Information processing device

Abstract

To provide an information processing device capable of successively determining a route ideal for moving vehicles and added with compliance limitations imposed on drivers and efficiently conducting a service or the like for keeping articles from users.SOLUTION: A base information acquisition unit 80 acquires, for each of a plurality of bases, base information including an existence position of the base and an input / output amount of articles per prescribed unit time. A warehouse information acquisition unit 81 acquires, for each of a plurality of warehouses, warehouse information including an existence position of the warehouse and an availability per prescribed unit time. A driver information acquisition unit 85 acquires driver information on a driver including prescribed compliance limitations. A route determination unit 82 determines a route including a driver's resting place, the route along which each of one or more moving vehicles move, on the basis of the base information for each of the plurality of bases, the warehouse information for each of the plurality of warehouses, and the driver information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a high demand for methods for efficiently carrying out logistics, and many techniques for this purpose have been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1). The technology described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 can ensure smooth operation of the parcel logistics system and can inform users of the status of parcel transportation (current location, etc.) in response to their inquiries. This is extremely useful when providing services such as delivering goods to users. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-334901 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, for example, when providing a service for accepting items such as tires from users, it is difficult to efficiently operate the service by simply informing the users of the status of the transport of their luggage. In such a case, it is necessary for the user to efficiently deliver the goods to the service provider and efficiently receive the goods. In particular, if the item that the user wishes to deliver is a heavy item such as a tire, the item is often first stored in a warehouse or the like, and a complicated route must be taken. Additionally, drivers of vehicles (eg, trucks) used to transport goods are often subject to compliance restrictions (eg, daily driving hours restrictions).

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide a technology that can sequentially determine an optimal route for a mobile object transporting goods, taking into account compliance restrictions imposed on the driver, and efficiently operate services such as accepting goods from users. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, an information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: An information processing device that creates a schedule for a mobile object that transports one or more items via a route that includes at least one base and one warehouse among a plurality of bases where items are picked up from or delivered to a user and a plurality of warehouses where the items are stored, the information processing device comprising: the vehicle is operated by a driver subject to certain compliance restrictions; a base information acquiring means for acquiring base information including a location of the base and an amount of goods entering and leaving the base per a predetermined unit time for each of the plurality of bases; a warehouse information acquiring means for acquiring warehouse information including a location of each of the warehouses and an availability status per a predetermined unit time for each of the warehouses; a driver information acquisition means for acquiring driver information regarding the driver, the driver information including the predetermined compliance restrictions; a route determination means for determining a route along which one or more of the mobile objects will travel, the route including a rest area for the driver, based on the base information for each of the plurality of bases, the warehouse information for each of the plurality of warehouses, and the driver information; Equipped with. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technology that can sequentially determine an optimal route for a mobile object, taking into account compliance restrictions imposed on the driver, and efficiently operate services such as accepting items from users. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a server according to an embodiment of the present invention in the information processing system of FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the server, the base terminal, the warehouse terminal, the user terminal, and the driver terminal of FIG. 1. [Figure 4] 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of the result of the route determination process executed by the server in FIG. 3. [Diagram 5] 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen presenting usage information displayed on the user terminal of FIG. 3. FIG. [Figure 6] 4 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a compliance-added route determination process executed by the server of FIG. 3. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a specific example of an input form when a user requests the transportation of luggage. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a specific example of an input form when a user requests the transportation of luggage. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a specific example of an input form when a user requests the transportation of luggage. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a specific example of an operation plan calculated and displayed based on the contents entered in the input form. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a specific example of an operation plan calculated and displayed based on the contents entered in the input form. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0010] FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] The information processing system shown in FIG. 1 is applied to provide the following services. In other words, the service to which the information processing system of the present invention is applied is a service in which a user's items such as tires are stored for a certain period of time, in other words, a service in which a specified item can be delivered to any location and then picked up at that location. Although the article is not particularly limited, for the sake of convenience, the following description will be given assuming that the article is a tire. In this case, the base is a place where tires can be temporarily stored for a few days, such as a dealer or a gas station. The tires delivered to the base by the user are transported to an arbitrary warehouse and stored there, and when the user wishes to pick them up, they are transported from the warehouse to an arbitrary base and picked up by the user at that base. The user can pick up the tires at the same location where the item was handed over, or can pick up the tires at a different location. A person in charge of transporting goods uses a specified mobile vehicle (which in the following example will be a truck) to travel a specified route that includes one or more bases and one or more warehouses, transport one or more tires, and load and unload the tires. In addition, the person in charge of transporting the goods (hereinafter, the truck driver, sometimes simply referred to as the driver) is subject to certain compliance restrictions (e.g., restrictions on the number of hours of driving per day). For this reason, the route is determined to include a rest area for the driver (e.g., lodging) so that the driver does not drive for long periods of time. Under such a service, the information processing system of this embodiment can determine the optimal route (route including the driver's rest area) to be taken by a moving body (truck) while taking into account the driver's compliance restrictions.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing system of this embodiment is configured to include a server 1 managed by a provider of the above-mentioned service, base terminals 2-1 to 2-m used by base managers at m locations (m is any integer value of 1 or more) of bases K-1 to Km, warehouse terminals 3-1 to 3-n used by warehouse managers at n locations (n ​​is any integer value of 1 or more different from m) of warehouses S-1 to Sn, user terminals 4-1 to 4-p used by p users (p is any integer value of 1 or more different from m and n), and driver terminals 5-1 to 5-q used by drivers who drive trucks T-1 to Tq at q locations (q is any integer value of 1 or more different from m, n, and p). The server 1, the base terminals 2-1 to 2-m, the warehouse terminals 3-1 to 3-n, the user terminals 4-1 to 4-p, and the driver terminals 5-1 to 5-q are interconnected via a predetermined network N such as the Internet.

[0013] In the following description, when there is no need to distinguish between the base terminals 2-1 to 2-m, they will be collectively referred to as the "base terminal 2." Furthermore, hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish between the warehouse terminals 3-1 to 3-n, they will be collectively referred to as the "warehouse terminal 3." In the following, when there is no need to distinguish between the user terminals 4-1 to 4-p, they will be collectively referred to as the "user terminal 4." In the following, when there is no need to distinguish between the driver terminals 5-1 to 5-q, they will be collectively referred to as the "driver terminal 5." Similarly, hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish between each of the locations K-1 to Km individually, they will be collectively referred to as "location K," when there is no need to distinguish between each of the warehouses S-1 to Sn individually, they will be collectively referred to as "warehouse S," and when there is no need to distinguish between each of the trucks T-1 to Tq individually, they will be collectively referred to as "truck T."

[0014] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the server 1 in the information processing system of FIG.

[0015] The server 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a bus 14, an input / output interface 15, an output unit 16, an input unit 17, a memory unit 18, a communication unit 19, and a drive 20.

[0016] The CPU 11 executes various processes according to a program recorded in the ROM 12 or a program loaded from the storage unit 18 into the RAM 13 . The RAM 13 also stores data and the like necessary for the CPU 11 to execute various processes.

[0017] The CPU 11, ROM 12, and RAM 13 are connected to one another via a bus 14. An input / output interface 15 is also connected to this bus 14. An output unit 16, an input unit 17, a storage unit 18, a communication unit 19, and a drive 20 are connected to the input / output interface 15.

[0018] The output unit 16 is composed of various liquid crystal displays and the like, and outputs various information. The input unit 17 is composed of various hardware leads and the like, and inputs various types of information. The storage unit 18 is composed of a hard disk, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), etc., and stores various data. The communication unit 19 controls communication with other devices (in the example of FIG. 1, the base terminal 2, the warehouse terminal 3, the user terminal 4, the driver terminal 5, etc.) via a network N including the Internet.

[0019] The drive 20 is provided as necessary. Removable media 21, which may be a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory, is appropriately mounted in the drive 20. The program read from the removable media 21 by the drive 20 is installed in the storage unit 18 as necessary. The removable media 21 can also store various data stored in the storage unit 18 in the same manner as the storage unit 18.

[0020] The configurations of the base terminal 2, warehouse terminal 3, user terminal 4, and driver terminal 5 are basically the same as the configuration of the server 1, so their explanations will be omitted here.

[0021] Through collaboration between the various hardware and software of the server 1, base terminal 2, warehouse terminal 3, user terminal 4, and driver terminal 5 in Figure 2, it becomes possible to execute the following series of processes (hereinafter referred to as "compliance-added route determination processes").

[0022] That is, each of the base terminals 2-1 to 2-m acquires information on the amount of tires input and output at each of the base stations K-1 to Km (information on receipt / delivery) and the locations of the base stations, etc., for each unit time (e.g., one day), and transmits this information to the server 1. Such information obtained from base K, such as the location information of base K, information on the time period during which tires are scheduled to be stored per unit time (e.g., per day), information on the time period during which tires are scheduled to be delivered per unit time (e.g., per day), etc., will hereinafter be referred to as "base information." The server 1 acquires location information from each of the location terminals 2-1 to 2-m for each unit time (for example, each day).

[0023] Each of the warehouse terminals 3-1 to 3-n acquires information on the availability of each of the warehouses S-1 to Sn (incoming / outgoing information) and the location of the warehouses, etc., for each unit time (e.g., one day), and transmits the information to the server 1. Such information obtained from warehouse S, such as location information of warehouse S, information by time period for scheduled incoming tires per unit time (e.g., per day), information by time period for scheduled outgoing tires per unit time (e.g., per day), etc., will hereinafter be referred to as "warehouse information." The server 1 acquires warehouse information from each of the warehouse terminals 3-1 to 3-n for each unit time (for example, each day).

[0024] Each of the driver terminals 5-1 to 5-q acquires ID information of the driver driving each of the trucks T-1 to Tq and information on compliance restrictions imposed on the driver for each unit time (e.g., one day), and transmits the information to the server 1. The compliance restriction information is various restriction information imposed on the driver's driving, such as restriction information on the driving time per day (e.g., within 8 hours), restriction information on continuous driving time late at night (e.g., within 2 hours), and restriction information on the number of consecutive working days (e.g., within 4 days). Information regarding the driver driving such truck T, such as the driver's ID information and information regarding compliance restrictions imposed on the driver, is hereinafter collectively referred to as "driver information." The server 1 acquires driver information from each of the driver terminals 5-1 to 5-q for each unit time (for example, each day).

[0025] In the above, it has been assumed that the driver information is acquired from each of the driver terminals 5-1 to 5-q (i.e., from each of the trucks T-1 to Tq), but the driver information for each driver may be transmitted to the server 1 for each unit time (e.g., one day) from a server of a management company (which may be the same as the provider of this service or may be different) that manages the drivers. Also, when the information on compliance restrictions is the same regardless of the driver, the server 1 may store the information on the restrictions in advance.

[0026] When the server 1 acquires base information from each of the base terminals 2-1 to 2-m, warehouse information from each of the warehouse terminals 3-1 to 3-n, and driver information from each of the driver terminals 5-1 to 5-q, the server 1 determines, based on this information, an optimal route for one or more trucks to transport one or more tires, which includes a driver's rest area based on the driver information (compliance restriction information) (hereinafter referred to as the "compliance-added optimal route"). It should be noted that the compliance-added optimal route referred to here can be determined including the driver's resting places, and may therefore be a route requiring a long travel time, and is therefore determined from information on multiple regions (e.g., regions spanning multiple prefectures).

[0027] The user terminal 4 presents the user with information as to whether or not the tire storage service is available (hereinafter referred to as "usage information"). Specifically, for example, the "usage information" includes information such as whether a user can deliver tires during a certain time period at a certain location K, and information whether a user can pick up tires during a certain time period at a certain location K. This utilization information is generated by the server 1 based on the vacancy information of each base K and each warehouse S for each unit time (for example, one day) when the above-mentioned compliance-added optimal route is determined.

[0028] This series of processing is the compliance-added route determination processing. In order to realize this compliance-added route determination process, the server 1, the base terminal 2, the warehouse terminal 3, the user terminal 4, and the driver terminal 5 have a functional configuration as shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the server 1, the base terminal 2, the warehouse terminal 3, the user terminal 4, and the driver terminal 5 of FIG.

[0029] In the CPU 40 of the base terminal 2, a base information management section 50 and a base information transmission control section 51 function. In the CPU 60 of the warehouse terminal 3, a warehouse information management unit 70 and a warehouse information transmission control unit 71 function. In the CPU 11 of the server 1, a base information acquisition unit 80, a warehouse information acquisition unit 81, a route determination unit 82, a usage information request acquisition unit 83, a usage information notification unit 84, and a driver information acquisition unit 85 function. In the CPU 300 of the driver terminal 5, a driver information management section 310 and a driver information transmission control section 320 function. In the CPU 102 of the user terminal 4, a usage information request receiving unit 120, a usage information request transmission control unit 121, a usage information acquisition unit 122, and a usage information presentation unit 123 function.

[0030] The base information management unit 50 of the base terminal 2-M (M is any integer value from 1 to m) acquires and manages base information for bases K-M, including the amount of tires input and output per unit time (e.g., one day) and location information of the base. The base information transmission control unit 51 executes control for transmitting the base information managed by the base information management unit 50 to the server 1 via the communication unit 41 for each unit time (for example, each day).

[0031] The warehouse information management unit 70 of the warehouse terminal 3-N (N is any integer value from 1 to n) acquires and manages warehouse information for the warehouse SN, including availability per unit time (e.g., one day) and location information of the warehouse. The warehouse information transmission control unit 71 executes control for transmitting the warehouse information acquired by the warehouse information management unit 70 to the server 1 via the communication unit 61 for each unit time (for example, each day).

[0032] The driver information management unit 310 of the driver terminal 5-Q (Q is any integer value from 1 to q) acquires and manages driver information about the driver driving the truck TQ, including information on compliance restrictions imposed on the driver. The driver information transmission control unit 320 executes control for transmitting the driver information acquired by the driver information management unit 310 to the server 1 via the communication unit 301 for each unit time (for example, each day).

[0033] The usage information request receiving unit 120 of the user terminal 4 receives a request for usage information from the user via the touch operation input unit 100. The usage information request transmission control unit 121 executes control for transmitting the usage information request accepted by the usage information request accepting unit 120 to the server 1 via the communication unit 103 . The server 1 transmits to the user terminal 4 the utilization information determined based on the compliance-added optimal route. Then, the usage information acquisition unit 122 acquires the usage information transmitted from the server 1. The usage information presenting unit 123 then executes control to display the usage information acquired by the usage information acquiring unit 122 on the display unit 101, thereby presenting the information to the user.

[0034] The base information acquisition unit 80 of the server 1 acquires base information including the amount of tires entering and leaving the base per unit time (e.g., one day) and the location information of the base for each of the bases K-1 to Km. That is, every time base information is transmitted from a specific base terminal 2, the base information acquisition unit 80 acquires the base information. In addition, the warehouse information acquisition unit 81 acquires warehouse information including the availability status per unit time (e.g., one day) and the location information of the warehouse for each of the warehouses S-1 to Sn. That is, every time warehouse information is transmitted from a specific warehouse terminal 3, the warehouse information acquisition unit 81 acquires the warehouse information. In addition, the driver information acquisition unit 85 acquires driver information per unit time (for example, per day) for each of the multiple trucks T-1 to Tq. That is, every time driver information is transmitted from a specific driver terminal 5, the driver information acquisition unit 85 acquires the driver information.

[0035] The route determination unit 82 determines, for each unit time (e.g., one day), a compliance-added optimal route as a route along which one or more trucks will travel, based on base station information for each of a plurality of base stations K-1 to Km, warehouse information for each of a plurality of warehouses S-1 to Sn, and driver information for each of a plurality of trucks T-1 to Tq. The route determination unit 82 also generates utilization information based on the compliance-added optimal route.

[0036] The usage information request acquisition unit 83 acquires a request for usage information transmitted from the user terminal 4 . Then, when a request for usage information is acquired by the usage information request acquisition unit 83, the usage information notification unit 84 notifies the user terminal 4 that made the request of the usage information generated by the route determination unit 82 via the communication unit 19.

[0037] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of the result of the compliance-added route determination process executed by the server 1 of FIG. The example in Figure 4 shows how a compliance-added optimal route is determined when truck M1 moves within a specified area (e.g., a wide area including Tokyo and Osaka) that includes dealer location KA, dealer location KB, gas station location KGS, warehouse Sa, warehouse Sb, and warehouse Sc.

[0038] 4, the base terminal 2 at base KA transmits to the server 1 base information A indicating that tires T1 and T2 are scheduled to be picked up in the next unit time (e.g., one day). The base terminal 2 at base KB transmits to the server 1 base information B indicating that there will be no pickup or receipt of tires in the next unit time (e.g., one day). The base terminal 2 at base KGS transmits to the server 1 base information GS indicating that there will be no pickup or receipt of tires in the next unit time (e.g., one day). The base information acquisition unit 80 (see FIG. 3) of the server 1 acquires the base information A, B, and GS via the communication unit 19.

[0039] 4, the warehouse terminal 3 of warehouse Sa transmits warehouse information a to the server 1, indicating that there is no vacancy in the next unit time (e.g., one day) and indicating the location information of the warehouse Sa. The warehouse terminal 3 of warehouse Sb transmits warehouse information b to the server 1, indicating that there is one vacancy in the next unit time (e.g., one day) and indicating the location information of warehouse Sb (e.g., Tokyo). The warehouse terminal 3 of warehouse Sc transmits warehouse information c to the server 1, indicating that there is one vacancy in the next unit time (e.g., one day) and indicating the location information of warehouse Sc (e.g., Osaka). The warehouse information acquisition unit 81 (see FIG. 3) of the server 1 acquires the warehouse information a, b, and c via the communication unit 19. The warehouse information transmitted to the server 1 includes the availability per predetermined unit time and the location information of the warehouse, but when the information that there is no vacancy per predetermined unit time is transmitted, the location information of the warehouse may not be transmitted. This is because an item (tire) cannot be stored in a warehouse with no vacancy, and therefore a route that passes through the warehouse is not determined, and therefore the location information of the warehouse is unnecessary.

[0040] In the example of Figure 4, the driver terminal 5 of truck M1 transmits driver information m1 indicating that the daily driving time is within 8 hours to the server 1 as information on the compliance restrictions imposed on the driver driving the truck M1. The driver information acquisition unit 85 (see FIG. 3) of the server 1 acquires this driver information m1 via the communication unit 19.

[0041] The route determination unit 82 of the server 1 (see FIG. 3) determines a route such as that shown in FIG. 4 as the compliance-added optimal route for truck M1 in the next unit time (e.g., one day) based on the base information A, B, GS, warehouse information a, b, c, and driver information m1. In other words, truck M1 first loads tires T1 and T2 at base KA, transports them to warehouse Sb (Tokyo) and unloads tire T1, and then continues on to warehouse Sc (Osaka). This would violate the compliance restriction information (driving time within 8 hours per day). Therefore, a route such as this is determined as the compliance-added optimal route: truck M1 takes a rest (e.g., stays overnight) at a specified location (e.g., Hamamatsu) on the route to warehouse Sc, and then transports tire T2 to warehouse Sc and unloads it.

[0042] There are various methods for determining the resting place. For example, by transmitting a plurality of pieces of location information (e.g., Hamamatsu, Nagoya, Kyoto) as the desired resting place to the server 1, the server 1 stores and manages the resting places, and determines the closest resting place on the route from warehouse Sb (Tokyo) to warehouse Sc (Osaka) as the first candidate. Then, the server 1 judges whether the driving time required to arrive at this first candidate violates the compliance restriction information (e.g., within 8 hours), and if it does not violate the compliance restriction information, determines the first candidate as the resting place, and if it does violate the compliance restriction information, determines the next closest resting place on the route after the first candidate as the second candidate. In this way, if the driving time required to arrive at the kth candidate (k is an integer of 1 or more) violates the compliance restriction information, the step of checking whether the k+1th candidate on the route next to the kth candidate violates the compliance restriction information is repeated until the mth candidate (m is an integer of 1 or more) that does not violate the compliance restriction information is found, and determines the mth candidate as the resting place.

[0043] The server 1 may determine not only the rest place but also the rest period at the rest place based on the driver information. For example, when the compliance restriction information includes information that a driver should rest for at least one hour if the continuous driving time exceeds four hours, if a rest place that requires four or more hours of driving time to arrive is determined, the server 1 determines a rest period of one hour or more at the rest place.

[0044] In the example of FIG. 4, the compliance-added optimal route of the specific truck M1 is determined based on information on compliance restrictions (driver information m1) imposed on the driver of the specific truck M1. However, the compliance-added optimal route may be determined including a decision on which truck among all the trucks T-1 to Tq is to be the target vehicle for tire transportation. Specifically, the driver information m-1 to mq transmitted from each driver terminal 5 of the trucks T-1 to Tq includes information on the current driving status of each driver (for example, information on the current driving time), and the truck of which driver is to be the target vehicle may be determined based on each driver information. For example, the priority order for determining the target vehicle may be such that a truck of a driver with a short current continuous driving time is likely to be determined as the target vehicle, a truck of a driver with a low monthly operation is likely to be determined as the target vehicle, or a truck of a driver close to the destination is likely to be determined as the target vehicle. In this way, a specific truck among a plurality of trucks is determined as the target vehicle, and a compliance-added optimal route is determined for the specific truck.

[0045] Then, the route determination unit 82 determines utilization information as shown in FIG. 5 based on the compliance-added optimum route thus determined. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen presenting usage information, which is displayed on the user terminal of FIG.

[0046] As shown in Figure 5, usage information indicating whether tires can be picked up and whether tires can be delivered in the next unit time (e.g., today) for each location K by time period is displayed on the display unit 101 of the user terminal 4 (see Figure 3) and presented to the user. Specifically, for example, the screen 101 showing the usage information in the example of Figure 4 displays, for each location K, an area 201 indicating the time periods during which the user can deposit tires (collection for each location k) and an area 202 indicating the time periods during which the user can return the tires (handover for each location k).

[0047] For example, the user can easily see that at location KA, tires can be left in plenty of time between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., but tires can only be left in a short space between 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. Furthermore, in the example of FIG. 4, the user can reserve tires by pressing a reservation button displayed on the right side of the area 201 during the time period in which tires can be left.

[0048] Similarly, for example, the user can easily see that it is possible to return tires at location KA only a few times between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., but that it is not possible to return tires at any other time. Therefore, if the user is available between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to have the tires returned, they can make a reservation to pick up the tires by pressing the reservation button displayed on the right.

[0049] In this way, when a user wants to have tires picked up or receive them, the user can easily and instantly find out the locations where pick-up and delivery are available, and can also make a reservation for pick-up or delivery on the spot if necessary.

[0050] Next, the compliance-added route determination process executed by the server 1 having the functional configuration of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the route determination process executed by the server 1.

[0051] In step S1, the location information acquisition unit 80 determines whether or not location information has been transmitted. If no location information is transmitted from any of the location terminals 2-1 to 2-m, the result of step S1 is determined to be NO, and the process proceeds to step S3. On the other hand, if the location information has been transmitted from the location terminal 2-M (M is any integer value from 1 to m), the determination in step S1 is YES, and the process proceeds to step S2. In step S2, the base information acquisition unit 80 acquires the base information from the base terminal 2-M.

[0052] In step S3, the warehouse information acquisition unit 81 determines whether or not warehouse information has been transmitted. If no warehouse information is transmitted from any of the warehouse terminals 3-1 to 3-n, the answer is determined as NO in step S3, and the process returns to step S1. On the other hand, if warehouse information has been transmitted from a warehouse terminal 3-N (N is any integer value from 1 to n), the answer is determined as YES in step S3, and the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, the warehouse information acquisition unit 81 acquires the warehouse information from the warehouse terminal 3-N.

[0053] In step S5, the driver information acquisition unit 85 determines whether or not the driver information has been transmitted. If the driver information is not transmitted from any of the driver terminals 5-1 to 5-q, the answer is determined as NO in step S5, and the process returns to step S1. On the other hand, if warehouse information has been transmitted from the driver's terminal 5-Q (Q is any integer value from 1 to q), the answer is determined as YES in step S5, and the process proceeds to step S6. In step S6, the driver information acquisition unit 85 acquires the driver information from the driver terminal 5-Q.

[0054] In step S7, the route determination unit 82 determines whether or not a predetermined time (for example, a unit time such as one day) has elapsed. If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the result in step S7 is determined to be NO, and the process returns to step S1. That is, until the predetermined time has elapsed, the loop process of steps S1 to S7 is repeated, and base information is acquired from each base K, warehouse information is acquired from each warehouse S, and driver information is acquired from each truck T. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the determination in step S7 is YES, and the process proceeds to step S8.

[0055] In step S8, the route determination unit 82 determines a compliance-added optimal route for the truck transporting the tires based on the base information acquired in step S2, the warehouse information acquired in step S4, and the driver information acquired in step S6.

[0056] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Furthermore, the effects described in this embodiment are merely a list of the most preferable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to those described in this embodiment.

[0057] In the above-described embodiment, the tire is used as the article, and the truck is used as the mobile body for transporting the article. However, these are merely examples for the purpose of explanation, and the present invention is not limited to these. For example, the item handed over by the user may be any item, such as a decorative item or furniture, as long as it is within the scope of achieving the object of the invention. Furthermore, any type of transport vehicle, such as a motorcycle or a passenger car, may be used as a moving body for transporting goods.

[0058] In the above embodiment, the method by which the route determination unit 82 determines the compliance-added optimum route and the method by which the route determination unit 82 determines the utilization information are not particularly defined, but any method may be used. In other words, any means or algorithm can be used within the scope of achieving the object of the present invention.

[0059] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the compliance-added optimum route is determined taking into consideration only base information, warehouse information, and driver information, but the travel distance of the mobile object may also be taken into consideration. That is, the route determination unit 82 may determine a route along which each of one or more moving objects moves, based on the distance between two points of each of the multiple bases and the multiple warehouses. This makes it possible to determine the compliance-added optimum route for the moving object and the utilization information for the user with higher accuracy.

[0060] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the compliance-added optimum route is determined without taking into account information about the season and weather, but information about the season and weather may also be taken into account. For example, on a rainy day, stricter restriction information than the compliance restriction information imposed on the driver may be imposed, and a compliance-added optimal route may be determined based on that restriction information. This makes it possible to determine the compliance-added optimum route for the moving object and the utilization information for the user with higher accuracy.

[0061] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the compliance-added optimal route was determined without considering information on the availability of the moving object to be used and the type of rental (rent, etc.), but information on the availability of the moving object to be used and the type of rental (rent, etc.) may also be further considered. This makes it possible to more practically determine a compliant optimum route for a moving object and utilization information for a user.

[0062] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the compliance-added optimal route is determined without taking into consideration the number and capacity of the moving objects used. However, the number and capacity of the moving objects used may be further taken into consideration. This makes it possible to determine the compliance-added optimum route for the moving object and the utilization information for the user with higher accuracy.

[0063] Furthermore, according to the information processing device of the present invention, by performing the following processing, it is possible to create an optimal operation plan that takes compliance into consideration. In other words, in conventional transportation systems, it was common to determine the vehicle to transport the luggage based on the distance from the departure point to the destination and the weight of the luggage. One of the reasons for this is that conventional transportation systems were designed to process the luggage based on the logistics contract between the shipper and the transportation company. As a result, conventional transportation systems were unable to take into account compliance regarding drivers' working hours, so the transportation company's dispatch staff had to carry out dispatch operations while taking into account the circumstances of the transportation company and the driver, etc. However, with the volume of goods being shipped increasing dramatically and compliance becoming common sense today, it is no longer appropriate to leave all compliance considerations to the dispatch staff. Therefore, according to the information processing device of the present invention, it is possible to determine an optimal operation plan that takes compliance into consideration. This makes it possible to easily respond to, for example, surprise inspections by government agencies (for example, the Japanese Labor Standards Inspection Office) regarding compliance. Specifically, it is also possible to easily generate evidence such as documents to prove compliance.

[0064] Furthermore, it is possible to comply with international standards. Specifically, it is possible to determine operation plans that take into account not only the driver's working hours but also their working conditions. For example, in Europe, there is a maximum weight that a driver can carry, and this can be accommodated. In other words, by considering the maximum weight that a driver can carry as a working condition, it is possible to determine operation plans that take into account the driver's physical strength and health.

[0065] Furthermore, it is also possible to determine operation plans that take into account the driver's overtime hours. Conventionally, vehicle dispatch operations were carried out without sharing information such as the current month's available overtime hours, which caused compliance issues, but with this system, it is possible to determine operation plans that take into account the available overtime hours, etc.

[0066] 7 to 9 are diagrams showing specific examples of input forms used when a user requests the transportation of luggage.

[0067] When various information is entered into the input forms shown in Figures 7 to 9, an operation plan is determined that takes into consideration compliance with the driver's working hours, breaks, rest periods, sleep hours, workload, etc.

[0068] As shown in FIG. 7, the input item (1) has a column for inputting the weight (kg) of the cargo to be transported as "cargo information". When "4900" (kg) is input in this column, candidates of trucks that can be used to transport the cargo are displayed. The candidates of trucks are displayed with each information of "vehicle number", "vehicle class", "loading weight", "baggage weight", "available weight", and "weight judgment". Specifically, a truck with a vehicle number (vehicle number) of "Yamanashi 100 or XX-XX", a vehicle class of "13t wing truck", a loading weight of "13000" (kg), a baggage weight of "4900" (kg), an available weight of "8100" (kg), and a weight judgment of "●" (i.e. passed) and two other trucks are displayed as candidates. The information of the other two trucks is as shown in FIG. 7. The user selects a desired track from among the tracks displayed as candidates by checking the "Select" box.

[0069] As shown in FIG. 7, the input item (2) has a column for inputting the "point of departure" and "point of arrival" of the package to be transported as "delivery information." When "Kodaira City, Tokyo" is input in the column for inputting the "point of departure," and "Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture" is input in the column for inputting the "point of arrival," the total distance to be transported is automatically calculated and displayed. Specifically, "347km" is displayed in the "distance" column. In addition, information indicating the transport conditions is automatically calculated and displayed along with the total distance to be transported. The displayed transport conditions include "outbound driving time," "break," "rest period," "standby," and "loading" as outbound transport conditions, and various information including "return driving time," "break," "rest period," and "duty time" as return transport conditions. Specifically, the outbound transport conditions are displayed as "240" (min.) outbound driving time, "30" (min.) break, "0" (min.) rest period, "30" (min.) standby, and "60" (min.) loading. In addition, the return transport conditions are displayed as "240" (min.) return driving time, "30" (min.) break, "0" (min.) rest period, and "630" (min.) rest time. In addition, various information about "working hours" consisting of "working time" and "waiting time" and "break time" is displayed. Specifically, the working time is displayed as "540" (min), the waiting time as "30" (min), and the break time as "60" (min). Note that "waiting time" refers to waiting time that is included in working hours but is not actually being used for work.

[0070] As shown in FIG. 8, the input item (3) is provided with a field for inputting the "arrival time" of the cargo to be transported in order to specify the delivery time. When, for example, "9:30" is input in the field for inputting the "arrival time", the departure time is automatically calculated and displayed. Specifically, "4:30" is displayed in the "departure time" field, and the driver candidates are displayed. That is, when the arrival time is input, the departure time is automatically calculated based on the transportation conditions automatically calculated in (2). Then, when the departure time is automatically calculated, the driver candidates who satisfy the rest period, sleep time, and license conditions, which will be described later, among the transportation conditions, are displayed. That is, the displayed driver candidates are displayed with various information such as "return time to the office", "judgment", "rest period", "name", "age", "license", and "driving history". Specifically, a driver with the latest return time to the office of "18:00", the judgment of "○" (i.e., fulfilling the transportation conditions), the rest period of "10 hours 30 minutes", the name of "Yamada Taro", the age of "35 years old", the license of "large vehicle", and the driving experience of "13 years" are displayed as well as two other people as driver candidates. The information showing the other two candidates is as shown in Figure 8.

[0071] Here, we will explain four examples of people who were not shown on the screen but were eliminated as candidates for drivers because they did not meet the transportation conditions. That is, for a person whose most recent return time to the office is "21:00", whose rest period is "7 hours 30 minutes", whose name is "Akiyama Rokuro", whose age is "25 years old", whose license is "large vehicle", and whose driving experience is "5 years", the rest period is judged as "X" (i.e., does not meet the transportation conditions). Also, for a person whose most recent return time to the office is "23:00", whose rest period is "5 hours 30 minutes", whose name is "Haneda Shichiro", whose age is "27 years old", whose license is "large vehicle", and whose driving experience is "7 years", the rest period is judged as "X" (i.e., does not meet the transportation conditions). This is because for neither person, the rest period does not meet the transportation conditions for a rest period that requires a continuous rest period of 8 hours or more. In contrast, a person with a most recent return time to the office of "18:00", a rest period of "10 hours 30 minutes", a name of "Sato Shiro", an age of "25", a license for a "medium-sized vehicle", and driving experience of "3 years" has a rest period judged as "○" (i.e., meets the transport conditions). Also, a person with a most recent return time to the office of "18:00", a rest period of "10 hours 30 minutes", a name of "Hayashi Goro", an age of "18", a license for a "semi-medium-sized vehicle", and driving experience of "1 year" has a rest period judged as "○" (i.e., meets the transport conditions). However, these two people are excluded from the driver candidates because their licenses do not match.

[0072] As shown in FIG. 9, the input item (4) has a field for inputting specific cargo contents as "cargo information" in order to calculate the workload and the difficulty of the work. When, for example, "beverage (paper carton)" and "980 cases" are input or selected in the field for inputting "cargo information", the cargo weight (4900 kg) is automatically displayed, and the workload and the difficulty of the work, which are displayed by each piece of information on "difficulty", "work conditions", "work volume", and "work weight", are automatically calculated and displayed. Specifically, the following are displayed for selection: a work with difficulty level of "A", work conditions of "manual loading and unloading", a work volume of "1960 cases", and a work weight of "9800 kg", a work with difficulty level of "B", work conditions of "pallet loading and unloading", a work volume of "980 cases", and a work weight of "4900 kg", and a work with difficulty level of "C", work conditions of "pallet loading and unloading", a work volume of "0 cases", and a work weight of "0 kg".

[0073] Here, when difficulty level B is selected as shown in Figure 9, people who can perform the task of "pallet loading and unloading" are displayed as driver candidates. That is, driver candidates are displayed with various information such as "return time to the office," "home standby time (estimated sleep time)," "name," "age," "health condition," and "work load." Specifically, three people are displayed for selection: a person whose next time to return to the office is "18:00", whose home standby time (estimated sleep time) is "10 hours 30 minutes", whose name is "Yamada Taro", whose age is "35", whose health condition is "◎", and whose workload is "able to load manually"; a person whose next time to return to the office is "19:00", whose home standby time (estimated sleep time) is "9 hours 30 minutes", whose name is "Kimura Jiro", whose age is "45", whose health condition is "○", and whose workload is "able to load manually"; and a person whose next time to return to the office is "17:30", whose home standby time (estimated sleep time) is "11 hours", whose name is "Suzuki Saburo", whose age is "55", whose health condition is "△", and whose workload is "identified as suffering from lower back pain". Here, among the symbols indicating the candidate's health condition, "◎" indicates that the candidate can perform work of difficulty levels A, B, and C. Also, "○" indicates that the candidate can perform work of difficulty levels B and C, and "△" indicates that the candidate can only perform work of difficulty level C. In other words, of the three candidates displayed as driver candidates, the candidate named "Suzuki Saburo" has confirmed that he suffers from back pain, and can only perform work of difficulty level C (pallet loading and unloading). In this way, the compliance-added route determination process not only ensures compliance, but also makes it possible to appropriately manage labor, including the management of the health status of individual drivers.

[0074] When input into the input forms shown in Figs. 7 to 9 is completed, an operation plan based on the input contents is automatically calculated and displayed. 10 and 11 are diagrams showing specific examples of operation plans that are calculated and displayed based on the contents entered in the input form.

[0075] As shown in Figure 10, (5) the operation plan is displayed with various information on "vehicle information" consisting of "driver's name," "vehicle number," and "vehicle rank," as well as various information on "departure time," "break start," "break end," "arrival time," "waiting start," "waiting end," "loading start," "loading end," "departure time," "break start," "break end," and "return to work time." Specifically, first, the specific operation plan from departure to arrival at the destination shows that the "departure time" will depart from "Kodaira City, Tokyo" at "4:30" on "October 28th," the "break start" will show that the break will begin at "XX Parking" from "7:30" on "October 28th," the "break end" will show that the break at "XX Parking" will end at "8:00" on "October 28th," and the "arrival time" will show that the arrival in "Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture" will be at "9:00" on "October 28th." Next, as for the specific operation plan from arrival at the site to the completion of loading operations, "Waiting start" shows that waiting will begin in "Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture" from "9:00" on "October 28th", "Waiting end" shows that waiting in "Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture" will end at "9:30" on "October 28th", "Loading start" shows that loading operations will start in "Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture" from "9:30" on "October 28th", and "Loading end" shows that loading operations will end in "Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture" at "10:30" on "October 28th". Furthermore, as a specific operation plan from the completion of loading work to returning to the office, the "departure time" shows that the driver will depart from "Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture" at "10:30" on "October 28th", the "break start" shows that the driver will start taking a break at "XX Parking" from "13:30" on "October 28th", the "break end" shows that the driver will end the break at "XX Parking" at "14:00" on "October 28th", and the "return to the office time" shows that the driver will arrive at "Kodaira City, Tokyo" at "15:30" on "October 28th". In addition, the "work time", which indicates the total time the driver will be working, is shown as "11 hours", and the "overtime hours", which indicates the amount of overtime the driver will work, is shown as "3 hours".

[0076] FIG. 11 shows the calculation results regarding what kind of influence will occur if the operation plan shown in FIG. 10 is executed. That is, as shown in FIG. 11, it is displayed that "Driver Yamada Taro's cumulative overtime hours in October", which indicates the cumulative overtime hours the driver has worked this month, will be "38 hours", and "Driver Yamada Taro's remaining overtime hours in October", which indicates the amount of overtime the driver can work this month, will be "1 hour". Also, the impact on regular flights after the operation plan shown in Fig. 10 is executed is displayed. Specifically, "Yamada Taro regular flight operation" is displayed with information on "operation date" and "judgment." That is, the regular flight on "October 29" and the regular flight on "October 30" are both displayed as "X" (i.e., not operable). Here, the contents of the "judgment" shown in FIG. 11 are determined based on various information from the working conditions, the monthly operation schedule, and the time card. The working conditions can include information from the labor-management agreement based on the provisions of Article 36 of the Labor Standards Act, for example. Specifically, the extended time can include information such as 3 hours per day, 25 hours in total for two weeks, 42 hours in total for one month, and 320 hours in total for one year. The monthly operation schedule can include information on the driver's regular service, for example. Specifically, the daily working hours can include information such as 10 hours, and overtime hours can include information such as 2 hours. The time card can include information on the driver's actual working hours, for example. Based on such information, in the above example, the route is set so that the driver "Yamada Taro" works 2 hours of overtime per day for the regular service. That is, if the driver "Yamada Taro" performs the operation on October 28 according to the operation plan shown in FIG. 10, the overtime allowable time for this month will be 1 hour. As a result, neither the regular service on October 29th nor the regular service on October 30th, which requires two hours of overtime per day, can be operated. In other words, if Yamada Taro operates the service on October 28th, the judgment for Yamada Taro's regular service on the following day (October 29th) and the day after (October 30th) will be "X", indicating that another driver will need to assist or the work will need to be outsourced. In this way, the operation plan and the subsequent impact of executing the operation plan are also displayed, making it possible to realize planned operation that adheres to compliance. Also, the operation plan shown in Figure 10 is a one-day operation plan, but it is also possible to create long-term operation plans such as one week, one month, or one year based on this operation plan.

[0077] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the information processing system of the present invention is composed of a server 1, a base terminal 2, a warehouse terminal 3, a user terminal 4, and a driver terminal 5, but this is merely an example for achieving the object of the present invention and is not particularly limited.

[0078] Moreover, the hardware configurations shown in FIG. 2 are merely examples for achieving the object of the present invention, and are not particularly limited.

[0079] Moreover, the functional block diagram shown in Fig. 3 is merely an example and is not particularly limited. That is, it is sufficient that the information processing system is provided with a function capable of executing the above-mentioned series of processes as a whole, and the type of functional block used to realize this function is not particularly limited to the example of Fig. 3. That is, the series of processes for determining the compliance-added optimal route may be realized by a single information processing device (e.g., the server 1), or may be realized by an information processing system consisting of multiple information processing devices (the server 1, the driver's terminal 5, etc.).

[0080] In addition, the locations of the function blocks are not limited to those shown in Fig. 3 and may be arbitrary. For example, at least a part of the function blocks on the server 1 side may be provided on any of the base terminal 2, the warehouse terminal 3, the user terminal 4, and the driver terminal 5, or vice versa. A single functional block may be configured by a single piece of hardware, or may be configured in combination with a single piece of software.

[0081] In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the base terminal 2, warehouse terminal 3, user terminal 4, and driver terminal 5 are configured as smartphones, but they can also be configured as any device, including not only smartphones but also tablets and new devices in the future.

[0082] When the processing of each functional block is executed by software, the program constituting the software is installed into a computer or the like from a network or a recording medium. The computer may be a computer built into dedicated hardware, or may be a computer capable of executing various functions by installing various programs, such as a server, a general-purpose smartphone, or a personal computer.

[0083] A recording medium containing such a program is not only composed of removable media that is distributed separately from the device body in order to provide each user with the program, but also composed of a recording medium that is provided to each user in a state in which it is pre-installed in the device body.

[0084] In this specification, the steps of describing a program to be recorded on a recording medium include not only processes that are performed chronologically according to the order, but also processes that are not necessarily performed chronologically but are executed in parallel or individually.

[0085] In summary, the information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied is sufficient if it has the following configuration, and can take on a variety of different embodiments. That is, the information processing device to which the present invention is applied is An information processing device (server 1) that creates a schedule for a mobile object that transports one or more items via a route that includes at least one base and one warehouse among a plurality of bases where items are picked up from or delivered to a user and a plurality of warehouses where the items are stored, the vehicle is operated by a driver subject to certain compliance restrictions; A base information acquisition unit (e.g., the base information acquisition unit 80 in FIG. 3 ) that acquires base information including a location of the base and an amount of goods entering and leaving the base per a predetermined unit time for each of the plurality of bases; A warehouse information acquisition unit (e.g., warehouse information acquisition unit 81 in FIG. 3) that acquires warehouse information including a location of each of the warehouses and an availability status per a predetermined unit time for each of the warehouses; A driver information acquisition unit (e.g., a driver information acquisition unit 85 in FIG. 3) for acquiring driver information related to the driver including the predetermined compliance restriction; A route determination means (e.g., a route determination unit 82 in FIG. 3) that determines a route along which one or more of the moving bodies will travel, the route including a rest area of ​​the driver, based on the base information for each of the plurality of bases, the warehouse information for each of the plurality of warehouses, and the driver information; Any information processing device having the above will suffice. By applying such an information processing device, it is possible to provide technology that can sequentially determine the optimal route for a mobile object in an item storage service, taking into account the driver's compliance restrictions, thereby enabling the efficient operation of services such as storing items for users. [Explanation of symbols]

[0086] 1 server, 2, 2-1 to 2-m base terminal, 3, 3-1 to 3-n warehouse terminal, 4, 4-1 to 4-p user terminal, 5-1 to 5-q driver terminal, 11 CPU, 40 CPU, 50 base information management unit, 51 base information transmission control unit, 60 CPU, 70 warehouse information management unit, 71 warehouse information transmission control unit, 80 base information acquisition unit, 81 ··· warehouse information acquisition unit, 82··· route determination unit, 83··· usage information request acquisition unit, 84··· usage information notification unit, 85··· driver information acquisition unit, 102··· CPU, 120··· usage information request acceptance unit, 121··· usage information request transmission control unit, 122··· usage information acquisition unit, 123··· usage information presentation unit, 300··· CPU, 310··· driver information management unit, 320··· driver information transmission control unit

Claims

[Claim 1] An information processing device that creates a schedule for a mobile object that transports one or more items via a route that includes at least one base and one warehouse among a plurality of bases where items are picked up from or delivered to a user and a plurality of warehouses where the items are stored, the information processing device comprising: the vehicle is operated by a driver subject to certain compliance restrictions; a base information acquiring means for acquiring base information including a location of the base and an amount of goods entering and leaving the base per a predetermined unit time for each of the plurality of bases; a warehouse information acquiring means for acquiring warehouse information including a location of each of the warehouses and an availability status per a predetermined unit time for each of the warehouses; a driver information acquisition means for acquiring driver information regarding the driver, the driver information including the predetermined compliance limit and the health status of the driver; a route determination means for determining a route along which one or more of the mobile objects will travel, the route including a rest area for the driver, based on the base information for each of the plurality of bases, the warehouse information for each of the plurality of warehouses, and the driver information; a work feasibility determination means for determining work conditions associated with the health state of the driver according to the degree of difficulty of the work involved in the transportation of the goods, and determining whether the driver is capable of transporting the goods along the route based on the work conditions; An information processing device comprising:

Images