Parking zone determination device and parking zone determination method

Abstract

To provide a technique for determining a parking zone of each vehicle so as to enable smooth leaving in response to an operation schedule in a parking lot which includes a specific parking zone where entering or leaving cannot be performed without passing another parking zone.SOLUTION: A parking zone determination device (10) includes: means (21) for acquiring arrival / departure schedule information; means (21) for acquiring parking zone information indicating an entering route and a leaving route in a parking lot for each parking zone; and means (23) for determining a parking zone for each vehicle to enter in the parking lot, so as to enable entering / leaving with respect to the parking zone in response to a scheduled arrival sequence and a scheduled departure sequence to be indicated by the arrival / departure schedule information based on the arrival / departure schedule information and the parking zone information. The entering route and the leaving route of a specific parking zone indicated by the parking zone information indicate information of one or more other parking zones where a vehicle passes when entering the specific parking zone or leaving from the specific parking one.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technology for determining a parking space in which each vehicle should park within a parking lot. [Background technology]

[0002] In parking lots that serve as garages for regularly scheduled buses, such as route buses, buses that have completed their journey return (enter) and are parked one after another in their designated parking spaces, and each bus leaves the parking lot at a predetermined time to begin its journey. Management of parking locations within parking lots for such regularly scheduled vehicles has traditionally been done manually, but various attempts have been made to reduce labor and improve efficiency.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a bus management system that performs a dispatch plan that enables buses to smoothly depart the next day, regardless of the parking position of the bus when it enters the depot and without having to move the bus's parking position. A parking instruction panel that displays parking instructions at the instruction of a central control unit displays instructions to park buses that are not scheduled to operate the next day in a maintenance parking lot, and an instruction to "park in an available parking lot" for buses that are scheduled to operate the next day. This allows drivers to park their buses without having to consider the next day's dispatch schedule, etc.

[0004] Furthermore, Patent Document 2 below discloses a route bus parking position display system in which route bus data is exchanged with an on-board communication device of the route bus, and a central processing unit specifies the parking position when the route bus enters the parking lot based on this route bus data, and displays it on a parking position display board. The central processing unit determines whether the vehicle is undergoing regular inspection tomorrow or whether it is a spare vehicle tomorrow, and displays the number of the maintenance workshop or the number of the spare parking lot as the parking position number, or if not, displays the number of a predetermined parking lot set for each route bus system, either Route A or Route B, as the parking position number. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-264876 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 61-28199 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The above-mentioned system is only designed to provide guidance to regular buses with an accuracy of vacant spaces or parking areas set up for each bus route, and does not take into account parking lots where parking spaces are defined for multiple vehicles so that they include at least one parking space that cannot be entered or exited without passing through other parking spaces. In such parking lots, it would be possible to guide vehicles with the latest next departure (exit) to parking spaces that are difficult to exit, but vehicles with the latest exit times do not necessarily return to (enter) the parking lot in order. For this reason, it is not possible to guide vehicles entering the parking lot to parking spaces that are difficult to exit in the order they arrive.

[0007] The present invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances, and provides a technology for determining the parking space for each vehicle so that vehicles can smoothly exit the parking lot according to the operation schedule in a parking lot where parking spaces for multiple vehicles are defined so that the parking spaces include at least one parking space that cannot be entered or exited without passing through other parking spaces. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] According to the present invention, there is provided a parking space determination device that determines a parking space into which each vehicle should enter in a parking lot in which parking spaces for multiple vehicles are defined, including at least one specific parking space that cannot be entered or exited without passing through other parking spaces, the parking space determination device comprising: a vehicle information acquisition means that acquires entry and exit schedule information that can indicate the planned order of entry into the parking lot and the planned order of exit from the parking lot for multiple vehicles on a specified date; a parking information acquisition means that acquires parking space information that indicates the entry route and exit route within the parking lot for each parking space; and a determination means that determines a parking space within the parking lot into which each vehicle should enter, based on the entry and exit schedule information and the parking space information, so that the vehicle can enter and exit a parking space according to the planned entry order and the planned exit order, and the entry route and exit route of the specific parking space indicated by the parking space information indicate information on one or more other parking spaces that will be passed through when entering or exiting the specific parking space.

[0009] Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a parking space determination method executable by a computer having one or more processors and memory, targeted at a parking lot in which parking spaces for multiple vehicles are defined, including at least one specific parking space that cannot be entered or exited without passing through other parking spaces, in which the one or more processors execute the following steps: a vehicle information acquisition step of acquiring entry / exit schedule information that can indicate the planned order of entry into the parking lot and the planned order of exit from the parking lot for multiple vehicles on a specified date; a parking information acquisition step of acquiring parking space information that indicates the entry route and exit route within the parking lot for each parking space; and a determination step of determining a parking space within the parking lot to enter for each vehicle based on the entry / exit schedule information and the parking space information so that the vehicle can enter and exit the parking space according to the planned order of entry and the planned exit order, and the entry route and exit route of the specific parking space indicated by the parking space information indicate information on one or more other parking spaces that will be passed through when entering or exiting the specific parking space. Furthermore, according to the present invention, a computer program that can cause one or more computers to execute the parking space determination method and a recording medium on which the computer program is recorded can also be provided. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, in a parking lot where parking spaces for multiple vehicles are defined so as to include at least one parking space that cannot be entered or exited without passing through other parking spaces, a technology can be provided for determining the parking space for each vehicle so that vehicles can smoothly exit the parking lot according to operation schedules. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a parking lot that is a target of this embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of a parking section determination device (the determination device) according to the present embodiment. [Figure 3] 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an example of the software configuration of a parking section determination device (the determination device) according to the present embodiment. [Figure 4] 3A to 3C are diagrams illustrating examples of various data tables stored in a data storage unit. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a parking management screen. [Figure 6] 1 is a flowchart showing an example of a portion of a parking section determination method (this determination method) according to the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the present embodiment) will be described. Note that the following embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the following embodiments.

[0013] First, an overview of the parking section determination device and parking section determination method according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a parking lot that is the subject of this embodiment. In the example of Figure 1, ten parking spaces are shown. Of the parking spaces shown, parking spaces A1, A2, and A4 allow vehicles to enter and exit directly, regardless of the parking status of the other parking spaces, whereas parking spaces A3, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, and A10 require vehicles to pass through other parking spaces before entering or exiting, and cannot be entered or exited depending on the parking status of the other parking spaces. For example, parking space A3 requires vehicles to pass through parking space A2 before entering or exiting, parking spaces A8, A9, and A10 require vehicles to pass through parking space A4 before entering or exiting, and parking spaces A5, A6, and A7 require vehicles to pass through parking space A8, A9, or A10 in addition to parking space A4 before entering or exiting. The entry and exit routes for each parking section in the example of the parking lot in FIG. 1 are merely an example, and the entry and exit routes for each parking section may be determined as appropriate.

[0014] In this specification, parking spaces that cannot be entered or exited without passing through other parking spaces such as parking spaces A3, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9 and A10 are referred to as specific parking spaces. In addition, in this specification, other parking spaces that must be passed through when entering or leaving a specific parking space are referred to as relay parking spaces for that specific parking space. In the example of Figure 1, parking space A4 corresponds to the relay parking space for parking spaces A8, A9, and A10 and parking spaces A5, A6, and A7, parking space A2 corresponds to the relay parking space for parking space A3, parking space A8 corresponds to the relay parking space for parking space A5, parking space A9 corresponds to the relay parking space for parking space A6, and parking space A10 corresponds to the relay parking space for parking space A7. In addition, in this specification, a parking space is described as being in a bottom state when there are no other parking spaces that cannot be entered or exited without passing through the parking space, taking into account the parking status of vehicles in the parking space. In the example of Figure 1, parking spaces A1, A3, A5, A6, and A7 can be in a bottom state regardless of the parking status of the other parking spaces. On the other hand, parking space A9 cannot be said to be in a bottom state when no vehicle is parked in parking space A6, but can be said to be in a bottom state when a vehicle is parked in parking space A6. Furthermore, parking space A4 can be said to be in a bottom state only when vehicles are parked in all parking spaces A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, and A10.

[0015] In this embodiment, a parking space for each vehicle is determined for a parking lot in which parking spaces for a plurality of vehicles, including at least one specific parking space as illustrated in FIG. 1, are defined. However, the parking lots targeted by this embodiment are not limited to parking lots with one entrance / exit, but may be parking lots with multiple entrances / exits, or parking lots where the entrance and exit are in different locations.

[0016] The target vehicles in this embodiment are vehicles for which the planned order of entry into and departure from a parking lot on a given date can be specified, such as vehicles that operate on a regular schedule, such as route buses. They may also be taxis, for which the planned order of entry and departure can be specified depending on the driver's work schedule. However, the planned entry order and departure order here are merely plans, and may be subject to change in practice.

[0017] In this embodiment, entry and exit schedule information for multiple vehicles on a specified date is obtained, parking space information is obtained, and the parking space within the parking lot into which each vehicle should enter is determined based on the obtained entry and exit schedule information and parking space information.

[0018] The entry / exit schedule information is information that can indicate the planned order of entry into and departure from the parking lot on a specific date for each vehicle scheduled to be parked in the parking lot. The entry / exit schedule information can be information that indicates the planned entry and departure order of each vehicle, or information that indicates the planned entry time and planned departure time of each vehicle. As an example of the latter, information that indicates the planned entry date and time and planned departure date and time for each vehicle for one week from October 2nd is acquired as the entry / exit schedule information. Note that the specific date that can be indicated by the entry / exit schedule information can be for one day or for multiple days.

[0019] The parking space information is information that indicates the entrance route and exit route within the parking lot for each parking space. The entrance route and exit route in the parking space information may be indicated in any form, but it is preferable that the entrance route and exit route for a specific parking space indicate information on one or more other parking spaces that must be passed through when entering or exiting the specific parking space. For example, the parking space information may indicate the entry and exit routes of a specific parking space by associating the identification information of a specific parking space with the identification information of other parking spaces that must be passed to enter or exit the specific parking space. In this case, the identification information of parking spaces other than the specific parking space may not be associated with the identification information of the other parking spaces, thereby indicating that the entry and exit routes of the parking space are routes that can be entered or exited directly from the entrance / exit of the parking lot without passing through other parking spaces. As another example, landmarks may be set up at multiple locations along the vehicle passageway, excluding the parking spaces within the parking lot, and information on the landmark points that must be passed through to enter each parking space may be associated with each parking space.

[0020] In addition, the entrance route and the exit route may be set to be the same for each parking section, or different routes may be set for the entrance route and the exit route for one parking section. When the entrance route and the exit route for one parking section are the same, the parking section information may indicate one route information for that parking section.

[0021] Then, based on the above-mentioned entry / exit schedule information and parking space information, the parking space within the parking lot to which each vehicle should enter is determined so that the vehicle can enter and exit the parking space according to the planned entry order and planned exit order that may be indicated by the entry / exit schedule information. An example of a specific method for determining parking spaces will be described later, but the method is not limited to the example described below as long as it is based on the entrance / exit schedule information and parking space information as described above. For example, a determination method may be used in which parking sections are determined randomly in order of the vehicles scheduled to enter the facility, and each time a parking section is determined, it is determined whether each vehicle can exit in the scheduled exit order, and if the vehicle cannot exit, the already determined parking section is changed. This determination method can also be modified to repeat the procedure of determining parking sections randomly in order of the vehicles scheduled to exit the facility, and each time a parking section is determined, it is determined whether each vehicle can enter in the scheduled entry order, and if the vehicle cannot enter, the already determined parking section is changed.

[0022] According to this embodiment, even in a parking lot that includes specific parking spaces that cannot be entered or exited without passing through other parking spaces, by using at least parking space information for the specific parking space that indicates information about other parking spaces that must be passed through to enter or exit the specific parking space, it is possible to determine the parking space into which each vehicle should enter so that it can enter and exit the parking space according to the planned order of entry into the parking lot and the planned order of exit from the parking lot.

[0023] Hereinafter, a parking section determination device (hereinafter, sometimes abbreviated as the present determination device) and a parking section determination method (hereinafter, sometimes abbreviated as the present determination method) according to this embodiment will be described in detail. In the following specific examples, a route bus parking lot will be described as an example, as needed.

[0024] <Parking space determination device> FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the parking section determination device (the determination device) 10 according to this embodiment. The determination device 10 is a so-called computer, and includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1, a memory 2, an input / output interface (I / F) 3, a communication unit 4, and the like. The CPU 1 is a so-called processor, and may include an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a graphics processing unit (GPU), and the like in addition to a general CPU. The memory 2 is a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and an auxiliary storage device (such as a hard disk).

[0025] The input / output I / F 3 can be connected to user interface devices such as a display device 5 and an input device 6. The display device 5 is a device that displays a screen corresponding to drawing data processed by the CPU 1 or the like, such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display. The input device 6 is a device that accepts input of user operations, such as a keyboard or mouse. The display device 5 and the input device 6 may be integrated and realized as a touch panel. The communication unit 4 communicates with other computers via the communication network 11 and exchanges signals with other devices such as printers. A portable recording medium or the like can also be connected to the communication unit 4. In this embodiment, the communication unit 4 is connected to a user terminal 15 or the like via the communication network 11 so as to be able to communicate with them.

[0026] The hardware configuration of the present determination device 10 is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 2. The present determination device 10 may include other hardware elements not shown. Furthermore, the number of each hardware element is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 2. For example, the present determination device 10 may have multiple CPUs 1. Furthermore, the present determination device 10 may be realized by multiple computers consisting of multiple housings.

[0027] The communication network 11 is composed of one or more of a public network such as the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless communication network, etc. However, in this embodiment, the communication form between the determination device 10 and the user terminal 15 is not limited.

[0028] The user terminal 15 is a so-called computer, and may be a stationary computer or a portable computer. The user terminal 15 can access the determination device 10 and output information provided by the determination device 10. As long as such information output is possible, the hardware and software configurations of the user terminal 15 are not limited. The user terminal 15 displays a screen that serves as a user interface for the present determination device 10. The output format of the user terminal 15 will be described later.

[0029] The determination device 10 determines the parking space where each vehicle should park, and outputs the scheduled information of the determined parking space, the current parking status, and the like, using the software configuration shown in FIGS. FIG. 3 is a diagram conceptually showing an example of the software configuration of the parking section determination device (the determination device) 10 according to this embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing examples of various data tables stored in the data storage unit 22.

[0030] 3, the present determination device 10 includes an information acquisition unit 21, a data storage unit 22, a determination unit 23, a judgment unit 24, an output processing unit 25, etc. Each of these processing modules is realized, for example, by the CPU 1 executing a computer program stored in the memory 2. This computer program may be installed from a portable recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disc) or a memory card, or from another computer on a network, via the input / output I / F 3 or the communication unit 4, and stored in the memory 2.

[0031] The information acquisition unit 21 acquires entry / exit schedule information, parking space information, vehicle information, parking status information, etc., which are used to determine parking spaces. Therefore, the information acquisition unit 21 corresponds to a vehicle information acquisition means and a parking information acquisition means. The information acquiring unit 21 may generate and acquire this information based on information acquired via communication from another computer such as a server device, or may acquire this information itself from another computer via communication. Furthermore, the information acquiring unit 21 may generate this information based on information input by a user via an input screen displayed on the user terminal 15 or the display device 5 via communication, or this information itself may be input by the user. In this way, the method of acquiring information by the information acquiring unit 21 is not limited in any way.

[0032] The information acquired by the information acquisition unit 21, such as the entrance / exit schedule information, parking space information, vehicle information, and parking status information, is stored in the data storage unit 22. The vehicle information may be information that includes vehicle size information for each vehicle. In the example of Fig. 4, the vehicle information is stored in a vehicle table that associates a vehicle ID that can identify each vehicle with the vehicle size, which is the size of the vehicle.

[0033] As described in the overview, the entry / exit schedule information may be any information that indicates the planned order of entry into and departure from the parking lot for each vehicle scheduled to park in the parking lot on a specific date. In the example of Figure 4, the entry / exit schedule information is stored in an entry schedule table and an exit schedule table. The entry schedule table stores a vehicle ID that can identify each vehicle and the date and time of entry of that vehicle in association with each other, and the exit schedule table stores a vehicle ID of each vehicle and the date and time of departure of that vehicle in association with each other.

[0034] The information acquisition unit 21 can acquire arrival and departure schedule information for route buses (regularly operated buses) as well as specially operated buses and suspended buses. For example, the arrival and departure schedule information for specially operated buses indicates the vehicle ID assigned to the specially operated bus and the arrival and departure dates and times of the specially operated bus. Furthermore, the entry and exit schedule information for a suspended bus indicates that the bus will enter the parking lot on a certain day but will not leave the parking lot for a specified period (one day or more) from the following day. For example, the entry schedule table associates the vehicle ID of a suspended bus with the entry date and time of the suspended bus, and the departure date and time associated with the vehicle ID of the suspended bus in the departure schedule table is the date and time after the suspension ends.

[0035] The information acquisition unit 21 acquires the arrival and departure schedule information for a predetermined schedule period (for example, one week from October 2nd) and stores it in an arrival schedule table and an departure schedule table. Furthermore, in the event of a bus service suspension on a certain route or a bus replacement due to a vehicle breakdown, the information acquisition unit 21 can update the arrival and departure schedule information stored in the data storage unit 22 based on the new information. For example, when information about a sudden bus service suspension is acquired, the information acquisition unit 21 can change the departure date and time associated with the vehicle ID of the suspended bus based on that information. Furthermore, when information about a bus replacement is acquired, the information acquisition unit 21 can change the arrival date and time and departure date and time associated with each vehicle ID of the vehicle to be replaced.

[0036] As mentioned in the overview, the parking space information may be information indicating the entry and exit routes within the parking lot for each parking space, and it is more preferable that it also includes parking space size information for each parking space. In the example of Figure 4, parking space information is stored in a parking space table that associates space IDs, related space IDs, space sizes, allocation designations, etc. The space ID is an identifier that can identify each parking space, and the space size indicates the size of the parking space identified by the space ID. The parking space size may be indicated numerically or as a level such as large, medium, or small, depending on the data format of the vehicle size in the vehicle information described above. If vehicle size is not used as vehicle information, the parking space size does not need to be included in the parking space table. The allocation designation indicates whether the parking space is to be included in the parking space determination process by the present determination device 10, and if included in the determination process, the priority of how much the allocation should be delayed. For example, in the case of a parking space that can be entered and exited directly from the entrance and exit and that does not have other parking spaces that must be passed through this parking space to enter or exit, it is desirable to postpone the allocation of a vehicle as long as possible, so the allocation designation for that parking space is set to a delay priority (the highest priority if the delay is desired the longest). In addition, the allocation designation for a parking space that is not included in the parking space determination process by the present determination device 10 is set to a value indicating non-eligibility (for example, "-1").

[0037] The related section ID is set to the section ID of another adjacent parking section (intermediate parking section) that must be passed through when entering and leaving the parking section identified by the section ID, and is left unset (NULL, zero, etc.) for parking sections that can be entered and left directly without passing through other parking sections. Taking the parking lot shown in Figure 1 as an example, the parking section information for parking section A4 is set to section ID (A4), related section ID (unset), and section size (large), the parking section information for parking section A9 is set to section ID (A9), related section ID (A4), and section size (medium), and the parking section information for parking section A6 is set to section ID (A6), related section ID (A9), and section size (medium).

[0038] However, not limited to the example of Figure 4, the related section ID may be set to all section IDs of other parking sections (intermediate parking sections) that must be passed through when entering and leaving the target parking section (specific parking section). Taking the parking lot shown in Figure 1 as an example, the parking section information for parking section A6 may be set to the section ID (A6), related section IDs (A4, A9), and section size (medium).

[0039] The parking space information may also be configured to indicate multiple entry routes or multiple exit routes for one parking space, each of which indicates information on one or more other parking spaces passed through on the way to enter the specific parking space, and each of which indicates information on one or more other parking spaces passed through on the way to leave the specific parking space. In this way, even in a parking lot that includes designated parking sections, it is possible to flexibly determine the parking section for each vehicle so that the vehicle can smoothly leave the parking lot according to the operation schedule.

[0040] Specifically, when the entrance route and exit route are the same, multiple routes (entrance route and exit route) can be set for each parking space in the parking space information. For example, the related space IDs are set to the space IDs of other parking spaces that are passed by on each route. Furthermore, the parking space information may also be configured so that an entry route and an exit route can be set separately for each parking space. In this case, unlike the example of FIG. 4, an exit-related section ID and an entry-related section ID may be set separately. The exit-related section ID is set to the section ID of another parking section that must be passed through to exit the target parking space (specific parking section), and the entry-related section ID is set to the section ID of another parking section that must be passed through to enter the target parking space (specific parking section). In this case, it is of course possible to set multiple entry routes and multiple exit routes separately for each parking space.

[0041] The parking status information may be information indicating whether each parking space has been entered or not. In the example of Fig. 4, the parking status information is stored in the parking information table together with the parking plan information. The parking plan information is information indicating the parking space into which each vehicle should enter, as determined by the determination unit 23. In the example of FIG. 4, the parking information table stores the date, section ID, scheduled vehicle ID, and parked vehicle ID in association with each other. The scheduled vehicle ID is set to the vehicle ID of the vehicle that is assigned to park in the parking space identified by the space ID on that date by the determination unit 23. Therefore, the scheduled vehicle ID for a parking space to which a vehicle has not yet been assigned or a parking space that is not a target for determination by the determination device 10 is set to an unset state. The parked vehicle ID is set to the vehicle ID of the vehicle already parked in the parking space identified by the space ID on that date. Therefore, the parked vehicle ID for a parking space in which a vehicle has not yet been parked is set to an unset state.

[0042] The parking status information may be acquired by the information acquisition unit 21 by being input by the user via communication through an input screen displayed on the user terminal 15 or the display device 5, or may be generated by the information acquisition unit 21 based on information obtained via the input / output I / F 3 or the communication unit 4 from sensors, etc. installed in each parking space.

[0043] The determination unit 23 determines a parking space within the parking lot to which each vehicle should enter, so that the vehicle can enter and leave the parking space according to the planned entry and exit orders that may be indicated in the entry and exit schedule information, based on the various information described above acquired by the information acquisition unit 21. The specific method for determining the parking space by the determination unit 23 is not limited in any way as described above, but an example will be shown here. Hereinafter, a parking space that is the subject of determination by the determination device 10 but to which a vehicle has not yet been assigned will be referred to as an "unassigned parking space," and a parking space to which a vehicle has already been assigned will be referred to as an "assigned parking space." Furthermore, a parking space in which a vehicle is already parked will be referred to as an "entered parking space," and a parking space in which a vehicle has not yet been parked will be referred to as an "vacant parking space."

[0044] When determining parking spaces for a certain date (for example, October 2nd), the determination unit 23 first refers to the parking information for that date and extracts a group of parking spaces that are vacant and in a bottom state. An available parking space can be identified by searching the parking information table for a space ID associated with an unset scheduled vehicle ID. A parking space in a bottom state can be identified by a space ID associated with a related space ID in an unset state in the parking space table, and a space ID of an unassigned parking space that is identified by a related space ID associated with the space ID of an assigned parking space in the parking space table.

[0045] Next, the determination unit 23 selects the vehicle IDs of the vehicles that have the earliest entrance times on the target date and time from the entrance schedule table in order. Then, the determination unit 23 selects a parking space from the group of parking spaces extracted as described above to store the selected vehicle, and sets the vehicle ID of the selected vehicle to the scheduled vehicle ID associated with the target date and the space ID of the selected parking space in the parking information table.

[0046] More specifically, in selecting a parking space, the determination unit 23 confirms the existence of a specific parking space that can serve as a relay parking space for the selected parking space. This confirmation is performed by searching the parking space table for a record in which the space ID of the selected parking space is set as the related space ID. If there is no specific parking space, the selected parking space is determined as is. On the other hand, if there is a specific parking space, the departure time of the selected vehicle is compared with the departure time of the vehicle assigned to that specific parking space, and if the departure time of the selected vehicle is earlier, the selected parking space is determined as is. However, if the departure time of the selected vehicle is later, another parking space is selected from the group of parking spaces, and the above confirmation is performed again.

[0047] Furthermore, the determination unit 23 preferentially selects parking sections whose delay priority is not set as an allocation designation in the parking section table from the extracted parking section group. After that, the determination unit 23 selects parking sections in order from the lowest delay priority. As a result, for parking spaces that can be entered and exited directly from the entrance and exit and cannot be used as relay parking spaces, since they are easy to enter and exit and easy to handle, by postponing vehicle allocation to these spaces, it is possible to increase the reliability of determining appropriate parking spaces for all vehicles. If none of the extracted parking bays is a suitable parking bay for the selected vehicle, some or all of the previous allocations may be cleared and re-executed. Also, the selection of one parking bay from the extracted parking bays may be switched to random selection at any time.

[0048] In the above-mentioned selection of parking spaces, the determination unit 23 further refers to the vehicle information and determines a parking space into which each vehicle should enter so that it can enter and leave the parking space according to the scheduled entry and exit orders and that is larger than the vehicle body size of each vehicle. Specifically, the determination unit 23 searches the vehicle table based on the vehicle ID of the selected vehicle to identify the vehicle size of the vehicle, and compares this vehicle size with the space size in the parking space table to select a parking space that is larger than the vehicle size. In this way, it is possible to determine an appropriate parking space even for a plurality of types of vehicles with different body sizes.

[0049] In addition, when the entry / exit schedule information includes information on special buses or suspended buses in addition to regular buses, the determination unit 23 can determine parking spaces not only for regular buses but also for special buses or suspended buses. Furthermore, if the extracted group of parking spaces includes a parking space with multiple entry routes or multiple exit routes set, the determination unit 23 can also determine the parking space into which each vehicle should enter, taking into consideration the multiple entry routes or multiple exit routes for the specific parking space indicated by the parking space information, so that the vehicle can enter and exit the parking space according to the scheduled entry order and scheduled exit order.

[0050] If each vehicle enters the parking lot in the scheduled entry order corresponding to the entry / exit schedule information, each vehicle can enter and exit the parking lot appropriately in accordance with the parking plan information determined by the determination unit 23. However, there are cases where vehicles enter the parking lot in an order that does not match the scheduled entry order. Therefore, in the case of deviation from such a schedule, the determination unit 24, which will be described later, determines whether it is acceptable to keep the parking space allocation indicated by the parking plan information determined by the determination unit 23. Then, if it is determined that the current allocation should not be left as is, the determination unit 23 targets parking spaces (vacant parking spaces) excluding parking spaces that have been entered and are indicated by the parking state information, and re-determines parking spaces for the target vehicle that has deviated from the scheduled entry order and the following vehicles. Specifically, the determination unit 23 identifies records in the parking information table in which the vehicle IDs of the target vehicle and its following vehicle are set as the scheduled vehicle ID, and resets the scheduled vehicle ID of each identified record to an unset state.The determination unit 23 then determines a parking section for each vehicle in the same manner as described above, targeting only the target vehicle and its following vehicles and targeting unassigned parking sections excluding parking sections that have already been parked.

[0051] When vehicles enter the parking lot in an order that does not match the scheduled entry order, a determination unit 24 determines whether the target vehicle that has entered and the following vehicles can enter and leave the parking lot in the order of entry and the order of departure that have been changed from the scheduled entry order, while keeping the parking space allocation indicated by the parking plan information determined by the determination unit 23. Specifically, the determination unit 24 identifies the vehicle ID of the vehicle that has entered the parking lot (currently entering vehicle) and the vehicle ID of the vehicle whose scheduled entry order has been swapped with the current entering vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a forward-changing vehicle). The vehicle ID of the currently entering vehicle can be identified by a user operation on a screen, etc., which will be described later. In addition, the vehicle ID of the forward-changing vehicle can be identified by searching for the vehicle ID of a vehicle that has not yet entered the parking lot and whose entry time in the scheduled entry table is earlier than that of the currently entering vehicle. The determination unit 24 identifies the section ID of the parking section to which the currently entering vehicle is assigned on that date in the parking information table (the record in which the vehicle ID of that vehicle is set as the scheduled vehicle ID), and similarly identifies the section ID of the parking section to which the currently entering vehicle is assigned on that date for a sequentially changing vehicle whose scheduled entry order has been swapped with that of the currently entering vehicle.The determination unit 24 then identifies a record in the parking section table that includes the section ID identified for the sequentially changing vehicle, and checks whether the section ID of the currently entering vehicle is set as the related section ID of the identified record.If the related section ID is set to the section ID of the currently entering vehicle, the determination unit 24 determines that the currently assigned parking section will not allow the sequentially changing vehicle to enter the assigned parking section; if not, the determination unit 24 determines that there is no problem with the current parking section assignment. In addition, the judgment unit 24 can also determine the scheduled entry order corresponding to the entry date and time set in the entry schedule table based on the vehicle ID of the currently entering vehicle and the vehicle IDs of vehicles that have already entered before that vehicle, and determine whether the currently entering vehicle has entered in an order that does not match the scheduled entry order.

[0052] In this embodiment, if vehicles enter the parking lot in an order that does not match the scheduled entry order, a determination is made as to whether the already determined parking space allocation is acceptable, and if there is no problem, the vehicles are parked with the current allocation; if there is a problem, the parking spaces for the currently entering vehicle and subsequent vehicles, including the forward-moving vehicle, are redetermined. Therefore, according to this embodiment, even if the entry order deviates from the schedule, appropriate parking spaces can be flexibly assigned to each vehicle.

[0053] In addition, there may be situations where it is necessary to move vehicles already parked in a parking space to another parking space, such as when the order of entry deviates from the schedule or when the scheduled order of exit is suddenly changed. In order to deal with such situations, the determination unit 24 may further determine whether, when a vehicle already parked in a parking space indicated by the parking status information that has been entered is moved to another parking space, each vehicle that has not yet entered can be assigned a parking space that allows it to enter and exit in the scheduled entry order or an entry order that has been changed from the scheduled entry order, and in the scheduled exit order or an exit order that has been changed from the scheduled exit order. At this time, the other parking space to which the vehicle is moved may be an occupied parking space or an empty parking space.

[0054] The determination unit 24 can determine whether the vehicle is possible to move by obtaining the vehicle ID of the vehicle to be moved and information about the destination parking space. Furthermore, when swapping vehicles between parking spaces already in use, the determination unit 24 only needs to obtain the vehicle IDs of the two vehicles to be moved. This information can be obtained by user operation or input on the screen displayed on the user terminal 15 or the display device 5.

[0055] The determination unit 24 determines whether or not it is possible to reassign parking spaces to each vehicle that is scheduled to enter the parking lot in the assumed state, assuming that the parked vehicle ID of the record in the parking information table that contains the section ID of the original parking space has been changed to an unset state and the vehicle ID of that vehicle has been set as the parked vehicle ID of the record that contains the section ID of the destination parking space. This determination can be realized by identifying a record in the parking information table in which the parked vehicle ID is unset on that date, temporarily setting the scheduled vehicle ID of that record to an unset state, and then provisionally executing the parking space determination process for each vehicle that is scheduled to enter in the same manner as described above, to determine whether or not it is possible to assign parking spaces to all vehicles.

[0056] The output processing unit 25 displays a parking management screen, which serves as a user interface of the present determination device 10, on the user terminal 15 or the display device 5 based on the parking state information and parking plan information stored in the data storage unit 22. The output processing unit 25 may also cause a printing device (not shown) to print a report including the same content as that of the parking management screen.

[0057] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a parking management screen. In the example of FIG. 5, the parking management screen includes a parking space display section PC1 that displays a group of parking spaces within a parking lot, and an operation display section PC2 that accepts user operations. The parking space display unit PC1 shows the entrances and exits of the parking lot and the layout of each parking space, and within the rectangular frame representing each parking space, the space ID of the parking space (such as "B3," "D12," or "G19") and the vehicle ID (a five-digit number) of the vehicle that is to be parked or has already entered the parking space are displayed. Parking spaces for which no vehicle ID is displayed indicate that the determination device 10 has not determined the parking space.

[0058] Additionally, the rectangular frames of parking spaces are color-coded to indicate a bottomed-out state, a non-bottomed state, or a parked state. In Figure 5, due to limitations of patent drawings, the frames are indicated by different fill patterns, with a dotted pattern indicating a bottomed-out state, no fill indicating a non-bottomed state, and a parked state indicated by a diagonal line pattern. For example, parking space "D9" is shown to be in a bottomed-out state and vehicle ID "32017" is scheduled to park there (allocated for parking), and parking space "D18" is shown to be parked by vehicle ID "20905."

[0059] The operation display section PC2 includes a pull-down display section PC21, a search operation section PC22, an exchange operation section PC23, a store button PC25, a confirm button PC26, a reload button PC27, and the like. The pull-down display unit PC21 can display a list of vehicles that have not yet entered the premises and the parking spaces into which each vehicle should enter, and currently displays the vehicle ID (displayed as vehicle number) selected from the list and the parking space (parking space into which the vehicle is scheduled to enter) assigned to that vehicle. Normally, the vehicle ID (displayed as vehicle number) of the vehicle scheduled to enter next in the scheduled entry order and the parking space (parking space into which the vehicle is scheduled to enter) assigned to that vehicle are currently displayed. In the example of FIG. 5, vehicle ID "21025" and parking space "D11" are currently displayed.

[0060] The store button PC25 is an operation button for reflecting in the parking status information (data storage unit 22) that the vehicle currently displayed on the pull-down display unit PC21 has been parked in the parking space assigned to that vehicle. In the example of Fig. 4, a record in the parking information table in which the vehicle ID of that vehicle is set as the scheduled vehicle ID is identified, and that vehicle ID is also set as the parked vehicle ID of that record. Therefore, when a vehicle enters the parking lot in the scheduled entry order, the vehicle information is currently displayed on the pull-down display unit PC21, so the user can inform the driver of the parking space in which the vehicle should be parked, and further, by simply pressing the storage button PC25, the fact that the vehicle has been parked can be reflected in the data.

[0061] The confirmation button PC26 is an operation button for confirming whether or not the vehicle currently displayed on the pull-down display section PC21 can enter the parking space assigned to that vehicle. If vehicles enter the parking lot in an order that does not match the scheduled entry order, the vehicle information currently displayed on the pull-down display unit PC21 differs from that of the vehicle that entered, so the user selects the information of the vehicle that entered from the list display on the pull-down display unit PC21 and presses the confirmation button PC26. This determines whether it is acceptable for the vehicle that entered to enter the parking space as is in the parking space that has already been determined. This determination is made by the determination unit 24 as described above, and determines whether the entering target vehicle and subsequent vehicles can enter and exit the parking lot in the entry order and the scheduled exit order that have been changed from the scheduled entry order.

[0062] The reload button PC27 is an operation button for redisplaying the parking space display section PC1 based on the latest information.

[0063] The search operation unit PC22 allows the user to search for a parking space where a desired vehicle is scheduled to be parked or has already been parked, and includes a vehicle number input unit and a search button. When the user inputs the vehicle ID of the desired vehicle into the vehicle number input unit and presses the search button, the parking space where the vehicle is scheduled to be parked (assigned) or the parking space where the vehicle has already been parked is highlighted.

[0064] The exchange operation unit PC23 allows a user to operate to move or exchange the parking space of the target vehicle, and includes two input units, an exchange button and a parking button. When the user inputs the IDs of two vehicles to be swapped into the two input units and presses the exchange button, the determination unit 24 determines whether the swap is possible. The two vehicles to be swapped may be vehicles that have already entered the warehouse, or vehicles that have not yet entered the warehouse but have been assigned parking spaces to enter. As described above, this determination determines whether the swap will allow each vehicle that has not yet entered to be assigned a parking space that will allow it to enter and exit the warehouse in its scheduled entry order or an entry order changed from the scheduled entry order, and in its scheduled exit order or an exit order changed from the scheduled exit order. If the swap is possible, it is determined that the swap is possible. If it is determined that the swap is possible, a message to that effect is displayed, and the parking state information and parking plan information stored in the data storage unit 22 are updated. Furthermore, when the user inputs the target vehicle ID into one input unit (the input unit on the left side of FIG. 5 ), inputs the section ID of the destination parking section (an unassigned parking section) into the other input unit (the input unit on the right side of FIG. 5 ), and presses the parking button, the determination unit 24 determines whether the parking section of the target vehicle can be moved from the parking section where the target vehicle is already parked or the parking section assigned to the target vehicle to park to the destination parking section. The determination content is the same as when the exchange button is pressed. If it is determined that the vehicle can be moved, a message to that effect is displayed, and the parking state information and parking plan information stored in the data storage unit 22 are updated. If the section ID of an assigned parking section or a parking section where the vehicle has already been parked is entered into the input section as the destination, an error will be displayed as an error check when the parking button is pressed.

[0065] This screen makes it easy to grasp not only the layout of the parking lot entrances and exits and each parking space, but also the vehicle allocation status and parking status (parking status) for each parking space. In addition, the pull-down display unit PC21 makes it easy to grasp information about the next vehicle entering the parking lot and the parking space where that vehicle should enter. Furthermore, even if a vehicle enters the parking lot in an order different from the scheduled order, the appropriate parking space for the vehicle to enter can be presented with a simple operation.

[0066] The parking section determination method according to this embodiment (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the present determination method) will be described in detail below. In the following description, an example will be given in which the present determination device 10 is used in such a way that the parking lot manager (user) refers to and operates a parking management screen (see FIG. 5) displayed by the present determination device 10 on the user terminal 15, and guides each vehicle to a parking section. In the following example, a parking plan for a certain date (hereafter referred to as today) has already been generated using this determination method, and a situation is assumed in which certain vehicles enter the parking lot in an order different from the scheduled entry order.

[0067] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a portion of the parking space determination method (the present determination method) according to this embodiment. The present determination method is executed by one or more computers such as the present determination device 10 described above. The present determination device 10 can execute the present determination method by having the CPU 1 execute a computer program stored in the memory 2. It can also be expressed as the CPU 1 executing the present determination method through execution of the computer program stored in the memory 2. This computer program is installed, for example, from a portable recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disc) or a memory card, or from another computer on a network, via the input / output I / F 3 or the communication unit 4, and stored in the memory 2.

[0068] As shown in FIG. 6, this determination method includes steps (S61) to (S67). In the following, the present determination device 10 will be described as the entity that executes each step, but the entity that executes each step can also be described as one or more computers or CPUs, or each of the above-mentioned processing modules that the present determination device 10 has. Since each step is similar to the processing content of each processing module of the present determination device 10, details of each step will be omitted as appropriate.

[0069] In step (S61), the determination device 10 identifies the vehicle ID of the currently entering vehicle. For example, the determination device 10 can identify the vehicle ID of the currently entering vehicle from information about the vehicle selected (currently displayed) in the pull-down display unit PC21 of the parking management screen. However, the method for identifying the vehicle ID of the currently entering vehicle is not limited in any way.

[0070] In step (S62), the determination device 10 identifies the vehicle ID of the forward-changing vehicle. For example, the determination device 10 can identify the vehicle ID of a non-entered vehicle whose entry time today is earlier than the entry date and time associated with the vehicle ID of the currently entering vehicle in the entry schedule table, and set the identified vehicle ID as the vehicle ID of the forward-changing vehicle. The vehicle ID of a non-entered vehicle is a vehicle ID that is not set as a parked vehicle ID in the parking information table. However, the method of identifying the vehicle ID of a forward-changing vehicle is not limited in any way.

[0071] Incidentally, if the currently entering vehicles are entering in the order of the scheduled entry and exit sequence corresponding to the entry and exit schedule information (entry schedule table), steps (S62) to (S66) do not need to be executed, and step (S67) described below only needs to be executed. In this case, the user can inform the driver of the vehicle of the information about the parking space currently displayed on the pull-down display section PC21 and press the store button PC25 on the parking management screen.

[0072] In step (S63), the determination device 10 uses the vehicle IDs of the currently entering vehicle and the forward moving vehicle to determine whether or not the currently determined current parking plan needs to be changed. This determination is as described above with respect to the determination unit 24, and is equivalent to determining whether or not the currently entering vehicle and its subsequent vehicles can enter and leave the parking lot in an entry order and a scheduled departure order that are different from the scheduled entry order. If entry and departure are possible, it is determined that no change is necessary, and if entry and departure are impossible, it is determined that a change is necessary.

[0073] If it is determined in step (S63) that a change is necessary (YES), the determination device 10 clears the vehicle allocation to the vacant parking space at that time (S64). Specifically, the determination device 10 identifies records in the parking information table in which the parked vehicle ID is not set, and sets the scheduled vehicle ID of each identified record to an unset state. Next, in step (S65), the determination device 10 re-determines the parking section into which the currently entering vehicle and its subsequent vehicles should enter. That is, the determination device 10 determines the parking section for each vehicle by targeting only the currently entering vehicle and its subsequent vehicles and targeting unassigned parking sections excluding parking sections that have already been entered. This determination method may be the same as the method for determining parking sections for the entire vehicle.

[0074] In step (S66), the determination device 10 presents the redetermined parking section for the currently entering vehicle. For example, the determination device 10 displays the section ID of the parking section determined for the currently entering vehicle together with the vehicle ID of the currently entering vehicle on the parking management screen. By referring to this display, the user can inform the driver of the currently entering vehicle of an appropriate parking section.

[0075] Finally, in step (S67), the determination device 10 updates the parking space of the currently entering vehicle to "stored." Specifically, the determination device 10 sets the vehicle ID of the currently entering vehicle to the parked vehicle ID associated with the space ID of the parking space presented in step (S66) in the parking information table. If it is determined in step (S63) that no change is necessary (NO), the determination device 10 executes step (S67) without executing steps (S64) to (S66). At this time, the parking space into which the currently entering vehicle should enter remains the same as the parking plan that was initially determined. Step (S67) may be executed by the user pressing the store button PC25 when the information of the currently entering vehicle is selected (currently displayed) in the pull-down display section PC21 of the parking management screen.

[0076] Although Fig. 6 shows a plurality of steps in sequence, the execution order of the steps in this determination method is not limited to the example of Fig. 6. Moreover, Fig. 6 shows only a part of this determination method executed in a certain situation, and this determination method can also be realized by a processing flow other than that shown in Fig. 6.

[0077] [Variations] The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and may be partially modified as appropriate. For example, in the above example, the parking status information and the parking plan information are stored in one parking information table, but they may be stored in separate data tables. Also, the parking space information is stored in a separate data table from the parking status information and the parking plan information, but they may be stored in one data table. Furthermore, each piece of information may be held in a data structure other than the database table structure. Furthermore, the determination method of the determination unit 23 and the determination method of the determination unit 24 are not limited to the above, and may be modified as appropriate. Furthermore, since the parking management screen shown in FIG. 5 is merely an example of output by the output processing unit 25, any content may be output as long as it is a user interface output based on the parking status information and parking plan information stored in the data storage unit 22.

[0078] Some or all of the above-described embodiments and modifications can be specified as follows: However, the above-described embodiments and modifications are not limited to the following descriptions.

[0079] <1> A parking lot in which parking spaces for a plurality of vehicles are defined, including at least one specific parking space that cannot be entered or exited without passing through other parking spaces, is provided, which is a parking space determination device that determines a parking space into which each vehicle should enter, a vehicle information acquisition means for acquiring entry / exit schedule information that can indicate the planned entry order of a plurality of vehicles into the parking lot and the planned exit order of a plurality of vehicles from the parking lot on a predetermined date; a parking information acquisition means for acquiring parking space information indicating an entrance route and an exit route within the parking lot for each parking space; a determining means for determining a parking space within the parking lot to which each vehicle should enter based on the entry / exit schedule information and the parking space information so that the vehicle can enter and leave the parking space in accordance with the scheduled entry order and the scheduled exit order; Equipped with The entrance route and exit route of the specific parking space indicated by the parking space information indicate information on one or more other parking spaces that are passed through when entering or exiting the specific parking space. Parking space determination device. <2> a storage means for storing parking plan information indicating a parking space to be parked for each vehicle determined by the determination means and parking status information indicating whether each parking space has been parked; a determination means for determining, when a vehicle enters the parking lot in an order that does not match the scheduled entry order, whether the target vehicle that has entered and subsequent vehicles can enter and leave the parking lot in an entry order and a scheduled exit order that are different from the scheduled entry order while maintaining the parking space allocation indicated by the parking plan information; Further provided with The determination means, when it is determined by the determination means that entry or exit is impossible, re-determines the parking spaces for the target vehicle and the following vehicle, targeting parking spaces excluding the parking spaces already entered, which are indicated by the parking state information. <1> The parking space determination device according to claim 1. <3> The determination means further determines whether or not it is possible to assign parking spaces to each vehicle that has not yet entered the parking space, such that the vehicle can enter and leave the parking space in the scheduled entry order or in an entry order changed from the scheduled entry order, and in the scheduled exit order or in an exit order changed from the scheduled exit order, when the vehicle already parked in the entered parking space indicated by the parking status information is moved to another parking space. <2> The parking space determination device according to claim 1. <4> the vehicle information acquisition means further acquires vehicle information including vehicle body size information regarding each vehicle; The parking space information further includes size information of the parking space for each of the parking spaces, The determination means further refers to the vehicle information and determines a parking space into which each vehicle should be parked so that each vehicle is assigned a parking space that allows entry and exit according to the scheduled entry order and the scheduled exit order and that is larger than the vehicle body size of the vehicle. <1> from <3> 10. The parking space determination device according to claim 9, wherein: <5> The vehicle information acquisition means is capable of acquiring the arrival and departure schedule information regarding non-regular buses or suspended buses in addition to regularly scheduled buses, The entry / exit schedule information regarding the suspended bus indicates that the bus will enter the parking lot but not exit the parking lot on the specified date, When the vehicle information acquisition means newly acquires the entry / exit schedule information for a special bus or a suspended bus in addition to a regularly-operated bus, the determination means determines parking spaces for not only the regularly-operated bus but also the special bus or the suspended bus based on the newly acquired entry / exit schedule information. <1> from <4> 10. The parking space determination device according to claim 9, wherein: <6> The parking space information may indicate a plurality of entrance routes or a plurality of exit routes for the specific parking space, Each of the plurality of entrance routes indicates information about one or more other parking spaces that the vehicle passes through when entering the specific parking space; each of the plurality of exit routes indicates information about one or more other parking sections that the vehicle passes through when exiting the specific parking section; The determining means determines a parking space into which each vehicle should enter, taking into consideration a plurality of entry routes or a plurality of exit routes for the specific parking space indicated by the parking space information, so that the vehicle can enter and leave the parking space in accordance with the scheduled entry order and the scheduled exit order. <1> from <5> 10. The parking space determination device according to claim 9, wherein: <7> A parking space determination method executable by a computer having one or more processors and a memory, for a parking lot in which parking spaces for multiple vehicles are defined, including at least one specific parking space that cannot be entered or exited without passing through other parking spaces, the one or more processors: a vehicle information acquisition step of acquiring entry / exit schedule information that can indicate the planned entry order of a plurality of vehicles into the parking lot and the planned exit order of the vehicles from the parking lot on a predetermined date; a parking information acquisition step of acquiring parking space information indicating an entrance route and an exit route within the parking lot for each parking space; a determination process for determining a parking space within the parking lot to which each vehicle should enter based on the entry / exit schedule information and the parking space information so that the vehicle can enter and exit the parking space in accordance with the scheduled entry order and the scheduled exit order; Run The entrance route and exit route of the specific parking space indicated by the parking space information indicate information on one or more other parking spaces that are passed through when entering or exiting the specific parking space. How parking spaces are determined. <8> the one or more processors: a storage step of storing in the memory parking plan information indicating the parking space to which each vehicle should be parked, which has been determined in the determination step, and parking status information indicating whether each parking space has been parked; a determination step in which, when a vehicle enters the parking lot in an order that does not match the scheduled entry order, the vehicle and any subsequent vehicles that have entered the parking lot can enter and exit the parking lot in an order that is different from the scheduled entry order and an order that is different from the scheduled exit order while maintaining the parking space allocation indicated by the parking plan information; When it is determined that entry or exit is impossible in the determination step, a step of re-determining parking spaces for the target vehicle and the following vehicle from parking spaces other than parking spaces that have been entered and are indicated by the parking state information; Run the following again: <7> The parking space determination method according to claim 1. <9> the one or more processors: Further, when a vehicle already parked in a parking space indicated by the parking status information and having been entered is moved to another parking space, it is determined whether or not it is possible to assign a parking space to each vehicle that has not yet entered the parking space such that the vehicle can enter and exit the parking space in the scheduled entry order or an entry order changed from the scheduled entry order, and in the scheduled exit order or an exit order changed from the scheduled exit order. <8> The parking space determination method according to claim 1. <10> the one or more processors: acquiring vehicle information including vehicle size information for each vehicle; Further execute The parking space information further includes size information of the parking space for each of the parking spaces, In the determination step, the vehicle information is further referenced to determine a parking space into which each vehicle should be parked so that the vehicle can enter and leave the parking space according to the scheduled entry order and the scheduled exit order and the parking space is allocated that is larger than the vehicle body size of each vehicle. <7> from <9> 2. The parking space determination method according to claim 1, wherein <11> In the vehicle information acquisition step, the arrival and departure schedule information regarding a specially operated bus or a suspended bus in addition to a regularly operated bus can be acquired, The entry / exit schedule information regarding the suspended bus indicates that the bus will enter the parking lot but not exit the parking lot on the specified date, In the determination step, when the entry / exit schedule information regarding a special bus or a suspended bus in addition to a regular bus is newly acquired in the vehicle information acquisition step, the parking spaces for not only the regular bus but also the special bus or the suspended bus are determined based on the newly acquired entry / exit schedule information. <7> from <10> 2. The parking space determination method according to claim 1, wherein <12> The parking space information may indicate a plurality of entrance routes or a plurality of exit routes for the specific parking space, Each of the plurality of entrance routes indicates information about one or more other parking spaces that the vehicle passes through when entering the specific parking space; each of the plurality of exit routes indicates information about one or more other parking sections that the vehicle passes through when exiting the specific parking section; In the determination step, a parking space into which each vehicle should enter is determined so that the vehicle can enter and leave the parking space in accordance with the scheduled entry order and the scheduled exit order, taking into consideration a plurality of entry routes or a plurality of exit routes for the specific parking space indicated by the parking space information. <7> from <11> 2. The parking space determination method according to claim 1, wherein [Explanation of symbols]

[0080] 1 CPU 2. Memory 3 Input / Output Interface 4 Communication Unit 5 Display device 6 Input Devices 10 Parking space determination device (this determination device) 11. Communications Network 15 User terminal 21 Information Acquisition Department 22 Data storage unit 23 Decision Section 24 Judgment section 25 Output Processing Section

Claims

1. A parking lot in which parking spaces for a plurality of vehicles are defined, including at least one specific parking space that cannot be entered or exited without passing through other parking spaces, is provided, which is a parking space determination device that determines a parking space into which each vehicle should enter, a vehicle information acquisition means for acquiring entry / exit schedule information that can indicate the planned entry order of a plurality of vehicles into the parking lot and the planned exit order of a plurality of vehicles from the parking lot on a predetermined date; a parking information acquisition means for acquiring parking space information indicating an entrance route and an exit route within the parking lot for each parking space; A determination means for determining a parking space within the parking lot to which each vehicle should enter based on the entry / exit schedule information and the parking space information so that the vehicle can enter and exit the parking space in accordance with the scheduled entry order and the scheduled exit order; Equipped with The entrance route and exit route of the specific parking space indicated by the parking space information indicate information on one or more other parking spaces that are passed through when entering or exiting the specific parking space. Parking space determination device.

2. a storage means for storing parking plan information indicating a parking space to be parked for each vehicle determined by the determination means and parking status information indicating whether each parking space has been parked; a determination means for determining, when a vehicle enters the parking lot in an order that does not match the scheduled entry order, whether the target vehicle that has entered and subsequent vehicles can enter and leave the parking lot in an entry order and a scheduled exit order that are different from the scheduled entry order while maintaining the parking space allocation indicated by the parking plan information; Further provided with The determination means, when it is determined by the determination means that entry or exit is impossible, re-determines the parking spaces for the target vehicle and the following vehicle, targeting parking spaces excluding the parking spaces already entered, which are indicated by the parking state information. The parking space determination device according to claim 1 .

3. The determination means further determines whether or not it is possible to assign parking spaces to each vehicle that has not yet entered the parking space, such that the vehicle can enter and leave the parking space in the scheduled entry order or in an entry order changed from the scheduled entry order, and in the scheduled exit order or in an exit order changed from the scheduled exit order, when the vehicle already parked in the entered parking space indicated by the parking status information is moved to another parking space. The parking space determination device according to claim 2 .

4. the vehicle information acquisition means further acquires vehicle information including vehicle body size information regarding each vehicle; The parking space information further includes size information of the parking space for each of the parking spaces, The determination means further refers to the vehicle information and determines a parking space into which each vehicle should be parked so that each vehicle is assigned a parking space that allows entry and exit according to the scheduled entry order and the scheduled exit order and that is larger than the vehicle body size of the vehicle. The parking space determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The vehicle information acquisition means is capable of acquiring the arrival and departure schedule information regarding non-regular buses or suspended buses in addition to regularly scheduled buses, The entry / exit schedule information regarding the suspended bus indicates that the bus will enter the parking lot but not exit the parking lot on the specified date, When the vehicle information acquisition means newly acquires the entry / exit schedule information for a special bus or a suspended bus in addition to a regularly-operated bus, the determination means determines parking spaces for not only the regularly-operated bus but also the special bus or the suspended bus based on the newly acquired entry / exit schedule information. The parking space determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

6. The parking space information may indicate a plurality of entrance routes or a plurality of exit routes for the specific parking space, Each of the plurality of entrance routes indicates information about one or more other parking spaces that the vehicle passes through when entering the specific parking space; each of the plurality of exit routes indicates information about one or more other parking sections that the vehicle passes through when exiting the specific parking section; The determining means determines a parking space into which each vehicle should enter, taking into consideration a plurality of entry routes or a plurality of exit routes for the specific parking space indicated by the parking space information, so that the vehicle can enter and leave the parking space in accordance with the scheduled entry order and the scheduled exit order. The parking space determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

7. A parking space determination method executable by a computer having one or more processors and a memory, for a parking lot in which parking spaces for multiple vehicles are defined, including at least one specific parking space that cannot be entered or exited without passing through other parking spaces, the one or more processors: a vehicle information acquisition step of acquiring entry / exit schedule information that can indicate the planned entry order of a plurality of vehicles into the parking lot and the planned exit order of the vehicles from the parking lot on a predetermined date; a parking information acquisition step of acquiring parking space information indicating an entrance route and an exit route within the parking lot for each parking space; a determination process for determining a parking space within the parking lot to which each vehicle should enter based on the entry / exit schedule information and the parking space information so that the vehicle can enter and exit the parking space in accordance with the scheduled entry order and the scheduled exit order; Run The entrance route and exit route of the specific parking space indicated by the parking space information indicate information on one or more other parking spaces that are passed through when entering or exiting the specific parking space. How parking spaces are determined.

Images