WO2019225046A1 - Vehicle dispatch device, vehicle dispatch method, computer program, and computer-readable recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

The computer program according to one embodiment of the present invention is for making a computer function as a device for dispatching a vehicle to a user. The computer program makes the computer function as: an acquisition unit that acquires a vehicle dispatch request; and an information processing unit that, in response to the acquired vehicle dispatch request, selects candidate vehicles for dispatching to the user. When electric vehicles are included in the selected candidate vehicles, the information processing unit determines whether to keep the electric vehicles as candidate vehicles on the basis of: the remaining battery of the electric vehicles; and the power that would need to be consumed to travel from the current locations of the electric vehicles to the destination of the user via the embarkation location of the user.

Description

Vehicle allocation device, vehicle allocation method, computer program, and computer-readable recording medium

The present invention relates to a vehicle allocation device, a vehicle allocation method, a computer program, and a computer-readable recording medium.
This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-098914 filed on May 23, 2018, and incorporates all the description content described in the above Japanese application.

Patent Document 1 describes a system in which a center device capable of wireless communication with a vehicle dispatches a vehicle for moving from a boarding position designated by a user to a destination in response to a dispatch request received from a user terminal. Has been.
In the above vehicle allocation system, the center device determines that a vehicle that can arrive at the user's boarding position earliest is a vehicle allocation vehicle when receiving a vehicle allocation request from the user terminal, and the Forward the dispatch request received from the terminal.

JP 2016-091411 A

(1) A computer program according to an aspect of the present invention is a computer program for causing a computer to function as a device for allocating a vehicle to a user, and the computer acquires an allocation unit that acquires a allocation request, and In response to the dispatch request, the information processing unit functions as an information processing unit that selects a candidate vehicle that is a candidate to be dispatched to the user, and the information processing unit includes the electric vehicle when the selected candidate vehicle includes an electric vehicle. The electric vehicle based on the remaining battery level and the power consumption required for the electric vehicle to travel from the current position of the vehicle to the user's destination via the user's boarding position. It is determined whether or not to be a candidate vehicle.

(10) A method according to an aspect of the present invention is a method of dispatching a vehicle to a user, and includes a first step of obtaining a dispatch request, and candidates for dispatching to the user according to the obtained dispatch request. A second step of selecting a candidate vehicle, and when the selected candidate vehicle includes an electric vehicle, the second step includes a remaining battery level of the electric vehicle, and the electric vehicle Determining whether to make the electric vehicle the candidate vehicle based on the power consumption required to travel from the current position to the user's destination via the user's boarding position. included.

(11) An apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is an apparatus that dispatches a vehicle to a user, and is an acquisition unit that acquires a dispatch request and a candidate that dispatches the user according to the acquired dispatch request. An information processing unit that selects a candidate vehicle, and the information processing unit, when the selected candidate vehicle includes an electric vehicle, a remaining battery level of the electric vehicle, and the electric vehicle Whether or not the electric vehicle is set as the candidate vehicle is determined based on the power consumption required to travel from the position to the user's destination via the user's boarding position.

(12) A recording medium according to an aspect of the present invention is a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium recorded with a computer program for causing a user to function as a vehicle allocation device for distributing a vehicle to a user. The computer program causes the computer to function as an acquisition unit that acquires a vehicle allocation request, and an information processing unit that selects a candidate vehicle that is a candidate to be allocated to the user in response to the acquired vehicle allocation request. When an electric vehicle is included in the selected candidate vehicle, the processing unit includes a remaining battery level of the electric vehicle and the user's purpose from the current position of the own vehicle via the user's boarding position. Whether or not the electric vehicle is the candidate vehicle based on the power consumption required to travel to the ground The judges.

The present invention can be realized not only as a system and apparatus having the above-described characteristic configuration, but also as a program for causing a computer to execute such characteristic configuration.
Further, the present invention can be realized as a semiconductor integrated circuit that realizes part or all of the system and apparatus.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a vehicle allocation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of a vehicle allocation server and an in-vehicle device included in the vehicle allocation system. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the information processing which each component of a vehicle allocation system performs, respectively. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the selection process of a candidate vehicle. It is explanatory drawing which shows the modification of the ranking process of a candidate vehicle.

<Problems to be solved by the present disclosure>
In a conventional vehicle allocation system, when a vehicle to be allocated is an electric vehicle (EV) that uses only an electric motor as a power source, there is a possibility that the remaining battery level of the electric vehicle is less than the amount of power that can reach the destination. is there. In this case, when the driver of the electric vehicle accepts the dispatch, it is necessary to charge the battery in the middle of the route to the destination.
For this reason, the driver of the electric vehicle has to wait for the user during the actual vehicle or prompt the user to change, which reduces the convenience for the user.

In view of such conventional problems, the present disclosure is intended to enable an electric vehicle according to the remaining battery level required to reach the destination to be dispatched.

<Effects of the present disclosure>
According to the present disclosure, it is possible to dispatch an electric vehicle according to the remaining battery level necessary to reach the destination.

<Outline of Embodiment of the Present Invention>
Hereinafter, an outline of embodiments of the present invention will be listed and described.
(1) The program according to the present embodiment is a computer program for causing a computer to function as a device for allocating a vehicle to a user. The computer is used as an acquisition unit that acquires a vehicle allocation request and the acquired vehicle allocation request. Accordingly, the information processing unit functions as an information processing unit that selects a candidate vehicle that is a candidate to be dispatched to the user, and the information processing unit, when the selected candidate vehicle includes an electric vehicle, And the electric vehicle as the candidate vehicle based on the electric power consumption required for the electric vehicle to travel from the current position of the own vehicle to the user's destination via the user's boarding position. It is determined whether or not.

According to the program of the present embodiment, the information processing unit determines whether or not the electric vehicle is a candidate vehicle based on the remaining battery level of the electric vehicle and the above-described power consumption. It is possible to arrange an electric vehicle according to the remaining battery level necessary for the operation.
Therefore, even if the electric vehicle is dispatched to the user, the driver of the electric vehicle does not wait for the user during the actual vehicle or prompts the user to change, and the convenience of the user can be improved.

(2) Specifically, the information processing unit includes, in the candidate vehicle, the electric vehicle in which the battery remaining amount is equal to or greater than the power consumption.
(3) Moreover, the information processing unit excludes the electric vehicle whose remaining battery capacity is less than the power consumption from the candidate vehicle.

In this case, an electric vehicle that can reach the destination without being charged halfway becomes a candidate vehicle, and an electric vehicle that cannot reach the destination without being charged halfway is removed from the candidate vehicle, so there is no need to charge during the actual vehicle A suitable electric vehicle can be dispatched to the user.

(4) In the program according to the present embodiment, the information processing unit transmits the dispatch request to the in-vehicle device of the candidate vehicle, and according to the result of the dispatch response received from the in-vehicle device of the candidate vehicle, It is preferable to determine whether or not to dispatch candidate vehicles to the user.
In this case, a candidate vehicle for a driver who is not in service, such as when the driver is resting, such as when a driver is resting by dispatching a candidate vehicle for which the result of the dispatch response is acceptance and not for a candidate vehicle for which the result of the dispatch response is rejection Can be prevented from being dispatched.

(5) In the program of the present embodiment, the information processing unit may determine the transmission order of the dispatch request according to a predetermined condition when there are a plurality of selected candidate vehicles.
In this way, by appropriately setting the predetermined conditions, it is possible to provide an appropriate vehicle dispatch service in consideration of public demands such as environmental conservation or with high usability.

(6) For example, in the predetermined condition, it is preferable that the transmission order of the electric vehicle is higher than the transmission order of other normal vehicles.
In this case, since the possibility that the electric vehicle is allocated to the user increases, the utilization rate of the electric vehicle in the vehicle allocation system is improved. For this reason, it can be used for the fuel consumption reduction of the whole dispatch system, and environmental preservation of a service area.

(7) Further, it is preferable that the predetermined condition includes at least one of the following conditions 1 to 3.
Condition 1: A vehicle having a shorter arrival time to the user's boarding position is ranked higher.
Condition 2: A vehicle with a lower boarding fee is ranked higher.
Condition 3: The type of vehicle desired by the user is ranked high.

If at least one of the above conditions 1 to 3 is adopted, candidate vehicles having high convenience for the user such as a vehicle having a short arrival time, a vehicle having a low boarding fee, and a vehicle desired by the user are dispatched. The possibility of being increased. For this reason, the usability of the dispatch service can be improved.

(8) In the program of this embodiment, when the user's boarding position and destination are included in the vehicle allocation request, the acquisition unit acquires the vehicle allocation request including the user's boarding position and destination. It is preferable.
In this case, a communication unit that can perform wireless or wired communication with the user terminal also serves as a user's boarding position, destination, and acquisition source of a vehicle allocation request.

(9) In the program according to the present embodiment, the information processing unit is required to travel from the user's destination to the nearest charging station in addition to the power consumption compared with the remaining battery level of the electric vehicle. It is preferable to add a large amount of power consumption.
In this way, it is possible to prevent the battery from running out as soon as the electric vehicle reaches the user's destination.

(10) The vehicle allocation method of the present embodiment is a vehicle allocation method that is achieved by a computer executing the computer programs (1) to (9) described above.
Therefore, the vehicle allocation method of the present embodiment has the same effects as the computer programs (1) to (9) described above.

(11) The device according to the present embodiment is a vehicle allocation device that includes a computer that executes the computer programs of (1) to (9) described above.
Therefore, the vehicle allocation apparatus of this embodiment has the same operational effects as the computer programs (1) to (9) described above.

(12) A recording medium according to the present embodiment is a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium on which the computer programs (1) to (9) described above are recorded.
Therefore, the recording medium of the present embodiment has the same effects as the computer programs (1) to (9) described above.

<Details of Embodiment of the Present Invention>
Hereinafter, details of embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, you may combine arbitrarily at least one part of embodiment described below.

〔Definition of terms〕
In describing the details of the present embodiment, first, terms used in this specification are defined.
“Vehicle”: A vehicle that can travel on two or more people including a driver among vehicles traveling on a road. In addition to automobiles, light vehicles, and trolley buses, motorcycles can also be vehicles.
The power source of the vehicle is not particularly limited. Therefore, the vehicle includes ICEV (Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle), EV (Electric Vehicle), PHV (Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle), PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), and the like.

“Probe information”: Various information related to the vehicle sensed by the vehicle traveling on the road.
The probe information is also referred to as probe data or floating car data. The probe information includes various types of vehicle data such as vehicle identification information, vehicle position, vehicle speed, vehicle direction, and time of occurrence thereof.

[Overall system configuration]
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a vehicle allocation system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the vehicle allocation server 2 and the in-vehicle device 4 included in the vehicle allocation system 1.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a vehicle allocation system 1 according to the present embodiment is possessed by a vehicle allocation device 2 that is a kind of information processing device installed in a data center or the like, an in-vehicle device 4 of a vehicle 3, and a user 5. The user terminal 6 to be provided.

The vehicle allocation device 2 according to the present embodiment includes a computer device having a server function that is operated by a taxi company or an IT company that performs a vehicle allocation business. The vehicle allocation device 2 is not necessarily a server, but is assumed to be a server in the present embodiment.
The vehicle allocation server 2 has a vehicle allocation function for matching a user 5 registered in advance in the vehicle allocation server 2 with a vehicle 3 that can provide a pickup service registered in advance in the vehicle allocation server 2.

According to the request received from the user terminal 6, the above-described vehicle allocation function is a process for determining the vehicle 3 suitable for the user 5 to move from the boarding position to the destination, and determines the boarding position of the user 5 to the determined vehicle 3. This is realized by a process of transmitting, a process of transmitting information on the determined vehicle 3 to the user terminal 6, and the like.

The in-vehicle device 4 of the vehicle 3 can wirelessly communicate with wireless base stations 7 (for example, mobile base stations) in various places. The wireless base station 7 can communicate with the vehicle allocation server 2 via a public communication network 8 such as the Internet.
Therefore, the in-vehicle device 4 can wirelessly transmit the uplink information S1 addressed to the vehicle allocation server 2 to the wireless base station 7. The dispatch server 2 can transmit the downlink information S2 addressed to a specific in-vehicle device 4 to the public communication network 8.

The user terminal 6 of the user 5 includes a data communication terminal that can be carried by the user 5 such as a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a notebook computer. The user terminal 6 can wirelessly communicate with wireless base stations 7 in various places.
Therefore, the user terminal 6 can wirelessly transmit the uplink information S1 addressed to the vehicle allocation server 2 to the wireless base station 7. The dispatch server 2 can transmit the downlink information S2 addressed to the specific user terminal 6 to the public communication network 8.

The vehicle 3 includes an electric vehicle (hereinafter also referred to as “EV”) 3A whose power source is only an electric motor, and a normal vehicle 3B that is a vehicle 3 other than the electric vehicle 3A.
Therefore, the normal vehicle 3B includes an internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) whose power source is an internal combustion engine. The normal vehicle 3B may be a hybrid vehicle (for example, PHV or PHEV) that uses both an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. Hereinafter, the generic term of the electric vehicle 3A and the normal vehicle 3B is “vehicle 3”.

[Configuration of the dispatch server]
As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle allocation server 2 includes a server computer 10 including a workstation and various databases 21 to 24 connected to the server computer 10. The server computer 10 includes an information processing unit 11, a storage unit 12, and a communication unit 13.
The storage unit 12 includes a storage including at least one nonvolatile memory (storage medium) of HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and SSD (Solid State Drive) and a volatile memory (storage medium) including a random access memory. Device.

The information processing unit 11 includes an arithmetic processing unit including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that reads a computer program 14 stored in a nonvolatile memory of the storage unit 12 and performs information processing according to the program 14.
In addition to the communication control program for the communication unit 13, the computer program 14 includes processes necessary for determining the vehicle 3 to be dispatched to the user 5, such as “candidate vehicle selection process” (step ST13 in FIG. 3) described later. A program to be executed by the information processing unit 11 is included.

The communication unit 13 is communicably connected to another information providing server such as the traffic information server 15 via the public communication network 8.
The traffic information server 15 is a server computer operated by a predetermined information service provider. The traffic information server 15 sends the domestic VICS information acquired from the VICS (“VICS” is a registered trademark of the Road Traffic Information Communication System Center) center to the partner every predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes). To do.

The communication unit 13 is a communication interface that communicates with the radio base station 7 via the public communication network 8. The communication unit 13 can receive the uplink information S1 transmitted from the wireless base station 7 to the own device, and can transmit the downlink information S2 generated by the own device to the wireless base station 7.
If the received uplink information S1 is a vehicle allocation request including the boarding position and the destination of the user 5, the communication unit 13 transfers the vehicle allocation request to the information processing unit 11.

Therefore, the information processing unit 11 also has a function as a vehicle allocation request acquisition unit including the boarding position of the user 5 and the destination. Note that the information processing unit 11 acquires the boarding position and the destination and the allocation request from different acquisition sources, such as acquiring the boarding position and the destination from the member database 23 and acquiring the allocation request from the communication unit 13. Good.
The databases 21 to 24 are large-capacity storages such as HDDs or SSDs connected to the server computer 10 so as to be able to transfer data.

In the map database 21, road map data 25 covering the country is recorded. The road map data 25 includes “intersection data” and “link data”.
“Intersection data” is data in which an intersection ID assigned to an intersection in Japan is associated with position information of the intersection. The “link data” includes data in which the following information 1) to 4) is associated with the link ID of a specific link assigned corresponding to a domestic road.

Information 1) Position information of start point / end point / interpolation point of specific link Information 2) Link ID connected to start point of specific link
Information 3) Link ID connected to the end point of a specific link
Information 4) Link cost of specific link

The road map data 25 constitutes a network corresponding to the actual road alignment and the road traveling direction. For this reason, the road map data 25 is a network in which road sections between nodes representing intersections are connected by a directed link l (lowercase letter L).
Specifically, the road map data 25 includes a directed graph in which a node n is set for each intersection and each node n is connected by a pair of directed links 1 in the opposite direction. Therefore, in the case of a one-way road, the node n is connected only to the directional link 1 in one direction.

The road map data 25 includes road type information indicating whether a specific directed link l corresponding to each road on the map is a general road or a toll road, and a tollgate included in the directed link l Alternatively, facility information indicating the type of facility such as a parking area is also included.

The vehicle database 22 includes “static information” of the vehicle 3 registered in advance in the dispatch server 2 and “dynamic information” of the registered vehicle 3.
The static information of the vehicle 3 includes the identification information of the vehicle 3 (for example, a vehicle identification number), the vehicle type of the vehicle 3, the power type of the vehicle 3, the name of the vehicle 3, the number of passengers, the name of the driver of the vehicle 3, and The image data of the appearance of the vehicle 3 is included.

The power type of the vehicle 3 includes ICEV, EV, PHV, PHEV, and the like.
The electric vehicle 3A of the present embodiment means a vehicle 3 whose power type is “EV”, and the normal vehicle 3B of the present embodiment has a power type other than EV, that is, “ICEV”, “PHV” or “PHEV”. ”Means the vehicle 3.

In the case of the vehicle 3 (electric vehicle 3A) whose power type is EV, the electric cost (Electric Mileage) of the vehicle 3 is also included in the static information.
The electricity cost is a cruising distance per kWh calculated from the remaining battery level of the electric vehicle 3A and the past travel history. Therefore, assuming that the current battery remaining amount is Br (kWh) and the power consumption is EM (km / kWh), the current cruising distance Lr of the electric vehicle 3A can be calculated by the calculation formula of Lr = Br × EM. .

The value of the power consumption may be calculated by the distribution server 2 for each electric vehicle 3A from the past probe information of the electric vehicle 3A accumulated in the vehicle database 22 and the battery remaining amount.
The value of the electricity cost may be a value calculated by each electric vehicle 3A individually from the past travel history of the own vehicle and the remaining battery level and reported to the vehicle allocation server 2.

The dynamic information of the vehicle 3 includes probe information of the vehicle 3, a service state of the vehicle 3, and the like. When the vehicle 3 is an electric vehicle 3A, the remaining battery level is also included in the probe information.
The service state of the vehicle 3 is information indicating whether the vehicle 3 is in service. For example, when the service state is “actual vehicle”, it indicates that the user is already on the road and the new user 5 cannot get on the vehicle. When the service state is “empty vehicle”, the customer is not yet on the vehicle and a new user 5 can be boarded.

The member database 23 includes at least one of personal information such as the registered member's (user 5) address and name, and identification information of the registered member's user terminal 6 (for example, MAC address, mail address, telephone number, etc.). ) Is included.
In the traffic information database 24, traffic information (for example, link travel time) received from the traffic information server 15 every predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) is accumulated for each directed link l. The traffic information in the traffic information database 24 is updated every predetermined time.

[Configuration of in-vehicle device]
As shown in FIG. 2, the in-vehicle device 4 includes a computer device that includes a processing unit 41, a storage unit 42, a communication unit 43, and the like.
The processing unit 41 includes an arithmetic processing unit that includes a CPU and an ECU (Electric Control Unit) that read a computer program 44 stored in a nonvolatile memory of the storage unit 42 and performs various types of information processing according to the program 44.

The storage unit 42 is a storage device that includes at least one nonvolatile memory (storage medium) of the HDD and the SSD and a volatile memory (storage medium) including a random access memory or the like.
In addition to the communication control program for the communication unit 43, the computer program 44 includes an operation control program to be executed by the ECU of the processing unit 41, an image processing program for displaying a travel route on the display of the navigation system, and the like.

The communication unit 43 includes a wireless communication device that is permanently mounted on the vehicle 3 or a data communication terminal (for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a node personal computer) that is temporarily mounted on the vehicle 3.
The communication unit 43 has a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver. The processing unit 41 monitors the vehicle position of the host vehicle almost in real time based on the GPS position information received by the communication unit 43.

The processing unit 41 collects vehicle data such as the vehicle position, vehicle speed, and CAN information of the host vehicle every predetermined sensing period (for example, 0.1 s), and records it in the storage unit 12 together with the occurrence time. When the host vehicle is the electric vehicle 3 </ b> A, the processing unit 41 also includes the current battery remaining amount (kWh) in the vehicle data recorded in the storage unit 42.
When the vehicle data is accumulated for a predetermined time (for example, 1 second) in the storage unit 42, the communication unit 43 transmits the accumulated vehicle data to the dispatch server 2 as probe information.

The in-vehicle device 4 of the vehicle 3 includes an input interface (not shown) that receives a driver's operation input. The input interface is composed of, for example, an input device attached to the navigation device or an input device of a data communication terminal mounted on the vehicle 3.
The memory | storage part 42 memorize | stores the classification | category (real vehicle or empty vehicle) of the latest service state which the passenger input into the input interface. The communication unit 43 transmits the type of the current service state stored in the storage unit 42 to the dispatch server 2 every predetermined time (for example, 1 second).

[Information processing in the dispatch system]
FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of information processing executed by each component 2, 4, 6 of the vehicle allocation system 1.
In the following description, the execution main body of each process is the vehicle allocation server 2, the in-vehicle device 4, and the user terminal 6, but the actual execution main body is the information processing unit 11 of the vehicle allocation server 2 and the processing unit 41 of the in-vehicle device 4. And a processing unit (not shown) of the user terminal 6.

As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle allocation server 2 executes “dynamic information update processing” regardless of whether or not a vehicle allocation request is received from the user terminal 6 (step ST <b> 11).
The dynamic information update process is a process of updating the dynamic information of each vehicle 3 every time the dynamic information (probe information and service status) of each vehicle 3 is received. That is, when the vehicle allocation server 2 receives the dynamic information from the vehicle 3, the vehicle allocation server 2 replaces the dynamic information corresponding to the identification information of the vehicle 3 included in the vehicle database 22 with the new dynamic information received most recently.

When the user 5 inputs the boarding position and the destination to the user terminal 6, the user terminal 6 transmits a dispatch request to the dispatch server 2 (step ST17).
The dispatch request includes the boarding position of the user 5 and location information (for example, latitude and longitude) of the destination. The boarding position and the location information of the destination are automatically generated by the processing unit of the user terminal 6 from the address or the like input to the user terminal 6 by the user 5.

The input of the boarding position with respect to the user terminal 6 is arbitrary. That is, when the user 5 does not input the boarding position to the user terminal 6, it is assumed that the user 5 wants to board at the current position, and the current position of the user terminal 6 is set as the boarding position of the user 5. You may decide.
The position information of the current position of the user terminal 6 is automatically generated by a GPS receiver built in the user terminal 6.

The vehicle allocation server 2 that has received the vehicle allocation request executes “route search processing regarding an empty vehicle” (step ST12).
The route search process for the empty vehicle is performed for the vehicle 3 whose service state is “empty” and exists within a predetermined range from the boarding position of the user 5 via the boarding position of the user 5 from the current position of the vehicle 3. This is a process for searching for the optimum route to the destination.

The predetermined range may be a range in which the radius centered on the boarding position of the user 5 is within a predetermined distance (for example, 4 km). The size of the predetermined range may be dynamically changed depending on whether the service area including the boarding position of the user 5 is in the city center or the suburbs, or the presence density of the vehicles 3 in the service area.

The route search process is performed based on predetermined route search logic such as Dijkstra method or potential method.
Specifically, the vehicle allocation server 2 uses the link closest to the departure point of the vehicle 3 as the start link, the link closest to the route point and the destination as the route link and the end link, and the start link / route link / end link. Among the passing routes, a route with a minimum link cost based on a predetermined calculation formula is extracted by the route search logic, and the extracted route is set as the optimum route of the vehicle 3.

Next, the dispatch server 2 executes “candidate vehicle selection process” (step ST13).
The candidate vehicle selection process is a process of selecting one or a plurality of vehicle 3 candidates (hereinafter referred to as “candidate vehicles”) to be dispatched to the user 5 from among the empty vehicles 3 whose routes have been searched. The candidate vehicle selection process includes a process of ranking candidate vehicles when there are a plurality of candidate vehicles. Details of the candidate vehicle selection process (FIG. 4) will be described later.

Next, the vehicle allocation server 2 executes “vehicle allocation confirmation processing” for the selected candidate vehicle (step ST14).
The vehicle allocation confirmation process is a process in which the driver confirms whether or not the driver 5 accepts the vehicle allocation request for one or more candidate vehicles determined in the candidate vehicle selection process (step ST13). The vehicle allocation confirmation process is performed by transmitting and receiving a vehicle allocation request and a vehicle allocation response between the vehicle allocation server 2 and the candidate vehicle 3.

Specifically, the vehicle allocation server 2 transmits a vehicle allocation request to the in-vehicle device 4 of the candidate vehicle having the highest transmission order (candidate vehicle having the first transmission order) (step ST19).
The dispatch request transmitted to the in-vehicle device 4 includes the boarding position of the user 5 and the position information of the destination. In order to allow the driver of the vehicle 3 to authenticate the user 5 immediately before boarding, information such as the name and telephone number of the user 5 may be included in the vehicle allocation request.

The in-vehicle device 4 that has received the dispatch request displays on the display of the navigation device of the host vehicle the fact that the dispatch request has been received and the boarding position and destination of the user 5 included in the request.
The allocation request transmitted to the in-vehicle device 4 may include the optimum route calculated by the allocation server 2. In this case, the in-vehicle device 4 that has received the dispatch request displays a road map on which the optimum route is superimposed on the display of the navigation device of the host vehicle.

The display screen of the display displayed by the in-vehicle device 4 includes information that prompts the driver to input whether to accept or reject the vehicle allocation.
In this case, when the driver inputs the acceptance or rejection of the vehicle allocation to the input interface of the in-vehicle device 4, the in-vehicle device 4 transmits a vehicle allocation response including acceptance or rejection information to the vehicle allocation server 2 (step ST20). .

When the information included in the vehicle allocation response is “accepted”, the vehicle allocation server 2 that has received the vehicle allocation response transmits the vehicle 3 of the in-vehicle device 4 that is the transmission source of the vehicle allocation response to the user 5 (hereinafter referred to as the vehicle 3). (Referred to as “allocated vehicle”) (step ST15).
When the information included in the vehicle allocation response is “rejected”, the vehicle allocation server 2 that has received the vehicle allocation response excludes the vehicle 3 of the in-vehicle device 4 that is the source of the vehicle allocation response from the candidate vehicle, and performs steps from step ST12. Each process up to ST14 is executed again.

Thus, the vehicle allocation server 2 repeats each process from step ST12 to step ST14 until a candidate vehicle (vehicle allocation vehicle) that accepts the vehicle allocation request is determined.
In the vehicle allocation confirmation process (step ST14), not only the candidate vehicle with the first transmission order but also a plurality of candidate vehicles with the transmission order from the first to the predetermined order (for example, candidate vehicles from the first to the third) are simultaneously A dispatch request may be sent. In this case, the dispatch server 2 may perform the following processing with a plurality of candidate vehicles.

That is, when only one acceptance vehicle allocation response is received, the vehicle allocation server 2 determines that the vehicle 3 as a transmission source of the vehicle allocation response is a vehicle allocation vehicle, and transmits vehicle allocation cancellation to the in-vehicle devices 4 of other vehicles 3. That's fine.
When a plurality of acceptance vehicle allocation responses are received, the vehicle allocation server 2 may determine the vehicle 3 having the highest transmission order as the vehicle allocation vehicle and transmit the vehicle allocation cancellation to the in-vehicle devices 4 of the other vehicles 3. .

Next, the vehicle allocation server 2 executes “vehicle allocation response generation / transmission processing” for the user terminal 6 (step ST16).
The generation / transmission processing of the vehicle allocation response generates a vehicle allocation response including the vehicle information of the determined vehicle allocation vehicle and the estimated arrival time to the boarding position of the user 5, and the generated vehicle allocation response is the transmission source of the vehicle allocation request. This is a process of transmitting to the user terminal 6.

The vehicle allocation server 2, for example, a link that passes from the current position of the allocated vehicle to the boarding position of the user 5 and the traffic information database 24 when the allocated vehicle passes the optimum route obtained in the route search process (step ST <b> 12). The estimated arrival time of the dispatched vehicle to the boarding position of the user 5 is calculated from the link travel time of the link included in the map.

The vehicle information of the dispatching vehicle includes, for example, the vehicle type of the dispatching vehicle, the name of the dispatching vehicle, the name of the driver, and the image data of the appearance of the dispatching vehicle.
The user terminal 6 that has received the vehicle allocation response displays the fact that the vehicle allocation response has been received and the above-described information included in the response on the display of the own device. Therefore, the user 5 can distinguish the dispatched vehicle that has arrived from other vehicles.

[Candidate vehicle selection process]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of candidate vehicle selection processing.
As shown in FIG. 4, the information processing unit 11 of the dispatch server 2 first executes a route search vehicle narrowing-down process (step ST31).

In the narrowing-down process, when the number of vehicles 3 that have performed a route search by the route search process (step ST12 in FIG. 3) exceeds a predetermined number N (for example, N = 10), candidate vehicles having a predetermined number N or less in accordance with a predetermined reference. It is processing to narrow down to.
For this reason, when the number of the plurality of vehicles 3 on which the route search has been performed is equal to or less than the predetermined number N from the beginning, the narrowing-down process in step ST31 is skipped, and all the empty vehicles 3 that have been route searched are considered as candidate vehicles. Become.

For example, the predetermined standard may be the vehicle 3 having the shortest arrival time from the current position of the vehicle 3 to the boarding position of the user 5 as much as possible. In this case, the candidate vehicle is the top N empty vehicles 3 having a short arrival time to the boarding position of the user 5.
The predetermined reference may be a vehicle 3 having a shortest linear distance from the current position of the vehicle 3 to the boarding position of the user 5 as much as possible. In this case, the candidate vehicle is the top N empty vehicles 3 having a short linear distance to the boarding position of the user 5.

Next, the information processing section 11 assigns a determination number i (= 1 to N) to each of the vehicles 3 included in the top N vehicles, and executes the processes of steps ST32 to ST35 for each vehicle 3 with the determination number i.
Specifically, the information processing section 11 determines whether or not the power type of the vehicle 3 with the determination number i is “electric vehicle (EV)” (step ST32).

When the determination result of step ST32 is negative, that is, when the vehicle 3 with the determination number i is “ordinary vehicle 3B”, the information processing section 11 does not perform the process of step ST33 and performs the process with the determination number i. The vehicle 3 (normal vehicle 3B) is set as a candidate vehicle (step ST34).

If the determination result in step ST32 is affirmative, that is, if the vehicle 3 with the determination number i is “electric vehicle 3A”, the information processing section 11 uses the power necessary for passing the optimum route from the remaining battery level Br. It is determined whether or not the calculated value obtained by subtracting the consumption amount Bo is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold Th (step ST33).
The threshold Th may be zero, but it is preferable to employ a predetermined margin value slightly larger than zero.

The power consumption amount Bo is the amount of power consumed when the electric vehicle 3A travels on the optimum route from the current position of the own vehicle to the destination via the boarding position of the user 5. When the distance of the optimal route is Lo (km) and the power consumption is EM (km / kWh), the power consumption Bo can be calculated by the formula Bo = Lo / EM.
Therefore, the determination process in step ST33 is a process in which the information processing unit 11 determines whether Br−Lo / EM ≧ Th is established for the electric vehicle 3A with the determination number i.

If the determination result of step ST33 is affirmative, the information processing section 11 includes the vehicle 3 (electric vehicle 3A) with the determination number i as a candidate vehicle (step ST34).
Thus, the electric vehicle 3A that can travel to the destination of the user 5 without being charged in the middle is included in the candidate vehicle to be dispatched to the user 5.

If the determination result of step ST33 is negative, the information processing section 11 excludes the vehicle 3 (electric vehicle 3A) with the determination number i from the candidate vehicle (step ST35).
As a result, the electric vehicle 3 </ b> A that cannot travel to the destination of the user 5 without being charged in the middle is excluded from candidate vehicles to be dispatched to the user 5.

Next, the information processing section 11 performs candidate vehicle ranking processing (step ST36). The candidate vehicle ranking process is a process in which the information processing unit 11 determines the transmission order of a vehicle allocation request to the in-vehicle device 4 according to a predetermined condition preset in the storage unit 12.
The predetermined condition for determining the dispatch order of the dispatching request varies depending on the policy of the operator of the dispatching system 1, but it is preferable to employ at least one of the following conditions 1 to 3, for example.

Condition 1) A vehicle 3 having a shorter arrival time to the boarding position of the user 5 is ranked higher.
Condition 2) A vehicle 3 with a lower boarding fee is ranked higher.
Condition 3) The vehicle 3 of the type desired by the user 5 is ranked high.

For example, if the condition 1 is adopted, the information processing unit 11 gives a higher transmission order to candidate vehicles having a shorter arrival time to the user 5's boarding position.
Similarly, if condition 2 is adopted, the information processing unit 11 gives higher transmission ranks to candidate vehicles with lower boarding fees per unit distance or boarding fees necessary for traveling on the optimum route.

Moreover, if the condition 3 is adopted, the information processing unit 11 gives the candidate vehicle that is a vehicle type desired by the user 5 (for example, a type capable of boarding three or more people) to a higher transmission order than the other candidate vehicles. Give.
When Condition 3 is adopted, it is necessary to include the vehicle type desired by the user 5 in the vehicle allocation request transmitted by the user terminal 6.

The candidate vehicle ranking process (step ST36) may include a process of further reducing the number of candidate vehicles to a predetermined number or less. For example, when the predetermined number is “6”, the information processing section 11 excludes the vehicle 3 whose determined rank is “7” or less from the candidate vehicles.
After performing the ranking process in step ST36, the information processing section 11 ends the candidate vehicle selection process.

[First Modification]
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a modification of the candidate vehicle ranking process.
The “first table T1” in FIG. 5 is a table showing the relationship between the transmission order and the power type when ranking is performed according to a predetermined ranking condition. Here, it is assumed that the ranking condition is the above-described condition 1 (priority is given to the vehicle 3 having a short arrival time).

Therefore, in the first table T1, the vehicle 3 with the highest transmission rank 1 is the vehicle 3 with the shortest arrival time, the vehicle 3 with the transmission rank 2 is the vehicle 3 with the second shortest arrival time, and the transmission rank. The third vehicle 3 is the vehicle 3 with the third shortest arrival time.
Similarly, the vehicle 3 with the transmission rank 4 is the vehicle 3 with the fourth arrival time, the vehicle 3 with the transmission rank 5 is the vehicle 3 with the fifth arrival time, and the vehicle 3 with the transmission rank 6. Is the vehicle 3 with the sixth shortest arrival time.

As shown in the first table T1, the power types of the vehicles 3 from the transmission order 1 to the transmission order 6 are “ICEV1,” “ICEV2,” “EV1,” “ICEV3,” “ EV2 ”and“ PHV4 ”. It should be noted that the numerical value (1 to 6) added to the end of the power type is the vehicle identification number of each vehicle 3.

The “second table T2” in FIG. 5 is a table showing the relationship between the transmission order and the power type when the transmission order of the first table T1 is changed according to the EV priority conversion policy.
The EV priority conversion policy is a function for converting the transmission order of the power type included in the first table T1 so that the transmission order of the electric vehicle 3A is higher than the transmission order of the normal vehicle 3B. .

The information processing unit 11 applies the above conversion policy to the first table T1, converts the first table T1 to the second table T1, and sets the transmission order determined by the converted second table T1 to the transmission of the dispatch request. Adopt as a ranking.
In this case, as shown in the second table T2, the power types of the vehicles 3 from the transmission order 1 to the transmission order 6 are “EV1”, “EV2”, “ICEV1”, “ICEV2” in descending order of transmission order. ”,“ ICEV3 ”and“ PHV4 ”.

As described above, when the EV priority conversion policy is applied, the transmission order for EV is pushed up to the highest order, and the possibility that the electric vehicle 3A is allocated to the user 5 increases.
Accordingly, the utilization rate of the electric vehicle 3A in the vehicle allocation system 1 can be improved, which can be used for reducing fuel consumption of the vehicle allocation system 1 as a whole and for environmental protection of the service area.

[Second Modification]
In the above-described embodiment, the in-vehicle device 4 of each vehicle 3 may execute the route search process (step ST12 in FIG. 3), and the vehicle allocation server 2 may collect the search results. The sequence of information processing in this case is, for example, as follows.

1) When the vehicle allocation server 2 receives the vehicle allocation request from the user terminal 6, the vehicle allocation server 2 transmits a search request including the boarding position of the user 5 and the destination to the in-vehicle device 4 of the empty vehicle 3 located within the predetermined range.
2) The in-vehicle device 4 that has received the search request searches for an optimum route when traveling from the current position of the host vehicle to the destination via the boarding position.
3) The in-vehicle device 4 of each vehicle 3 transmits a search response including route information (such as a link number and a node number) of the optimum route as a search result to the vehicle allocation server 2.

4) The vehicle allocation server 2 executes “candidate vehicle selection processing” (step ST13 in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) using the route information of the optimum route received from each vehicle 3.
5) The vehicle allocation server 2 executes “vehicle allocation confirmation processing” (step ST14 in FIG. 3) for the selected candidate vehicle.
6) When the vehicle allocation server is determined through the vehicle allocation confirmation process, the vehicle allocation server 2 executes “vehicle allocation response generation / transmission process” (step ST16 in FIG. 3).

[Third Modification]
In the above-mentioned embodiment, when the boarding position and the destination for each identification information of the user 5 are registered in the member database 23 of the dispatch server 2 in advance and the dispatch request is received from the user terminal 6, it corresponds to the identification information of the user 5. The boarding position (for example, home) and the destination (for example, a favorite hospital or restaurant) may be acquired from the member database 23.

In this case, it is not necessary to include the boarding position and the destination of the user 5 in the dispatch request transmitted by the user terminal 6, and the member database 23 in which the boarding position and the destination of the user 5 are registered in advance acquires the information. The source.
On the other hand, in the above-described embodiment, the communication unit 13 that receives a vehicle allocation request including the boarding position and the destination of the user 5 is an acquisition source of such information.

Therefore, the user terminal 6 is not necessarily limited to a data communication terminal that the user 5 can carry. For example, a vehicle dispatch server 2 such as a taxi calling phone installed in a shopping center or a desktop computer at home is used. It may be a fixed terminal capable of wired communication with.
As described above, the user terminal 6 may be a fixed terminal capable of transmitting and receiving a vehicle allocation request and a vehicle allocation response by wired communication in addition to the portable terminal possessed by the user 5.

[Fourth Modification]
In the above-described embodiment, the power consumption amount required to travel from the user's destination to the nearest charging station may be added to the power consumption amount Bo compared with the remaining battery level Br.
That is, an optimal route to the charging station is searched in the order of the current position of the electric vehicle 3A → the boarding position of the user 5 → the destination of the user 5 → the destination of the user 5 → the charging station nearest to the destination, and is consumed when traveling on this route. What is necessary is just to let it be the electric power consumption Bo which compares electric energy with battery residual amount Br.
In this case, the situation where the battery runs out as soon as the electric vehicle 3A reaches the destination of the user 5 can be prevented.

[Other variations]
The above-described embodiments (including modifications) are illustrative and non-restrictive in every respect. The scope of the right of the present invention includes all modifications within the scope equivalent to the configurations described in the claims.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the vehicle allocation system 1 in which the vehicle-mounted device 4 of the electric vehicle 3A and the vehicle-mounted device 4 of the normal vehicle 3B are mixed is illustrated, but the vehicle allocation system 1 includes only the vehicle-mounted device 4 of the electric vehicle 3A. It may be a system.

In the above-described embodiment, it is assumed that the driver of the vehicle 3 is a human. However, the vehicle 3 may be an automatic driving vehicle of level 4 or higher where the human is not involved in driving.
In the above-described embodiment, the user 5 who is the beneficiary of the vehicle allocation service may be a person different from the user of the user terminal 6 (for example, a parent or a friend of the user of the user terminal 6). In this case, the user of the user terminal 6 may transmit a vehicle allocation request instead of the user 5 who is the beneficiary.

<Application Example 1>: In the case of dispatch of a luggage transport vehicle In the above-described embodiment (including the modified example), not only the dispatch of a passenger car on which the user 5 is boarded, but also the load transport vehicle of the user 5 is dispatched. It is also applicable to cases.
For example, it is a case where a transport vehicle that carries the user's 5 package from a predetermined “pick-up position” to a “delivery destination” is dispatched. The pick-up position is, for example, the current position of the user 5 or the position of the pick-up box, and the “delivery destination” is the position of the package delivery destination or the delivery center.

In this case, in the above-described embodiment, “the boarding position of the user 5” may be read as the “baggage pick-up position” of the user 5, and “the destination of the user 5” may be read as “the delivery destination of the baggage”.
Therefore, when the above-described embodiment is applied to the dispatch of a load carrying vehicle, claim 1 of the claims is, for example, as follows.

[Claim 1 for Application 1]
A computer program for causing a computer to function as an apparatus for allocating a vehicle to a user, the computer comprising:
An acquisition unit for acquiring a dispatch request;
In response to the obtained dispatch request, the user functions as an information processing unit that selects a candidate vehicle that is a candidate to be dispatched.
The information processing unit
When the selected candidate vehicle includes an electric vehicle, the remaining amount of the battery of the electric vehicle and the electric vehicle travel from the current position of the own vehicle to the delivery destination of the package via the package pickup position. The computer program which determines whether the said electric vehicle is made into the said candidate vehicle based on the electric power consumption required for this.

<Application Example 2>: In the case of dispatch of a service vehicle The above-described embodiment (including the modification) is not limited to the allocation of a passenger car on which the user 5 is boarded, but also a vehicle that provides a predetermined service (hereinafter referred to as “service”). The present invention is also applicable when dispatching a vehicle ") to a predetermined service provision point.
Service vehicles include, for example, public emergency vehicles such as police cars or ambulances, private emergency vehicles owned by security companies, maintenance vehicles for roads, gas, electricity, communication lines, etc., door-to-door sales Includes vehicles.

In this case, in the above-described embodiment, the “boarding position of the user 5” is not necessary, and “the destination of the user 5” may be read as “a service providing point”.
Therefore, when the above-described embodiment is applied to dispatch of a service vehicle, claim 1 of the scope of claims is, for example, as follows.

[Claim 1 for Application 2]
A computer program for causing a computer to function as an apparatus for allocating a vehicle to a user, the computer comprising:
An acquisition unit for acquiring a dispatch request;
In response to the obtained dispatch request, the user functions as an information processing unit that selects a candidate vehicle that is a candidate to be dispatched.
The information processing unit
When the selected candidate vehicle includes an electric vehicle, it is based on the remaining battery level of the electric vehicle and the power consumption necessary for the electric vehicle to travel from the current position of the own vehicle to the service providing point. A computer program for determining whether or not the electric vehicle is the candidate vehicle.

1 Vehicle allocation system 2 Vehicle allocation server (vehicle allocation device)
3 Vehicle 3A Electric car (EV)
3B Normal vehicle 4 In-vehicle device 5 User 6 User terminal 7 Wireless base station 8 Public communication network 10 Server computer 11 Information processing unit (acquisition unit)
12 storage unit 13 communication unit (acquisition source)
14 Computer Program 15 Traffic Information Server 21 Map Database 22 Vehicle Database 23 Member Database (Acquisition Source)
24 traffic information database 25 road map data 41 processing unit 42 storage unit 43 communication unit 44 computer program T1 first table T2 second table

Claims (12)

1. A computer program for causing a computer to function as an apparatus for allocating a vehicle to a user, the computer comprising:
   An acquisition unit for acquiring a vehicle allocation request; and
   In response to the obtained dispatch request, the user functions as an information processing unit that selects a candidate vehicle that is a candidate to be dispatched.
   The information processing unit
   When the selected candidate vehicle includes an electric vehicle, the remaining amount of the electric vehicle battery and the electric vehicle travel from the current position of the own vehicle to the user's destination via the user's boarding position. The computer program which determines whether the said electric vehicle is made into the said candidate vehicle based on the electric power consumption required for this.
2. The information processing unit
   The computer program according to claim 1, wherein the electric vehicle whose remaining battery capacity is equal to or greater than the power consumption is included in the candidate vehicle.
3. The information processing unit
   The computer program according to claim 1, wherein the electric vehicle whose remaining battery capacity is less than the power consumption is excluded from the candidate vehicles.
4. The information processing unit
   The vehicle allocation request is transmitted to the in-vehicle device of the candidate vehicle, and it is determined whether to allocate the candidate vehicle to the user according to a result of a vehicle allocation response received from the in-vehicle device of the candidate vehicle. The computer program according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
5. The information processing unit
   The computer program according to claim 4, wherein when there are a plurality of selected candidate vehicles, a transmission order of the dispatch request is determined according to a predetermined condition.
6. The predetermined condition is:
   The computer program according to claim 5, wherein the transmission order of the electric vehicle is set higher than the transmission order of other normal vehicles.
7. The predetermined condition includes
   The computer program according to claim 5 or 6, wherein at least one of the following conditions 1 to 3 is included.
   Condition 1: A vehicle having a shorter arrival time to the user's boarding position is ranked higher.
   Condition 2: A vehicle with a lower boarding fee is ranked higher.
   Condition 3: The type of vehicle desired by the user is ranked high.
8. When the user's boarding position and destination are included in the dispatch request,
   The computer program according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the dispatch request including a boarding position and a destination of the user.
9. The information processing unit
   The power consumption required to travel from the user's destination to the nearest charging station is further added to the power consumption to be compared with the remaining battery level of the electric vehicle. A computer program according to claim 1.
10. A method of delivering a vehicle to a user,
    A first step of obtaining a dispatch request;
    Selecting a candidate vehicle that is a candidate to be dispatched to the user in response to the obtained dispatch request,
    In the second step,
    When the selected candidate vehicle includes an electric vehicle, the remaining amount of the electric vehicle battery and the electric vehicle travel from the current position of the own vehicle to the user's destination via the user's boarding position. A vehicle allocation method including a step of determining whether or not the electric vehicle is the candidate vehicle based on the power consumption required for the vehicle.
11. A device for delivering a vehicle to a user,
    An acquisition unit for acquiring a dispatch request;
    An information processing unit that selects a candidate vehicle that is a candidate to be dispatched to the user in response to the obtained dispatch request,
    The information processing unit
    When the selected candidate vehicle includes an electric vehicle, the remaining amount of the electric vehicle battery and the electric vehicle travel from the current position of the own vehicle to the user's destination via the user's boarding position. A vehicle allocation device that determines whether or not the electric vehicle is the candidate vehicle based on the power consumption required for the vehicle.
12. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium on which a computer program for causing a computer to function as a vehicle allocation device for distributing a vehicle to a user is recorded,
    The computer program stores the computer,
    An acquisition unit for acquiring a vehicle allocation request; and
    In response to the obtained dispatch request, the user functions as an information processing unit that selects a candidate vehicle that is a candidate to be dispatched.
    The information processing unit
    When the selected candidate vehicle includes an electric vehicle, the remaining amount of the electric vehicle battery and the electric vehicle travel from the current position of the own vehicle to the user's destination via the user's boarding position. The recording medium which determines whether the said electric vehicle is made into the said candidate vehicle based on the electric power consumption required for this.

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