Vehicle operation management device

Abstract

To enable suitable operation management of an own vehicle even when succeeding vehicles are sequentially catching up with the own vehicle.SOLUTION: A low-speed mobile body, a normal mobile body to travel at a speed higher than that of the low-speed mobile body, and a departure place and destination are set. A required time necessary for a movement of an edge between nodes which exist between the departure place and the destination is obtained in consideration of a time required for the low-speed mobile body to give way to the normal mobile body, so as to set a route where a time to the destination is the shortest.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This specification discloses an improvement to a vehicle operation management device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle control device that, when a stopping position of a vehicle is recognized in the direction of travel of the vehicle and a traffic participant traveling in the direction of travel earlier than the stopping position at a speed slower than that of the vehicle, determines whether the traffic participant will catch up with the vehicle before the vehicle reaches the stopping position, and based on the determination result, decides whether to allow the vehicle to reach ahead of the traffic participant in the direction of travel. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-139397 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, when performing vehicle traffic management, when a vehicle (a vehicle subject to traffic management) is overtaken by a following vehicle, it may be necessary to consider allowing the following vehicle to overtake. For example, when the vehicle is overtaken by a following vehicle, the vehicle may temporarily stop on the shoulder of the road to give way to the following vehicle. Therefore, when performing traffic management of the vehicle, it is necessary to consider the duration of such a temporary stop.

[0005] In particular, in recent years, there has been growing demand for MaaS, which provides transportation as a service. Examples include small vehicles for seniors, remote driving that operates vehicles and transports passengers via communications, and driverless autonomous driving. What these MaaS services have in common is that they are expected to operate at slower speeds than conventional vehicles. Meanwhile, in addition to MaaS, conventional vehicles also travel on the roads. In an environment where MaaS and conventional vehicles coexist, the speed difference between the two increases the frequency of overtaking, and there are more situations where overtaking must be taken into account when managing driving.

[0006] In this situation, if a vehicle behind your vehicle is constantly catching up with you, if you pull over to the side of the road to give way, the vehicle behind the vehicle behind you will immediately catch up with your vehicle, making it difficult to move off and resulting in it taking longer to reach your destination than originally expected.

[0007] The vehicle operation management device disclosed in this specification aims to enable suitable operation management of the vehicle even when following vehicles are catching up with the vehicle one after another. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The vehicle operation management device disclosed in this specification is characterized by setting a low-speed moving body, a normal moving body that travels at a higher speed than the low-speed moving body, a starting point and a destination, and calculating the time required for movement along the edges between nodes between the starting point and the destination taking into account the time it takes for the low-speed moving body to give way to the normal moving body, and setting a route that will take the shortest time to reach the destination. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the vehicle operation management device disclosed in this specification, it is possible to appropriately manage the operation of the host vehicle even when following vehicles are catching up with the host vehicle one after another. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1]1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a vehicle operation management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a first conceptual diagram showing how to respond when a following vehicle catches up with the host vehicle. [Figure 3] 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of the vehicle operation management device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram showing edges used in processing according to the present embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a first conceptual diagram showing how to respond when a following vehicle catches up with the host vehicle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle operation management system 10 according to this embodiment. The vehicle operation management system 10 includes a vehicle 12, a user terminal 14, and a vehicle operation management device 16. The vehicle 12, the user terminal 14, and the vehicle operation management device 16 are communicatively connected via a communication line 18.

[0012] Vehicle 12 refers to a vehicle that provides a mobility service. Examples of mobility services include logistics services such as food delivery, home delivery, and mail delivery, people-flow services such as shared taxis, or a combination of these services for both passengers and freight. Examples of vehicles for logistics include bicycles with handcarts and trucks, and for people-flow services include large buses and vans, passenger cars, and small single-seater vehicles. The vehicle 12 is expected to be driven by automated driving, remote driving via communications, or traditional manual driving. When the vehicle 12 is not driven by a driver, such as when the vehicle 12 is driven by automated driving or remote driving, the vehicle 12 is equipped with an external sensor that detects when a following vehicle has caught up with the vehicle.

[0013] The user terminal is a terminal (for example, a PC or a smartphone) used by a user of the vehicle operation management system 10.

[0014] The vehicle operation management device 16 is, for example, a server computer. The vehicle operation management device 16 has a processor, and the processing according to this embodiment is executed by the processor. The vehicle operation management device 16 also has a memory, and the memory stores map information, such as information on maps and traffic volume required to implement route planning.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing how to respond when a following vehicle catches up with the host vehicle (vehicle 12). In this specification, the speed of the host vehicle is V i The speed of the following vehicle is written as V (≒speed limit). Also, the speed of the own vehicle is V i is smaller than the speed V of the following vehicle (i.e., V i <V)とする。

[0016] Since the speed of the vehicle is slower than that of the following vehicle, the vehicle is overtaken by the following vehicle. In this case, the vehicle quickly moves to the shoulder of the road and stops, allowing the following vehicle to overtake the vehicle (this time is called t w The frequency of yielding to a following vehicle is once per second as given in Equation 1 below, where L is the distance between the vehicle and the following vehicle. Taking this frequency into account, the average speed of the vehicle is defined as Equation 2.

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[0017] Furthermore, the inter-vehicle distance L can be expressed by the following equation 3 using the traffic density K, which is the number of vehicles per unit distance. If V is approximated as constant, the relationship between traffic flow Q and traffic density K is shown in equation 4.

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[0018] Here, rearranging Equation 2 using Equation 3 and Equation 4 results in Equation 5 below.

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[0019] In reality, there is another vehicle behind the following vehicle. In this case, if the following vehicle catches up with the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped to let the following vehicle pass, the vehicle must cancel its plan to leave the shoulder and merge onto the main lane. Taking this into consideration, the vehicle will end up stopping on the shoulder for longer than originally expected, resulting in a delay in arriving at the destination.

[0020] Next, let us consider the conditions under which this situation occurs. Approximate calculations are: the time it takes for the vehicle to be overtaken by the following vehicle (Equation 1) and the time it takes for the vehicle to return to its lane after stopping on the shoulder and letting the following vehicle overtake it (t w When the time it takes for the host vehicle to be overtaken by the following vehicle is shorter than the time it takes for the host vehicle to be overtaken by the following vehicle, the situation will be as described above.

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[0021] The left side of Equation 8 is the average speed assuming that the vehicle will give way to the following vehicle in Equation 5. Therefore, in an environment where the vehicle's average speed is less than half the vehicle's speed, once the vehicle gives way, the following vehicle will repeatedly catch up with the vehicle, causing the vehicle to frequently cancel its departure, making it more difficult to reach the destination than originally planned.

[0022] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the vehicle operation control device 16 according to this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing edges used in the processing according to this embodiment. In FIG. 4, S represents the departure point, and F represents the destination. a and b represent points (nodes) between the departure point and the destination. The processing according to this embodiment will be described below according to the flowchart in FIG. 3.

[0023] In step S10, the average speed of the host vehicle is calculated using Equation 5. At this time, the average speed is calculated for each line (edge) in Figure 4, the time required to pass through that edge is found, and the speed and time are stored for each edge.

[0024] In step S12, edges that satisfy formula 7 or formula 8, that is, edges that cause the vehicle to be continuously overtaken by the following vehicle and that make it difficult for the vehicle to start moving and merge onto the main lane once it has given way, are deleted, and the deleted edges are stored.

[0025] According to Equation 8, a route that becomes difficult to depart is one where the average speed of the vehicle is half or less, that is, the travel time is more than twice the travel time calculated without considering the average speed. For example, if the travel time from node a to destination node F is more than twice as long when the average speed is considered, the edge between node a and node F is deleted and not included in the route planning.

[0026] Next, in step S14, it is determined whether or not there is at least one route that can reach the destination from the starting point. If there is such a route, the process proceeds to step S16.

[0027] In step S16, the route for the vehicle is planned using the average speed calculated in step S10, and the vehicle is dispatched along that route. In this case, there may be multiple routes to the destination. In such a case, the route to be taken is narrowed down to one, using considerations such as selecting a route that minimizes the total travel time.

[0028] In step S14, if there is no route that can reach the destination from the departure point, the process proceeds to step S18.

[0029] If there is no route from the departure point to the destination, the impact on following vehicles is minimal, but the vehicle must yield to the following vehicle, then be overtaken by the next following vehicle, making it difficult to depart, and must travel through an edge that takes a significant amount of time to reach the destination. Therefore, the system mitigates the impact of the vehicle on following vehicles and recalculates whether there is an edge that allows the vehicle to reach the destination based on the mitigated conditions. The mitigation here means that the vehicle continues traveling without yielding to the following vehicle even if it catches up with the vehicle, and then moves to the shoulder and stops at an appropriate time, and then, once all following vehicles have cleared, departs and merges onto the main lane (see Figure 5). By implementing the above measures, the vehicle can ensure time to travel while reducing the number of times it takes for the following vehicle to overtake (3) and (5) in Figure 5, thereby efficiently traveling through the edge.

[0030] Now, let us consider the departure at (4) in Figure 5. Up until now, from a macro perspective, we have considered the time from decelerating, pulling over to the shoulder, stopping, being overtaken, and then starting again until merging into the lane as t. w However, if we break this down into more detail, the time it takes to stop w1 , the time spent waiting to be overtaken while stopped t w2 , all the following vehicles have overtaken the vehicle, so it departs and merges onto the main line. w3 Here, even if the following vehicle catches up with you when you return to your lane, you do not need to give way immediately. Therefore, when you depart and merge onto the main lane, w3 Compare the time between the following vehicles, which is the distance L between the following vehicles divided by the speed V, with t w3 If is smaller than , then merging is possible. By rearranging this using equations 3 and 4, the condition for (5) in Figure 5 to be true is given by the following equation 9.

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[0031] In step S18, only the edges that satisfy the formula 9 are restored from the edges deleted in step S12.

[0032] In step S20, it is determined again whether or not there is at least one route that can reach the destination from the departure point. If there is such a route, the process proceeds to step S24.

[0033] In step S24, as shown in FIG. 5, the vehicle is allowed to follow the following vehicle until an appropriate timing is reached, and then the vehicle is stopped on the shoulder of the road to allow the following vehicle to overtake, and the vehicle then departs and merges onto the main road. The average speed is calculated for each edge returned in step S18.

[0034] Here, we will explain how to determine the appropriate timing. If possible, it is desirable to move to the shoulder of the road when the following vehicle catches up with you and let it pass, but in this case, this is difficult. In that case, we will mitigate the impact on the following vehicle and not give way immediately, but will give way later after driving within a range that does not cause a traffic jam.

[0035] So, let's explain the definition of congestion. It is known that traffic flow, when density is plotted on the horizontal axis and flow rate on the vertical axis, forms a graph in which the flow rate is convex upwards. In this case, the flow rate that is convex upwards is called the maximum flow rate, and the density at the time of the maximum flow rate is the start of congestion. Here, the density at which congestion occurs is called K'. If traffic flow is Q and speed is V, the traffic flow is related by equation 4. At this time, traffic flow Q seen from a macro perspective is constant regardless of whether there are low-speed vehicles or not, so the speed V' at which congestion occurs is expressed by equation 10 below.

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[0036] Therefore, the speed of the vehicle V i If the speed V' is greater than the speed V, it indicates that there is no congestion. In this case, if the vehicle is traveling along the edge that was returned to in step S18, there will be no congestion, so the vehicle does not give way. Conversely, if the speed V i If the speed of your vehicle is less than V', you will eventually get stuck in a traffic jam unless you give way. i If the following vehicle's average speed is less than V', the following vehicle will stop on the shoulder of the road and give way before the following vehicle's average speed falls below V'.

[0037] The frequency with which the following vehicle catches up with the own vehicle is once per second in Equation 1. The following vehicle catches up with the own vehicle only once per second in Equation 1, and the speed of the own vehicle V i After traveling at this speed, the vehicle moves to the shoulder of the road to let the following vehicle pass, and then returns to the speed limit V. If this is the case, the average speed of the following vehicle can be expressed by the following equation 11.

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[0038] Therefore, if the time is measured from the moment the following vehicle catches up with the own vehicle and the vehicle stops on the shoulder of the road to give way before the time exceeds the value of Equation 13, the following vehicle will not be congested. When passing through the edge that was restored in step S18, the above procedure is performed.

[0039] Next, calculate the average speed of your vehicle in the above case. If you do not give way to the following vehicle for T seconds, the following vehicle will catch up once every second in Equation 1, so the following vehicle γ can be calculated from Equations 3 and 4 using Equation 14 below.

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[0040] In step S28, route planning is performed using the average speed calculated in steps S10 and S24. At this time, if there are multiple routes to the destination by combining the undeleted edges and the restored edges, the routes are narrowed down to one by, for example, selecting the route that minimizes the total time required to pass through the edges.

[0041] Step S22 is performed when it is determined in step S20 that there is no route that can reach the destination. This is the case when the destination cannot be reached without passing through the edge that was deleted in step S12, where there is a continuous flow of following vehicles and the stopped vehicle has no time to start or merge. In such a case, it is difficult to reach the user's desired destination, so the user's request is not accepted.

[0042] According to the vehicle operation management device 16 of this embodiment described above, in a driving environment where slow-moving objects and normal-moving objects coexist, it is possible to set a route that allows the slow-moving objects to catch up and give way, minimizing the impact on the overall traffic flow.

[0043] The above describes an embodiment of the vehicle operation management device according to the present disclosure, but the vehicle operation management device according to the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible as long as they do not deviate from the spirit of the device. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 10 vehicle operation management system, 12 vehicle, 14 user terminal, 16 vehicle operation management device.

Claims

[Claim 1] A low-speed moving body, a normal moving body that travels at a speed higher than that of the low-speed moving body, a starting point and a destination are set, and The time required to travel between the edges between the nodes between the departure point and the destination is calculated taking into account the time it takes for a slow moving vehicle to give way to a normal moving vehicle, and a route is set that will take the shortest time to reach the destination. A vehicle operation management device characterized by:

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