JP7348735B2 - Dispatch devices, dispatch systems, and dispatch methods - Google Patents

Description

The disclosed embodiments relate to a vehicle dispatch device, a vehicle dispatch system, and a vehicle dispatch method.

Conventionally, when a service request is received from multiple passengers who wish to share a ride, the passengers are grouped based on each passenger's departure date, place of departure, and place of arrival, etc., and multiple passengers are efficiently accommodated in one service. There is a system that delivers the vehicle to the destination on a vehicle (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-150470

However, in the conventional technology, if a passenger who has arrived at a destination in a shared vehicle wishes to return home in a shared vehicle, he or she must request transportation again to return home, and there is room for improvement in terms of convenience.

One aspect of the embodiment has been made in view of the above, and aims to provide a vehicle dispatch device, a vehicle dispatch system, and a vehicle dispatch method that can dispatch shared vehicles with improved convenience for passengers. do.

A vehicle dispatching device according to one aspect of the embodiment includes an action information acquisition unit, a storage unit, a return route dispatching prediction unit, and a dispatching unit. The behavior information acquisition unit acquires behavior information of the passenger who has arrived at the destination in the allocated shared vehicle, including the destination and the time of arrival at the destination. The storage unit stores the dispatch results of the shared vehicles that have shuttled passengers in the past. The return vehicle allocation prediction unit predicts a vehicle allocation schedule for allocating a shared vehicle to the return trip of the passenger who has arrived at the destination, based on the behavior information and the vehicle allocation record. The vehicle allocation unit allocates shared vehicles according to the vehicle allocation schedule predicted by the return route vehicle allocation prediction unit.

A vehicle dispatching device, a vehicle dispatching system, and a vehicle dispatching method according to one aspect of the embodiment can dispatch shared vehicles with improved convenience for passengers.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle dispatch system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2A is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle allocation method based on vehicle allocation results according to the embodiment. FIG. 2B is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle allocation method based on vehicle allocation results according to the embodiment. FIG. 3A is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a response-based vehicle allocation method according to the embodiment. FIG. 3B is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a response-based vehicle allocation method according to the embodiment. FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle allocation method based on the destination situation according to the embodiment. FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle allocation method based on the destination situation according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle allocation method based on passenger behavior patterns according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process executed by the control unit of the vehicle dispatching device according to the embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a vehicle dispatch device, a vehicle dispatch system, and a vehicle dispatch method will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle dispatch system 100 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle dispatch system 100 according to the embodiment includes a vehicle dispatch device 1, a shared taxi T which is an example of a shared vehicle, and a terminal installed at a hospital D1, a restaurant D2, etc. which are examples of passenger destinations. device (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as destination device).

Although one shared taxi T is shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle dispatching device 1 can manage the dispatch of a plurality of shared taxis T. Further, although FIG. 1 shows a hospital D1 and a restaurant D2 as an example of a destination, the destinations where the destination device that performs information communication with the vehicle dispatch device 1 is installed are the hospital D1 and the restaurant D2. It is not limited to, and may be any facility or store. Furthermore, the number of destinations where destination devices that communicate information with the vehicle dispatching device 1 are installed can be changed as desired.

The vehicle dispatching device 1 includes a communication section 2, a storage section 3, and a control section 4. The communication unit 2 is realized by, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card). The communication unit 2 is connected to the shared taxi T, the destination device of the hospital D1, the destination device of the restaurant D2, etc. so as to be able to communicate information via a communication network N such as the Internet, for example.

Further, the communication unit 2 is connected via the communication network N to terminal devices M1 and M2 such as smartphones carried by the plurality of passengers U1 and U2 so as to be able to communicate information. Note that, hereinafter, any one of the plurality of passengers U1 and U2 will be referred to as a passenger U, and the terminal device carried by the passenger U will be referred to as a terminal device M.

The storage unit 3 is, for example, an information storage device such as a data flash, and stores the vehicle allocation record 31. The dispatch record 31 includes the location, date and time, day of the week, weather, number of passengers, etc. where the shared taxi T dispatched by the dispatch device 1 in the past picked up and dropped off the passenger U.

The dispatch record 31 includes outbound route information including the location, date and time, day of the week, weather, and number of passengers where the passenger U was boarded and alighted when the passenger U was delivered from a certain location to the destination, as well as information about where the passenger U was boarded and alighted on the return trip from the destination. The location, date and time, day of the week, weather, and return trip information including the number of passengers are associated with each other.

The control unit 4 includes a microcomputer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and various other circuits. The control unit 4 includes a plurality of processing units that function when the CPU executes a program stored in the ROM using the RAM as a work area.

Specifically, the control unit 4 includes an action information acquisition unit 41 , a return vehicle allocation prediction unit 42 , a destination situation acquisition unit 43 , a vehicle allocation unit 44 , a notification unit 45 , and a response acquisition unit 46 . Note that the plurality of processing units included in the control unit 4 may be partially or entirely configured with hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

The behavior information acquisition section 41, the return trip dispatch prediction section 42, the destination status acquisition section 43, the vehicle dispatch section 44, the notification section 45, and the response acquisition section 46 included in the control section 4 each execute information processing described below. Note that the internal configuration of the control unit 4 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, and may be any other configuration as long as it performs information processing to be described later.

The behavior information acquisition unit 41 acquires behavior information of the passenger U from the share taxi T, including the destination of the passenger U who has arrived at the destination and the time of arrival at the destination, when the delivery of the passenger by the share taxi T is completed. , is output to the return trip vehicle allocation prediction unit 42.

The return trip dispatch prediction unit 42 predicts a dispatch schedule for dispatching shared taxis T to the return journey of passengers who have arrived at their destinations, based on the behavior information and the dispatch record 31 stored in the storage unit 3. For example, the return trip dispatch prediction unit 42 predicts the behavior pattern of each passenger U based on the vehicle assignment record 31, predicts the time at which each passenger U will return from the destination based on the behavior pattern, and shares the predicted time for each passenger U's return trip. Predict the dispatch schedule for dispatching Taxi T. Then, the return vehicle allocation prediction unit 42 outputs the predicted vehicle allocation schedule to the vehicle allocation unit 44.

The vehicle dispatching unit 44 dispatches the shared taxi T according to the dispatch schedule input from the return route dispatch prediction unit 42 . Here, with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, an example of a method for allocating a vehicle to the return trip based on the vehicle allocation record 31 will be described. FIGS. 2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams showing an example of a vehicle allocation method based on the vehicle allocation record 31 according to the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the shared taxi T takes a passenger U1 whose destination is a hospital D1 in front of a house H1, and then lets a passenger U2 whose destination is a restaurant D2 ride in front of a house H2. There is a case where the passenger is disembarked at the restaurant D2 at 12:00, and the passenger U1 is disembarked at the hospital D1 at 12:10.

In such a case, the behavior information acquisition unit 41 obtains from the shared taxi T passenger U1's destination (hospital D1) and arrival time at the destination (12:10), and passenger U2's destination (restaurant D2) and arrival time at the destination (12:10). 12:00) and outputs it to the return trip dispatch prediction unit 42.

The return trip dispatch prediction unit 42 selects a plurality of pieces of outbound route information from the vehicle dispatch record 31 in which the destinations of the passengers U1 and U2 and the arrival times at the destinations are the same or similar. Then, the vehicle dispatching device 1 predicts a dispatch schedule for distributing the shared taxi T to the return journey of the passengers U1 and U2, based on the return route information associated with the selected outbound route information.

For example, the return trip dispatch prediction unit 42 calculates the average time of boarding times of passengers U included in a plurality of pieces of return trip information, predicts the time when passengers U1 and U2 will take their return trip, and shares the predicted time with the hospital D1 and the restaurant D2. A dispatch schedule for dispatching taxi T is derived. Then, the return vehicle allocation prediction unit 42 outputs the derived vehicle allocation schedule to the vehicle allocation unit 44.

The vehicle dispatch unit 44 transmits the vehicle dispatch schedule input from the return route dispatch prediction unit 42 to the shared taxi T. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2B, the shared taxi T can drive in front of the hospital D1 and pick up the passenger U1, for example, at 12:40 when the passenger U1 is on his way home from the hospital D1.

Thereafter, the shared taxi T can run in front of the restaurant D2 and pick up the passenger U2 at 12:50, when the passenger U2 is returning from the restaurant D2. In this way, the vehicle dispatching device 1 can take the passengers U1 and U2 who are heading home on their way home, even if the passengers U1 and U2 who used the shared taxi T to travel to their destination do not have to make a reservation for their return trip. , it is possible to allocate a shared taxi T that is more convenient for passengers U1 and U2.

Moreover, since the vehicle dispatching device 1 predicts in advance the dispatch schedule of the shared taxi T to be dispatched to the return trip of the passenger U, it is possible to suppress an increase in the cost required for dispatching the taxi. For example, if the dispatching device 1 does not predict the dispatch schedule, it needs to arrange a shared taxi T after receiving a ride request. The cost will increase as you will have to arrange a shared taxi T.

On the other hand, since the dispatching device 1 predicts the dispatching schedule, it can arrange in advance a shared taxi T that will run near the boarding location of the passenger U, thereby reducing the fuel cost etc. required for dispatching the vehicle. This allows costs to be kept low.

Returning to FIG. 1, the explanation of the control unit 4 will be continued. The vehicle allocation unit 44 outputs the vehicle allocation schedule input from the return route vehicle allocation prediction unit 42 to the notification unit 45. The notification unit 45 notifies each passenger U who has arrived at the destination of the dispatch schedule for the return trip, and requests a response as to whether or not a shared taxi T is required for the return trip.

As a result, passenger U can know the dispatch schedule of shared taxi T that will be dispatched on the return trip without having to make a return reservation, so by leaving the destination according to the dispatch schedule, passenger U can return home without waiting time. You can ride the shared taxi T, which improves convenience.

In addition, by sending a response to the dispatching device indicating that the passenger U needs to be dispatched to the shared taxi T for the return journey, the passenger U can have the shared taxi T wait for him even if he is slightly behind the dispatch schedule. You can definitely get home by shared taxi T.

Note that the passenger U can also send a response to the dispatch device indicating that the dispatch of the shared taxi T for the return trip is unnecessary. Thereby, the dispatch device 1 has the advantage of being able to confirm return passengers.

The response acquisition unit 46 acquires a response from the passenger U as to whether or not it is necessary to allocate a shared taxi T for the return trip, and outputs the acquired response to the return trip allocation prediction unit 42 . The return vehicle allocation prediction unit 42 changes the vehicle allocation schedule according to the response input from the response acquisition unit 46.

Here, with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, an example of a method for allocating a return trip based on a response will be described. FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams illustrating an example of a response-based vehicle allocation method according to the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3A, when the shared taxi T disembarks the passenger U2 at the restaurant D2 and then disembarks the passenger U1 at the hospital D1, the vehicle dispatching device 1 schedules the dispatching schedule for the return trip to the passengers U1 and U2. Notice.

At this time, the vehicle dispatching device 1 may, for example, obtain a response from the passenger U1 that a vehicle needs to be dispatched for the return trip, and may obtain a response from the passenger U2 that a vehicle does not need to be dispatched for the return trip. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 3B, the vehicle dispatching device 1 first causes the shared taxi T to drive in front of the hospital D1 at 12:40 as originally scheduled, pick up the passenger U1, and then proceed to the restaurant D2. The stopover schedule is changed and the passenger goes directly to the house H1 of the passenger U1.

As a result, the dispatching device 1 can reduce the cost of dispatching by shortening the traveling distance of the shared taxi T, and also improve the convenience for the passenger U1 by returning the passenger U1 in the shortest distance. can be improved.

Returning to FIG. 1, the explanation of the control unit 4 will be continued. The return vehicle allocation prediction unit 42 also performs a process of changing the vehicle allocation schedule according to information input from the destination status acquisition unit 43. Specifically, the destination status acquisition unit 43 acquires the status of the destination from the destination of the passenger U and outputs it to the return trip dispatch prediction unit 42 . The return vehicle allocation prediction unit 42 changes the vehicle allocation schedule according to the destination status input from the destination status acquisition unit 43.

Here, with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, an example of a method for allocating a vehicle to the return trip based on the status of the destination will be described. FIGS. 4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams illustrating an example of a vehicle allocation method based on the destination situation according to the embodiment.

After the vehicle dispatching device 1 disembarks the passenger U2 at the restaurant D2 and the passenger U1 at the hospital D1 along the traveling route shown in FIG. The status of the destination indicating that passenger U2's payment has been completed may be obtained.

Further, the vehicle dispatching device 1 may subsequently acquire the status of the destination indicating completion of payment for the passenger U1 from the receipt system of the hospital D1 at time 12:35. In such a case, the dispatching device 1 changes the dispatching schedule so that the shared taxi T runs in front of the restaurant D2, which was originally scheduled to stop later, at 12:35 and picks up the passenger U2.

Thereafter, the vehicle dispatching device 1 causes the shared taxi T to travel in front of the hospital D1 at 12:40 as originally scheduled and pick up the passenger U1. As a result, the vehicle dispatching device 1 allows the passenger U2, who has completed payment before the passenger U1, to board the train without having to wait, and without having to keep the passenger U1, who has completed payment as originally scheduled, to board the vehicle. I can do it.

Further, the return vehicle allocation prediction unit 42 can also change the vehicle allocation schedule according to the behavior pattern of a specific passenger U, for example. Next, with reference to FIG. 5, an example of a vehicle allocation method based on the behavior pattern of the passenger U1 will be described. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a vehicle allocation method based on the behavior pattern of passenger U1.

For example, assume that passenger U1 goes to hospital D1 and returns home every day, but tends to stop by store D3 near hospital D1 on the way back from hospital D1 only on specific days of the week before returning home. Therefore, the return vehicle allocation prediction unit 42 predicts the behavior pattern of the passenger U1 based on the vehicle allocation record 31.

Then, the return vehicle allocation prediction unit 42 changes the vehicle allocation schedule for the return trip of the passenger U1 on a specific day of the week according to the behavior pattern of the passenger U1. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, on a specific day of the week, the vehicle dispatching device 1 causes the shared taxi T to drive in front of the store D3 at 12:45, five minutes later than usual, and pick up the passenger U1. let

Thereafter, the vehicle dispatching device 1 causes the shared taxi T to travel in front of the restaurant D2 at 12:50 as usual and pick up the passenger U2. Thereby, the dispatch device 1 can improve convenience for the passenger U1 without making the passenger U2 wait.

Next, with reference to FIG. 6, an example of a process executed by the control unit 4 of the vehicle dispatching device 1 according to the embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process executed by the control unit 4 of the vehicle dispatching device 1 according to the embodiment.

The control unit 4 executes the process shown in FIG. 6 when the shared taxi T allows a plurality of passengers U to ride together and delivers them to their respective destinations. Specifically, the control unit 4 acquires the behavior information of each passenger U from the share taxi T when the delivery of the passenger by the share taxi T is completed (step S101).

Subsequently, the control unit 4 predicts the vehicle allocation schedule for the return trip based on the acquired behavior information and the vehicle allocation record 31 (step S102), and notifies the passenger U of the vehicle allocation schedule (step S103). After that, the control unit 4 determines whether a response has been obtained from the passenger U (step S104).

When the control unit 4 determines that no response is obtained (step S104, No), the process moves to step S106. Moreover, when the control unit 4 determines that a response has been obtained (step S104, Yes), the control unit 4 changes the vehicle allocation schedule according to the response from the passenger U (step S105).

Thereafter, the control unit 4 determines whether the destination status has been acquired (step S106). Then, when the control unit 4 determines that the status of the destination is not acquired (step S106, No), the process moves to step S108.

Further, when the control unit 4 determines that the destination status has been acquired (step S106, Yes), the control unit 4 changes the vehicle allocation schedule according to the destination status (step S107). Subsequently, the control unit 4 dispatches the shared taxi T according to the dispatch schedule. Thereafter, the control unit 4 acquires and stores the dispatch record from the shared taxi T (step S109), and ends the process.

Further advantages and modifications can be easily deduced by those skilled in the art. Therefore, the broader aspects of the invention are not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described above. Accordingly, various changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

100 Vehicle dispatch system 1 Vehicle dispatch device 2 Communication unit 3 Storage unit 31 Vehicle dispatch record 4 Control unit 41 Behavior information acquisition unit 42 Return trip dispatch prediction unit 43 Destination status acquisition unit 44 Vehicle dispatch unit 45 Notification unit 46 Response acquisition unit T Share taxi U1, U2 Passenger M1, M2 Terminal device D1 Hospital D2 Restaurant D3 Store

Claims (6)

The control unit of the dispatch device is
Predicting the behavior pattern of each passenger based on the dispatch results of shared vehicles that have shuttled passengers in the past,
Obtaining behavior information of a passenger who has arrived at a destination by an allocated shared vehicle, including the destination and the time of arrival at the destination;
A vehicle dispatch method that predicts a time when the passenger who has arrived at the destination will take a return trip based on the behavior information, the vehicle dispatch record, and the behavior pattern, and dispatches a shared vehicle to the destination at the predicted time . Obtain the status of the destination from the destination,
The vehicle allocation method according to claim 1, wherein a vehicle allocation schedule for allocating shared vehicles to the destination is changed depending on the situation of the destination. 3. The vehicle dispatch method according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle dispatch schedule is notified to passengers who have arrived at the destination. Obtaining a response from the passenger to the dispatch schedule notified to the passenger;
The vehicle dispatch method according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle dispatch schedule is changed in accordance with the response. Predicting the behavior pattern of each passenger based on the dispatch results of shared vehicles that have shuttled passengers in the past,
Obtaining behavior information of a passenger who has arrived at a destination by an allocated shared vehicle, including the destination and the time of arrival at the destination;
A vehicle dispatching device comprising: a control unit that predicts a time when the passenger who has arrived at the destination will take a return journey based on the behavior information, the vehicle dispatch record, and the behavior pattern, and dispatches a shared vehicle to the destination at the predicted time. and,
the shared vehicle that communicates information with the vehicle dispatch device;
and a terminal device installed at the destination and communicating information with the vehicle dispatch device. Predicting the behavior pattern of each passenger based on the dispatch results of shared vehicles that have shuttled passengers in the past,
Obtaining behavior information of a passenger who has arrived at a destination by an allocated shared vehicle, including the destination and the time of arrival at the destination;
A vehicle dispatching device comprising: a control unit that predicts a time when the passenger who has arrived at the destination will take a return journey based on the behavior information, the vehicle dispatch record, and the behavior pattern, and dispatches a shared vehicle to the destination at the predicted time. .

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