Vehicle operation plan support system and vehicle operation plan support method

Abstract

To realize user support for appropriately creating operation plans for a plurality of vehicles including an electric vehicle.SOLUTION: A vehicle operation plan support system 10 performs user support to create operation plans of a plurality of vehicles including at least an electric vehicle. The vehicle operation plan support system 10 comprises: a draft operation plan creation processing section 101 which creates one or more draft operation plans for prescribing assignment of an operation route to each of the plurality of vehicles; an index calculation processing section 102 which calculates index values when each of the plurality of vehicles travels according to the operation route with respect to a plurality of predetermined indexes, for each of the draft operation plans; and an index display processing section 103 which presents the index values calculated by the index calculation processing section 102, for two or more indexes among the plurality of indexes, to a user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system and method for assisting a user in formulating a vehicle operation plan. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are known businesses that operate multiple commercial vehicles to carry out various businesses, such as taxi companies and transportation companies. In recent years, the introduction of electric vehicles has been increasing among the commercial vehicles used by such businesses as a measure against global warming. Therefore, it is required to formulate appropriate operation plans for each vehicle, not only for vehicles powered by conventional internal combustion engines (internal combustion engine vehicles), but also for vehicles that include electric vehicles.

[0003] Regarding the formulation of operation plans for electric vehicles, the technology of Patent Document 1 is known. Patent Document 1 describes an operation management device for electric vehicles that formulates operation plans by calculating the amount of power consumed by the electric vehicle when it operates on each route, calculating the amount of charging power to be used to charge the electric vehicle at each charging station based on the amount of power consumed, and allocating the electric vehicle to each bus schedule based on the amount of charging power. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-106745 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] It is preferable to formulate an operation plan for each vehicle, including an electric vehicle, taking into consideration various perspectives. For example, it is necessary to formulate an operation plan including a charging plan for electric vehicles so as not to run out of power. In addition, from the viewpoint of carbon neutrality, it may be desirable to formulate an operation plan that minimizes CO2 emissions from the entire vehicle, or from the viewpoint of economy, to reduce the electricity fee required for charging the electric vehicle as much as possible. However, the technology of Patent Document 1 is intended to formulate an operation plan that allows each electric vehicle to operate without running out of power, and cannot formulate an operation plan from other viewpoints.

[0006] The present invention has been made against this background, and a main objective thereof is to provide user assistance that enables a user to appropriately formulate an operation plan for a plurality of vehicles including electric vehicles. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The vehicle operation plan support system according to the present invention is a system that supports a user in formulating an operation plan for a plurality of vehicles including at least an electric vehicle, and includes an operation plan proposal creation processing unit that creates one or more operation plan proposals that specify the allocation of operation routes to each of the plurality of vehicles, an index calculation processing unit that calculates, for each of a plurality of predetermined indexes, index values ​​when the plurality of vehicles each travel along the operation route, and an index display processing unit that presents the index values ​​calculated by the index calculation processing unit to the user for any two or more indexes among the plurality of indexes. The vehicle operation plan support method according to the present invention is a method for supporting a user in formulating an operation plan for a plurality of vehicles including at least an electric vehicle, and includes a computer that executes the following steps: an operation plan creation process for creating one or more operation plan proposals that specify the allocation of operation routes to each of the plurality of vehicles; an index calculation process for calculating, for each of a plurality of predetermined indexes, index values ​​when the plurality of vehicles each travel along the operation route; and an index display process for presenting to the user the index values ​​calculated by the index calculation process for any two or more of the plurality of indexes. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide user assistance that enables appropriate formulation of an operation plan for a plurality of vehicles including electric vehicles. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a vehicle operation plan management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process executed in the vehicle operation planning support system according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of information about a proposed operation plan. [Figure 4] 11 is a diagram showing an example of information on index values ​​for each proposed operation plan. FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an index value display screen. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an operation plan selection process. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an operation plan display screen. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an operation plan determination process. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an index value display screen according to a first modified example of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an index value display screen according to a second modified example of the present invention. [Figure 11]FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an index value display screen according to a third modified example of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an index value display screen according to a fourth modified example of the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an index value display screen according to a fifth modified example of the present invention. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an operation plan display screen according to a sixth modified example of the present invention. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an operation plan display screen according to a seventh modified example of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] (First embodiment) Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle operation plan management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle operation plan management system 1 shown in Fig. 1 is a system that supports a user when the user formulates an operation plan for a plurality of vehicles including electric vehicles, and manages the operation of each vehicle according to the formulated operation plan. The vehicle operation plan management system 1 includes a vehicle operation plan support system 10, an operation management system 11, a facility information DB (database) 12, a vehicle information DB 13, a business information DB 14, a CO2 emission information DB 15, a CO2 simulator 16, an electricity cost / fuel consumption information DB 17, an electricity cost / fuel consumption simulator 18, a battery information DB 19, a battery simulator 20, a map information DB 21, and an HMI (Human Machine Interface) device 22.

[0012] A user of the vehicle operation plan management system 1 is an employee in charge of formulating operation plans and managing operations for each vehicle at a business that operates multiple commercial vehicles and conducts various businesses, such as a taxi company or a transportation company. The user can operate the vehicle operation plan management system 1 directly or remotely to perform these tasks.

[0013] In the vehicle operation plan management system 1, the vehicle operation plan support system 10 automatically creates multiple operation plan proposals for performing a predetermined task for multiple vehicles including electric vehicles. Then, for each created operation plan proposal, multiple predetermined indexes are calculated, and the calculation results of the index values ​​for each operation plan proposal are presented to the user, thereby encouraging the user to adopt one of the operation plan proposals. In this way, the system supports the user in formulating operation plans for multiple vehicles including electric vehicles.

[0014] Specifically, the vehicle operation plan support system 10 includes an operation plan proposal creation processing unit 101, an index calculation processing unit 102, an index display processing unit 103, an operation plan proposal selection processing unit 104, an operation plan display processing unit 105, an operation plan determination processing unit 106, an operation plan proposal DB 107, and a plan judgment index DB 108. The vehicle operation plan support system 10 performs the above-mentioned processing using each of these components. The details of each component included in the vehicle operation plan support system 10 will be described later.

[0015] The vehicle operation planning support system 10 is configured by appropriately combining, for example, a processing unit such as a CPU, a non-volatile storage medium such as a HDD or SSD, etc. The vehicle operation planning support system 10 may be realized by using, for example, a physical server, or a virtual server configured on the cloud may be used as the vehicle operation planning support system 10.

[0016] The traffic management system 11 manages the operation of each vehicle based on the operation plan determined by the vehicle operation plan support system 10. For example, it transmits operation instructions to each vehicle at predetermined time intervals so that each vehicle runs according to the operation plan. Each vehicle runs according to the operation instructions transmitted from the traffic management system 11 automatically or in response to the driver's driving instructions, and performs a predetermined task.

[0017] The facility information DB 12 is a database that records information on various facilities related to the operation of each vehicle. The facility information DB 12 includes, for example, information on charging facilities that can be used by electric vehicles and garages where each vehicle is stored after the end of business hours.

[0018] The vehicle information DB 13 is a database that records information related to the characteristics of each vehicle. The vehicle information DB 13 includes information such as the number of vehicles and the type of each vehicle (whether it is an electric vehicle or not). In the case of an electric vehicle, the vehicle information DB 13 also includes information on charging conditions such as whether quick charging is possible and battery capacity.

[0019] The business information DB 14 is a database that records information related to the business performed by a business operator using multiple vehicles. The business information DB 14 includes information such as route points that each vehicle should visit during business and business constraints (for example, delivery items and delivery times in delivery business).

[0020] The CO2 emission information DB15 is a database in which information regarding the CO2 emissions of each vehicle is recorded. The CO2 simulator 16 obtains the amount of CO2 emissions of each vehicle while it is traveling by simulating the amount of CO2 emissions based on the information recorded in the CO2 emission information DB15. In the case of an electric vehicle such as an EV (electric vehicle), since no CO2 is emitted while it is traveling, the amount of CO2 emissions may be calculated as 0. Alternatively, the amount of CO2 emissions of each electric vehicle may be calculated taking into account the CO2 emitted during power generation.

[0021] The electric power consumption / fuel consumption information DB 17 is a database in which information on the electric power consumption (for electric vehicles) or fuel consumption (for internal combustion engine vehicles) of each vehicle is recorded. The electric power consumption / fuel consumption simulator 18 obtains the electric power consumption or fuel consumption of each vehicle during driving by simulating the information recorded in the electric power consumption / fuel consumption information DB 17.

[0022] The battery information DB 19 is a database in which information about the batteries possessed by each electric vehicle is recorded. The battery simulator 20 obtains the battery deterioration state of each electric vehicle by simulating it based on the information recorded in the battery information DB 19.

[0023] The map information DB 21 is a database in which map information of the area in which each vehicle travels is recorded.

[0024] The HMI device 22 displays the calculation results of index values ​​for each operation plan proposal calculated by the vehicle operation plan support system 10 and operation plans for multiple vehicles, and presents them to the user. In addition, the HMI device 22 accepts operation inputs from the user on these displayed contents, and outputs the operation contents to the vehicle operation plan support system 10. The HMI device 22 can be configured using, for example, a display, a mouse, a keyboard, and the like. Alternatively, a computer connected to the vehicle operation plan support system 10 via a LAN or WAN may be used as the HMI device 22.

[0025] Next, the details of the processing executed by each processing unit of the vehicle operation planning support system 10 (operation plan proposal creation processing unit 101, index calculation processing unit 102, index display processing unit 103, operation plan proposal selection processing unit 104, operation plan display processing unit 105, and operation plan determination processing unit 106) will be described below.

[0026] 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process executed in a vehicle operation planning support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle operation planning support system 10 executes the process shown in the flowchart in FIG. 2 in response to a request from a user, for example.

[0027] In step S10, the operation plan proposal creation processing unit 101 performs an operation plan proposal creation process. Specifically, in step S10, the operation plan proposal creation processing unit 101 acquires information recorded in the facility information DB 12, the vehicle information DB 13, and the business information DB 14, and creates multiple operation plan proposals that define the allocation of operation routes for each vehicle based on this information. Then, information on each created operation plan proposal is recorded in the operation plan proposal DB 107.

[0028] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of information on a proposed operation plan created in step S10 and recorded in the proposed operation plan DB 107. The proposed operation plan information 1070 shown in Fig. 3 is composed of a plurality of records corresponding to each operation route set for each vehicle, and each record has fields for a vehicle ID 1071, a vehicle type 1072, a status 1073, a departure point 1074, an arrival point 1075, a start time 1076, and an end time 1077.

[0029] The vehicle ID 1071 stores information indicating an ID number for uniquely identifying each vehicle owned by the business operator. The vehicle type 1072 stores information indicating the type of each vehicle, for example, whether it is an EV (electric vehicle) or an ICE (internal combustion engine vehicle). The status 1073 stores information indicating the status of the vehicle on each operation route, for example, the running status and the business status. The departure point 1074 and the arrival point 1075 store information indicating the departure point (starting point) and the arrival point (ending point) of each operation route, respectively. The start time 1076 and the end time 1077 store the scheduled times at which the vehicle starts and ends its operation or stop on each operation route, respectively.

[0030] In step S10, the operation plan proposal creation processing unit 101 changes the operation routes assigned to each vehicle in various ways so as to, for example, cover the business contents defined in the business information DB 14, and satisfy the charging conditions of each electric vehicle defined in the vehicle information DB 13, within the range of facility conditions defined in the facility information DB 12. This makes it possible to create a plurality of operation plan proposals each having the same data format as the operation plan proposal information 1070 shown in Fig. 3, and each having different contents.

[0031] 3 is an example of information about a proposed operation plan recorded in the proposed operation plan DB 107, and the contents and data format of the information are not limited to this. If the allocation of operation routes to each vehicle can be appropriately specified, the proposed operation plan creation processing unit 101 can create multiple proposed operation plans with arbitrary contents and data format and record them in the proposed operation plan DB 107.

[0032] Returning to the explanation of FIG. 2, in step S20, the index calculation processing unit 102 performs an index calculation process. Specifically, in step S20, the index calculation processing unit 102 acquires the simulation results of the CO2 simulator 16, the power consumption / fuel consumption simulator 18, and the battery simulator 20, and calculates index values ​​for each operation plan created in step S10 for a plurality of predetermined indexes using these simulation results. The index values ​​include, for example, CO2 emissions, OPEX (Operating Expense), total driving time, total driving distance, total battery deterioration level, etc. Then, information on each calculated index value for each operation plan is recorded in the plan determination index DB 108.

[0033] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information on index values ​​for each operation plan proposal calculated in step S20 and recorded in the plan determination index DB 108. Index value information 1080 shown in Fig. 4 is composed of a plurality of records corresponding to each operation plan proposal, and each record has fields for an operation plan 1081, a CO2 emission amount 1082, an OPEX 1083, a total running time 1084, a total running distance 1085, and a total battery deterioration level 1086.

[0034] The operation plan 1081 stores information for uniquely identifying each operation plan proposal. The CO2 emission amount 1082 stores information indicating the total value of the CO2 emission amount for each vehicle in each operation plan proposal. The OPEX 1083 stores information indicating the total value of the OPEX for each vehicle in each operation plan proposal. The OPEX for each vehicle, for example, corresponds to the electricity fee required for charging in the case of an electric vehicle, and corresponds to the fuel cost in the case of an internal combustion engine vehicle. The total driving time 1084 and the total driving distance 1085 store information indicating the total value of the driving time and the total driving distance for each vehicle in each operation plan proposal. The total battery deterioration degree 1086 stores the total value of the battery deterioration degree for each electric vehicle in each operation plan proposal.

[0035] In step S20, the index calculation processing unit 102 calculates the travel time and travel distance of each vehicle for each operation route from, for example, information on the operation route of each vehicle for each operation plan recorded in the operation plan DB 107. Then, using these calculation results, simulations are performed by the CO2 simulator 16, the power consumption / fuel consumption simulator 18, and the battery simulator 20 to calculate the CO2 emission amount, OPEX, and battery deterioration level of each vehicle in each operation plan plan. The CO2 emission amount, OPEX, travel time, travel distance, and battery deterioration level of each vehicle in each operation plan plan thus calculated are summed up for all vehicles for each operation plan plan, thereby generating index value information 1080 as shown in FIG. 4.

[0036] The index value information 1080 shown in FIG. 4 is an example of the information of the index value for each operation plan recorded in the plan determination index DB 108, and the contents and data format are not limited to this. For example, index values ​​other than CO2 emission, OPEX, total driving time, total driving distance, and total battery deterioration degree may be included, or any index value may be excluded. Any index can be adopted as long as the user can determine the evaluation of each operation plan when multiple vehicles run according to the operation routes in each operation plan. In addition, as long as the index value of each preset index can be appropriately represented, the index calculation processing unit 102 can record the information of the index value calculated for each operation plan in the plan determination index DB 108 with any contents and data format.

[0037] Returning to the explanation of Fig. 2, in step S30, the indicator display processing unit 103 performs an indicator display process. Specifically, in step S30, the indicator display processing unit 103 acquires information on the index values ​​for each operation plan proposal calculated in step S20 from the plan determination index DB 108, and based on the information, displays the index values ​​for each operation plan proposal for any two or more indicators on the HMI device 22 and presents them to the user. This enables the user to compare the operation plans from multiple perspectives according to the indicators when formulating operation plans for each vehicle.

[0038] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an index value display screen displayed in step S30 on the HMI device 22. The index value display screen 221 shown in Fig. 5 has an index value plot section 2210, a Pareto front line 2211, a display index selection section 2212, an index display button 2213, a selected operation plan display section 2214, and an operation plan display button 2215.

[0039] In the index value plot section 2210, a plurality of plot points each representing an index value of each operation plan plan are displayed on a scatter diagram with any two indexes as axes. In the example of FIG. 5, the horizontal axis is CO2 emission amount and the vertical axis is OPEX, and a combination of these index values ​​of each operation plan plan is displayed in the index value plot section 2210. The Pareto front line 2211 represents a Pareto solution corresponding to the optimal solution for the combination of two index values ​​(CO2 emission amount, OPEX) displayed in the index value plot section 2210. By displaying this Pareto front line 2211 in the index value plot section 2210, it is possible to display the plot points for which the combination of two index values ​​is the Pareto optimal solution, i.e., each plot point near the Pareto front line 2211, and the plot points that are not Pareto optimal, i.e., each plot point located away from the Pareto front line 2211, in a display form that can be distinguished from each other.

[0040] The display index selection section 2212 is an operation section for the user to select a combination of indexes for displaying plot points in the index value plot section 2210. The index display button 2213 is an operation section for determining the combination of indexes selected in the display index selection section 2212 as a display target of plot points in the index value plot section 2210. When the user selects any two indexes in the display index selection section 2212 by operating the HMI device 22 and then selects the index display button 2213, plot points indicating the index values ​​of each operation plan proposal for the combination of the two indexes are displayed in the index value plot section 2210. This makes it possible to determine the index values ​​to be displayed on the index value display screen 221 from the multiple index values ​​calculated by the index calculation processing section 102. In the example of FIG. 5, since CO2 emissions and OPEX are selected in the display index selection section 2212, multiple plot points representing these index values ​​are displayed in the index value plot section 2210.

[0041] The selected operation plan display section 2214 displays information indicating a proposed operation plan corresponding to a plot point currently selected by the user in the index value plot section 2210. When the user selects an arbitrary plot point in the index value plot section 2210 by operating the HMI device 22, information indicating a proposed operation plan corresponding to the plot point is displayed in the selected operation plan display section 2214. In the example of Fig. 5, since no plot point is selected in the index value plot section 2210, "-" indicating a non-selected state is displayed in the selected operation plan display section 2214.

[0042] The operation plan display button 2215 is an operation part for displaying details of the proposed operation plan displayed in the selected operation plan display area 2214. When the user selects an arbitrary plot point in the index value plot area 2210 by operating the HMI device 22 and then selects the operation plan display button 2215, the screen displayed on the HMI device 22 switches to a screen for displaying details of the proposed operation plan corresponding to the plot point. Details of the processing at this time will be described later.

[0043] Returning to the explanation of Fig. 2, in step S40, an operation plan proposal selection process is performed by the operation plan proposal selection processing unit 104. Specifically, in step S40, the operation plan proposal selection processing unit 104 selects one of the multiple operation plan proposals in response to the above-mentioned plot point selection operation performed by the user on the index value display screen displayed in step S30.

[0044] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the operation plan selection process. In the index value display screen 221 of FIG. 5, among the operation plan plans 1 to 5 whose plot points are respectively displayed in the index value plot section 2210, when the user performs a predetermined operation (for example, a mouse click operation) on the HMI device 22, a screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed. In this screen, a frame 22b is displayed around the plot point corresponding to the selected operation plan plan 3, and a display indicating that the operation plan plan 3 is being selected is performed in the selected operation plan display section 2214, so that the user can know which operation plan plan has been selected. Note that the operation plan selected by the user may be identified on the index value display screen 221 by a method other than the display of the frame 22b, for example, by changing the display color. This point is the same in the screen examples of FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 described later.

[0045] Returning to the explanation of Fig. 2, in step S50, the operation plan display processing unit 105 performs operation plan display processing. Specifically, in step S50, the operation plan display processing unit 105 displays operation plans for multiple vehicles on the HMI device 22 based on the operation plan proposal selected in step S40, and presents the operation plans to the user. This allows the user to grasp the details of the selected operation plan proposal.

[0046] 7 is a diagram showing an example of an operation plan display screen displayed on the HMI device 22 in step S50. The operation plan display screen 222 shown in FIG. 7 has a displayed operation plan display section 2220, a timetable 2221, a travel route 2222, a selection redo button 2223, and a decision button 2224.

[0047] The currently displayed operation plan display section 2220 displays information indicating which operation plan proposal is currently being displayed on the operation plan display screen 222. In the example of Fig. 7, as described above in Fig. 6, the currently displayed operation plan display section 2220 indicates that the operation plan proposal 3 is currently being displayed on the operation plan display screen 222 by selecting the operation plan proposal 3 from among the operation plans 1 to 5 as the display target.

[0048] The timetable 2221 and the travel route 2222 respectively display a timetable and a travel route indicating the contents of the operation plan of each vehicle in the operation plan proposal shown in the displayed operation plan display area 2220. When the operation plan display processing unit 105 displays the operation plan display screen 222 on the HMI device 22, it acquires necessary map information from the map information DB 21 and creates the travel route 2222 based on this map information.

[0049] The redo selection button 2223 is an operation part for redoing the selection of the operation plan proposal to be displayed on the operation plan display screen 222. When the user selects the redo selection button 2223 by operating the HMI device 22, the screen returns to the index value display screen 221 in Fig. 5. This allows the user to redo the selection of the operation plan proposal.

[0050] The decision button 2224 is an operation part for deciding the operation plan to be finally adopted. When the user selects the decision button 2224 by operating the HMI device 22, the operation plan proposal displayed on the operation plan display screen 222 at that time is decided as the operation plan to be finally adopted. Details of the processing at this time will be described later.

[0051] Returning to the explanation of Fig. 2, in step S60, it is determined whether or not an operation plan to be finally adopted has been determined. For example, as described above, if the user selects the selection redo button 2223 on the operation plan display screen 222 in Fig. 7, it is determined that an operation plan to be finally adopted has not been determined, and the process returns to step S40 to redo the selection of the operation plan proposal. On the other hand, if the user selects the decision button 2224 on the operation plan display screen 222, it is determined that an operation plan to be finally adopted has been determined, and the process proceeds to step S70.

[0052] In step S70, the operation plan determination processing unit 106 performs an operation plan determination process. Specifically, in step S70, the operation plan determination processing unit 106 determines the operation plan selected by the user with the decision button 2224 in step S60 as the operation plan to be finally adopted by the vehicle operation plan management system 1. Then, the contents of this operation plan are output to the operation management system 11, and are reflected in the operation management of each vehicle performed by the operation management system 11, so that multiple vehicles can be operated according to the operation plan and predetermined tasks can be performed.

[0053] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing the operation plan determination process. When the user moves the cursor 22a to the position of the decision button 2224 on the operation plan display screen 222 in Fig. 7 using the HMI device 22, a screen as shown in Fig. 8 is displayed. In this state, when the user performs a predetermined operation (e.g., a mouse click operation) using the HMI device 22, the operation plan proposal 3 displayed on the operation plan display screen 222 at that time is determined as the operation plan to be finally adopted. Then, the contents of the operation plan proposal 3 are output from the operation plan determination processing unit 106 to the operation management system 11, and the operation management system 11 performs operation management of each vehicle in accordance with this.

[0054] After executing the process of step S70, the vehicle operation plan support system 10 ends the process shown in the flowchart of FIG.

[0055] According to the embodiment of the present invention described above, the following advantageous effects are achieved.

[0056] (1) The vehicle operation plan support system 10 is a system that supports a user who formulates an operation plan for a plurality of vehicles including at least an electric vehicle. The vehicle operation plan support system 10 includes an operation plan proposal creation processing unit 101 that creates one or more operation plan proposals that specify the allocation of operation routes to each of a plurality of vehicles, an index calculation processing unit 102 that calculates, for each operation plan proposal, index values ​​for a plurality of predetermined indexes when the plurality of vehicles each travel along the operation route, and an index display processing unit 103 that presents to a user the index values ​​calculated by the index calculation processing unit 102 for any two or more indexes among the plurality of indexes. This makes it possible to realize user support that allows a user to appropriately formulate an operation plan for a plurality of vehicles including an electric vehicle.

[0057] (2) The index display processing unit 103 displays multiple plot points each representing an index value for each proposed operation plan on a scatter plot having two indexes selected by the user as axes in the index value plot section 2210 of the index value display screen 221. In addition, by displaying a Pareto front line 2211, plot points in which the combination of index values ​​for the two indexes is Pareto optimal and plot points in which the combination of index values ​​for the two indexes is not Pareto optimal are displayed in a display form that allows them to be distinguished from each other. In this way, when the user selects one of the proposed operation plans from among multiple proposed operation plans, the user can easily select the proposed operation plan that is Pareto optimal.

[0058] (3) The vehicle operation plan support system 10 includes an operation plan proposal selection processing unit 104 that selects one of the operation plan proposals in response to a user's operation on the index value presented by the index display processing unit 103. The system also includes an operation plan display processing unit 105 that presents operation plans for multiple vehicles to the user based on the operation plan proposal selected by the operation plan proposal selection processing unit 104. As a result, the user can formulate an operation plan for multiple vehicles including electric vehicles, taking into consideration the contents of any operation plan proposal selected based on the index value from among the various operation plan proposals created by the operation plan proposal creation processing unit 101. As a result, user convenience can be further improved.

[0059] (4) The vehicle operation plan support system 10 outputs an operation plan to the operation management system 11 that manages the operations of multiple vehicles in response to a user's operation on the operation plan presented by the operation plan display processing unit 105. In this manner, the user can arbitrarily select one of the various operation plan proposals created by the operation plan proposal creation processing unit 101, determine the proposed operation plan as the operation plan to be finally adopted, and instantly reflect it in the operation management of each vehicle performed by the operation management system 11.

[0060] Next, various modified examples of the screen that the vehicle operation planning support system 10 causes the HMI device 22 to display will be described below.

[0061] (First Modification) Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an index value display screen according to a first modified example of the present invention. The index value display screen 221A shown in Fig. 9 is different from the index value display screen 221 shown in Fig. 5 in that a threshold line 2216 indicating an allowable range for OPEX is further displayed in the index value plot section 2210, and that a frame is displayed around each plot point of each operation plan having an OPEX value lower than the threshold line 2216 to distinguish it from other operation plan plans.

[0062] (Second Modification) Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an index value display screen according to a second modified example of the present invention. The index value display screen 221B shown in Fig. 10 is different from the index value display screen 221 shown in Fig. 5 in that a threshold line 2217 indicating an allowable range of deviation from the Pareto front line 2211 is further displayed in the index value plot section 2210, and that a frame is displayed around each plot point of each operation plan plan in which two index values ​​(CO2 emission amount, OPEX) are between the Pareto front line 2211 and the threshold line 2217 to distinguish it from other operation plan plans.

[0063] In the first and second modified examples described above, the index display processing unit 103 displays plot points whose index values ​​are within a preset allowable range in a display form different from that of other plot points. This allows the user to easily identify an operation plan proposal whose index value is within the allowable range when selecting one of multiple operation plan proposals.

[0064] (Third Modification) Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an index value display screen according to a third modified example of the present invention. The index value display screen 221C shown in Fig. 11 differs from the index value display screen 221 shown in Fig. 5 in that a plurality of index value plot sections 2210a to 2210d are displayed on one screen. In the index value plot sections 2210a to 2210d, plot points representing index values ​​of each proposed operation plan for each combination of two different indexes are displayed on a scatter diagram.

[0065] (Fourth Modification) Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an index value display screen according to a fourth modified example of the present invention. The index value display screen 221D shown in Fig. 12 is different from the index value display screen 221 shown in Fig. 5 in that the index value plot section 2210 is displayed as a line graph instead of a scatter diagram, and in that an index value list 2218 is displayed. In the index value plot section 2210 in the index value display screen 221D, normalized values ​​of each index value (CO2 emission amount, OPEX, total driving time, total driving distance, total battery deterioration degree) calculated by the index calculation processing unit 102 are displayed as a line graph for each operation plan proposal. In the index value list 2218, normalized index values ​​of each plot point displayed in the index value plot section 2210 are displayed in a list.

[0066] (Fifth Modification) FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an index value display screen according to a fifth modified example of the present invention. The index value display screen 221E shown in FIG. 13 is different from the index value display screen 221 shown in FIG. 5 in that the index value plot section 2210 is displayed as a radar chart instead of a scatter diagram, and an index value list 2218 is displayed. In the index value plot section 2210 in the index value display screen 221E, normalized values ​​of each index value (CO2 emission amount, OPEX, total driving time, total driving distance, total battery deterioration degree) calculated by the index calculation processing unit 102 are displayed as plot points on a radar chart for each operation plan proposal. In the index value list 2218, the normalized index values ​​of each plot point displayed in the index value plot section 2210 are displayed in a list, similar to the index value display screen 221D in FIG. 12.

[0067] In the fourth and fifth modified examples described above, the indicator display processing unit 103 displays the indicator values ​​for each proposed operation plan regarding any two or more indicators among the multiple indicators using a line graph or a radar chart. This allows the user to select an operation plan from the multiple proposed operation plans by comprehensively considering a large number of indicators.

[0068] (Sixth Modification) Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an operation plan display screen according to a sixth modified example of the present invention. The operation plan display screen 222A shown in Fig. 14 is different from the operation plan display screen 222 shown in Fig. 7 in that a check box 2225 is displayed for each vehicle shown in the timetable 2221 and that a proposed operation plan button 2226 is further included.

[0069] The proposed operation plan button 2226 is an operation part for recreating an operation plan for a vehicle specified in the check box 2225. On the operation plan display screen 222A, the user can select the check box 2225 corresponding to any vehicle by operating the HMI device 22, and then select the proposed operation plan button 2226, thereby recreating a proposed operation plan for any vehicle while partially maintaining the contents of the proposed operation plan that has already been created.

[0070] (Seventh Modification) Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an operation plan display screen according to a seventh modified example of the present invention. The operation plan display screen 222B shown in Fig. 15 is different from the operation plan display screen 222 shown in Fig. 7 in that it further includes an index value display section 2227, a display index selection section 2228, and an index display button 2229.

[0071] The index value display section 2227 displays the index value of each vehicle for each time period for the index selected in the display index selection section 2228. The index display button 2229 is an operation part for updating the display content of the index value display section 2227. On the operation plan display screen 222B, the user can select an arbitrary index in the display index selection section 2228 by operating the HMI device 22, and then select the index display button 2229 to display in the index value display section 2227 the change over time of the index value of each vehicle for the specified index, and check the content.

[0072] It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those having all of the described configurations. In addition, it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of the above-described embodiment with other configurations.

[0073] In addition, the above-mentioned configurations, functional units, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in part or in whole by hardware, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. In addition, the above-mentioned configurations, functions, etc. may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function. Information such as the program, table, file, etc. that realizes each function can be stored in a memory, a hard disk, a recording device such as an SSD, an IC card, an SD card, a DVD, or other recording media.

[0074] In addition, in each of the above figures, the control lines and information lines are shown as those considered necessary for explanation, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines in the actual implementation. For example, it may be considered that almost all the components are actually connected to each other.

[0075] The above-described layouts of the various functional units, processing units, and databases are merely examples, and may be changed to optimal layouts in terms of the performance, processing efficiency, and communication efficiency of the hardware and software included in these devices. [Explanation of symbols]

[0076] 1: vehicle operation plan management system, 10: vehicle operation plan support system, 11: operation management system, 12: equipment information DB, 13: vehicle information DB, 14: business information DB, 15: CO2 emission information DB, 16: CO2 simulator, 17: electricity cost / fuel consumption information DB, 18: electricity cost / fuel consumption simulator, 19: battery information DB, 20: battery simulator, 21: map information DB, 22: HMI device, 101: operation plan creation processing unit, 102: index calculation processing unit, 103: index display processing unit, 104: operation plan selection processing unit, 105: operation plan display processing unit, 106: operation plan determination processing unit, 107: operation plan DB, 108: plan judgment index DB

Claims

1. A system for assisting a user in formulating an operation plan for a plurality of vehicles including at least an electric vehicle, an operation plan creation processing unit that creates one or more operation plan proposals that define an allocation of operation routes to each of the plurality of vehicles; an index calculation processing unit that calculates index values ​​for each of the proposed operation plans when the plurality of vehicles each travel along the operation route with respect to a plurality of predetermined indexes; A vehicle operation plan support system comprising: an index display processing unit that presents to the user the index values ​​calculated by the index calculation processing unit for any two or more of the multiple indexes.

2. The vehicle operation plan support system according to claim 1, The indicator display processing unit: displaying a plurality of plot points representing the index values ​​for each of the operation plan proposals on a scatter diagram with axes of the two indexes selected by the user; A vehicle operation planning support system that displays the plot points whose combination of index values ​​for the two indexes is Pareto optimal and the plot points whose combination of index values ​​for the two indexes is not Pareto optimal in a display form that is distinguishable from each other.

3. The vehicle operation plan support system according to claim 2, The indicator display processing unit is a vehicle operation planning support system that displays the plot points whose indicator values ​​are within a preset allowable range in a display form different from that of the other plot points.

4. The vehicle operation plan support system according to claim 1, A vehicle operation plan support system comprising an operation plan selection processing unit that selects one of the operation plan proposals in response to the user's operation on the index value presented by the indicator display processing unit.

5. The vehicle operation plan support system according to claim 4, A vehicle operation plan support system including an operation plan display processing unit that presents operation plans for the multiple vehicles to the user based on the operation plan proposal selected by the operation plan selection processing unit.

6. The vehicle operation plan support system according to claim 5, A vehicle operation plan support system that outputs the operation plan to an operation management system that manages the operation of the multiple vehicles in response to an operation of the operation plan presented by the operation plan display processing unit.

7. The vehicle operation plan support system according to claim 1, The indicator display processing unit is a vehicle operation planning support system that displays the index values ​​for each of the proposed operation plans for any two or more of the multiple indicators using a line graph or a radar chart.

8. The vehicle operation plan support system according to claim 1, The vehicle operation planning support system, wherein the multiple indicators include at least OPEX and CO2 emissions.

9. A method for assisting a user in formulating an operation plan for a plurality of vehicles including at least an electric vehicle, comprising: a proposed operation plan creation process for creating one or more proposed operation plans that define an allocation of operation routes to each of the plurality of vehicles; an index calculation process for calculating, for each of the proposed operation plans, index values ​​of a plurality of predetermined indexes when the plurality of vehicles each travel along the operation route; and an index display process for presenting to the user the index values ​​calculated by the index calculation process for any two or more of the plurality of indexes.

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