Information processing apparatus

Abstract

The invention relates to an information processing apparatus. A vehicle is dispatched in accordance with a user's desire. The present invention acquires request data requesting to dispatch a first vehicle to a user, notifies a driver of the first vehicle when a change in characteristics of behavior of the first vehicle with respect to a driving operation amount is requested in the request data, and notifies the driver of the first vehicle when the driver of the first vehicle agrees the change. The characteristics of the first vehicle are changed in accordance with the request data.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to vehicle technology. BACKGROUND

[0002] There is technology that improves the convenience of passengers and drivers in association with taxis and ride shares. In association therewith, for example, in Patent Literature 1, a system that dispatches a driver and a vehicle having predetermined attributes in accordance with a request from a passenger is disclosed.

[0003] PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS

[0004] PATENT LITERATURE

[0005] Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-016401

[0006] Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-054444 SUMMARY

[0007] An object of the present disclosure is to dispatch a vehicle that meets the wishes of a user.

[0008] One aspect of the present disclosure provides an information processing apparatus having a control section that performs: acquiring request data that requests dispatch of a first vehicle to a user; in a case where the request data requests a change in a characteristic of a behavior of the first vehicle with respect to a driving operation amount, notifying a driver of the first vehicle; and in a case where the driver of the first vehicle agrees to the change, changing the characteristic of the first vehicle in accordance with the request data.

[0009] In addition, as other aspects, there can be mentioned an information processing method performed by the above-described apparatus, a program for causing a computer to execute the information processing method, or a computer-readable storage medium that non-transitorily stores the program.

[0010] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to dispatch a vehicle that meets the wishes of a user. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 is a diagram that explains the structure of the in-vehicle device 10 related to the embodiments.

[0012] Figure 2 is a diagram that explains the relationship between a driving operation amount and a reaction amount of a vehicle.

[0013] Figure 3 is a flowchart of the processing performed by the in-vehicle device 10. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] In recent years, services that enable a ride in a taxi, a carpool vehicle, etc. to be reserved via an application program operating in a smartphone or the like have become widespread.

[0015] In such a service, it is also possible to make a vehicle assignment corresponding to the desires of a passenger, such as "requesting a driver who can use a specific language to be dispatched" or "requesting a specific vehicle type to be dispatched".

[0016] However, depending on the personality or characteristics of a driver, the driving itself of the driver can not be in accordance with such a situation. In particular, a situation can occur in which a driver who drives with a high degree of relaxation is evaluated as driving roughly. In particular, it is expected that when electric vehicles that have a large driving torque at low speeds become widespread, such a problem is likely to occur.

[0017] The information processing apparatus according to the present disclosure solves such a problem.

[0018] One aspect of the present disclosure provides an information processing apparatus having a control section that performs: acquiring request data that requests a first vehicle to be dispatched to a user; in a case where a change in a characteristic of the first vehicle in response to a driving operation amount is requested in the request data, notifying a driver of the first vehicle; and in a case where the driver of the first vehicle agrees to the change, changing the characteristic of the first vehicle in accordance with the request data.

[0019] The first vehicle typically refers to a vehicle driven by a driver, such as a taxi vehicle or a carpool vehicle. The request data is, for example, data that requests a vehicle assignment of a taxi. The request data can include data that requests a change in a characteristic of the first vehicle in response to a driving operation amount.

[0020] For example, the first vehicle sometimes has a parameter that defines how much the vehicle responds to a driving operation amount (e.g., the amount of depression of an accelerator pedal). In this case, by dynamically changing such a parameter, for example, the throttle opening in response to the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal can be set to be less, and the acceleration of the vehicle can be made slower.

[0021] The request data can also be generated from a vehicle assignment request sent from a user terminal. In a case where a change in a characteristic of the vehicle is requested by the request data, the control section changes the characteristic (e.g., the degree of response to a driving operation amount) of the first vehicle on the condition that consent is obtained from the driver of the first vehicle. Thereby, the first vehicle whose characteristic is changed can be dispatched to the user. According to the above-described structure, a user who reserves a vehicle such as a taxi can cause the subject vehicle to make a response closer to his or her own preference.

[0022] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The structure of the embodiments below is illustrative, and the present disclosure is not limited to the structure of the embodiments.

[0023] (First Embodiment)

[0024] An outline of a vehicle system related to the first embodiment will be described. The vehicle system related to the present embodiment is configured to include a vehicle 1 that is a taxi, and an in-vehicle device 10 mounted on the vehicle 1. In the present embodiment, the vehicle 1 is a taxi, but the vehicle 1 can also be a carpool vehicle or the like.

[0025] The structure of each device constituting the system will be described.

[0026] First, the constituent elements of the vehicle 1 will be described. Figure 1 is a diagram schematically showing one example of the structure of the vehicle 1. The vehicle 1 is configured to include the in-vehicle device 10, and an ECU 11.

[0027] The in-vehicle device 10 can be configured as a computer having a processor (CPU, GPU, or the like), a main storage device (RAM, ROM, or the like), and an auxiliary storage device (EPROM, a hard disk drive, a removable medium, or the like). In the auxiliary storage device, an operating system (OS), various programs, various tables, and the like are stored, and by executing the programs stored therein, each function (software module) conforming to a predetermined purpose as described later can be realized. However, a part or all of the functions can also be realized as a hardware module by an ASIC, an FPGA, or the like.

[0028] The in-vehicle device 10 is configured to include a control section 101, a storage section 102, a communication section 103, a position information acquisition section 104, an input / output section 105, and a wireless communication section 106.

[0029] The control section 101 is an arithmetic unit that realizes various functions of the in-vehicle device 10 by executing predetermined programs. The control section 101 can be realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU. In addition, the control section 101 can be configured to include a RAM, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a cache memory, or the like.

[0030] In the present embodiment, the control section 101 possessed by the in-vehicle device 10 is configured to have two software modules, a reservation reception section 111 and a parameter adjustment section 112. Each software module can be realized by executing a program stored in the storage section 102 described later by the control section 101 (CPU or the like). The information processing performed by the software module is the same as the information processing performed by the control section 101 (CPU or the like).

[0031] The reservation accepting section 111 receives data (reservation request) requesting a vehicle 1 from an external device (reservation server). In the present embodiment, a user who wishes to ride a taxi transmits a reservation request to a predetermined reservation server. In the reservation request, a time at which a vehicle is desired, a place at which a vehicle is desired, and information about the user, and the like are included. The reservation server decides a candidate of the vehicle 1 to be dispatched to the user from among a plurality of vehicles under its management, and transmits the reservation request to the in-vehicle device 10 mounted on the decided vehicle 1.

[0032] The reservation accepting section 111, for example, prompts the driver of the contents of the reservation request, and causes the driver to select whether to accept the request via the input / output section 105. In a case where the request is accepted, the operation of the vehicle 1 is started.

[0033] Further, in the present embodiment, in the reservation request, a request to change a characteristic parameter possessed by the vehicle 1 (characteristic request) is included.

[0034] The characteristic parameter refers to a parameter possessed by the vehicle 1 for setting how much the vehicle reacts to a driving operation amount. Figure 2 One example of the characteristic parameter is shown. Figure 2 is a graph showing a relationship between an input of a driving operation amount (horizontal axis) and an output of a reaction amount of the vehicle (vertical axis). The characteristic parameter is defined by the relationship between the input and the output in this way.

[0035] The driving operation amount refers to, for example, an input amount to a driving operation device such as an operation amount (angle) of a steering wheel, a depression amount of an accelerator pedal, a depression amount of a brake pedal. The reaction amount refers to, for example, an output amount on the vehicle component side such as a steering angle, a regenerative electric power, a brake pressure, a throttle opening degree.

[0036] By changing the characteristic parameter, it is possible to change how much the vehicle reacts to the driving operation amount. For example, in a case where the characteristic parameter is changed from the default (symbol 201) to symbol 202, the behavior of the vehicle to the driving operation amount becomes slow. Thereby, for example, even if the depression amount of the accelerator pedal is the same, the throttle opening degree becomes smaller, and it is possible to make the acceleration slower.

[0037] On the contrary, in a case where the characteristic parameter is changed from the default (symbol 201) to symbol 203, the behavior of the vehicle to the driving operation amount becomes sensitive. Thereby, for example, even if the depression amount of the accelerator pedal is the same, the throttle opening degree becomes larger, and it is possible to make the acceleration more acute.

[0038] Further, here, as the characteristic parameter, a parameter related to acceleration is exemplified, but the characteristic parameter is not limited to this, and for example, a parameter related to braking, steering, and the like can also be included.

[0039] In the present embodiment, the reservation request includes a request for changing the characteristic parameter (characteristic request). For example, in a case where the characteristic parameter is defined in three stages of "slow (level 1)", "standard (level 2)", and "sensitive (level 3)", the characteristic request can take a value indicating any one of the three stages. Further, in a case where the characteristic parameter has multiple kinds such as acceleration (boost), deceleration (brake), and steering (turning), the characteristic request can also have multiple kinds. Table 1 is a table showing one example of the characteristic request.

[0040] [Table 1]

[0041] Characteristic request

[0042] In a case where the characteristic request is included in the reservation request, the reservation accepting section 111 prompts the driver of the content thereof, and accepts the consent of the driver with respect to changing the characteristic parameter of the host vehicle. The reservation accepting section 111 can also accept the reservation request only in a case where the driver consents to change the characteristic parameter, for example. In the case where the driver consents, the reservation accepting section 111 transmits an affirmative response to the reservation request to the reservation server.

[0043] Further, the reservation accepting section 111 instructs the parameter adjusting section 112 to change the characteristic parameter of the host vehicle.

[0044] The parameter adjusting section 112, in a case where an instruction is received from the reservation accepting section 111, communicates with the ECU (Electric Control Unit) 11 of the host vehicle, and changes the characteristic parameter. For example, in a case where the kind of the characteristic request is three kinds of "acceleration", "deceleration", and "steering", the parameter adjusting section 112 instructs the ECU 11 to set the characteristic parameters of acceleration, deceleration, and steering, respectively, to the specified contents.

[0045] Further, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the characteristic parameter can be changed independently with respect to each of acceleration, deceleration, and steering, and the characteristic request can specify the characteristic parameters of the three kinds, respectively, but is not limited to this way.

[0046] For example, the drive mode of the vehicle 1 is divided into, for example, "eco", "standard", and "sport", and sometimes the ECU on the vehicle side can comprehensively change the behavior (amount of reaction) of the vehicle with respect to the amount of driving operation according to the set mode. In this case, the characteristic request can also be a request for specifying the drive mode. Further, the parameter adjusting section 112 can change the drive mode of the vehicle 1 to the specified mode. In this way, the characteristic parameter to be changed does not necessarily have to be distinguished as acceleration, deceleration, and steering, and these do not necessarily have to be specified independently.

[0047] The storage section 102 is a unit that stores information, and is constituted by a RAM, a disk, a flash memory, or the like. In the storage section 102, a program executed by the control section 101, data used by the program, and the like are stored.

[0048] The communication section 103 is a communication interface for connecting the in-vehicle device 10 to a vehicle network. The communication section 103 is constituted so as to be able to communicate with in-vehicle components possessed by the vehicle 1 via a network such as a CAN (Controller Area Network) or the like, for example.

[0049] The position information acquisition section 104 acquires position information of the vehicle 1. The position information acquisition section 104 includes a GPS antenna and a position measurement module for measuring the position information. The GPS antenna is an antenna that receives a position measurement signal transmitted from a position measurement satellite (also referred to as a GNSS satellite). The position measurement module is a module that calculates the position information on the basis of a signal received by the GPS antenna.

[0050] The input / output section 105 is a unit that accepts an input from an occupant of the vehicle and presents information to the occupant. Specifically, the input / output section 105 is constituted by a touch panel and a control unit thereof, a liquid crystal display and a control unit thereof. The touch panel and the liquid crystal display are constituted by one touch panel display in the present embodiment.

[0051] The wireless communication section 106 is a wireless communication interface for connecting the in-vehicle device 10 to an external network. The communication section 13 is constituted so as to be able to communicate with a reservation server or the like via a wireless LAN, a cellular communication network such as 3G, 4G, or 5G, or the like, for example.

[0052] The ECU 11 is an in-vehicle computer that undertakes travel control of the vehicle 1. The ECU 11 controls a drive device (such as an engine, a transmission, a motor, or the like) of the vehicle on the basis of an operation performed with respect to an accelerator pedal, a steering wheel, a brake pedal, or the like, for example. In addition, the ECU 11 has a function of adjusting an amount of reaction of the vehicle to an amount of operation performed by a driver on the basis of a predetermined characteristic parameter. In the case of the present embodiment, the characteristic parameter is of three kinds of "acceleration (accel)", "steering (turning)", and "deceleration (braking)", and three stages of levels 1 to 3 as shown below are respectively set.

[0053] Level 1: a level in which the amount of reaction to the driving operation is relatively small

[0054] Level 2: a level in which the amount of reaction to the driving operation is a default value

[0055] Level 3: a level in which the amount of reaction to the driving operation is relatively large

[0056] The ECU 11 can apply the characteristic parameters of level 2 in normal cases, and apply the characteristic parameters of level 1 or level 3 upon receiving an instruction.

[0057] Further, the specific structure of the in-vehicle device 10 can omit, replace, and add constituent elements as appropriate according to the embodiment. For example, the control section 101 can include a plurality of hardware processors. The hardware processors can be constituted by microprocessors, FPGAs, GPUs, and the like. In addition, input and output devices other than the illustrated examples (for example, optical drives and the like) can be attached. In addition, the in-vehicle device 10 can be constituted by a plurality of computers. In this case, the hardware structures of the respective computers can be identical or different.

[0058] [Processing flow]

[0059] Next, the flow of processing performed by the in-vehicle device 10 will be described.

[0060] Figure 3 Fig. 13 is a flowchart of the processing performed by the in-vehicle device 10 in the running of the vehicle 1. The illustrated processing can be started at an arbitrary timing in the case where the running system of the vehicle 1 is started.

[0061] First, in step Sll, the reservation receiving section 111 receives a reservation request from a reservation server. The reservation server determines one or more vehicles 1 to which a vehicle can be assigned upon receiving a reservation request from a user terminal, and transmits the reservation request to the determined vehicle 1. In the reservation request, the time at which the vehicle is to be assigned, the place to which the vehicle is to be assigned, information about the user who made the reservation request (user information), a characteristic request, and the like are included. The characteristic request is constituted by a combination of a characteristic parameter to be changed and a value, as shown in Table 1.

[0062] Next, in step S12, the reservation receiving section 111 notifies the driver of the vehicle 1 of the contents of the reservation request. For example, the reservation receiving section 111 outputs the vehicle assignment time, the vehicle assignment place, and the user information via the input and output section 105. Furthermore, in the case where the characteristic request is included in the reservation request, the reservation receiving section 111 outputs the contents of the characteristic request via the input and output section 105, and causes the driver of the vehicle 1 to select whether or not to permit the reservation request.

[0063] In the case where the driver of the vehicle 1 makes a selection of the intention to permit the reservation request (step S13 - "Yes"), the processing moves to step S14. In the case where the driver of the vehicle 1 makes a selection of the intention not to permit the reservation request (step S13 - "No"), or in the case where the selection times out, the processing moves to step S16. Further, in the case where the reservation request is transmitted to a plurality of vehicles 1 and one of them accepts, it can also be automatically canceled with respect to the other vehicles 1.

[0064] In step S14, the parameter adjustment section 112 changes the specified characteristic parameter in accordance with the characteristic request included in the reservation request. Further, the period in which the characteristic parameter is changed can be only the period related to the reservation. For example, the parameter adjustment section 112 can change the specified characteristic parameter from when the reservation request is received (or the user gets on the vehicle) to when the operation ends (for example, the user gets off the vehicle).

[0065] In addition, the change of the characteristic parameter by the parameter adjustment section 112 can be performed automatically or can be performed with the operation of the driver as a trigger. For example, the parameter adjustment section 112 can change the characteristic parameter to the specified content according to the operation by the driver, and notify the reservation acceptance section 111 of the completion of the change of the characteristic parameter. After the change of the characteristic parameter is completed, the process moves to step S15.

[0066] In step S15, the reservation acceptance section 111 notifies the reservation server of the establishment of the reservation. In response thereto, the reservation server can notify the user terminal of the establishment of the reservation.

[0067] In the case where the process moves to step S16, the reservation acceptance section 111 notifies the reservation server of the non-establishment of the reservation. In response thereto, the reservation server can notify the user terminal of the non-establishment of the reservation.

[0068] As described above, the vehicle-mounted device 10 according to the first embodiment, in the case where the change of the characteristic parameter of the vehicle is desired in the reservation request, notifies the driver of the vehicle 1 of the same, and changes the characteristic parameter of the vehicle on the condition that the driver agrees thereto. According to the above-described structure, the user who reserves the vehicle such as a taxi can cause the target vehicle to behave in a manner closer to the user's preference.

[0069] (Variants)

[0070] The above-described embodiment is only one example, and the present disclosure can be implemented by being appropriately changed without departing from the gist thereof.

[0071] For example, the processes and units described in the present disclosure can be freely combined and implemented as long as no technical contradiction arises.

[0072] In addition, the processes described as being performed by one device can be executed by a plurality of devices. Alternatively, the processes described as being performed by different devices can be executed by one device. In a computer system, it is possible to flexibly change what kind of hardware structure (server structure) is used to realize each function.

[0073] The present disclosure can also be realized by supplying a computer program in which the functions described in the above-described embodiments are installed to a computer, the computer reading and executing the program with one or more processors possessed by the computer. Such a computer program can be supplied to the computer through a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium capable of being connected to a system bus of the computer, or can be supplied to the computer via a network. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium includes, for example, any type of disk (a floppy disk, a hard disk drive (HDD), and the like), an optical disk (a CD-ROM, a DVD disk / Blu-ray disk, and the like), and the like, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, a magnetic card, a flash memory, an optical card, and any type of medium suitable for storing electronic commands.

[0074] (Symbol Description)

[0075] 1: vehicle; 10: in-vehicle device; 11: ECU; 101: control section; 102: storage section; 103: communication section; 104: position information acquisition section; 105: input / output section; 106: wireless communication section.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus having a control section that performs: acquiring request data that requests dispatch of a first vehicle to a user; in a case where a change in a characteristic of a behavior of the first vehicle with respect to a driving operation amount is requested in the request data, notifying a driver of the first vehicle; and in a case where the driver of the first vehicle agrees to the change, changing the characteristic of the first vehicle in accordance with the request data.

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