JP7438168B2 - Operation control device, operation control method, and operation control program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an operation control device, an operation control method, and an operation control program.

In recent years, remote driving services have been proposed in which a vehicle in which a user is riding is remotely driven by another user.

JP2021-26558A

However, in the above, there is room for improvement in providing a remote driving service that is easier for users to use.

The present application has been made in view of the above, and aims to provide an operation control device, an operation control method, and an operation control program that can provide a remote operation service that is easy for users to use.

The operation control device according to the present application includes an acquisition section, a selection section, and a replacement section. The acquisition unit acquires requirement information regarding a driving change request condition of a user who drives a remote-controllable mobile object, and providing condition information regarding a driving change provision condition of a user. The selection unit selects a plurality of users to take turns driving based on the request condition information and the provision condition information. The replacement unit replaces the moving objects driven by the plurality of users selected by the selection unit.

According to one aspect of the embodiment, it is possible to provide a remote driving service that is easy for users to use.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation control process according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the operation control system according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the requirement information database according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the provision condition information database according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the control unit according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, the form for implementing the operation control apparatus, the operation control method, and the operation control program (hereinafter referred to as "embodiment") according to the present application will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that this embodiment does not limit the operation control device, operation control method, and operation control program according to the present application. Further, in each of the embodiments below, the same parts are given the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations will be omitted.

(Embodiment)
[Overview of operation control processing]
First, an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation control process according to an embodiment. The operation control process is a process performed by the operation control device 100 according to the embodiment executing the operation control method.

The driving control process according to the embodiment is based on a driving change request (also referred to as a replacement request) and replacement provision of users A and B who drive a plurality of vehicles (mobile bodies) C1 and C2 that can be remotely controlled. Vehicles C1 and C2 driven by users A and B are switched on only part of the road. As a result, user A who requests a driving change can, for example, ask user B, who provides a driving change, to remotely drive only on some roads where the weather is bad or the driving difficulty is high. You can receive it. In this specification, replacing the vehicle (mobile object) driven by the user means substantially replacing the vehicle to be driven by remote control. Furthermore, replacing is not limited to replacing multiple physical vehicles; if at least one is a physical vehicle, the other is a virtual vehicle such as a remote driving device (mobile object). It is a concept that includes

The operation control process will be explained using a specific example with reference to FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle C1 driven by a user A is about to travel on a narrow and winding road, that is, a road that is difficult to drive. Therefore, user A does not drive on this road by himself, but requests to temporarily take over driving with someone. On the other hand, the vehicle C2 driven by the user B is about to travel on a wide, straight road with two lanes on each side, that is, a road with a low difficulty level. In this case, user B is not satisfied with driving on roads with a low level of difficulty, and has, for example, offered to alternate driving on roads with a high level of difficulty. In Figure 1, the high level of difficulty of driving is exemplified as the reason for driving change, but the reason may be any other reason, for example, climatic conditions (surrounding environmental conditions) such as heavy rain or snow. may request a change of driving.

In the driving control process according to the embodiment, in such a situation, the vehicles C1 and C2 driven by users A and B are substantially replaced, so that user A remotely drives vehicle C2 and the user B remotely drives vehicle C1. In the driving control process according to the embodiment, for example, when user B finishes driving on a road with a high degree of difficulty, by undoing the replacement, user A drives vehicle C1, and user B drives vehicle C2. Note that hereinafter, when the vehicles C1 and C2 and the users A and B are not particularly distinguished, they may be collectively referred to as "vehicle C" or "users."

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the driving control device 100 first transmits, for example, requirement information regarding a driving change requirement of a user A who drives a remotely controllable vehicle C1 to the user A. is acquired from the user terminal 500a owned by the user (step S1). This required condition information is information that defines conditions including, for example, the driving route (place, route) and time for which the user wants to take over driving, and the details of this will be described later.

Next, the driving control device 100 acquires, for example, from the user terminal 500b owned by the user B, provision condition information regarding the provision conditions for driving change for the user B who drives the remotely controllable vehicle C2 ( Step S2). This provision condition information is information that defines conditions including, for example, the time during which the user can take turns driving, driving skills, etc., and the details of such points will be described later.

Subsequently, the operation control device 100 selects a plurality of users with whom driving will be alternated based on the request condition information and the provision condition information (step S3). For example, the driving control device 100 selects user A who is requesting a driving change and user B who is providing a driving change as replacement targets. More specifically, the above-mentioned requirement condition information and provision condition information each define items indicating the requirement conditions and provision conditions, respectively. The operation control device 100 determines the degree of compatibility between each user's requirements and provision conditions, and if this degree of compatibility is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the operation control device 100 indicates the corresponding requirements and provision conditions. User A and User B are selected as replacement targets. In this case, the degree of conformity is also called the degree of matching, and is an index that indicates how similar (compatible) the required conditions and provision conditions are. can be calculated from the number of matched or duplicated items. In this case, priority (weighting) is set for the requirement items, and if items with high priority (for example, driving skills or the name of the vehicle you usually drive) match or overlap, the suitability may be corrected to a higher value. In addition, when matching each item of the requirement conditions and provision conditions, it is assumed that certain items (for example, the date and time and time zone of requesting replacement) match or overlap. That is, unless these specific items match or overlap, this user will not be selected even if the other items have high relevance rates. The calculation of the degree of suitability is not limited to this, and may be calculated using an existing method. Further, for user B, the driving control device 100 may preferentially select a user who has traveled on the road (route) to be replaced in the past. Although FIG. 1 shows a case where two users are selected as replacement targets, the number of users to be replaced may be three or more. Alternatively, a plurality of users B may be selected to provide driving change for the requested route, and the plurality of users B may be sequentially replaced with user A while traveling on this route.

Subsequently, the driving control device 100 replaces the vehicles C1 and C2 driven by the selected users A and B (step S4). That is, in the example shown in FIG. 1, user A drives vehicle C2, and user B drives vehicle C1. In addition, when the operation control device 100 determines the replacement, it is preferable that the operation control device 100 displays a preview for each of the users A and B who are the replacement targets, or displays a countdown before the replacement is performed. Thereby, the vehicles C1 and C2 driven by users A and B can be seamlessly replaced, and safe driving of each vehicle C1 and C2 can be ensured.

Subsequently, when the driving of users A and B is switched, the driving control device 100 receives visual field images and driving operations showing the visual fields of each of users A and B (step S5). As the field of view image, for example, an image of a camera such as a drive recorder that can image the surroundings of the vehicle C can be used.

Subsequently, the driving control device 100 replaces the display destinations of the field of view images of the users A and B to be replaced and the reflection of the driving operations of the users A and B. Specifically, the driving control device 100 reflects the visual field image of user A and the driving operation of user A on vehicle C2, and reflects the visual field image of user B and the driving operation of user B on vehicle C1. (Step S6). That is, through the driving control processing of the driving control device 100, user A remotely drives vehicle C2 in which user B is riding, and user B remotely drives vehicle C1 in which user A is riding. drive with As a result, User A can have User B remotely drive only on some of the more difficult roads for which he requested driving change, so User A can feel secure and safer. be able to pass through roads with a high degree of difficulty. Further, by having the driver remotely drive only some roads in this way, it is possible to promote the introduction of the remote driving system. That is, according to the operation control device 100 according to the embodiment, it is possible to provide a remote operation service that is easy for users to use.

Subsequently, the operation control device 100 provides a benefit to the user who is the replacement target (step S7). For example, the driving control device 100 provides a benefit to user B (second user) who provided the driving change instead of user A (first user) who requested the driving change. This benefit may include a reward provided by the first user. The benefits or rewards are, for example, electronic money, cash vouchers, points, or the like. In this configuration, in principle, benefits are provided from a user who requests a driving change to a user who provides a driving change. In this case, the driving control device 100 may increase or decrease the benefits (rewards) provided depending on, for example, the difficulty of the road the driver will drive on instead, the urgency of the replacement, and the like. Further, for example, if the difficulty levels of the roads that the two drivers travel on alternately are the same, the bonus may not be provided.

Note that the driving control device 100 controls the driving of the vehicles C1 and C2, for example, when user B passes through a road with a high degree of difficulty or when there is a request from user A or user B to complete the replacement. Undo the swap. That is, the driving control device 100 reverses the switching so that user A drives vehicle C1 and user B drives vehicle C2.

The operation control device 100 that performs such operation control processing will be described in detail below.

[Operation control system configuration]
Next, with reference to FIG. 2, a configuration example of a system including the operation control device 100 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the operation control system 1 according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the driving control system 1 includes components such as a driving control device 100, a user terminal 500, and a vehicle C (vehicle control device). Although not shown in FIG. 2, the driving control system 1 may include a plurality of driving control devices 100, a plurality of user terminals 500, and a plurality of vehicles C. The operation control system 1 may also include other components, such as devices of entities (eg, vendors, end users) related to the operation control device 100.

In the driving control system 1, the driving control device 100, the user terminal 500, and the vehicle C are each connected to the network N by wire or wirelessly. The network N is, for example, the Internet, WAN (Wide Area Network), LAN (Local Area Network), or the like. The components of the operation control system 1 can communicate with each other via the network N.

The operation control device 100 is an information processing device that executes the operation control method according to the embodiment. The driving control device 100 performs a process of mutually replacing the vehicles C driven by a plurality of users based on the request conditions and provision conditions regarding the driving change of the users. Note that the operation control device 100 may be any type of information processing device including a server. A plurality of operation control devices 100 may each provide functions of various servers such as a web server, an application server, and a database server. Details of the configuration example of the operation control device 100 will be described later.

User terminal 500 is an information processing device used by a user. The user terminal 500 can transmit various information via various services on the Internet (eg, portal site, portal application). Further, the user terminal 500 can receive various types of information via these various services. The user terminal 500 can be any type of information processing device such as a smartphone, desktop PC, notebook PC, tablet PC, or the like.

Vehicle C is a vehicle that can be remotely controlled by driving control device 100. Specifically, in the vehicle C, a vehicle control unit (ECU: Electronic Control Unit) that performs driving control such as forward and backward movement, turning, acceleration and deceleration, etc. is remotely controlled by the driving control device 100.

[Configuration of operation control device]
As shown in FIG. 2, the operation control device 100 includes a communication section 200, a storage section 300, and a control section 400. The operation control device 100 includes an input section (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, etc.) that receives various operations from an administrator using the operation control device 100, and a display section (such as a liquid crystal display) for displaying various information. May have.

(Communication Department 200)
The communication unit 200 is realized by, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card). The communication unit 200 is connected to a network by wire or wirelessly. The communication unit 200 may be communicably connected to the user terminal 500 and the vehicle C via the network N. The communication unit 200 can transmit and receive information between the user terminal 500 and the vehicle C via a network.

(Storage unit 300)
The storage unit 300 is realized by, for example, a semiconductor memory element such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a flash memory, or a storage device such as a hard disk or an optical disk. As shown in FIG. 2, the storage unit 300 includes a request condition information database 310 and a provision condition information database 320.

(Requirement condition information database 310)
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the requirement information database 310 according to the embodiment. The requirement information database 310 stores requirement information that is various information regarding the requirements of the user for driving change. These required condition information are registered in advance by the user operating the user terminal 500.

In the example of FIG. 3, the requirement information database 310 includes items such as "user ID," "driving route," and "shift date and time." The request condition information database 310 may include attribute information of the user requesting the driving change, or may further include attribute information required of the user who is the person requesting the driving change.

"User ID" indicates an identifier for identifying a user (also referred to as "user") who requests a driving change. “Driving route” indicates information on a driving route for which the user requests a change in driving. The "change date and time" indicates information on the schedule and time period for which the user requests a change in driving.

For example, FIG. 3 shows that the user identified by the user ID "U01" has a driving route "driving route #1" and a shift date and time "shift date and time #1". The user ID "U01" is, for example, a predetermined character string. "Driving route #1" is, for example, a character string represented by the name of a road, a name of a point (position) on the road, or a numerical value represented by position information. This "driving route #1" may include information regarding the difficulty level of driving including the surrounding environment. In this case, the difficulty level can be indicated by, for example, a numerical score or a character string such as "high" or "low", "difficult" or "easy". Further, "shift date and time #1" is, for example, a character string such as a year, month, day, or a number expressed in a time zone including the shift start time and end time.

(Provision condition information database 320)
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the provision condition information database 320 according to the embodiment. The provision condition information database 320 stores provision condition information that is various information regarding conditions for providing driving changes for users. These provision condition information are registered in advance by the user operating the user terminal 500. In the example of FIG. 4, the provision condition information database 320 has items such as "user ID", "substitution available date and time", and "driving skill". The provision condition information database 320 may include attribute information of the user who provides the driving change, or may further include attribute information required of the user to whom the driving change is provided.

"User ID" indicates an identifier for identifying a user (also referred to as "user") who can take driving turns. "Date and time when the user can change driving" indicates information about the schedule and time zone when the user can change driving. "Driving skill" indicates information on the user's driving skill.

For example, FIG. 4 shows that the user identified by the user ID "U100" has the available substitution date and time "substitution available date and time #100" and the driving skill "driving skill #100". The user ID "U01" is, for example, a predetermined character string. “Substitution possible date and time #100” is, for example, a character string such as a date and time when the user can change driving, or a number representing a time slot in which the user can change driving. In addition, the driving skill "Driving Skill #100" can be expressed by, for example, the color of the driver's license such as "gold" or "blue," a numerical score, or a character string such as "high" or "low." be.

In addition to the above, the request condition information database 310 also registers attribute information of the user himself/herself who requests a driving change, and attribute information required of the user who is the requesting party. Specifically, as the user's own attribute information, the user's occupation, years of driving experience, past accident history, sleep hours on driving days, car insurance he/she has, and the name of the car he/she usually drives are registered. has been done. Further, as attribute information required of the other user, for example, driving skill, years of driving experience, past accident history, and sleeping hours on driving days are registered. The attribute information required of the registered user is an item of requirement condition. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately select users whose driving skills are at a predetermined level or higher, who have a predetermined number of years of driving experience, who have a predetermined number of accidents or less, and who have slept for a predetermined number of hours or more on driving days. becomes. Furthermore, weather forecast information for the time zone in which the driver wishes to change driving may be obtained from an external server and registered in the requirement information database 310, for example.

Similarly, in the provision condition information database 320, in addition to the above, attribute information of the user himself/herself to whom driving change is provided and attribute information required of the user to whom the driving change is provided are respectively registered. These attribute information are the same as those explained in the request condition information database 310, and the attribute information of the user who provides the driving change is an item of each provision condition. Here, the attribute information requested from the user to whom the driving change is provided is not used to determine the degree of compatibility between the request condition and the provision condition. It is preferable to require a certain number of years of driving experience.

In addition, by comparing attribute information of the users themselves, for example, if the names of the vehicles that users usually drive match, even if the users change the cars they drive, It is possible to suppress the feeling of discomfort later on, and it is possible to easily realize safe driving. Further, the type of driver's license held by the user may be registered as the user's own attribute information. For example, if a user has an international driver's license, he or she can drive a vehicle not only within Japan but also with a foreign user.

(Control unit 400)
The control unit 400 is a controller, and for example, processes various programs (determination programs) stored in a storage device inside the operation control device 100 by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit). (equivalent to one example) is realized by executing the RAM or the like as a work area. Further, the control unit 400 is a controller, and may be realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a GPGPU (General Purpose Graphic Processing Unit). .

As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 400 includes an acquisition unit 410, a selection unit 420, a replacement unit 430, a provision unit 440, and an insurance processing unit 450, and performs the driving control processing described below. To realize or execute a function or action. Furthermore, the control unit 400 can implement the operation control process described above with reference to FIG. One or more processors of the operation control device 100 can realize the functions of each control unit in the control unit 400 by executing instructions stored in one or more memories of the operation control device 100. can. Note that the internal configuration of the control unit 400 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 2, and may be any other configuration as long as it performs the operation control process described later. For example, the acquisition unit 410 may perform all or part of the information processing described below regarding units other than the acquisition unit 410.

The acquisition unit 410 acquires various information. For example, the acquisition unit 410 acquires requirement information regarding a user's driving change, and registers it in the requirement information database 310. The required conditions include, for example, a driving route, a replacement date and time, attribute information of the user himself/herself, and attribute information required of the user of the replacement partner, and information inputted in advance by the user via the user terminal 500 is obtained. The driving route may be searched by the user requesting a driving change by inputting specifically the name of the road and information about the changing section, but for example, by inputting the departure point α and destination point β into a navigation device. Information regarding the driving route may also be obtained. In addition, the driving route includes the level of difficulty of driving, and this level of difficulty is calculated based on, for example, the shape and size of the road (road width), road surface condition (uneven, wet, frozen, etc.), congestion, etc. information can be obtained.

The acquisition unit 410 also acquires provision condition information regarding the user's driving change, and registers it in the provision condition information database 320. The provision conditions include, for example, the date and time when the driver can be substituted, driving skills, the user's own attribute information, and the attribute information required of the user to be substituted, and the information input by the user in advance via the user terminal 500 is obtained. . For driving skills, the user providing the driving change may enter the color of his or her driver's license (gold, etc.), but for example, the number of sudden accelerations and decelerations of the user, the number of sudden turns, traffic violations, etc. Information calculated using a learned model may be obtained, with the number of driving times and the number of lane deviations used as explanatory variables and a score indicating driving skill used as an objective variable.

Furthermore, when the replacement unit 430 at the subsequent stage decides to replace the driving of the vehicle C, the acquisition unit 410 acquires a visual field image indicating the field of view of the user who is the replacement target and the driving operation of the user.

The selection unit 420 selects a plurality of users to alternate driving based on the request condition information and the provision condition information. For example, if the degree of compatibility between the driving change request conditions for the first user and the driving change provision conditions for the second user is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the selection unit 420 selects the replacement target. The first user and the second user are selected as follows. The selection unit 420 sets priorities to the items of the requirement conditions, and if items with high priorities (for example, driving skills, the name of the vehicle that you usually drive, etc.) match or overlap, the selection unit 420 increases the degree of suitability. It may be corrected or this user may be selected with priority. Further, as for the second user, the selection unit 420 may preferentially select a user who has traveled on the road to be replaced in the past.

Note that the selection unit 420 may select the second user, for example, when receiving a driving change request from the first user. Alternatively, the selection unit 420 may select the first user when receiving a driving change request from the second user.

The replacement unit 430 replaces the vehicles C driven by the plurality of users (ie, the first user and the second user) selected by the selection unit 420. Specifically, the replacement unit 430 replaces the display destination of the field of view image of the user to be replaced and the destination where the user's driving operation is reflected.

Then, for example, when a user driving remotely passes through the requested driving route, when the requested time has elapsed, or when there is a request from the user to complete the replacement, the replacement unit 430 , undo the swapping of multiple users.

Note that when a user who is remotely driving a requested driving route makes a request to end the replacement in the middle of the route, the replacement unit 430 will replace the user with another user who has the same driving skill as the user. They may be replaced.

Furthermore, before the replacement is performed, the replacement unit 430 may display a preview of a visual field image showing the field of view of each of the plurality of users to be replaced. Thereby, the user who is the replacement target can grasp the field of view image of the replacement destination in advance, so that the driving operation can be smoothly taken over at the replacement destination. The preview display can be displayed, for example, on a display section of an in-vehicle device such as a navigation device. Further, the preview display may be performed also when the replacement is returned to its original state.

Furthermore, the replacement unit 430 may display a countdown for each of the plurality of users to be replaced before the replacement is performed. As a result, the user can accurately grasp the timing at which the driving operation will be replaced, so that the driving operation can be smoothly taken over at the replacement destination. The countdown display can be displayed, for example, on a display section of an in-vehicle device such as a navigation device. Further, the countdown display may also be performed when the replacement is restored.

The providing unit 440 provides a benefit to the user who is the replacement target. For example, the providing unit 440 provides a benefit to user B (second user) who provided the driving change instead of user A (first user) who requested the driving change. Benefits include electronic money, coupons, points, and the like. Further, the benefit may include a reward provided by the first user. The reward is, for example, electronic money, coupons, points, or the like.

The providing unit 440 may increase or decrease the benefits (rewards) provided depending on the driving situation, such as the difficulty level of the driving route to be taken instead and the urgency of the replacement. That is, when a driving change request is suddenly made (a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) before the start time of the change request), the providing unit 440 increases the benefit (remuneration) for user B who responds to this change request. . Further, when the difficulty level of the driving route is higher than a predetermined threshold, the providing unit 440 increases the benefit (reward) for user B who responds to the replacement request, and when the difficulty level of the driving route is lower than the predetermined threshold , the providing unit 440 may reduce the benefit (remuneration) for user B who responds to the replacement request. In this way, the providing unit 440 increases or decreases the benefits (rewards) provided according to the difficulty level of the driving route and the driving situation described above, but the benefits (rewards) may be uniform (specified).

The insurance processing unit 450 performs contract processing regarding automobile insurance applied when the vehicle C driven by the user is replaced. Generally, insurance is applied to vehicles owned by users when they are driven by the owner and their family members, so it is not assumed that Vehicle C will be replaced and driven by another person (third party). . When the selection unit 420 selects a plurality of users A and B, the insurance processing unit 450 causes the user A to drive the vehicle C of the user B, and the user B to drive the vehicle C of the user A. Perform insurance contract processing for such matters. Thereby, users A and B can drive with peace of mind.

Note that the control unit 400 may be configured such that the user can view the replacement content and determine the replacement destination via a predetermined application, for example. For example, the control unit 400 provides the second user with information regarding the replacement of the first user who wishes to be replaced (the difficulty level of the road to be traveled on and benefits including the reward provided) to the second user via the app. . The second user may view this information, select a desired replacement destination, and notify the destination.

[Processing flow]
Next, with reference to FIG. 5, a procedure of processing by the control unit 400 of the operation control device 100 according to the embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the control unit 400 according to the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 400 first receives a driving change request from the user (step S101).

Subsequently, the control unit 400 acquires driving change requirement information (step S102).

Subsequently, the control unit 400 acquires driving change provision condition information (step S103).

Next, the control unit 400 selects a plurality of users with whom driving will be alternated based on the request condition information and the provision condition information (step S104).

Subsequently, the control unit 400 replaces the vehicles C driven by each of the selected users (step S105).

Subsequently, the control unit 400 reflects the field of view image and driving operation of the replacement source on the replacement destination (step S106).

Subsequently, after the driving change, the control unit 400 provides a benefit to the user who provided the driving change and drove on a road with a high degree of difficulty (step S107).

〔others〕
In the embodiment described above, an example was shown in which driving is switched when both users A and B are driving, but it is not necessary for either user A or B to be driving. For example, user B who is in an office or the like may be switched to drive the vehicle of user A who is currently driving. In this configuration, user A requests a driving change, and user B provides the driving change.

In this case, user A does not need to drive user B's vehicle C after the driving change. Therefore, for example, a user may suddenly become sleepy and request a driving change, or a remote meeting is scheduled while driving and a driver may request a driving change for the time required to participate in the remote meeting. In such a configuration, user B will provide driving services remotely, so for example, multiple users B (drivers) who belong to a company that specializes in remote driving services may take turns providing driving services. You may.

Furthermore, in a configuration in which user A, who is requesting a driving change, and user B, who is providing the driving change, are exchanged to execute a remote driving change, for example, at the home of the user A who requested the driving change, User A's personal information, such as those around the user, may be known to user B, who is not acquainted with the user. It is also assumed that user B intentionally causes an accident and injures the other party (user A). In order to prevent these, the operation control device 100 may set "human relations" as the above-described requirement. This human relationship is an index indicating the interaction with the user himself/herself (user A) that is desired from the replacement user (user B). When "human relations" is set to yes, the selection unit 420 selects user B from among the groups that user A trusts. This group is preferably input by user A in advance as requirement information regarding user A, for example. Furthermore, when "human relations" is set to "none", the selection unit 420 uses a predetermined server or the like to search for logs related to user A, and the selection unit 420 searches for logs related to user A, using a predetermined server etc. User B is set as a person who does not have a job (or occupation, etc.). According to this configuration, by setting the presence or absence of a "human relationship" as a requirement, it is possible to reduce the risk of human relationships associated with driving change.

Further, for example, in response to a request from user B who is providing the driving change, the driving change may be performed with user A who has requested the driving change. Specifically, User A, who wants to drive, drives in place of User B in response to User B's request, "Would you like to take a drive along the coast of ○○ for me?" becomes. In this configuration, since user A is the user who requested the driving change and user B is the user who provided the driving change, the driving control device 100 provides the privilege ( reward). As a result, user A can remotely drive around scenic spots (tourist spots) in Japan or abroad, or remotely drive around the places he plans to visit in advance. In this case, the driving control device 100 may increase benefits (rewards) when driving at a popular tourist spot.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the user B who provides the driving change executes driving along the driving route requested by the user A who requests the driving change, but for example, the starting point and the destination are the same, and the User B may propose the route. For example, a driving route may be suggested to user A along with reasons such as "This route has better scenery" or "This route is less likely to cause car sickness." If User A accepts this proposal, he can remotely drive to his destination via a new route.

In addition, if the vehicle of user A who requested a driving change is, for example, a light car driven by one person, or a wagon with a family of eight people, including small children, the driver of these vehicles (mobile objects) The degree of risk associated with this differs greatly. For this reason, the above-mentioned requirements may include items regarding the degree of risk associated with driving the vehicle. This degree of risk can be calculated based on the type of vehicle being driven, the number of passengers, the distance traveled, etc., and may also be expressed as a degree of safety or a degree of difficulty. In this case, when the degree of risk associated with vehicle driving is higher than a predetermined threshold, the providing unit 440 increases the benefit (reward) for user B who responds to the replacement request, and increases the benefit (reward) for user B who responds to the replacement request, If the amount is also low, the benefit (remuneration) for user B who responds to the replacement request may be reduced. Further, the degree of risk related to vehicle operation may include, for example, when the driver takes turns driving a dangerous goods transport truck or tank truck, or when a work vehicle such as a construction machine handles dangerous goods.

Furthermore, among the processes described in the above-described embodiments, some of the processes described as being performed automatically can also be performed manually. Alternatively, all or part of the processes described as being performed manually can also be performed automatically using known methods. In addition, information including the processing procedures, specific names, and various data and parameters shown in the above documents and drawings may be changed arbitrarily, unless otherwise specified. For example, the various information shown in each figure is not limited to the illustrated information.

Furthermore, each component of each device shown in the drawings is functionally conceptual, and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as shown in the drawings. In other words, the specific form of distributing and integrating each device is not limited to what is shown in the diagram, and all or part of the devices can be functionally or physically distributed or integrated in arbitrary units depending on various loads and usage conditions. Can be integrated and configured.

For example, part or all of the storage unit 300 shown in FIG. 4 may be held in a storage server or the like instead of being held by the operation control device 100. In this case, the operation control device 100 obtains various information such as user behavior by accessing the storage server.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the vehicle C is used as an example of the moving object that takes over driving, but any moving object that can be remotely controlled may be a flying object such as a drone. You can. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the vehicle C is an automobile, but the vehicle C may be a work vehicle such as a construction machine, a machine tool, or the like.

[Hardware configuration]
Further, the operation control device 100 according to the embodiments described above is realized, for example, by a computer 1000 having a configuration as shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration. The computer 1000 is connected to an output device 1010 and an input device 1020, and has an arithmetic device 1030, a primary storage device 1040, a secondary storage device 1050, an output IF (Interface) 1060, an input IF 1070, and a network IF 1080 connected by a bus 1090. has.

The arithmetic unit 1030 operates based on programs stored in the primary storage device 1040 and the secondary storage device 1050, programs read from the input device 1020, and performs various processes. The primary storage device 1040 is a memory device such as a RAM that temporarily stores data used by the arithmetic unit 1030 for various calculations. The secondary storage device 1050 is a storage device in which data used by the calculation device 1030 for various calculations and various databases are registered, and includes ROM (Read Only Memory), HDD (Hard Disk Drive), flash memory, etc. This is realized by

The output IF 1060 is an interface for transmitting information to be output to an output device 1010 that outputs various information such as a monitor or a printer, and is, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus), a DVI (Digital Visual Interface), This is realized using a connector compliant with standards such as HDMI (registered trademark) (High Definition Multimedia Interface). Further, the input IF 1070 is an interface for receiving information from various input devices 1020 such as a mouse, a keyboard, and a scanner, and is realized by, for example, a USB or the like.

Note that the input device 1020 is, for example, an optical recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or a PD (Phase change rewritable disk), a magneto-optical recording medium such as an MO (Magneto-Optical disk), or a tape. It may be a device that reads information from a medium, a magnetic recording medium, a semiconductor memory, or the like. Furthermore, the input device 1020 may be an external storage medium such as a USB memory.

Network IF 1080 receives data from other devices via network N and sends it to computing device 1030, and also sends data generated by computing device 1030 to other devices via network N.

Arithmetic device 1030 controls output device 1010 and input device 1020 via output IF 1060 and input IF 1070. For example, the arithmetic device 1030 loads a program from the input device 1020 or the secondary storage device 1050 onto the primary storage device 1040, and executes the loaded program.

For example, when the computer 1000 functions as the operation control device 100, the arithmetic unit 1030 of the computer 1000 realizes the functions of the control unit 400 by executing a program loaded onto the primary storage device 1040.

〔effect〕
As described above, the operation control device 100 according to the embodiment includes an acquisition section 410, a selection section 420, and a replacement section 430. The acquisition unit 410 acquires request condition information regarding the driving change request conditions of the user who drives the remote-controllable vehicle C, and provision condition information regarding the conditions for providing the driving change of the user. The selection unit 420 selects a plurality of users to alternate driving based on the request condition information and the provision condition information. The replacement unit 430 replaces the vehicles C driven by the plurality of users selected by the selection unit 420. Furthermore, the replacement unit 430 replaces the display destination of the visual field image showing the field of view of the user to be replaced and the destination on which the user's driving operation is reflected. In addition, the selection unit 420 selects a second user when the degree of compatibility between the first user's requirement for driving change and the second user's driving change providing condition is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold. Select the first user and the second user. In addition, the selection unit 420 selects a plurality of second users with whom to change driving on the driving route included in the driving change request conditions of the first user, and the switching unit 430 selects a plurality of second A plurality of vehicles C driven by users are sequentially replaced with a vehicle C driven by a first user. In addition, when the switching unit 430 switches the driving of the first user and the second user, the driving control device 100 further includes a providing unit 440 that provides a benefit to the second user. Be prepared. Further, the benefits include rewards provided by the first user. Further, the first user's requirements include the degree of urgency of driving change, and the providing unit 440 increases the benefit according to the degree of urgency. Further, the selection unit 420 preferentially selects a second user who has driven a vehicle C of the same type as the vehicle C driven by the first user in the past. Furthermore, before the replacement is performed, the replacement unit 430 previews and displays visual field images showing the field of view of each of the plurality of users to be replaced at the replacement destination. Furthermore, the replacement unit 430 displays a countdown for each of the plurality of users to be replaced before the replacement is performed. With such a configuration, it is possible to provide a remote driving service that is easy for users to use.

Some of the embodiments of the present application have been described above in detail based on the drawings, but these are merely examples, and various modifications and variations may be made based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, including the embodiments described in the disclosure section of the invention. It is possible to carry out the invention in other forms with modifications.

〔others〕
Furthermore, among the processes described in the above embodiments, all or part of the processes described as being performed automatically can be performed manually, or the processes described as being performed manually can be performed manually. All or part of the process can also be performed automatically using known methods. In addition, information including the processing procedures, specific names, and various data and parameters shown in the above documents and drawings may be changed arbitrarily, unless otherwise specified. For example, the various information shown in each figure is not limited to the illustrated information.

Furthermore, each component of each device shown in the drawings is functionally conceptual, and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as shown in the drawings. In other words, the specific form of distributing and integrating each device is not limited to what is shown in the diagram, and all or part of the devices can be functionally or physically distributed or integrated in arbitrary units depending on various loads and usage conditions. Can be integrated and configured.

Furthermore, the processes described in the embodiments described above can be combined as appropriate within a range that does not conflict with the process contents.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned "section, module, unit" can be read as "means", "circuit", etc. For example, the acquisition unit 410 can be read as an acquisition means or an acquisition circuit.

1 Operation control system 100 Operation control device 200 Communication unit 300 Storage unit 310 Requirement condition information database 320 Provision condition information database 400 Control unit 410 Acquisition unit 420 Selection unit 430 Replacement unit 440 Provision unit 500 User terminal C Vehicle (mobile object)
N network

Claims (14)

an acquisition unit that acquires requirement information regarding requirements for driving change of a user who drives a remotely controllable mobile object, and providing condition information regarding conditions for providing driving change for the user;
a selection unit that selects a plurality of users to take turns driving based on the request condition information and the provision condition information;
a replacement unit that replaces the mobile objects driven by the plurality of users selected by the selection unit;
Equipped with
The selection section is
Selecting a plurality of the users based on the requirement information regarding an index indicating the relationship with the first user desired of the second user.
An operation control device characterized by: The said replacement part is
2. The driving control device according to claim 1, wherein a display destination of a visual field image indicating the field of view of the user to be replaced and a destination on which a driving operation of the user is reflected are swapped. The selection section is
If the degree of compatibility between the item of the requirement condition for driving change for the first user and the item of the provision condition for driving change for the second user is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, The operation control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a user and a second user are selected. The selection section is
selecting a plurality of second users to take over driving on a route included in the requirement conditions for driving change of the first user;
The said replacement part is
According to any one of claims 1 to 3, the plurality of moving objects driven by the selected plurality of second users are sequentially replaced with the moving objects driven by the first user. operation control device. The vehicle may further include a providing unit that provides a benefit to the second user when the driving of the first user and the second user is switched by the switching unit. The operation control device according to claim 3 or 4. The above benefits are
The operation control device according to claim 5, further comprising a reward provided by the first user. The first user's requirements include the urgency of driving change;
The provision department is
The driving control device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the benefit is increased according to the level of the urgency. The first user's requirements include the difficulty of the driving route;
The provision department is
The driving control device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the privilege is provided based on the difficulty level of the route. The first user's requirements include the degree of risk associated with driving the mobile object;
The provision department is
The driving control device according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the privilege is provided based on the degree of risk associated with driving the mobile object. The selection section is
The method according to any one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that a second user who has driven a mobile object of the same type as the mobile object driven by the first user in the past is selected preferentially. The operation control device described. The said replacement part is
The driving control device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, before the replacement is performed, a visual field image showing the field of view of each of the plurality of users to be replaced is displayed as a preview at the replacement destination. . The said replacement part is
The operation control device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein a countdown is displayed for each of the plurality of users to be replaced before the time when the replacement is performed. An operation control method executed by a computer,
an acquisition step of acquiring requirement information regarding requirements for driving change of a user who drives a mobile object that can be remotely controlled, and providing condition information regarding conditions for providing driving change for the user;
a selection step of selecting a plurality of users to take turns driving based on the request condition information and the provision condition information;
a replacement step of replacing the mobile objects driven by the plurality of users selected in the selection step;
including;
The selection step includes:
Selecting a plurality of the users based on the requirement information regarding an index indicating the relationship with the first user desired of the second user.
An operation control method characterized by: an acquisition procedure for acquiring requirement information regarding requirements for a driver change of a user who drives a remote-controllable mobile object, and provision condition information regarding conditions for providing the driver change of the user;
a selection procedure of selecting a plurality of users to take turns driving based on the request condition information and the provision condition information;
causing a computer to execute a replacement procedure of replacing the mobile objects driven by the plurality of users selected by the selection procedure ;
The selection procedure is
Selecting a plurality of the users based on the requirement information regarding an index indicating the relationship with the first user desired of the second user.
An operation control program characterized by:

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