WO2015177477A1

WO2015177477A1 - Method for automatic rebalancing of a fleet of motor vehicles of a vehicle sharing system

Info

Publication number: WO2015177477A1
Application number: PCT/FR2015/051348
Authority: WO
Inventors: Valery Cervantes
Original assignee: Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives
Priority date: 2014-05-22
Filing date: 2015-05-21
Publication date: 2015-11-26
Also published as: JP2017517809A; FR3021440A1; EP3146482A1; FR3021440B1; JP6532896B2

Abstract

The invention relates to an automatic rebalancing method for a fleet of motor vehicles in a vehicle sharing system, comprising: - at the time of the borrowing of a vehicle by a user in a departure station, generation (406) of a command to form a convoy as a function of the number of parked vehicles in the departure station, the vehicles being linked together to form a stationary convoy of vehicles attached one behind the other by couplers. In response to the order: - the stationary convoy is divided into two, one of the parts forming a convoy containing the borrowed vehicle and a free vehicle attached behind the borrowed vehicle, then - when the borrowed vehicle reaches the arrival station, the free vehicle is parked (408) in an arrival station.

Description

METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY REBALANCING A FLEET OF MOTOR VEHICLES OF A VEHICLE SHARING SYSTEM

The invention relates to a method for balancing a fleet of motor vehicles in a vehicle sharing system. The invention also relates to an information recording medium and a vehicle sharing system for implementing this method.

[002] Vehicle sharing systems (also called car-sharing systems) are known in which a user can borrow a motor vehicle to move between departure and arrival stations. A known problem in such systems is to satisfactorily distribute the vehicles between the different stations of the system. Indeed, because of the very use of the system by the users, it often appears an imbalance in the distribution of the vehicles of the fleet. In some cases, stations have no vehicles that can be borrowed by users arriving at this station. Other stations, on the contrary, are filled to the point of not being able to accommodate users wishing to park their vehicle at this station.

[003] US Patent 6975997 B1 (Mukarami et al.) Describes a car-sharing system to mitigate this imbalance. More specifically, this patent describes, in columns 13 and 14, a method in which an operator manually distributes vehicles between stations of the system by towing a vehicle from the system by means of a drawbar and a towing vehicle. This method, however, has disadvantages. In particular, it has a high operating cost because it requires the presence of a large number of operators to carry out the rebalancing. In the end, the process thus has limited effectiveness.

[004] From the state of the art is also known from the following documents:

J. Pérez et al., "Autonomous docking based on infrared system for electric vehicle charging in urban aeras", Sensors, vol. 13, p. 2645-2663, February 2013, DOI: 10.3390 / S130202645;

P. Petrov et al., "A hybrid control for automatic docking of electric vehicles for recharging", IEEE ICRA 2012, p. 2966-2971, May 2012, DOI: 10.1109 / ICRA.2012.6225087;

- S. Krumke et al, "Relocation in carsharing Systems using flows in time-expanded networks", Lecture notes in computer science, Springer, November 2013;

- M. Barth et al., "Performance Evaluation of a Multi-station Shared Vehicle System," 2011 IEEE Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems, p. 1218-1223, August 2011;

- T. Birnschein et al., "An innovative, comprehensive concept for energy efficient electric mobility - EO smart Connecting car", IEEE Energycon 2012, p. 1028-1033, September 9, 2012, DOI: 10.1109 / Energycon.2012.6347720. [005] There is therefore a need for a balancing process of a fleet of motor vehicles of a vehicle sharing system, having a simplified implementation.

[006] The invention therefore relates to a method of automatic rebalancing of a fleet of motor vehicles in a vehicle sharing system, according to claim 1.

[007] In the above method, the electronic manager automatically trains the road convoys. These road convoys allow without additional resources to transport a free vehicle from a departure station to an arrival station. There is therefore a simple and effective way to distribute surplus vehicles from the departure station to other stations. The user thus participates in the rebalancing of the vehicles between the stations, by towing the vehicle without a driver to the arrival station, which reduces the need to call on specialized operators. The rebalancing of the stations is thus achieved with greater simplicity.

[008] In addition, by forming the convoy automatically, the user does not need to intervene manually on the hitch respectively to attach or detach the vehicles, which simplifies the use of the system and reduces the risk false maneuver that could damage the hitch.

Embodiments of the invention may have one or more of the features of claims 2 to 5.

[Ooi o] In another aspect, the invention also relates to an information recording medium according to claim 6.

In another aspect, the invention also relates to a vehicle sharing system according to claim 7.

Embodiments of the invention may have one or more of the features of claims 8 to 10.

The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of nonlimiting example and with reference to the drawings in which:

- Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a vehicle sharing system;

FIG. 2 diagrammatically represents an electronic manager of the sharing system of FIG. 1;

- Figure 3 shows schematically in a perspective view a towable automotive road vehicle;

- Figures 4 and 5 show schematically, in a view from above, a geometry of the front and rear wheel trains of the vehicle of Figure 3;

FIG. 6 schematically represents front and rear couplings of the vehicle of FIG. 3; - Figures 7A and 7B show schematically the front and rear couplings of Figure 5 in their positions, respectively, uncoupled and coupled;

- Figure 8 schematically shows a motor vehicle convoy formed of two motor vehicles towable of Figure 3 attached to each other;

FIG. 9 schematically represents a convoy of motor vehicles parked in a station of the vehicle sharing system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method for automatically rebalancing a fleet of vehicles of the vehicle sharing system of FIG. 1;

- Figure 1 1A schematically shows a road convoy of vehicles formed from the stationary convoy of Figure 9;

- Figure 1 1 B schematically shows a stationary convoy formed from the road convoy of vehicles of Figure 1 1 A;

- Figure 12 schematically shows another road convoy capable of replacing the convoy of Figure 11;

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration of another embodiment of front and rear couplings that can be used in the system of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 14A and 14B are flow diagrams, respectively, of a variant of the method of FIG. 10 and the detail of a step of the method of FIG. 14A;

FIG. 15 is a schematic illustration of the system of FIG. 1 comprising an intermediate station.

In these figures, the same references are used to designate the same elements.

In the following description, the features and functions well known to those skilled in the art are not described in detail.

Figure 1 shows a system 2 of sharing vehicles. System 2 comprises:

- a fleet of motor vehicles;

a plurality of stations; and

- an electronic manager 4.

Each station is able to accommodate parked vehicles for a user 5 of the system 2 can borrow one of these vehicles to make a journey between this station and another station of the system 2, respectively called "departure station" And "arrival station". For this purpose, each station comprises:

a parking zone 6 for parking the vehicles;

- A terminal 7 which comprises an electronic computer provided with a user interface 8, or man-machine interface, and a communication interface 9 configured to exchange data with the manager 4. The user 5 is not part of the system 2.

Zone 6 is for example a portion of road, a much larger road network, on which is provided a space reserved for vehicles. The parking area of the station 12 here bears the reference 6 '.

For simplicity, in Figure 1, only two stations are illustrated and have the references 10 and 12. However, in reality, the system 2 has more than two stations. For example, the system has more than ten or more than one hundred or more thousand stations. Two immediately consecutive stations are at least separated from one another by a distance of 100 m or 500 m or 1 km. The stations furthest from each other of the system 2 are typically separated from each other by more than 1, 5 km or 5 km or 10 km. For simplicity, it is considered here that the stations are all structurally identical and different from each other only by their location and by the number of vehicles parked there at a given moment.

Here, only six vehicles of the system 2 are illustrated by way of example. Five vehicles, bearing the numbers 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d and 20e, are stationed in the station 10 and only one vehicle, bearing the reference 20f, is stationed in the station 12. In practice, the fleet may comprise a larger number of vehicles, for example, greater than ten or fifty or a hundred or a thousand. Here, these vehicles are all identical to each other. In the rest of this description, reference numeral "20" is used to designate any one of the vehicles of the system 2.

In this example, we also consider that:

the station 10 is the departure station in which the user 5 of the system 2 wishes to borrow a vehicle 20;

station 12 is the arrival station to which the user wishes to go. The vehicle 20 is described in more detail in the following, with particular reference to FIGS. 2 to 6.

Each vehicle 20 is adapted to be attached to another vehicle of the system 2 to form a road convoy. Here, when a vehicle 20 is not stationed at a station of the system, it is traveling between two stations. Thus, in this example, a vehicle 20 is in one of two states:

or it is assigned to a user of the system 2, who can then drive it to move; this vehicle is then said to be "borrowed";

- it is parked in a station of the system while waiting to be assigned to a user; this vehicle is then called "free".

In this example, in each station, the stationary free vehicles are attached together to form a so-called stationary convoy which will be described in more detail in Figure 9. In Figure 1, the vehicles 20a, 20b, 20c , 20d and 20e form a stationary convoy 21. When a vehicle is borrowed, it is detached from the convoy stationary, preferably from the front of the stationary convoy. When a borrowed vehicle is brought back to the station to be parked, it is attached to the rear of another vehicle already parked in the arrival station, preferably from the rear, to form or complete a stationary convoy . The notions of front and rear of the convoy will be specified in more detail in the following.

Figure 2 shows in more detail the manager 4. This manager 4 is programmed to supervise and control the operation of the system 2.

To do this, the manager 4 implements management operations of a vehicle sharing system, such as the identification of users. These operations are for example described in the patent US6975997B1 previously cited. This manager 4 is furthermore programmed to implement the rebalancing method of the fleet of vehicles 20 described with reference to FIG.

To rebalance the fleet of vehicles 20 when there is an imbalance, it is given to a user wishing to borrow a vehicle, at least one additional free vehicle that is devoid of driver, for this user to guide him to the station arrival who needs additional free vehicles.

For this purpose, the manager 4 comprises:

a programmable electronic calculator 4a;

a recording medium 4b of information;

a communication interface 4c with the terminals 7.

The interface 4c is able to collect information on the vehicles 20 and to send them control signals, for example, by means of a wireless communications network and via the interface 9. The computer 4a executes instructions stored in the medium 4b. The support 4b notably comprises instructions for executing the method of FIG. 10.

The manager 4 is here a computer server.

Figures 3 to 6 show an example of a vehicle 20 used in the system 2. The vehicle 20 is for example similar to the motor vehicle towable described in the patent application FR1352128 or in the international application PCT / EP2014 / 051,672. Thus, for more details on the realization of this vehicle, the reader can refer to these patent applications. Here, only the details necessary for understanding the invention are given.

This vehicle 20 is able to move on a road 22 (Figure 3) flat and horizontal. In this example, this vehicle 20 comprises:

three wheels;

a frame, including front 24 and rear 26 parts (FIGS. 4 and 5);

articulation devices 30 and steering devices 32 (FIGS. 4 and 5);

front and rear hitches 36 (FIG. 3);

a motor, such as an electric motor, capable of propelling the vehicle 20. The vehicle 20 is driven by a driver. For this purpose, the vehicle 20 comprises a driving position. This driving position includes engine controls and a steering wheel 23 for steering the vehicle 20. This vehicle 20 here also comprises a passenger seat 25.

The wheels are able to roll the vehicle 20 on the road 22. These wheels are placed on the vehicle so as to form trains before 38 and rear 40 wheels. These trains 38 and 40 are fixed, respectively, on the parts 24 and 26 of the chassis. These wheels are for example equipped with tires.

For each of these sets of wheels, a "transverse axis" is defined in the following way:

if the wheel train has only one wheel, the transverse axis is the axis parallel to the wheel axis of this wheel around its hub and passing through the geometric center of the contact surface between the road 22 and that wheel, when that wheel is not pointed, and

if the wheel train comprises more than one wheel, the transverse axis is the axis passing through the geometric centers of the contact surfaces between the road 22 and these wheels, when these wheels are not steered.

Each of these transverse axes is secured, without degree of freedom in yaw, the frame portion on which is fixed the respective wheel set associated with this transverse axis.

The rolling axis of a wheel is defined as being the horizontal axis of rotation around which the wheel rotates when it rolls on the road 22.

The device 32 is here able to steer one or more wheels of the vehicle. The wheels that can be turned are said to be "steering" wheels. The non-steered wheels can not be steered and are therefore permanently in a non-steered position.

The wheels of a vehicle are said to be un-steered when they are aligned with each other in a position such as a motor vehicle, identical to the vehicle 20 but in which the device 30 is replaced by a rigid connection preventing any movement of the parts 24 and 26 relative to each other, is able to move in a straight line.

All the wheels of the same train are generally aligned perpendicularly to the transverse axis of the train when these wheels are not steered.

In this example, the train 38 comprises a single wheel 42. The train 40 comprises two wheels 44 and 46, here identical and arranged parallel to one another. The rolling axis of the wheels 44, 46 is fixed, without any degree of freedom in yaw rotation, to the rear portion 26 of the frame. Thus, according to the above definition, transverse axes 48 and 50, respectively, are defined for trains 38 and 40. It also defines a longitudinal plane of the vehicle 20 as being the plane, when the parts 24 and 26 are not aligned with each other, which is:

-perpendicular to these axes 48 and 50, when these axes 48 and 50 are parallel to each other and that the wheels of the vehicle 20 are not pointed, and

passing through the mediums of trains 38 and 40.

In the remainder of this description, we will consider the orthogonal projection of this plane on the running plane. We will then speak of a longitudinal axis to designate the axis resulting from this projection. Here, the middle of the train 38 is the center of the wheel 42 and the middle of the train 40 is the equidistant point of the centers of contact between the road 22 and the wheels 44 and 46.

Defining a longitudinal axis 47 of the portion 24 of the vehicle 20 as the axis integral with the portion 24 which is coincident with the longitudinal axis of the vehicle when the axes 48 and 50 are parallel and that the wheels of the vehicle 20 are not pointed.

Similarly, defining a longitudinal axis 49 of the portion 26, as the axis integral with the portion 26 coincides with the longitudinal axis of the vehicle 20 when the axes 48 and 50 are parallel and the wheels of the vehicle 20 are not pointed. The running surface is the plane passing through the contact surfaces between the road 22 and the wheels 42, 44 and 46. This running surface here is horizontal.

The device 30 allows the parts 24 and 26 to pivot relative to each other about an axis 39, said hinge, normal to the rolling plane of the vehicle to change an articulation angle Cet (Figure 5) of the vehicle 20. This angle Θ is here defined as the acute angle between the longitudinal axes 47 and 49 of the parts, respectively, 24 and 26. This axis 39 here coincides with the instantaneous axis of rotation of the parts 24 and 26 relative to each other. The axes 47 and 49 here have an intersection with the axis 39.

Advantageously, the mechanical conformation of the device 30 maintains the position of the instantaneous axis of rotation of the portion 24 relative to the portion 26 so that when several copies of the vehicle 20 are attached to each other to form a road convoy, the latter has a single-sided trajectory. The device 30 is for example that described in the patent application FR1352128.

The device 32 is adapted to change the steering angle φ (Figure 5) of the wheel 42 in response to a control of a driver of the vehicle 20. The steering angle of a front wheel of the vehicle 20 here is defined as being the acute angle between the vertical plane perpendicular to the rolling axis of the wheel and the vertical plane containing the longitudinal axis 47 of the portion 24. To simplify FIGS. 4 and 5, the device 32 is shown deportee at the rear of the wheel 42. When the wheel 42 is not pointed, this angle φ is zero. The device 32 is for example that described in the patent application FR1352128. The couplings 34 and 36 (Figure 3) are located, respectively, at the front and rear of the vehicle 20.

The couplings 34 and 36 are anchored to the parts, respectively, 24 and 26 of the chassis, without degree of freedom in yaw rotation.

By yaw rotation means here a rotational movement only about an axis perpendicular to the running surface of the vehicle.

The coupling is said to be without degree of freedom if, when two front and rear couplers are coupled together, the maximum angle of yaw rotation of these hitches relative to each other due to mechanical play is less than 10 ° or 5 ° or 3 ° or 2 °.

In what follows, the front linkage of the vehicle 20a is the reference 34a and its rear linkage bears the reference 36a. The same notation convention is used for each of the respective couplings 34, 36 of the vehicles 20b to 20f described above. The reference "34" is used to designate generally any of the couplings 34a to 34f. Similarly, the reference "36" is used to designate generally any of the couplings 36a to 36f.

Here, the couplings 34a to 34f of the vehicles 20 are identical to each other. Similarly, the couplings 36a to 36f of the vehicles 20 are identical to each other. What will be described with reference to the couplings 34b and 36a therefore applies, respectively, to the couplings 34 and 36.

In the following, only the couplings 34b and 36a, respectively, of the vehicles 20b and 20a are described in more detail with reference to FIG. 6.

The couplings 34b and 36a are movable alternately between hitched and uncoupled positions. In its hitched position (Figure 6), the hitch 34b of the vehicle 20b cooperates with the rear hitch 36a of the vehicle 20a to mechanically attach behind the vehicle 20a. For example, the couplings 34b and 36a are each equipped with rigid parts of complementary shapes adapted to be fitted one into the other by embedding. For example, the hitch 34b has a rigid piece of convex shape and the hitch 36a has a rigid piece of concave shape. Preferably, these concave and convex forms are not rounded, so as to prevent any rotation about a vertical axis of the hitch 34b relative to the hitch 36a when these couplings 34b and 36a are coupled. For example, the rigid parts are made of metallic material and fixed to the corresponding parts of the vehicle chassis 20a and 20b without degree of freedom in yaw rotation. Thus, the respective longitudinal axes of the portion 24 of the vehicle 20b and the rear portion 26 of the vehicle 20a are aligned parallel to each other when the vehicles are coupled. Here, in their hitched position, the vehicle 20a directs and tows the vehicle 20b.

In order to limit the space between the vehicles 20a and 20b in the hitched position, the front of the vehicle 20b and the rear of the vehicle 20a have shapes complementary to each other to allow the transverse axes of the front 24 and rear 26 of these vehicles to be merged into the hitched position. For this, the front axle 38 of the vehicle 20b and the rear axle of the vehicle 20a have complementary shapes.

Under these conditions, in the hitched position, the wheel 42 of the vehicle 20b is aligned on the same transverse axis as the wheels of the rear axle of the vehicle 20a. This reduces the shifting experienced by the wheels of the nested trains when the vehicles attached to each other follow a curved path, for example when turning.

In the unhitched position, these two vehicles 20a and 20b are detached from one another, and are free to move independently of one another.

The couplings 34 and 36 are automatic couplers, able to switch each automatically between their hitched and uncoupled positions in response to a control signal. FIGS. 7A and 7B show in greater detail an example of hitches 34 and 36. In this example, hitches 34 and 36 are mechanical hitches known as "Scharfenberg hitches". Thus, in the following, these hitches are not described in detail.

In this example, the hitch 34 comprises a hitch bar 100 rigid. One end of this bar 100 is secured to the front portion 24 of the frame by means of a pivot connection. The axis of rotation of this pivot connection is parallel to the axis 39. The other end of the bar 100 has a connecting ring 104. The hitch 36 comprises a hook 106 secured to a wheel 108. The wheel 108 is rotatably mounted on the rear portion 26 of the frame. The wheel 108 has an axis of rotation parallel to that of the pivot connection of the bar 100. The hook 106 has a shape complementary to that of the ring 104 to engage reversibly to this ring 104. When the hook 106 is attached to the ring 104, it is able to withstand a tensile force greater than 500N or 1000N or 5000N without detaching the ring 104. In this description, the term connecting ring designates any opening delimited by an edge on which the hook 106 can be hung. For example, it may be a channel or a groove on a surface of a mechanical part.

The bar 100 and the hook 106 are movable, alternately, relative to each other and reversibly, between a locked position and an unlocked position. In the locked position, the hook 106 is engaged inside the ring 104 to attach two vehicles 20 to each other. In the unlocked position the hook 106 and the ring 104 are free to move relative to each other. the other. In the locked position, the couplers 34 and 36 are in their hitched position. In the unlocked position, the couplings 34, 36 are in their unhitched position.

The couplings 34 and 36 comprise controllable actuators, respectively, 120 and 122. The actuator 120 is able to move in rotation the bar 100 and therefore the ring 104. The actuator 122 is able to move the wheel 108 in rotation. The actuators 120 and 122 here are rotary electric motors. The actuators 120 and 122 work in concert to, when they receive an uncoupling control signal, simultaneously move the bar 100 and the wheel 108 to release the ring 104 of the spit 106. On the contrary, when a signal of hitch control is received, the actuators 120 and 122 rotate the wheel 108 and the bar 100 so that the hook 106 engages inside the ring 104 when the vehicles to be coupled approach. In the absence of a control signal, the couplings remain in their current position. For example, if the couplers were initially in their hitched position, they remain in this hitched position in the absence of a control signal. Thus, in this embodiment, to maintain the couplings in their hitched or uncoupled position, it is not necessary to send a control signal.

The vehicle 20 here comprises an electronic controller 20K (FIG 3) programmed to receive and retransmit a setpoint of movement of the couplings 34 and 36 between their hitched and uncoupled positions in response to a control signal delivered by the manager 4. For this purpose, the controller 20K includes a short-distance radio transceiver adapted to exchange information with the terminal 7 of the station in which the vehicle is parked. By short distance, it is meant here that the connection with the terminal 7 can be established only if the vehicle is parked inside the zone 6. For this purpose, the short-distance radio link has a range of over 10 m or 20 m and, generally, less than 100 m or 50 m. This controller 20K also includes an identifier of the vehicle 20 in which it is installed capable of distinguishing this vehicle 20 from all the other vehicles of the system 2.

Figure 8 shows a road motor vehicle convoy 200 formed vehicles 20a and 20b attached to each other.

In the convoy 200, the vehicles 20a and 20b are attached to each other by means of their couplings 36a and 34b.

In this description, the vehicle at the head of the convoy is described as "head vehicle" of the convoy. The convoy vehicles attached behind this lead vehicle are called "follower vehicles". Here, the vehicle 20a is at the head of the convoy 200. The vehicle 20b is follower, or in tow. The device 32 of the head vehicle 20a is controlled by the driver of the vehicle 20a so as to direct the convoy 200.

Figure 9 shows in more detail the stationary convoy 21. The vehicle 20a is placed at the head of the convoy 21.

The vehicles 20b to 20e are attached, in that order, behind the vehicle 20a.

The vehicle 20th is not attached to any other vehicle by means of its rear hitch 36e. The vehicle 20th is therefore the tail vehicle of the convoy 21. The The operation of the system 2 will now be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 10 in the particular case of a rebalancing of the fleet of vehicles between the stations 10 and 12.

In a step 400, a request to borrow a vehicle 20 from the station 10 is received by the manager 4. For example, the interface 8 of the station 10 acquires the identity of the user and an identifier of an arrival station to which the user wishes to move 5. Then, the terminal 7 sends the request to the manager 4 by means of the interface 9. This request contains in particular the identifier of the station 10 and the identifier of the arrival station acquired. Subsequently, it is assumed that the chosen arrival station is station 12.

In parallel, during a step 402, the numbers of vehicles parked in the stations 10 and 12 are automatically acquired by the manager 4. For example, during this step, each vehicle parked in the station 10 transmits its identifier at the terminal 7. In response, the terminal 7 counts the number of different identifiers received then transmits this number to the manager 4. To avoid taking into account, during this counting, vehicles that drive in the vicinity of the zone 6, the terminal 7 can also acquire for each vehicle additional information such as its speed of movement and whether or not this vehicle is coupled to other vehicles. The same operation is performed in station 12.

Then, during a step 404, the driver 4 automatically determines the number of vehicles that must be assigned to the user 5 according to the number of vehicles acquired during step 402. For this, the manager 4 determines whether there is an imbalance in the distribution of vehicles 20 between stations 10 and 12.

For example, the existence of such an imbalance is determined by calculating a "Need (i)" index specific to each station i. The "Need (i)" index is defined as follows:

[0076] Need (i) = veh_present (i) + veh_arking (i) - veh_wait (i)

or :

"Veh_present (i)" is the number of free vehicles stationed at station i at this instant t;

- "arriving_v (i)" is the number of vehicles 20 that are currently traveling to station i;

- "veh_attente (i)" is the number of users who, at this moment t, wait to borrow a vehicle 20 in station i;

- "i" uniquely identifies this station among all the stations of the system 2. The number "veh_arking (i)" is here determined by counting the number of users traveling in a borrowed vehicle and having specified as a station of arrival station i. The number "veh_attente (i)" is here the number of users whose request to borrow a vehicle at station 10 could not be satisfied and who chose to wait for the arrival of a vehicle at this station 10. In this example, it is considered that there is an imbalance in the distribution of vehicles between stations 10 and 12 if there is at least one station that has a need for additional free vehicle. A station i of the system 2 has such a need, at a given instant t, if the quantity "Requirement (i)" is lower than a threshold "veh_seuil_bas (i)" predefined. For example, "veh_seuil_bas (i)" is equal to 20% or 10% or 5% or even 0% of the total capacity of zone 6 of station "Station (i)". The maximum capacity of zone 6 is equal to the maximum number of parked vehicles that can accommodate a station. For example, the total capacity of a station is greater than two or five or ten vehicles and generally less than fifty or twenty vehicles.

It is also considered that there is an imbalance if a station i has too many free vehicles, for example if the quantity "Requirement (i)" is greater than a threshold "veh_seuil_haut (i)" predefined. Indeed, the zone 6 of each station of the system 2 has only a limited total capacity to accommodate the parked vehicles. For example, "veh_seuil_haut (i)" corresponds to an occupancy capacity in vehicles in zone 6 that is greater than 75% or 80% or 90% or even equal to 100% of the total parking capacity of zone 6. For simplicity, it is considered here that the threshold "veh_seuil_bas (i)" has the same value for all the stations of the system 2. It is the same for the threshold "veh_seuil_haut (i)".

The threshold "veh_seuil_haut (i)" is here greater than or equal to the threshold "veh_seuil_bas (i)". Here, the quantities "Requirement (i)" and the thresholds "veh_seuil_haut (i)", "veh_seuil_bas (i)" are integers.

In this example, i = d corresponds to the station 10 and i = a corresponds to the station 12. The manager 4 then evaluates the following rules:

if and only if Need (d) is strictly greater than veh_seuil_bas (d) +1 and that Requirement (a) is strictly less than veh_seuil_bas (a), then an additional free vehicle 20 is assigned to user 5 in addition to borrowed vehicle for the user to guide it to station 12;

if need (d) is strictly greater than veh_seuil_bas (d) +1 and that Requirement (a) is greater than or equal to veh_seuil_bas (a) and less than or equal to veh_seuil_haut (a), then only one vehicle 20 is assigned to the 5. No additional free vehicle is assigned to it since it is not necessary to rebalance the vehicle between stations 10 and 12.

if Need (d) is less than or equal to veh_seuil_bas (d) +1 then no vehicle 20 can be borrowed by user 5 because there is none available at station 10. Manager 4 then indicates to the user the nearest station in which a vehicle can be borrowed.

- if Requirement (d) is strictly greater than veh_seuil_bas (d) +1 and that Requirement (a) is greater than or equal to veh_seuil_haut (a), then it is not possible to entrust a vehicle 20 to the user 5 who wishes to go to the station 12, because this station 12 can not accommodate a vehicle.

At the end of step 404, if the manager 4 has determined that at least one additional free vehicle must be assigned to the user 5 in addition to the borrowed vehicle, then he proceeds to a step 406. In step 406, the manager 4 generates a control signal for the formation of a road convoy, to form a road convoy comprising, at the head, the borrowed vehicle and, in tow, the additional free vehicle or vehicles, devoid of any driver, who must be moved to Station 12 to replenish it with vehicles. This control signal is transmitted to the terminal 7 of the station 10 to form the convoy 200. The formation of the convoy 200 here consists of automatically detaching the vehicle 20b from the vehicle 20c. This automatic detachment is achieved by automatically moving the couplings 36b, 34c to their uncoupled position. At the same time, the couplings 36a, 34b are held in their hitched position. Thus, the convoy 200 formed vehicles 20a and 20b is separated from the rest of the stationary convoy 21, as shown in Figure 1 1 A. For this, in response to the formation signal of a convoy, the terminal 7 sends to in turn, an uncoupling command to the 20K controllers of the vehicles 20b and 20c to move the hitches 36b and 34c from their hitched position to their uncoupled position.

The vehicle 20a is then assigned to the user 5. The vehicle 20b, attached in tow of the vehicle 20a is towed by the vehicle 20a. The user 5 can then take up the vehicle 20a to drive the convoy 200 to the station 12. In doing so, the user 5 moves to the station 12, the vehicle 20b. Finally, during a step 408, when it arrives in the station 12, the user 5 parks the convoy 200 on the zone 6 '. In this case, the vehicle 20f is already parked on the zone 6 '. The user 5 then attaches the convoy 200 to the rear of this vehicle 20f so as to form a new stationary convoy comprising, in order, the vehicles 20f, 20a and 20b, as illustrated in FIG. For this, he drives the vehicle 20a to place it behind the vehicle 20f and then brings the vehicle 20a of the vehicle 20f until the front part of the vehicle 20a fits into the rear part of the vehicle 20f. At this moment, the driver triggers the sending of the hitch control signal by the 20K controllers of the vehicles 20f and 20a. For example, the hitch control is transmitted by a radio link from the controller 20K of the vehicle 20a to the controller 20K of the vehicle 20f. In response, the 20K controllers of the vehicles 20f and 20a control the passage of the couplings 36f and 34a from their uncoupled positions to their hitched positions. Then, when the user 5 stops and leaves the vehicle 20a, the controller 20K of the latter transmits a restitution signal to the terminal 7 of the station 12. This terminal 7 then communicates to the manager 4. The vehicles 20a and 20b are from then on stationed and new free. Station 12 is thus equipped with two additional vehicles, whereas it would have been endowed with only the vehicle 20a borrowed by the user 5 if the redistribution process had not been implemented.

In step 406, if a stationary convoy is already present on the zone 6 ', the user 5 attaches the convoy 200 to the rear of this stationary convoy.

If at the end of step 404 the manager 4 has determined that only one vehicle must be assigned to the user 5, then a step 410 is executed. During step 410 (FIG. 10), the manager 4 inhibits the command signal for the formation of a road convoy. Only a single vehicle 20 is provided to the user 5.

Here, the manager 4 generates and transmits a control signal to detach only the vehicle 20a from the stationary convoy 21. For example, this control signal is transmitted to the terminal 7 of the station 10. In response, this terminal 7 sends an uncoupling command to the controllers 20K of the vehicles 20a and 20b to switch the couplers 36a and 34b in their untwisted position. In parallel, the other couplings of the vehicles forming the remainder of the convoy 21 are held in their coupled position. In this case, there is no rebalancing between these stations 10 and 12.

If, at the end of step 404, the driver 4 has determined that no vehicle can be assigned to the user 5, then no control signal is issued and the process returns to the step 400. The manager 4 may also propose to the user to wait for one or more vehicles to arrive at this station 10.

If at the end of step 404 the manager 4 determines that it is not possible to entrust a vehicle 20 to the user 5 who wishes to go to the station 12, because this station 12 does not can not accommodate a vehicle, then an alternative destination is proposed to the user 5. For example, the manager 4 counts the number of vehicles parked in the stations closest to the station 10. For each of them, the number of parked vehicles is calculated to identify which of these stations could accommodate the vehicle, ie the stations a2 for which Need (a2) is lower than veh_seuil_haut (a2).

The station identified is said station adjacent station 12. If several stations each have a need for a vehicle, then the one with the smallest need is selected as a neighboring station. The manager 4 then sends a request to the interface 8 so that the user 5 specifies whether or not he wishes to bend his route to this neighboring station. If user 5 accepts, then step 404 is executed again, considering this neighbor station instead of station 12. Otherwise, no vehicle is assigned to user 5 and the process returns to step 400.

[0090] Figure 12 schematically shows another way to form the road convoy. For example, instead of forming the convoy 200 by sharing the convoy 21 from the front, it is formed from the rear of the convoy 21. This convoy then comprises the vehicles 20d and 20e attached to each other. It is designated by reference 200 'on the Figure 12. The vehicle 20d is at the head of this convoy 200 '. The vehicle 20e is here an additional free vehicle which must be brought to the station 12. What has been said above with reference to the vehicles 20a and 20b applies here, respectively, to the vehicles 20d and 20e. In this case, during step 406, the formation signal of a convoy delivered by the manager 4 leads to the tilting of the couplings 36c and 34d in their untwisted position to detach the convoy 200 'from the rest of the stationary convoy 21. The user 5 can take a seat in the vehicle 20d to drive the convoy 200 'and move in reverse to leave the station 10.

13 shows front and rear couplings 502 capable of replacing, respectively, the couplings 34 and 36. In this embodiment, the force that makes it possible to attach and tow a vehicle behind another vehicle is a electromagnetic force and not a mechanical force. For example, for this purpose, the hitch 500 comprises an electromagnet 506. The electromagnet 506 contains a magnetic core 510 around which is wound a coil 514. The core 510 is secured to the front portion 24 of a vehicle. In relation to the core 510, the hitch 502 comprises a magnetic or magnetizable pad 516. The buffer 516 is said to be "magnetized" when it is permanently magnetized even in the absence of an external magnetic field. The buffer 516 is said to be "magnetizable" when it acquires a magnetization only in the presence of an external magnetic field. In the latter case, the buffer 516 is typically a piece of ferromagnetic material. The buffer 516 is secured to the rear portion 26 of a vehicle.

In response to a hitch control signal, the electromagnet 506 switches to an active state. In the active state a current flows in the coil 514 and the electromagnet 506 generates an electromagnetic force capable of holding the buffer 516 in contact with the core 510 with a force greater than or equal to the force required to keep the free vehicle attached behind the vehicle used when traveling in road convoy on a road. For example, this force is greater than 500 N or 1000 N or 5000 N or more. When the electromagnet 506 is in the active state and the buffer 516 is in contact with the core 510, the couplers 500 and 502 are in their hitched position. In this embodiment, to maintain the couplings in their hitched position, the coil 514 must be continuously energized. When the coil 514 is no longer energized, the electromagnet 506 switches to an inactive state. In this state, it no longer generates electromagnetic force and the buffer 516 can be freely moved away from the core 510. The inactive state corresponds to the unlatched position of the couplers 500 and 502.

When the couplers 500 and 502 are used in the system 2 instead of the couplings 34 and 36, in the stationary convoy, all the couplers 500 and 502 are for example in their uncoupled position to save energy. Thus, in response to a training command of the road convoy 200, it is the hitch 502a of the vehicle 20a and the hitch 500b of the vehicle 20b which are controlled to tilt in their hitched position. It is not necessary to control the couplings 502b and 500c since they are already in their unhitched position. Similarly, the convoy formation inhibition control here consists in not controlling the couplings 502a and 500b since they are already in their untwisted position. Similarly, when the vehicle 20a arrives at the station 12, it parks behind the vehicle 20f so that its core 510 is very close to the buffer 516 of the vehicle 20f. By "very close" is meant here that the shortest distance between the core 510 and the pad 516 is less than 10 cm and preferably less than 5 cm or 3 cm or 1 cm or 5 mm.

Preferably, this distance is zero so that the core 510 and the buffer 516 are in direct mechanical contact with each other. A stationary convoy comprising the vehicles 20f and 20a is then formed. As in the station 10, in this stationary convoy, the couplers 500 and 502 are left in their uncoupled position.

FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate a variant of the method of FIG. 10. In this variant, when at the end of step 404 there exists an imbalance between the stations 10 and 12, it is furthermore sought to determine there is an imbalance with another station of the system 2, called intermediate station, with a view to correcting this imbalance. This process starts with steps 400 to 404 previously defined. Thus, only the differences with respect to the method of FIG. 10 will be described here. Step 404 continues with a step 412 when, at the end of step 404, there exists an imbalance between the stations 10 and 12.

Figure 14B shows in more detail an example of step 412.

During an operation 450, the manager 4 automatically builds a predictive trajectory 602 between the stations 10 and 12, as illustrated in FIG. 15. For example, the trajectory 602 corresponds to the shortest route to get there. by the road between the stations 10 and 12. This trajectory 602 is here constructed by means of a route planner from a predefined database.

Then, during an operation 452 (FIG. 14B), the manager 4 lists the stations of the system 2 which are distinct from the stations 10 and 12 and which are on the trajectory 602. The stations thus recorded are said to be "Candidate stations". A station is said to be on the path 602 when the smallest distance separating this station from the trajectory 602 is less than a predefined limit, for example equal to 500m or 250m or 100m.

Then, during an operation 454, the manager 4 counts the vehicles parked in each of the candidate stations, for example in the same way as in the step 402 for the stations 10 and 12.

Finally, during an operation 456, the manager 4 identifies which of the candidate stations has a need in the vehicle. This station is subsequently called The zone 6 of this station 604 has the reference 606. The station 604 here does not include any vehicle 20 stationed inside the zone 606.

[00101] For example, the candidate stations are each indexed by an index j, where j is a non-zero integer. These candidate stations are then placed in a family of stations. Among all the candidate stations of this family, we search for the station j which presents the greatest need in vehicle, for example defined by the following conditions: veh_present (j) + veh_arcribing (i) = 0, and veh_seuil_bas (j) is the higher family. If such a station j is identified then it is defined as station 604. If several candidate stations of the family satisfy the above conditions and it is not possible to decide between them, then the manager 4 selects only one of these stations. candidate stations, for example randomly or by retaining the first candidate station in the indexing order of the family. Alternatively, if no candidate station fulfills these conditions, the manager 4 identifies new candidate stations, as being the stations of the system which are closest to the trajectory 602, but by choosing a higher value of the predefined limit, by example equal to 1 km or 700m. Operations 452 to 456 previously described are then reiterated on these new candidate stations.

Advantageously, at the end of these operations, once the station 604 identified, the manager 4 sends a request on the interface 8 to propose to the user 5 to go through this station 604. The manager 4 then acquires the response of the user 5. If the response of the user 5 is positive then the manager 4 determines that an additional free vehicle must be assigned to the user 5 for the user to bring the vehicle to the station 604. If the user's response is negative, then the handler does not assign an additional free vehicle to user 5. Step 412 ends and steps 406 to 408 proceed as previously described with reference to FIG. .

At the end of step 412, if the manager 4 has determined that at least one additional free vehicle must be assigned to the user 5 to bring it to the station 604, then, when in a step 416, this vehicle is entrusted to the user 5 in addition to the vehicles 20a and 20b.

This step 416 is identical to step 406 except that the train formation control signal is transmitted to unhitch the couplings 36c and 34d instead of the couplers 36b and 34c, so as to form a convoy comprising the vehicles 20a. , 20b and 20c attached to each other. The vehicle 20c is attached to the rear of the vehicle 20b by means of the couplings 36b and 34c.

[00105] The user 5 can then move this convoy to the station 604. In a step 417, once arrived at the station 604, this convoy is partially dissociated so as to leave a vehicle parked at this station 604 For example, the vehicle 20c is parked in the area 606. The user 5 can leave the station 604 with the rest of the convoy, then formed vehicles 20a and 20b.

Finally, during a step 418, once arrived at station 12, the remaining convoy is parked on the zone 6 '. This step is for example identical to step 408.

In this way, the station 604 is provided with an additional vehicle to replenish it, while it would have remained empty otherwise, while proceeding to the rebalancing between the stations 10 and 12.

[00108] Many other embodiments of the system 2 are possible. For example, vehicles 20 are not necessarily identical. However, it is desirable that they are compatible with each other, in particular so as to be attached to each other by means of their respective couplers.

The vehicle 20 can be made differently. For example, the vehicle 20 has four wheels, distributed so that each of the front and rear wheels has two wheels. The vehicle is not necessarily articulated. In this case, the device 30 may be omitted.

The couplings 34, 36 may be different. For example, these couplings 34, 36 are couplings Janney ("Janney coupler" in English). The couplings 34 and 36 may allow yaw rotation. Alternatively, the couplings 34 and 36 are electronic couplings, made by means of electronic guidance techniques and formation of a convoy known as the English language of "platooning". Such a technique is for example described in:

- "Vehicle platoon control with multi-configuration ability", M. El-Zaher et al, ICCS 2012, Procedia Computer Science, vol. 9, p.1503-1512, 2012;

- SARTRE "Final project report", downloadable from http: //www.sartre-project.eu/en/publications/Documents/SARTRE_Final-Report.pdf;

- Carl Bergenhem et al. "OVERVIEW OF PLATOON ING SYSTEMS", 19th ITS World Congress, Vienna, Austria, 22/26 October 2012.

Alternatively, the stations of the system are performed differently. In particular, the terminal 7 can be omitted. In this case, the vehicles may each comprise an on-board computer able to exchange data directly with the manager 4 and may include a user interface fulfilling the same role as the interface 8. This computer comprises for example the 20K controller. The user 5 can also use a mobile communication device such as a telephone or a tablet to communicate with the manager 4 and use the system 2, for example by means of a telecommunications network such as the Internet or a network of wireless communication.

The manager 4 can be implemented differently. In particular, its elements can be located elsewhere than in a central server. Thus, by way of illustration, the functions of the manager 4 are performed by on-board computers specific to each vehicle 20 capable of communicating with each other, for example by means of a ad hoc or peer-to-peer ("peer to peer") wireless communications network. In the latter case, the manager 4 is formed by the meeting of these computers on board.

A station may include anchor points to which a vehicle can be coupled by means of its hitch, for example its front hitch. Once a vehicle is attached to this anchor point, other vehicles can be attached to this vehicle to form a convoy. In other words, the vehicles parked at this station are attached to each other and to this anchor point in the manner of supermarket trolleys. The zone 6 then comprises a plurality of space portions extending from this anchor point to accommodate the vehicles attached thereto. To borrow a single vehicle, the user must take the vehicle that is at the tail of this convoy and perform a reverse to leave the station. Step 410 is then modified accordingly. To form a road convoy, it is necessary that the user borrows the penultimate vehicle starting from the tail of the convoy. Under these conditions, the formation of a convoy for the user 5 is similar to that described in step 406, except that the stationary convoy is split between the second and the third vehicle starting from the tail of this convoy. stationary. The user must then go backwards so that the trained road convoy leaves the station. In order to retrieve vehicles, the user proceeds forward and attaches the lead vehicle of the convoy he is driving to the rear of a stationary convoy already attached to the anchor point or, where appropriate, directly to the point of anchor.

[00114] The number of vehicles forming the road convoy 200 may be greater than or equal to two.

Alternatively, the vehicles are parked differently in the stations. In particular, the vehicles are not necessarily parked hitched together to form the stationary convoy 21. In this case, the formation operation of a convoy of step 406 is performed differently. The same applies to the operation of assigning a vehicle during step 410. In fact, if the parked vehicles are not attached to each other, there is obviously no need to detach these vehicles for provide a single vehicle to the user 5. For example, in the case where the vehicles are parked without being attached to each other, then the formation of a convoy may comprise the automatic movement of all or part of these parked vehicles to form the vehicle. road convoy assigned to the user, for example by means of the aforementioned "platooning" technique.

The zone 6 is not necessarily continuous and may be in the form of parking spaces distributed disparately on the road, for example at the scale of a district or a district of a city . Terminal 7 is then omitted. The term "station" then designates a predefined geographical unit within which vehicles can freely park. In this case, the rebalancing process aims to balance the distribution of vehicles between these sets. geographical. System 2 may include such stations with stations having terminal 7.

The stations of the system are not necessarily all identical. For example, they may differ in the nature and / or the parking capacity of zone 6, by the value of the thresholds "veh_seuil_bas (i)" and "veh_seuil_haut (i)", by the presence or not of terminal 7. Stations with terminal 7 may coexist within the same system of sharing vehicles with stations without this terminal 7.

The interface 9 can be made differently, or even omitted when the terminal 7 is not present.

A geolocation device, for example by GPS (Global Positioning System) can be used to identify the position of each of the vehicles of the system 2 over time. This can be used in particular to determine the value "veh_arking (i)" with increased accuracy.

Steps 400 to 410 may be performed differently. The convoy 200 or the borrowed vehicle 20a can also, when the user 5 brings it back to the station 12, be attached to the front of the vehicle 20f or a stationary convoy already present in this station.

Alternatively, during step 402, the counting of the vehicles parked in the stations is obtained differently, for example from the geolocation of the vehicles and according to whether it is borrowed or not.

Alternatively, during step 404, when there is no imbalance between the stations 10 and 12, it is investigated whether there is an imbalance with another station of the system 2, said intermediate station. For example, if Requirement (d) is strictly greater than veh_seuil_bas (d) +1 and Need (a) is greater than or equal to veh_seuil_bas (a) and less than or equal to veh_seuil_haut (a), then the manager 4 if there is such an intermediate station. This search is for example carried out in the same way as that described in step 412. If such an intermediate station is identified and there is an imbalance only between the station 10 and this intermediate station, then the convoy 200 is formed in the station 10 to bring the free vehicle 20b up to the intermediate station. The user then moves the single vehicle 20a to the station 12. To do this, all that has been described with reference to the steps 406 and 408 is implemented, except that the identified intermediate station replaces the station 12.

According to another variant, if there is an imbalance only between the intermediate station and the station 12, then only the vehicle 20a is entrusted to the user 5 in the station 10. The latter must go to the intermediate station to form a convoy identical to the convoy 200 comprising a free vehicle of this intermediate station. The user 5 must then bring this convoy to the station 12. To do this, all that has been described with reference to the steps 406 and 408 is implemented, except that the intermediate station identified replaces the station 10. With the vehicle example 20 described, the user must then change vehicle to the station 12.

Alternatively, during step 408, no signal is transmitted to the manager 4 to inform him of the return of the vehicle in the station 12.

Step 412 can be performed differently. For example, a station is said to be on the trajectory 602 if it has a travel time from this trajectory that is less than or equal to a predefined threshold. For example, it is considered that the stations which are accessible, from the trajectory 602, while driving a vehicle 20, in less than five minutes or three minutes, are on the trajectory 602. The journey time is for example an average value representative travel times, calculated according to local constraints of the road network, such as the presence of one-way roads. Thus, the travel time does not depend only on the distance "as the crow flies" between the trajectory 602 and the station. [00126] Advantageously, a reward is provided to the user 5 at the end of step 412 if he agrees to go through station 604.

The term "user" used in this description may also refer to an operator, for example employed by a manager of the system 2, whose function is to redistribute vehicles between stations having an imbalance. The operator then specifically chooses to go to an arrival station because it has a need for a vehicle. The structuring of the convoy takes place as described previously. The operator can combine several paths between stations with a need for vehicles.

Claims

1. A method for automatically rebalancing a fleet of motor vehicles in a vehicle sharing system, comprising:

a) the provision of the vehicle sharing system (2), said system comprising a plurality of stations and a plurality of motor vehicles (20), each vehicle being able to be parked in a station before being taken by a user of the vehicle; system for traveling between originating (10) and arriving (12) stations of the system, and;

b) the acquisition, by means of a human-machine interface of the departure station, of an identifier of a station of arrival of the system towards which the user wishes to go;

c) when a user (5) is borrowing a vehicle from the system at a departure station, an electronic manager (4) of the system acquires (402) a number of vehicles stationed in the departure station and in the arrival station;

d) before said borrowed vehicle (20) leaves the departure station, the electronic manager generates (406) a formation command of a road convoy and, alternately, inhibits (410) this command for forming a convoy road, according to the number of vehicles acquired during step c];

characterized in that the method comprises:

(e) providing, for each vehicle in the system, a front hitch (34) and a rear hitch (36),

The front hitch being able, in response to a control signal, to switch automatically and alternately, between:

A hitched position, in which the front hitch cooperates with a rear hitch, located on another vehicle, to attach the vehicle behind the other vehicle so that the vehicle is directed by the other vehicle during its movement, and

A uncoupled position, in which this vehicle and this other vehicle are detached and movable independently of one another;

The rear hitch being able, in response to a control signal, to switch automatically and alternately, between:

A hitched position, in which the rear hitch cooperates with a front hitch, located on another vehicle, to attach the vehicle in front of the other vehicle so that the other vehicle is directed by the vehicle during its movement, and

A uncoupled position, in which this vehicle and this other vehicle are detached and movable independently of one another; the vehicles (20) of the system provided in step a) which are stationed in the departure station (10) being attached together to form a stationary convoy (21) of a plurality of motor vehicles (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d , 20th) tied one behind the other by means of their respective couplers;

f) in response to the training command (406) of a road convoy generated in step d):

f1) the electronic manager controls the hitching of one or more vehicles of the departure station and, in response, the controlled hitch or hoists automatically switch from their hitched position to their unhitched position to split the stationary hoists into two parts; one of these parts forming a road convoy (200) comprising, at the head of this convoy, the borrowed vehicle (20a) and at least one free vehicle (20b) devoid of driver attached behind the borrowed vehicle, and the other of these parts forming a residual stationary convoy, then

f2) when the borrowed vehicle (20a) has reached the arrival station, the free vehicle (20b) is parked (408) in the arrival station;

g) in response to the inhibition of the convoy formation command, the electronic manager controls (410) the coupling of one or more vehicles of the departure station to detach the borrowed vehicle from all other vehicles of the stationary convoy.

The method of claim 1, wherein:

the stationary convoy (21) provided comprises said free vehicle (20b) attached behind the borrowed vehicle (20a) and at least one additional free vehicle (20c) attached behind the free vehicle (20b); and

step f1) comprises the control (406) of the rear linkage of the free vehicle (20b) or the front of the additional free vehicle (20c) for tilting these couplers in their untwisted position and thus splitting the stationary convoy into two parts, one of these parts corresponding to the road convoy (200).

The method of claim 1, wherein:

the stationary convoy (21) provided comprises said free vehicle (20e) attached behind the borrowed vehicle (20d) and at least one additional free vehicle (20c) attached in front of the borrowed vehicle (20d);

step f1) comprises the control of the rear hitch (36c) of the free additional vehicle (20c) or the front vehicle (34d) of the borrowed vehicle (20d) in order to tilt these couplers in the uncoupled position and thus split the stationary convoy into two parts, one of these parts corresponding to the road convoy (200 ').

The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the parking of the borrowed vehicle (20a) in the arrival station comprises the hitch of the borrowed vehicle (20a) to another parked vehicle (20f) to form a new stationary convoy. in this arrival station.

The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein:

in step c], the electronic manager (4):

• builds a forecast trajectory (602) between the departure station and the arrival station;

• identifies the stations of the system that are distinct from the departure and arrival stations and which are situated on the constructed forecast trajectory, then acquire the number of vehicles stationed in each of the stations identified to identify a station of the system, called intermediate station ( 604), which has a need for free vehicles;

- and, only if an intermediate station is identified during step c], then:

During the step f1], the electronic manager controls the coupling of several vehicles of the departure station so that the road convoy (200) comprises, in addition to vehicles borrowed (20a) and free (20b), a vehicle additional free (20c);

• then, when the borrowed vehicle has reached the identified intermediate station, the additional vehicle (20c) is parked in this identified intermediate station (604).

6. Information recording medium (4c) characterized in that it comprises instructions for performing steps b), c), d), f1) and g) of a method according to one of the following: any of claims 1 to 5 when these instructions are executed by an electronic computer.

7. System for sharing (2) vehicles, comprising:

a plurality of stations;

a plurality of motor vehicles, each being able to be parked at a station before being taken by a user (5) of the system to make a journey between the departure (10) and arrival (12) stations of the system ;

an electronic manager (4) programmed for:

a) when a user (5) borrows a vehicle from the system at a departure station, acquiring (402) a number of vehicles stationed at the departure station and at an arrival station; b) acquiring, by means of a man-machine interface of the departure station, an identifier of an arrival station of the system to which the user wishes to go;

c) before said borrowed vehicle (20) leaves the departure station, generating (406) a formation command of a convoy and, alternately, inhibiting (410) this formation command of a convoy, depending on the number of vehicles acquired in step c];

characterized in that

- the system includes, for each vehicle in the system, a front hitch (34) and a rear hitch (36),

A uncoupled position, in which this vehicle and this other vehicle are detached and movable independently of one another; the vehicles (20) of the system which are stationed in the departure station (10) being attached together to form a stationary convoy (21) of a plurality of motor vehicles (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e) attached one behind the other others by means of their respective couplers;

- the electronic manager is programmed to:

d) in response to the training command (406) of a generated convoy, control the coupling of one or more vehicles of the departure station so that in response, the commanded coupler (s) automatically switch from their hitched position to their unstretched position to split the stationary convoy into two parts, one of these parts forming a road convoy (200) comprising, at the head of this convoy, the borrowed vehicle (20a) and at least one free vehicle (20b) without attached driver behind the borrowed vehicle, the other of these parts forming a residual stationary convoy;

e) in response to the inhibition of the convoy control command, controlling (410) the hitch of one or more vehicles of the departure station to detach or to keep the borrowed vehicle detached from all other vehicles of the stationary convoy.

The system of claim 7, wherein:

one or the other of the front (34) and rear (36) couplings comprises a ring (104) of rigid connection,

the other of these front and rear couplers comprises a hook (106) of shape complementary to the ring;

this connecting ring and this hook being movable relative to each other, alternately and reversibly, between:

A locked position, in which the hook is engaged inside the ring so as to form the hitch, the front and rear couplers being thus in their hitched position, and

An unlocked position, in which the hook and the ring are free to move relative to each other, the front and rear couplers then being in their unhitched position;

one or the other of the front (34) and rear (36) couplings further comprises a controllable actuator (120, 122) adapted to move the hook or the ring from the locked position to the unlocked position in response to the control signal.

The system of claim 8 wherein the front and rear hitches are Scharfenberg couplers.

The system of claim 7, wherein:

one or the other of the front (500) and rear (502) couplers comprises a magnetic pad (516);

the other of these front (500) and rear (502) couplers comprises an electromagnet (506) that is automatically movable, alternately and in response to a control signal, between:

An active state, in which it generates an electromagnetic force capable of attracting the magnetic pad with a coupling force greater than or equal to the force necessary to keep the free vehicle attached behind the borrowed vehicle, and

• an inactive state, in which it does not generate the coupling force.