complicated or the number of moving bodies increases, there is another problem that the calculation amount increases explosively. None of the prior art described above can solve this problem.

  As described above, in the related art, when there are a plurality of moving bodies that are directed to a common destination separately, it is not possible to search for a merging route in which the merging effect appropriately appears with a small amount of calculation.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and searches for a route that can reduce the total movement cost by combining a plurality of moving bodies from different points to a common destination with a small amount of calculation. An object of the present invention is to provide a mobile unit merging support device that can be used.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the mobile unit merging support apparatus according to the present invention, determination of merging and determination of a merging route are performed by the following means.

  A mobile unit merging support apparatus according to the present invention is a mobile unit merging support apparatus that determines a merging route that is a path for a plurality of mobile units that start from different points and move to the same destination. , A planned route acquisition unit that acquires a planned route that is a planned route when the mobile unit moves from a departure place to a destination, a route network storage unit that stores a route network that the mobile unit can move, A point at which the moving body leaves the planned route toward the joining point is defined as a leaving point candidate, and a pair of leaving point candidates for two moving bodies is sequentially selected, and the moving objects are paired for each pair of the leaving point candidates. Merging point candidate determining means for determining a merging point candidate that is a candidate for a merging point, and each movement when each of the moving objects leaves the planned route at the detaching point candidate and merges at the merging point candidate Body out Calculating a sum of travel cost from the ground to the destination, based on the total value of the travel cost, having a merging path determining means for determining a merging path for the moving bodies are joined.

  The travel cost is a value that represents at least one of losses caused by travel, such as fuel consumption, travel time, and waiting time, or a value that can be calculated by combining a plurality of factors.

  The mobile unit merging support apparatus according to the present invention determines, for each mobile unit, a set of candidates for a point that leaves the original travel route of each mobile unit and a candidate for a point to join. Then, for multiple departure point candidates and merging point candidates, the total moving cost of all the moving bodies when merging is performed using the point is determined, and the point where the cost is improved is determined as the formal merging point. . If you want to search for the optimal merging route, it is necessary to create a brute force route using all points and verify it. By configuring in this way, the calculation amount is reduced and the merging route is close to the optimum. You will be able to get

  The junction point candidate determining unit may determine a point on the route connecting the departure point candidates of the respective moving bodies as a junction point candidate, and the junction point candidate determining unit may For one of the mobile objects, the departure point candidate may be determined as the junction point candidate.

  There are two methods for merging: the method in which each moving object leaves the original moving path and moves toward each other, and the other moving object leaves the original moving path and moves toward the other. A way to do this is conceivable. In the mobile unit merging support apparatus according to the present invention, the merging route can be determined using either or both methods.

  The joining point candidate determining unit sets a joining assumed point that is a point assumed that the moving bodies join together with respect to the selected leaving point candidate, and each moving body is set at the joining assumed point. An evaluation value representing an improvement in travel cost improved by joining may be calculated, and a point where the evaluation value is maximized may be determined as a joining point candidate for the pair of leaving point candidates.

  The determination of the joining path of the moving bodies can be performed by determining a point where the moving bodies leave the original moving path and a point where the moving bodies join. However, the extent to which the travel cost can be reduced by merging is not required unless cost calculation is performed for all combinations of departure points and merging points. Accordingly, a temporary joining point is set for the selected set of leaving point candidates, and the point having the highest evaluation value, that is, the point where the improvement of the movement cost is expected to be the most, is set as the joining point candidate. The evaluation value is calculated using simple elements as compared with the calculation of the movement cost, for example, using only the movement distance and the required time. Therefore, there is an advantage that the entire calculation amount can be reduced as compared with the case where the movement cost is calculated by brute force.

  The joining point candidate determining means is configured such that each moving body passes from the leaving point candidate via the joining assumed point based on the total distance or time for each moving body to move from the leaving point candidate to the destination by the scheduled route. The evaluation value may be a value obtained by subtracting the total distance or time for moving to the destination, and the joining point candidate determining means is configured such that each of the moving bodies moves from the departure point candidate to the scheduled route. The sum of the distance or time for moving to the destination by dividing the sum of the distance or time for each moving object to move to the destination from the departure point candidate via the junction point is the evaluation. It is good also as making it into a value.

  One method of defining the evaluation value is to use a distance or a time difference or ratio from the departure point to the destination when joining or not joining. According to this method, a merging point candidate with a larger evaluation value is a merging point candidate that can be expected to reduce the actual travel cost.

  Further, the junction point candidate determining means sets a junction assumption point on the shortest path between the departure point candidates of each of the moving bodies, and the smaller the distance or travel time from the junction assumption point to the destination, the evaluation The calculation may be performed so that the value increases.

  According to this method, the point closest to the destination or the point that can reach the earliest among the points on the shortest route connecting the departure point candidates is the junction point candidate, so the travel cost after the junction is minimized. It is possible to obtain a brazing junction candidate.

  Further, the joining point candidate determining means is configured to calculate a total distance or time for each of the moving bodies to move from the joining assumed point to the destination, so that each of the moving bodies moves from the leaving point candidate to the joining assumed point. A value obtained by dividing by the total distance or time may be used as the evaluation value.

That is, the ratio between the distance or time from the departure point to the junction and the distance or time from the junction to the destination is calculated and used as the evaluation value. The smaller the ratio of the distance or time from leaving the planned route to merging with respect to the distance or time from the merging to the destination,
Candidates can be expected to reduce actual travel costs.

  Further, the joining path determining means may calculate the total value using the pair of leaving point candidates and the joining point candidate in descending order of the evaluation value, and terminate the process after a predetermined number of calculations. Good.

  By performing the process of calculating the total travel cost in the order of evaluation value, that is, in the order in which the travel cost can be expected to be reduced, there is an effect that even if the calculation process is interrupted midway, it is possible to obtain a merging point that is close to optimal. is there.

  Further, the merging route determining means is configured to compare the moving distance or time of each moving body when merging at a merging point candidate, as compared to the distance or time when each moving body moves to a destination according to a predetermined scheduled route. When the value increases by a certain rate or more, the total value may be calculated by excluding the junction point candidate.

  When the distance or time increases by a certain percentage or more from the original route for each moving object, even if other factors improve, it is determined not to perform merging using the corresponding merging point be able to. If this “certain ratio” is increased, it is possible to give priority to the concentration of passengers and cargo even if sacrificing the convenience of individual moving bodies, and if it is reduced, priority can be given to cost.

  Further, the junction point candidate determining means determines a junction point candidate for each set of mobile bodies, the junction path determining means determines a junction path that is a path when the mobile bodies have joined, Until the determined merging path does not change, the determined merging path is used as a new scheduled path, and the determination of the merging point candidate and the determination of the merging path of each of the moving bodies may be repeatedly performed.

  When there are three or more moving bodies, the process performed by the junction point candidate determining unit and the process performed by the junction path determining unit are repeatedly executed. Thereby, since the calculation process of the joining path | route where a movement cost is reduced most can be performed one by two one by one, the joining path | route close | similar to the whole optimum can be calculated | required. When there are three or more mobile objects and a route search by brute force is performed, the amount of calculation increases exponentially. However, according to this method, the search can be performed in a relatively short time.

  Further, the route network storage means may hold information on a route that the mobile body can move in a weighted graph.

  The weight can be represented by a required time, a distance, or the like among travel costs required when the mobile body travels on the road. By comprising in this way, the cost at the time of moving a path | route can be calculated correctly. In addition, there is an advantage that maintenance and information update are facilitated.

  Further, the mobile merging support system according to the present invention is a mobile merging support system comprising the mobile merging support device and a plurality of mobiles that move from a starting point to a destination according to a scheduled route. The mobile unit transmits current position information and information related to the destination to the mobile unit merge support apparatus, and the mobile unit merge support apparatus transmits the determined merge path to the mobile unit. .

  By configuring in this way, the moving body joining support device can grasp the current positions and destinations of all the moving bodies. Therefore, after determining the moving body to join, the joining body determined for the moving body A route can be transmitted.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a mobile unit merging support apparatus capable of searching for a route that can reduce the total movement cost by combining a plurality of mobile units traveling from different points to a common destination with a small amount of calculation. Can do.

It is a figure explaining the confluence of a plurality of vehicles. It is a figure explaining two types of methods with which vehicles join. It is a functional lineblock diagram of the mobile unit confluence support device concerning a first embodiment. It is a figure explaining the determination method of the leaving and joining point candidate which concerns on 1st embodiment. It is a process flowchart of the twin merge system which concerns on 1st embodiment. It is an example of the junction point information by the twin junction system which concerns on 1st embodiment. It is a process flowchart of the one side joining system which concerns on 1st embodiment. It is an example of the merging point information by the single merging method according to the first embodiment. It is a flowchart of the process which determines a driving | running route from the junction point candidate which concerns on 1st embodiment. This is road network information according to an application example. It is an example of merge point information which concerns on an application example.

(First embodiment)
<Overview>
A mobile unit merging support apparatus according to the first embodiment (hereinafter referred to as a merging support apparatus) receives route information for traveling from a vehicle to a destination, and a vehicle for merging and a path for performing merging (hereinafter, a merging path ) Is determined, and a function for transmitting the merging route information to the vehicle is provided.

  First, the merging of vehicles will be briefly described. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a plurality of vehicles travel toward a destination. The vehicle 1 travels from coordinates (0, 0), the vehicle 2 travels from coordinates (0, 2), and the vehicle 3 travels from coordinates (3, 0) to coordinates (4, 4) as the destination. At this time, if each vehicle is aiming for the destination alone, the vehicle 1 needs a travel distance of 8 squares, the vehicle 2 needs 6 squares, and the vehicle 3 needs a travel distance of 5 squares. On the other hand, when the travel route of the vehicle 1 is set as a broken line and the travel route of the vehicles 2 and 3 is set as a dotted line, the vehicle 2 is represented by coordinates (1, 2) at coordinates (1, 2). Thus, the vehicles 3 can join. When the luggage is accumulated at the junction and the operation of the vehicles 2 and 3 is terminated, the total travel distance of the vehicle is 8 squares for the vehicle 1, 1 square for the vehicle 2, and 2 squares for the vehicle 3, for a total of 11 squares. Compared to traveling (8 + 6 + 5 = 19 squares), the total travel cost for 8 squares can be saved. The joining support apparatus according to the present embodiment is for determining whether or not the vehicles should join together in this way, and the route of each vehicle when joining.

  There are two ways to join vehicles. Each method will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the shortest path in the case of two vehicles individually heading for a destination by a solid line. Note that the term “shortest path” used in the description of the embodiment does not necessarily mean a path with the shortest distance, but means a path with the lowest travel cost by converting distance, time, and the like as travel costs. FIG. 2A shows a method in which the vehicle 1 and the vehicle 2 join each other by changing their routes. When this method is adopted, it is necessary to determine a point where the two vehicles depart from the original route (hereinafter referred to as a departure point) and a point where the two vehicles join (hereinafter referred to as a merge point). In the description of the embodiment, the method of FIG.

  FIG. 2B shows a system in which one vehicle leaves the original route and heads for the other vehicle. In this method, the vehicle 2 does not need to change the route. When this method is adopted, it is necessary to determine a departure point of the vehicle 1 and two joining points. In the description of the embodiment, the method of FIG.

  Either one of the two methods described above may be used, or after performing processing using both of them, either one that improves the total cost may be selected.

<System configuration>
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the merge support apparatus according to the present embodiment. Each component will be described. The road network information 10 is data in which a road network on which a vehicle can travel is stored. Road network information is defined by nodes and links, where nodes represent intersections and interchanges, and links represent roads. In addition, links that are directly associated with links, such as distance and required time, are defined among the movement costs when a vehicle moves between nodes.

  The junction point candidate determination unit 11 acquires planned route information that is an original route for each vehicle to travel from the departure point to the destination, and determines a candidate route for each vehicle to join and reach the destination. It is means to do. Specifically, from the acquired planned route information of the vehicle and the road network information 10 that is held, a candidate for a departure point that is a point where each vehicle leaves the original route for joining, and each vehicle joins. The candidate of the merge point that is the point to be extracted is extracted. Detailed operation will be described later.

  The cost calculation unit 12 is a means for calculating the overall total movement cost when the departure point candidate and the junction point candidate extracted by the junction point candidate determination unit 11 are adopted. When each vehicle joins, the travel cost from the departure point to the destination is calculated for each vehicle, and how much the total travel cost is reduced by joining is calculated. Detailed operation will be described later.

  The travel route determination unit 13 determines an actual departure point and a junction point based on the total movement cost value calculated by the cost calculation unit 12, that is, a junction information that is route information when each mobile unit has joined. This is means for determining route information. The travel route determination unit 13 outputs merging route information, and the output information is transmitted to each vehicle via communication means such as wireless communication.

  The meeting point information 14 is a list in which a set of departure point candidates for each vehicle and a meeting point candidate is recorded by the meeting point candidate determination unit 11. The recorded data is used for the total movement cost calculation by the cost calculation unit 12.

<Extraction of exit point candidates and merge point candidates using the dual merge method>
A specific processing method will be described in order from the dual merging method. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the route of each vehicle, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a process flowchart of the merging support apparatus according to the present invention in the twin merging method.

  First, the junction point candidate determination unit 11 extracts a plurality of vehicles having the same destination, and acquires planned route information of each vehicle (S11). In the example of FIG. 4, the planned route (solid line) to the destination node 10 is acquired for the vehicle 1 at the node 1 and the vehicle 2 at the node 5. The vehicle 1 arrives at the destination by the route of nodes 2, 3, 11, and 10, and the vehicle 2 reaches the destination by the route of nodes 7, 8, and 10.

Next, the junction point candidate determination unit 11 determines a departure point candidate and a junction point candidate for each vehicle. Specifically, each node on the planned route possessed by a certain vehicle (referred to as a leaving point candidate 1) and each node on the planned route possessed by another vehicle (referred to as a leaving point candidate 2) Are sequentially selected (S12), and the shortest route connecting the leaving point candidate 1 and the leaving point candidate 2 is obtained (S13). As described above, the shortest route is a route in which the travel cost is calculated from factors such as distance and time and the travel cost is the smallest. However, in the process of step S13, the shortest route is used for calculating other travel costs. An element different from the element to be used may be used.

  Next, among the nodes existing on the shortest route, the point having the highest score is selected as a joining point candidate and added to the joining point information 14 together with the leaving point candidate (S14). The score is an evaluation value in the present invention, and the validity of the joining point candidate to be selected with respect to the selected leaving point candidate, that is, the expected amount of travel cost reduction is quantified. It is a thing. When vehicles merge using the selected merge point, it is only possible to determine how much the total travel cost will decrease after the route has been determined. A value for determining whether it is appropriate to be a candidate is a score in the present embodiment.

Two types of score calculation methods are illustrated.
The first calculation method is a method in which a score is obtained by dividing the total distance or time from the junction point to the destination by the total distance or time from the departure point to the junction point. That is, a point is selected such that the distance or time before joining is minimized with respect to the distance or time after joining. When the first calculation method is used, a moving point candidate with a higher score can be expected to reduce the movement cost.

  The second calculation method is a method in which a score is a reciprocal of the distance or time from the junction point to the destination. That is, when there is a certain departure point, the score increases as the joining point is closer to the destination or can be reached earlier. When the second calculation method is used, it can be expected that a merge point candidate having a higher score does not cost a moving cost after the merge.

  One of the score calculation methods exemplified above may be used, or both may be used. If there are other combinations of departure point candidates, the same processing is repeated for all combinations.

  When the road network shown in FIG. 4 is processed using the first calculation method, the contents of the junction point information 14 are as shown in FIG. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the travel cost for moving each link of the road network in FIG. 4 is all 1, and that the joined side ends the operation after joining. In addition, nodes that are not branched are excluded from the processing target, and only the movement cost defined in the road network information is used. When the process of FIG. 5 is completed, three junction point candidates of the node 4, the node 6, and the node 9 are extracted for the vehicle 1 and the vehicle 2. When the node 4 joins, the score is 3/2 = 1.5 because the moving cost from the joining point to the destination is 3, and the total moving cost from the leaving point to the joining point is 2. Similarly, when joining at node 6, 2/2 = 1, when joining at node 9, 1/4 = 0.25 when leaving at node 2, and 1/3 = leaving at node 3. 0.33 ... The larger the score, the less the moving cost for joining, and the improvement of the total moving cost can be expected. Whether the total movement cost is actually improved is verified after all the departure point candidates and junction point candidates are extracted.

<Extraction of separation point candidates and merge point candidates using the single merge method>
Next, a method for extracting a leaving point candidate and a joining point candidate using the single joining method will be described. The route of each vehicle is the same as in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a processing flowchart of the single joining method.

  When the process is started, the merging point candidate determination unit 11 extracts a vehicle having the same destination, and acquires planned route information of each vehicle (S21). The process of step S21 is the same as that of the twin merging method (step S11).

  Next, the merging point candidate determination unit 11 selects a leaving point candidate for each vehicle. Specifically, each node on the planned route of the target vehicle is sequentially selected and set as a departure point candidate (S22). Then, each node on the planned route possessed by another vehicle is sequentially selected to be a junction point candidate (S23). Then, a route that communicates the departure point candidate and the junction point candidate and finds the shortest distance or time is obtained (S24).

  Next, a score when joining at the selected joining point candidate is calculated (S25). The method described in step S14 can be used as the score calculation method. If there are other nodes that are junction point candidates, other nodes are used as junction point candidates, and the same processing is repeated. Then, one joining point candidate having the best score is determined for one leaving point candidate, and added to the joining point information 14 together with the leaving point candidate (S26). If there are other leaving point candidates, another node is selected as the leaving point candidate, and the same processing is repeated.

  When this processing is performed on the road network of FIG. 4, the contents of the merge point information 14 are as shown in FIG. According to the processing result of FIG. 8, when the vehicle 1 leaves the vehicle 1 and the vehicle 2, two junction point candidates of the node 7 and the node 8 are extracted. When joining at the node 7, the movement cost from the joining point to the destination is 2, and the traveling cost from the leaving point to the joining point is 2, so the score is 2/2 = 1. Similarly, when joining at node 8, 1/4 = 0.25 when leaving at node 2, 1/3 = 0.33 when leaving at node 3, and so on. When the vehicle 2 leaves, two junction point candidates of the node 2 and the node 3 are extracted. When joining at node 2, the score is 3/2 = 1.5. Similarly, when joining at node 3, 2/2 = 1.

  The merge point information 14 may be created by executing either one of the double merge method or the single merge method, or may be created by executing both. By executing both, determination with higher accuracy becomes possible.

  When the processing up to this point is completed, the combination point information 14 records a pair of a departure point candidate and a combination point candidate together with a score for two vehicles. When there are three or more vehicles heading to the same destination, a combination of two vehicles is created.

<Determination method of meeting point>
Next, a method of finally determining the junction and the travel route of each vehicle using the created junction information 14 will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of processing performed by the cost calculation unit 12 and the travel route determination unit 13 after the junction point candidate determination unit 11 creates the junction point information 14.

The cost calculation unit 12 sequentially selects the records of the merged point information that have been recorded, in order from the highest score (S30), and performs the following processing.
First, for each vehicle, scanning of the planned route from the departure point to the destination is started (S31). When the node at the waypoint reaches the departure point candidate recorded in the joining point information 14 (S32), the route from the leaving point candidate to the joining point candidate is acquired with the shortest distance or time (S33).
Next, a travel route from the junction point to the destination is determined. At this time, if there is already a travel route determined when another vehicle is processed, that route is adopted (ie, it means joining with the other vehicle), and if not, the distance or time to the destination is adopted. The shortest route is determined as the travel route (S34).

Next, for each mobile object, the determined travel route is compared with the planned route, and it is confirmed whether the increase in the travel distance or time is within an allowable range (S35). The allowable range may be, for example, “the increase in distance or time is within 20% with respect to the planned route”. That is, confirmation is performed with reference to a preset allowable range so that the travel distance or the required time does not increase more than a certain amount by joining. When it deviates from the allowable range, the merge point candidate to be processed is ignored.
In step S32, when the departure point candidate cannot be found to the end (S41), the planned route is determined as the travel route (S42).

  Next, for the travel route determined in this way, a total travel cost that is the sum of the travel costs of a plurality of vehicles from the current position to the destination is calculated. If this result is lower than the already calculated total movement cost (the initial value is the total movement cost of the planned route) (S36), the route is temporarily stored (S37). The above processing from step S31 to S37 is executed for each vehicle. If there is other merge point information, the process from S30 is performed again, and if the total movement cost is lower when the other merge point information is used, that route is adopted by step S37. Finally, the route with the lowest total travel cost is determined as a joining route by the travel route determination unit 13.

  By performing the processing described above, for each vehicle in service, it is determined whether the total travel cost will be lower when joining with other vehicles, or the total travel cost will be lower if operating alone to the destination can do.

  Note that the processing shown in FIG. 9 may be performed a plurality of times until the routes of all vehicles converge. There is a possibility that the optimum route of the own vehicle is changed by joining other vehicles, but the route of each vehicle can be converged to a more optimum route by performing the processing a plurality of times. When performing multiple times of processing, the determined merging route may be replaced with the planned route until the traveling route of each vehicle does not change, and the processing may be repeated after executing an arbitrary number of times. Also good.

  When merging at an arbitrary point with respect to an arbitrary vehicle, the combination of routes increases exponentially as the number of target vehicles increases. In the present embodiment, the merging of two units is repeated a plurality of times, and each merging path is calculated with a small amount of calculation based on the score, so that the amount of calculation can be reduced. Further, since the merge point information 14 is verified in the order of good score, it can be expected that a route close to the overall optimum can be obtained in a short time.

  Moreover, when it is going to reduce a movement cost by the confluence | merging of a mobile body, since both the cost to improve and the cost to deteriorate generate | occur | produce, it was difficult for the existing technique to search a confluence | merging point with good balance of both. On the other hand, in this embodiment, when the increase in distance or time is greater than or equal to a certain range, it can be determined that the merging is not performed, so that both cost reduction and user convenience can be achieved.

(Second embodiment)
The second embodiment is a form in which a distance or time that changes by merging is used in score calculation when determining a merging point candidate. The system configuration and processing flowchart are the same as those in the first embodiment.

In the second embodiment, two different types of calculation methods are used for the score calculation, in addition to the first and second calculation methods used in the first embodiment. Hereinafter, each calculation method will be described.
The third calculation method is the value obtained by dividing the total distance or time of the original route from the departure point to the destination by the total distance or time when heading to the destination via the departure point and the junction. Is a method of making a score. That is, the score is obtained by dividing the distance or time between the departure point and the destination when not joining by the distance or time when joining. When the third calculation method is used, a merge point candidate with a higher score has a higher actual distance or time reduction rate, and therefore, a merge point candidate that can be expected to reduce the total travel cost.

  The fourth calculation method is a value obtained by subtracting the total distance or time when heading to the destination via the departure point and the junction point from the total distance or time of the original route from the departure point to the destination. Is a method of making a score. That is, the score is obtained by subtracting the distance or time when joining from the distance or time when not joining from the departure point to the destination. Also in the case of using the fourth calculation method, since the merging point candidate with a larger score has a larger amount of actual distance or time reduction, the merging point candidate can be expected to reduce the total movement cost.

  According to the second embodiment, when the junction point candidate corresponding to the selected departure point candidate is determined, the actually decreased distance or time is used, so the calculated score and the reduction amount of the total movement cost due to the junction. A strong correlation can be expected.

(Application example)
The example which applied the confluence | merging assistance apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment to the data imitating an actual road network is shown. FIG. 10 shows road network information used in the description. The arrows indicate the planned route from each node to the destination, and the numerical value indicates the movement cost between the nodes. The hatched ellipse indicates the initial position of the vehicle.

  When traveling on the planned route, the vehicle 1 at the node 9 reaches the destination via the nodes 11, 3, 1. The vehicle 2 at the node 14 reaches the destination via the nodes 7, 6, 4, 2, 1. Consider a case where the junction point candidate determination unit 11 creates the junction point information 14 by using the single junction method and the first calculation method. FIG. 11 shows the contents of the merge point information 14 to be created. It is conceivable that the vehicle 1 leaves the planned route at the node 9 or 11 and joins the vehicle 2 at the node 14. The vehicle 2 leaves the planned route at the node 14 or the node 7, and the vehicle 1 at the node 11. It is conceivable to join. Each score is as shown in FIG. 1, no. 2, no. 4, no. It shows that the score is good in order of 3.

  Next, using the information in FIG. 11, the cost calculation unit 12 calculates the total movement cost in the order of the scores. No. When 1 is adopted, the movement cost of the vehicle 1 until the merge is 8 and the movement cost of the vehicle 2 that operates to the destination is 14, so that the total is 22 (after the merge, the merged side ends the operation Assuming that, the allowable range of cost increase for the planned route is not considered). Similarly, no. When 2 is adopted, the moving cost of the vehicle 1 is 12, and the moving cost of the vehicle 2 is 14, so the total is 26. No. When 4 is adopted, the moving cost of the vehicle 1 is 18 and the moving cost of the vehicle 2 is 10, so the total is 28. No. When 3 is adopted, the moving cost of the vehicle 1 is 18 and the moving cost of the vehicle 2 is 9, so the total is 27. That is, no. 1 is adopted, the travel cost is the lowest. Therefore, the travel route determination unit 13 determines this route as an official route and joins the vehicle 1 and the vehicle 2, and the travel route and the joining point. Notification of.

By configuring as described above, it is possible to search for a route that allows a plurality of moving bodies that move from different points to a common destination to move along the same route by merging with a small amount of calculation. This facilitates support for riding and platooning, and can help improve fuel efficiency and loading efficiency. Further, it is not necessary to perform brute force calculations for the departure point candidate and the merging point candidate, and a relatively suitable merging route can be obtained at an early stage.

(Modification)
The above description is merely an example for explaining the present invention, and each embodiment can be modified without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the description of the embodiment, after merging, one of the vehicles is abandoned, and the calculation of the moving cost on the merging side is terminated, but it may be operated to the destination by platooning. In this case, the total movement cost can be calculated in consideration of the movement cost reduced by the platooning. You may calculate the reduction effect of the movement cost after joining using an evaluation function.

  Further, when calculating the movement cost, the waiting time of the vehicle may be taken into consideration. In this case, the waiting time can be calculated from the departure time and the travel cost to the joining point, and the waiting time can be added to the travel cost. In this way, costs related to other than movement, such as waiting time and load transshipment time, may be calculated in addition to the movement cost.

  In the description of the embodiment, an example is given in which the joining point information is selected in the order of good score and the total movement cost is calculated. However, the score order is not used, and all of the leaving point candidates and joining point candidates are used. You may calculate total movement cost with respect to a combination. Even in this case, it is possible to achieve the object of the invention to reduce the total calculation amount as compared with the case of verifying the total movement cost by brute force.

  In the description of the embodiment, the road network is stored as a weighted graph. However, any format may be used as long as the relationship between nodes and the cost associated with movement can be defined.

  Further, in the description of the embodiment, the form of acquiring information about the planned route from the vehicle has been described. However, only the information about the starting point and the destination is acquired from the vehicle, and the merging support apparatus receives the road network information 10. The planned route information may be generated with reference to FIG. Similarly, the information transmitted to the vehicle may not be information on the merging route but only information on the departure point and the merging point.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Road network information 11 Junction point candidate determination part 12 Cost calculation part 13 Travel route determination part 14 Junction point information

Claims (13)

A moving body joining support device that determines a joining path, which is a path for a plurality of moving bodies that start from different points, load cargo or personnel, and move to the same destination.
Planned route acquisition means for acquiring a planned route that is a planned route when the mobile body moves from the departure place to the destination;
Route network storage means for storing a route network through which the mobile body can move;
A point at which the mobile body leaves the planned route toward the joining point is taken as a departure point candidate, and a pair of departure point candidates for two mobile bodies is sequentially selected. A merge point candidate determination means for determining a merge point candidate that is a candidate for a point where the two merge;
When each mobile unit leaves the planned route at the departure point candidate and merges at the junction point candidate, it calculates the total value of the movement cost of the mobile unit that transports cargo or personnel, and Based on the total value, a merging route determining means for deciding a merging route for merging the moving bodies,
I have a,
The merging point candidate determination means sets a merging hypothesis point, which is a point assumed that the mobile bodies merge, with respect to the selected leaving point candidate, and at least a path from the leaving point candidate to the destination An evaluation value is calculated using a movement cost in a part, and a point where the evaluation value is maximum is determined as a joining point candidate for the pair of leaving point candidates.
Mobile unit joining support device. The said joining point candidate determination means determines the point on the path | route which connected the leaving point candidates of each said mobile body as a joining point candidate. The moving body joining assistance apparatus of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. The said joining point candidate determination means determines the said leaving point candidate as said joining point candidate about one among the said each moving bodies. The moving body joining assistance apparatus of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. The joining point candidate determining means is configured such that each moving body passes from the leaving point candidate via the joining assumed point based on the total distance or time for each moving body to move from the leaving point candidate to the destination by the scheduled route. The mobile unit merging support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the evaluation value is obtained by subtracting a total distance or time for moving to a destination. The joining point candidate determining means is configured to calculate a total distance or time for each of the moving bodies to move from the leaving point candidate to the destination by the planned route, and each of the moving bodies from the leaving point candidate via the joining assumed point. The mobile unit merging support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the evaluation value is a value obtained by dividing by a total distance or time for moving to a destination. The junction point candidate determination means sets a junction assumption point on the shortest path between the departure point candidates of each of the mobile objects, and the evaluation value becomes smaller as the distance or the travel time from the junction assumption point to the destination is smaller. The mobile merging support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the calculation is performed so as to increase. The junction point candidate determining means is a total distance or time for each of the mobile bodies to move from the junction assumption point to the destination, and a distance for each of the mobile bodies to move from the departure point candidate to the junction assumption point. Or the thing divided | segmented by the sum total of time is made into the said evaluation value. The moving body confluence | merging support apparatus in any one of Claim 1 to 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. Said merging path determining means, in order the evaluation value is large, the total value is calculated, characterized in that the process ends with a predetermined number of calculations by using the pair and merging point candidate of the withdrawal point candidate, wherein Item 8. The moving object merge support device according to any one of Items 1 to 7 . The merging route determination means is configured such that the moving distance or time of each moving body when merging at a merging point candidate is constant compared to the distance or time when each moving body moves to a destination according to a predetermined scheduled route. The mobile unit merging support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , wherein the total value is calculated by excluding the merging point candidate when the ratio increases by more than the ratio. The junction point candidate determining means determines a junction point candidate for each set of mobile objects,
The merging path determining means determines a merging path that is a path when the respective moving bodies merge,
It determined merging path until no change, as a new planned route said merging path determined, characterized in that repeatedly performs determination of the merging path decisions and the each mobile of the confluence point candidate, wherein Item 10. The moving body joining support device according to Item 9 . The mobile unit merging support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10 , wherein the route network storage unit holds information on a route along which the mobile unit can move in a weighted graph. A mobile merging support system comprising: the mobile merging support device according to any one of claims 1 to 11 ; and a plurality of moving bodies that move from a departure place to a destination according to a scheduled route,
The moving body transmits current position information and information related to the destination to the moving body joining support device,
The moving body merging support apparatus transmits the determined merging path to the moving body. Mobile body merging route determination performed by a mobile body merging support device that determines a merging path that is a path for a plurality of mobile bodies that start from different points and load and carry personnel to the same destination. A method,
A planned route acquisition step, wherein the planned route acquisition means acquires a planned route that is a planned route when the moving body moves from the departure place to the destination;
The junction point candidate determining means sequentially selects a pair of departure point candidates for two mobile units, with the point at which the mobile body leaves the planned route toward the junction point as a departure point candidate , for each pair, a merging point candidate determining step of determining a confluence point candidate said mobile bodies is a candidate point to be merged,
The joining point candidate determining means calculates a total value of the moving cost of the moving object that transports the load or the person when the planned leaving route candidate leaves the planned route and joins at the joining point candidate. based on the total cost, a merging point candidate determining step of pre-Symbol mobile bodies determines the merging path for merging,
Run
In the merging point candidate determination step, for the selected leaving point candidate, a merging assumed point that is a point where the moving bodies are assumed to join each other is set, and at least a route from the leaving point candidate to the destination is set. An evaluation value is calculated using a movement cost in a part, and a point where the evaluation value is maximum is determined as a joining point candidate for the pair of leaving point candidates.
A method for determining a path for joining a moving body.

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