Ride management system

Abstract

To provide an occupant arrangement allowing all vehicles traveling in a group to efficiently travel.SOLUTION: The boarding management system 1 according to the present embodiment includes the group running information acquisition unit 351 that acquires the group running information including the vehicle information on the vehicles 200 participating in the group running in which a plurality of vehicles run from the same departure point to the same destination and the passenger information on the passengers who get on the vehicles 200, and the passenger arrangement determination unit 352 that determines the passenger arrangement for each of the vehicles 200 so that the difference in the movable distance for each of the vehicles 200 performing the group running is minimized based on the vehicle information and the passenger information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a passenger management system. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, from the viewpoint of environmental protection, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles equipped with storage batteries that can be charged from an external power source have become widespread. To enjoy long-distance driving in electric vehicles, etc., it is necessary to charge the storage batteries. However, for example, when a group of electric vehicles are traveling together, there are limitations on the location and number of charging facilities, so it is necessary to charge each electric vehicle efficiently.

[0003] For example, as a technology related to the use of charging facilities in group driving, a technology has been disclosed in which, when a group of electric vehicles are driving to the same destination, each vehicle is guided to a charging facility at the optimal time, allowing all vehicles to arrive at the destination efficiently (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-39639 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Generally, a vehicle's electricity consumption (fuel economy) varies greatly depending on the number of passengers (total weight of passengers) and the air conditioning usage status. However, the technology described in Patent Document 1 does not take into account the number of passengers in each vehicle or the air conditioning usage status, etc., so there was a problem that, for example, if a large number of passengers were to ride in a vehicle with poor electricity efficiency and the air conditioning was used frequently, the vehicle would have to stop at power supply points multiple times due to factors related to the vehicle.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a passenger management system that suggests passenger allocations that allow all vehicles traveling in a group to travel efficiently. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] Form 1: One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a passenger management system that includes a group driving information acquisition unit that acquires group driving information including vehicle information about vehicles participating in a group driving in which multiple vehicles travel from the same starting point to the same destination, and passenger information about the passengers riding in the vehicles, and a passenger allocation determination unit that determines the passenger allocation for each vehicle participating in the group driving based on the vehicle information and the passenger information so as to minimize the difference in travelable distance between each vehicle.

[0008] Form 2: One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a ride management system having a controller, the controller including one or more processors and one or more memories communicatively connected to the one or more processors, the one or more processors acquiring vehicle information about the vehicles participating in a group trip in which multiple vehicles travel from the same starting point to the same destination, and occupant information about the occupants riding in the vehicles, and determining the occupant placement for each vehicle based on the vehicle information and the occupant information so as to minimize the difference in travelable distance between each vehicle in the group trip. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] One or more embodiments of the present invention have the advantage that all vehicles traveling in a group can travel efficiently. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a ride management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an occupant information input screen displayed by the mobile terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a group running information input screen displayed on the mobile terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a server according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a server according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of a ride management system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminal according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a group driving participating vehicle information input screen displayed on a mobile terminal according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a mobile terminal according to a second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] <Embodiment> Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0012] First Embodiment A ride management system 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. FIG.

[0013] <Configuration of Ride Management System 1> As shown in FIG. 1, the ride management system 1 according to this embodiment includes mobile terminals 100_1 to 100_M, vehicles 200_1 to 200_N, a server 300, and a network N. In the following description, the mobile terminals 100_1 to 100_M will be collectively referred to as "mobile terminal 100", and the vehicles 200_1 to 200_N will be collectively referred to as "vehicle 200". In this embodiment, the mobile terminal 100 is a mobile terminal carried by a passenger in the vehicle 200, and may be, for example, a smartphone or a tablet. In this embodiment, vehicle 200 is a vehicle that participates in a group trip in which multiple vehicles travel from the same starting point to the same destination, and can be, for example, an electric vehicle equipped with a storage battery that can be charged from an external power source. In this embodiment, the server 300 is connected to the mobile terminal 100 and the vehicle 200 via a network N, for example, so as to be able to communicate with each other. An example of the network N is the Internet. The mobile terminal 100, the vehicle 200, and the server 300 will be described in detail below.

[0014] <Configuration of mobile terminal 100> As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 100 includes a communication unit 110, an input unit 120, a display unit 130, and a terminal control unit 140.

[0015] In this embodiment, the communication unit 110 is, for example, a known wireless communication module, and functions as an interface for communicating with a server 300 connected to the network N. In this embodiment, the communication unit 110 transmits to the server 300, for example, passenger information and group traveling information input from a terminal control unit 140 (described later). The occupant information includes, for example, information about occupants participating in a group trip. A rider participating in a group trip operates the mobile terminal 100 to transmit rider information to the server 300, for example, before starting the group trip. The group running information includes, for example, information about the members who will be participating in the group running. When starting a group trip, the representative of the members participating in the group trip operates the mobile terminal 100 to transmit group trip information to the server 300 . The passenger information and group driving information will be described in detail later.

[0016] In this embodiment, the input unit 120 is, for example, a touch panel or the like that is integrated with a display unit 130 (described later), and detects touch operations and the like by a passenger carrying the mobile terminal 100 . In this embodiment, the input unit 120 outputs the detection result to the terminal control unit 140, which will be described later, for example.

[0017] In this embodiment, the display unit 130 is, for example, a display panel such as a liquid crystal panel or an organic EL panel, and displays information input from the terminal control unit 140, which will be described later. In this embodiment, the display unit 130 displays, for example, an occupant information input screen and a group driving information input screen input from the terminal control unit 140, which will be described later. In this embodiment, the display unit 130 displays, for example, information about occupant allocation input from the terminal control unit 140, which will be described later.

[0018] In this embodiment, when the terminal control unit 140 detects an instruction operation to execute an application program for transmitting occupant information to the server 300, for example, based on the detection results of a touch operation or the like obtained from the input unit 120, it causes the display unit 130 to display an occupant information input screen. The occupant information includes at least the occupant's weight information and the occupant's preference information regarding air conditioning settings. In this embodiment, the terminal control unit 140 displays an occupant information input screen as shown in Figure 3 on the display unit 130, and acquires, for example, the occupant ID, the occupant's weight information, the occupant's preference information regarding air conditioning settings, and mobile terminal information as occupant information. The occupant ID may be, for example, a name or a nickname. An example of preference information regarding air conditioning settings is the tendency of passengers to react to temperature. In this embodiment, the occupant selects one of "sensitive to heat," "sensitive to cold," or "neither," for example, as preference information regarding air conditioning settings. Examples of the mobile terminal information include the ID of the mobile terminal 100 carried by the occupant linked to the occupant ID, an email address, a telephone number, and the like. In this embodiment, when the terminal control unit 140 determines, for example, based on the detection results obtained from the input unit 120, that the "Send" button on the occupant information input screen has been touched, it transmits the input occupant information to the server 300 via the communication unit 110.

[0019] In this embodiment, when the terminal control unit 140 detects an instruction to execute an application program for transmitting group driving information to the server 300, for example, based on the detection results of a touch operation or the like obtained from the input unit 120, it causes the display unit 130 to display a group driving information input screen. In this embodiment, the terminal control unit 140 displays a group driving information input screen as shown in FIG. 4 on the display unit 130, and acquires, for example, participant information (e.g., occupant ID), participating vehicle information (e.g., vehicle ID), and driver information (e.g., driver's occupant ID) as group driving information. In this embodiment, for example, when the terminal control unit 140 determines based on the detection result of the input unit 120 that the "Send" button on the group driving information input screen has been touched, the terminal control unit 140 transmits the input group driving information to the server 300 via the communication unit 110.

[0020] In this embodiment, for example, when the terminal control unit 140 receives information related to occupant allocation from the server 300 via the communication unit 110, the terminal control unit 140 causes the display unit 130 to display the received information. The information regarding the occupant allocation received from the server 300 will be described later.

[0021] <Configuration of vehicle 200> As shown in FIG. 5, the vehicle 200 includes a communication unit 210, a remaining charge information acquisition unit 220, and a display unit 230. In this embodiment, the vehicle 200 is, for example, an electric vehicle equipped with a storage battery 221 that can be charged from an external power source.

[0022] In this embodiment, the communication unit 210 is, for example, a known wireless communication module, and functions as an interface for communicating with the server 300 connected to the network N. In this embodiment, for example, when the communication unit 210 receives a request for obtaining remaining charge information from the server 300 via the network N, the communication unit 210 outputs the request for obtaining remaining charge information to the remaining charge information obtaining unit 220, which will be described later. In this embodiment, for example, when remaining charge information is input from a remaining charge information acquisition unit 220 described later, the communication unit 210 transmits the remaining charge information to the server 300 via the network N. In this embodiment, for example, when the communication unit 210 receives a vehicle model number transmission request from the server 300 via the network N, the communication unit 210 transmits information related to the vehicle model number of the vehicle 200 to the server 300. In this embodiment, when the communication unit 210 receives information about occupant allocation from the server 300 via the network N, for example, the communication unit 210 outputs the information about occupant allocation to the display unit 230, which will be described later.

[0023] In this embodiment, the display unit 230 is a display panel such as a liquid crystal panel or an organic EL panel, and displays information input from the communication unit 210 (for example, information related to occupant placement). The display unit 230 may be, for example, a meter provided in the vehicle 200 or a display panel of a navigation device.

[0024] In this embodiment, the remaining charge information acquisition unit 220 acquires information about the remaining charge of the storage battery 221, for example. In this embodiment, the storage battery 221 is a storage battery that stores electric power for driving a traction motor of the vehicle 200, for example. In this embodiment, when a request to acquire remaining charge information is input from the communication unit 210, the remaining charge information acquisition unit 220 detects the remaining charge of the storage battery 221 and outputs the detection result to the communication unit 210.

[0025] <Configuration of Server 300> As shown in FIG. 6, the server 300 includes a controller 310 and a communication unit 320. The controller 310 will be described later.

[0026] In this embodiment, the communication unit 320 is, for example, a known communication module, and functions as an interface for communication between the mobile terminal 100 connected to the network N and the vehicle 200. In this embodiment, when the communication unit 320 receives occupant information from the mobile terminal 100 via the network N, for example, the communication unit 320 outputs the received occupant information to the controller 310. The communication unit 320 transmits information relating to the occupant allocation for each vehicle 200 to the vehicle 200 and the mobile terminal 100 carried by the occupant. In this embodiment, the communication unit 320 transmits, for example, information relating to the occupant allocation for each vehicle 200 input from the controller 310 to the vehicle 200 and the mobile terminal 100 carried by the occupant. Information regarding the location of occupants will be described later.

[0027] <Configuration of controller 310> The controller 310 includes one or more processors and one or more memories communicatively coupled to the one or more processors. As shown in FIG. 6, in this embodiment, the controller 310 includes a processor 350 and a memory 360. The processor 350 is described below.

[0028] The memory 360 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, which are not shown. In this embodiment, the memory 360 stores, for example, a control program and various data input from the processor 350. In this embodiment, the memory 360 pre-stores, for example, standard electricity consumption information (e.g., EPA electricity consumption information or electricity consumption information in WLTC mode), information regarding the rate of deterioration in electricity consumption due to weight increase (change in total weight of occupants), and information regarding the rate of deterioration in electricity consumption when air conditioning is used. The information relating to the rate of deterioration in electricity efficiency due to an increase in the weight of the occupants is, for example, information indicating the correlation between the total weight of the occupants and the rate of deterioration in electricity efficiency. The information relating to the rate of deterioration in electricity efficiency when air conditioning is used is, for example, information indicating the correlation between the set temperature of the air conditioning and the rate of deterioration in electricity efficiency. Hereinafter, information related to electricity cost that is stored in advance in memory 360 will be collectively referred to as "electricity cost information." In this embodiment, the memory 360 stores in advance electricity cost information linked to the vehicle model number, for example.

[0029] In this embodiment, the memory 360 includes an occupant information storage unit 361 . In this embodiment, the occupant information storage unit 361 stores the occupant information received from the mobile terminal 100 via the communication unit 320, for example.

[0030] <Configuration of processor 350> As shown in FIG. 6, the processor 350 includes a group driving information acquisition unit 351 and an occupant placement determination unit 352. Each unit of the processor 350 and the memory 360 input and output various types of information via the bus line BL.

[0031] The group traveling information acquisition unit 351 acquires vehicle information about the vehicle 200 traveling in a group and passenger information about passengers riding in the vehicle 200. In this embodiment, for example, when the group driving information acquisition unit 351 receives group driving information from the mobile terminal 100, it sends a request to acquire remaining charge information and a request to send vehicle model numbers via the communication unit 320 to all vehicles 200 participating in the group driving (vehicle IDs registered in the participating vehicle information of the group driving information). In this embodiment, the group driving information acquisition unit 351 outputs, for example, remaining charge information / vehicle model number information acquired from the vehicle 200 traveling in a group via the bus line BL, and group driving information received from the mobile terminal 100, to the occupant placement determination unit 352 described later.

[0032] The occupant placement determination unit 352 determines the occupant placement for each vehicle 200 based on the vehicle information and the occupant information so as to minimize the difference in travelable distance between each vehicle 200 traveling in a group. In this embodiment, the occupant placement determination unit 352 determines the occupant placement for each vehicle 200 traveling in a group so as to minimize the difference in travelable distance between the vehicles 200 traveling in a group, based on, for example, the remaining charge information / vehicle model number information for each vehicle 200 traveling in a group acquired from the group traveling information acquisition unit 351 and the group traveling information received from the mobile terminal 100. An example of a method for determining the occupant arrangement will be described below. In this embodiment, the occupant placement determination unit 352, for example, refers to the occupant IDs of the participants included in the group driving information and the occupant information stored in the occupant information storage unit 361 to obtain weight information and preference information regarding air conditioning settings of the occupants participating in the group driving. In this embodiment, the driver of the vehicle 200 traveling in a group is determined based on, for example, the occupant ID information of the driver included in the group traveling information. In this embodiment, the occupant placement determination unit 352 determines the occupant placement based on preference information regarding air conditioning settings, so that, for example, an occupant who selects "sensitive to heat" and an occupant who selects "sensitive to cold" do not ride in the same vehicle 200. In this embodiment, the occupant placement determination unit 352 sets the temperature setting value of the air conditioning for each vehicle 200 based on, for example, preference information related to air conditioning settings. In this embodiment, the occupant placement determination unit 352 sets the air conditioning setting temperature of a vehicle 200 in which an occupant who is sensitive to heat is riding to 20°C, and sets the air conditioning setting temperature of a vehicle 200 in which an occupant who is sensitive to cold is riding to 25°C, for example. In this embodiment, the occupant placement determination unit 352 sets the air conditioning temperature setting to 23° C. for the vehicle 200 in which only occupants who selected "neither" are riding. In this embodiment, the occupant placement determination unit 352 calculates the travelable distance for each vehicle 200 based on, for example, the remaining charge of the storage battery 221, the total weight of the occupants on board, the set temperature setting value of the air conditioning, and the electricity cost information stored in the memory 360, and determines the occupant placement that minimizes the difference between the maximum and minimum values ​​of the calculated travelable distance.

[0033] In this embodiment, the occupant allocation determination unit 352 outputs information relating to the determined occupant allocation to the communication unit 320, for example. The following describes the information about the occupant allocation that the communication unit 320 transmits to the mobile terminal 100 and the vehicle 200. Examples of information related to occupant allocation include information about the vehicle 200 in which each occupant should ride, information about the occupants who should ride in each vehicle 200, and the like. In this embodiment, the communication unit 320 transmits, for example, information (for example, a vehicle ID) relating to the vehicle 200 in which each occupant should ride to the mobile terminal 100 carried by each occupant. In this embodiment, the communication unit 320 transmits, for example, information relating to the occupants aboard each vehicle 200 (for example, occupant ID) to the mobile terminal 100 carried by the driver of each vehicle 200. In this embodiment, the communication unit 320 transmits information about the occupants riding in each vehicle 200 (for example, occupant IDs) to each vehicle 200 via the network N, for example.

[0034] <Processing flow of server 300> The processing flow of the server 300 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0035] The group traveling information acquisition unit 351 determines whether or not group traveling information has been received from the mobile terminal 100 (step S110). If the group traveling information acquisition unit 351 determines that it has not received group traveling information from the mobile terminal 100 ("NO" in step S110), it returns the process to a standby state. If the group traveling information acquisition unit 351 determines that it has received group traveling information from the mobile terminal 100 ("YES" in step S110), it moves the process to step S120.

[0036] The group driving information acquisition unit 351 sends a request to acquire remaining charge information and a request to send vehicle model number to all vehicles 200 participating in the group driving, acquires remaining charge information and vehicle model number information for each vehicle 200 (step S120), and proceeds to step S130.

[0037] The occupant placement determination unit 352 determines the occupant placement for each vehicle 200 based on the group driving information acquired in step S110 and the remaining charge information / vehicle model number information acquired in step S120 (step S130), and transitions the processing to step S140.

[0038] The communication unit 320 transmits the information about the occupant allocation determined in step S130 to the mobile terminal 100 carried by the occupant and to the vehicle 200 (step S140), and then ends the process.

[0039] <Actions and Effects> As described above, the passenger management system 1 of this embodiment is equipped with a group driving information acquisition unit 351 that acquires group driving information including vehicle information about vehicles 200 participating in a group driving in which multiple vehicles travel from the same starting point to the same destination, and passenger information about the passengers riding in the vehicles 200, and an passenger allocation determination unit 352 that determines the passenger allocation for each vehicle 200 in the group driving based on the vehicle information and passenger information so as to minimize the difference in travelable distance between each vehicle 200 in the group driving. The vehicle information includes at least remaining charge information of the storage battery 221 of the vehicle 200 and electricity cost information of the vehicle 200, and the occupant information includes at least occupant weight information and occupant preference information regarding air conditioning settings. In general, the electricity consumption of the vehicle 200 varies greatly depending on the number of passengers (weight) and the air conditioning usage status. That is, the passenger management system 1 acquires weight information of the passengers participating in the group trip and preference information regarding air conditioning settings (sensitive to heat / sensitive to cold, etc.), and calculates the electricity cost of each vehicle 200 participating in the group trip. This allows the ride management system 1 to calculate the electricity cost for each vehicle 200 with high accuracy. The passenger management system 1 calculates the travelable distance based on the calculated electricity cost for each vehicle 200 and the remaining charge of the storage battery 221 of the vehicle 200, and determines the passenger allocation for each vehicle 200 so as to minimize the difference in the travelable distance. The passenger management system 1 determines the allocation of passengers so as to minimize the difference in the travelable distance of each vehicle 200 traveling in a group, and therefore, for example, it can prevent all vehicles traveling in a group from stopping at a power supply point because one vehicle 200 has a low remaining charge. In other words, the passenger management system 1 determines the occupant placement for each vehicle 200 so that all vehicles 200 traveling in a group can charge at the same power supply point, thereby minimizing the number of stops at power supply points and also shortening the travel time to the destination. As a result, the passenger management system 1 can provide the passengers with a passenger allocation that allows all vehicles traveling in a group to travel efficiently. The ride management system 1 can optimize the power consumption of all vehicles 200 traveling in a group, and therefore can make the vehicles 200 travel farther with less energy (electricity).

[0040] The ride management system 1 according to this embodiment determines the occupant allocation for each vehicle 200 based on preference information regarding the air conditioning settings of the occupants. That is, the passenger management system 1 determines the passenger allocation so that, for example, a passenger who is sensitive to heat and a passenger who is sensitive to cold do not ride in the same vehicle 200. This allows the occupants to travel to their destination in comfort, since they will not be riding in the same vehicle 200 as occupants with different preferences for air conditioning settings.

[0041] The passenger management system 1 according to this embodiment includes a communication unit 320 that transmits information about the occupant allocation for each vehicle 200 to the vehicle 200 and the mobile terminal 100 carried by the occupant. That is, the ride management system 1 displays information (for example, a vehicle ID) relating to the vehicle 200 in which each occupant should ride on the display unit 130 of the mobile terminal 100 carried by each occupant. The ride management system 1 displays information (for example, a ride ID) about a ride member riding in the vehicle 200 driven by the driver on the display unit 130 of the mobile terminal 100 carried by each driver. The passenger management system 1 causes the display unit 230 of each vehicle 200 to display information about the passengers riding in each vehicle 200 (for example, passenger IDs). This allows passengers participating in the group trip to immediately know which vehicle 200 they should board.

[0042] <Second embodiment> The passenger management system 1A according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that components with the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment have the same functions, and therefore detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0043] <Configuration of the passenger management system 1A> As shown in FIG. 8, the ride management system 1A according to this embodiment is configured to include mobile terminals 100A_1 to 100A_M and vehicles 200A_1 to 200A_N. In the following description, the mobile terminals 100A_1 to 100A_M are collectively referred to as "mobile terminal 100A", and the vehicles 200A_1 to 200A_N are collectively referred to as "vehicle 200A". In this embodiment, the passenger management system 1A will be described by taking as an example a case where an application program for determining the passenger allocation of passengers traveling in a group is executed on the mobile terminal 100A. The mobile terminal 100A and the vehicle 200A are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0044] <Configuration of vehicle 200A> As shown in FIG. 9, the vehicle 200A includes a communication unit 210A, a remaining charge information acquisition unit 220, and a display unit 230. In this embodiment, the vehicle 200A is, for example, an electric vehicle equipped with a storage battery 221 that can be charged from an external power source.

[0045] In this embodiment, the communication unit 210A is, for example, a short-range wireless communication module such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or Wifi, and functions as an interface for communicating with the mobile terminal 100A that is within a communicable range. In this embodiment, for example, when the communication unit 210A receives a request to acquire remaining charge information from the mobile terminal 100A, which will be described later, the communication unit 210A outputs the request to acquire remaining charge information to the remaining charge information acquisition unit 220. In this embodiment, for example, when the communication unit 210A acquires remaining charge information from the remaining charge information acquisition unit 220, the communication unit 210A transmits the acquired remaining charge information to the mobile terminal 100A. In this embodiment, for example, when the communication unit 210A receives information related to occupant allocation from the mobile terminal 100A, the communication unit 210A outputs the received information to the display unit 230. In this embodiment, for example, when the communication unit 210A receives a vehicle model number transmission request from the mobile terminal 100A, it transmits information about the vehicle model number of the vehicle 200A to the mobile terminal 100A.

[0046] <Configuration of mobile terminal 100A> As shown in FIG. 10, the mobile terminal 100A includes an input unit 120, a display unit 130, a controller 150, and a communication unit 160. The controller 150 will be described later.

[0047] In this embodiment, the communication unit 160 is, for example, a short-range wireless communication module such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or Wifi, and functions as an interface for communication between the mobile terminal 100A located within a communication range and the vehicle 200A. The communication unit 160 transmits information relating to the occupant allocation for each vehicle 200A to the vehicle 200A and the mobile terminal 100A carried by the occupant. In this embodiment, the communication unit 160 transmits, for example, information relating to the occupant allocation for each vehicle 200A input from the controller 150 to the vehicle 200A and the mobile terminal 100A carried by the occupant.

[0048] <Configuration of controller 150> The controller 150 includes one or more processors and one or more memories communicatively coupled to the one or more processors. As shown in FIG. 10, in this embodiment, the controller 150 includes a processor 170 and a memory 180. The processor 170 is described below.

[0049] The memory 180 includes a ROM, a RAM, and the like, which are not shown. In this embodiment, the memory 180 stores, for example, a control program and various data input from the processor 170. In this embodiment, the memory 180 stores in advance, for example, an application program for inputting passenger information and an application program for determining the passenger arrangement of passengers traveling in a group. The application program for determining the occupant placement of the occupants traveling in a group as described above includes, for example, standard electricity consumption information linked to the vehicle model number, information regarding the rate of deterioration in electricity consumption due to weight increase (total weight of occupants), and information regarding the rate of deterioration in electricity consumption when air conditioning is used.

[0050] <Configuration of the processor 170> As shown in FIG. 10, the processor 170 includes a terminal control unit 171, a group driving information acquisition unit 172, and an occupant placement determination unit 173. Each part of the processor 170 and the memory 180 input and output various types of information via the bus line BL.

[0051] In this embodiment, the terminal control unit 171 controls the overall processing of the mobile terminal 100A in accordance with a control program and application programs stored in the memory 180.

[0052] In this embodiment, when the terminal control unit 171 detects an instruction operation to execute an application program for inputting occupant information, for example, based on the detection results of a touch operation or the like obtained from the input unit 120, it outputs an occupant information input screen to the display unit 130. The occupant information input screen that the terminal control unit 171 causes the display unit 130 to display is the same as that in the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, for example, when the terminal control unit 171 receives occupant information from the mobile terminal 100A via the communication unit 160, the terminal control unit 171 stores the received occupant information in the memory 180 via the bus line BL. In this embodiment, for example, when the terminal control unit 171 receives a request to send occupant information from the mobile terminal 100A via the communication unit 160, it transmits the occupant information stored in the memory 180 to the mobile terminal 100A that sent the request to send occupant information via the communication unit 160.

[0053] In this embodiment, when the terminal control unit 171 detects an instruction to execute an application program for determining the occupant placement of occupants traveling in a group based on the detection results of, for example, a touch operation obtained from the input unit 120, it causes the display unit 130 to display a group traveling participating vehicle information input screen. In this embodiment, the terminal control unit 171 causes the display unit 130 to display a group driving participating vehicle information input screen as shown in FIG. Examples of the group driving participating vehicle information include the vehicle model number of the vehicle 200A participating in the group driving and the occupant ID of the driver. In this embodiment, when the terminal control unit 171 determines that the "Register" button on the group driving participating vehicle information input screen has been touched, it outputs the group driving participating vehicle information and a request for determining occupant placement to the occupant placement determination unit 173 described later via the bus line BL. In this embodiment, when the terminal control unit 171 determines that the "Register" button on the group driving participating vehicle information input screen has been touched, it outputs the group driving participating vehicle information and a group driving information acquisition request to the group driving information acquisition unit 172 described later via the bus line BL.

[0054] In this embodiment, for example, when the terminal control unit 171 acquires information about the occupant allocation from the occupant allocation determination unit 173 described later, the terminal control unit 171 outputs the information about the occupant allocation to the communication unit 160. The following describes information about occupant allocation that the communication unit 160 transmits to the mobile terminal 100A and the vehicle 200A. Examples of the information related to the occupant allocation include information about the vehicle 200A in which each occupant should ride, information about the occupants who should ride in each vehicle 200A, and the like. In this embodiment, the communication unit 160 transmits, for example, information (for example, a vehicle ID) relating to the vehicle 200A in which each occupant should ride to each mobile terminal 100A carried by each occupant. In this embodiment, the communication unit 160 transmits, for example, information about the occupant riding in each vehicle 200A (for example, occupant ID) to the mobile terminal 100A carried by the driver of each vehicle 200A. In this embodiment, the communication unit 160 transmits, for example, information relating to the occupant riding in each vehicle 200A (for example, occupant ID) to each vehicle 200A.

[0055] The group traveling information acquisition unit 172 acquires vehicle information about the vehicle 200A traveling in a group and occupant information about the occupants riding in the vehicle 200A. In this embodiment, when group driving participating vehicle information and a group driving information acquisition request are input from the terminal control unit 171 via the bus line BL, the group driving information acquisition unit 172 sends a request to acquire remaining charge information and a request to send vehicle model number via the communication unit 160 to all vehicles 200A participating in the group driving (for example, vehicles 200A with which the communication unit 160 can communicate), and acquires remaining charge information and vehicle model number information for each vehicle 200A. In this embodiment, when a group driving information acquisition request is input from the terminal control unit 171 via the bus line BL, for example, the group driving information acquisition unit 172 outputs a passenger information transmission request via the communication unit 160 to the mobile terminals 100A carried by all passengers participating in the group driving (for example, mobile terminals 100A with which the communication unit 160 can communicate), and acquires the passenger information. In this embodiment, the group driving information acquisition unit 172 outputs, for example, remaining charge information, vehicle model number information, and occupant information acquired from the mobile terminal 100A and the vehicle 200A to the occupant placement determination unit 173 described later via the bus line BL.

[0056] The occupant placement determination unit 173 determines the occupant placement for each vehicle 200A based on the vehicle information and the occupant information so as to minimize the difference in travelable distance between each vehicle 200A traveling in a group. In this embodiment, when the occupant placement determination unit 173 receives, for example, information about vehicles participating in a group drive and a request for determining occupant placement from the terminal control unit 171 via the bus line BL, it determines the occupant placement for each vehicle 200A so as to minimize the difference in travelable distance between each vehicle 200A driving in the group. In this embodiment, the occupant placement determination unit 173 determines the occupant placement for each vehicle 200A based on, for example, the remaining charge information / vehicle model number information for each vehicle 200A, occupant information, and group driving participating vehicle information (vehicle model number information and driver's occupant ID) so as to minimize the difference in travelable distance between the vehicles driving in the group. The method for determining the occupant placement is the same as that of the occupant placement determination unit 352 in the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, the occupant allocation determination unit 173 outputs information relating to the determined occupant allocation to the terminal control unit 171 via, for example, the bus line BL.

[0057] <Processing flow of the mobile terminal 100A> The processing flow of the mobile terminal 100A will be described with reference to FIG.

[0058] The terminal control unit 171 determines whether or not the registration button on the group driving participating vehicle information input screen has been touched (step S210). When the terminal control unit 171 determines that the registration button on the group driving participating vehicle information input screen has not been touched ("NO" in step S210), the terminal control unit 171 returns the process and transitions to a standby state. When the terminal control unit 171 determines that the registration button on the group driving participating vehicle information input screen has been touched ("YES" in step S210), it shifts the processing to step S220.

[0059] The terminal control unit 171 causes the group traveling information acquisition unit 172 to acquire the remaining charge information and vehicle model number information of the vehicle 200A (step S220), and then causes the process to proceed to step S230.

[0060] The terminal control unit 171 causes the group traveling information acquisition unit 172 to acquire passenger information from the mobile terminal 100A carried by the passenger who is traveling in the group (step S230), and then moves the process to step S240.

[0061] The occupant placement determination unit 173 determines the occupant placement for each vehicle 200A based on the remaining charge information / vehicle model number of the vehicle 200A acquired in step S220 and the occupant information acquired in step S230 (step S240), and transitions the processing to step S250.

[0062] The terminal control unit 171 transmits the information on the occupant allocation determined in step S240 to the mobile terminal 100A and the vehicle 200A via the communication unit 160 (step S250), and ends the process.

[0063] <Actions and Effects> As described above, the passenger management system 1A of this embodiment is equipped with a group driving information acquisition unit 172 that acquires group driving information including vehicle information about vehicles 200A participating in a group driving in which multiple vehicles travel from the same starting point to the same destination, and occupant information about the occupants riding in vehicle 200A, and an occupant allocation determination unit 173 that determines the occupant allocation for each vehicle 200A participating in the group driving based on the vehicle information and occupant information so as to minimize the difference in travelable distance between each vehicle 200A participating in the group driving. The vehicle information includes at least remaining charge information of the storage battery 221 of the vehicle 200A and electricity cost information of the vehicle 200A, and the occupant information includes at least occupant weight information and occupant preference information regarding air conditioning settings. In general, the electricity consumption of vehicle 200A varies greatly depending on the number of passengers (weight) and the air conditioning usage status. That is, the passenger management system 1A acquires weight information of the passengers participating in the group trip and preference information regarding air conditioning settings (sensitive to heat / sensitive to cold, etc.), and calculates the electricity cost of each vehicle 200A traveling in the group. This allows the ride management system 1A to calculate the electricity cost for each vehicle 200A with high accuracy. The passenger management system 1A calculates the travelable distance based on the calculated electricity cost for each vehicle 200A and the remaining charge of the storage battery 221 of the vehicle 200A, and determines the passenger allocation for each vehicle 200A so as to minimize the difference in the travelable distance. In other words, the passenger management system 1A determines the passenger placement so as to minimize the difference in the travelable distance of each vehicle 200A traveling in a group, thereby preventing all vehicles traveling in a group from stopping at a power supply point because, for example, one vehicle 200A has a low remaining charge. In other words, the passenger management system 1A determines the occupant placement for each vehicle 200A so that all vehicles 200A traveling in a group can charge at the same power supply point, thereby minimizing the number of stops at power supply points and shortening the travel time to the destination. As a result, the passenger management system 1A can provide the passengers with information regarding the passenger allocation that allows all vehicles traveling in a group to travel efficiently. The ride management system 1A can optimize the power consumption of the entire vehicle 200A traveling in a group, and therefore can make the vehicle 200A travel farther with less energy (electricity).

[0064] The ride management system 1A according to this embodiment determines the occupant allocation for each vehicle 200A based on preference information regarding the air conditioning settings of the occupants. That is, the passenger management system 1A determines the passenger allocation so that, for example, a passenger who is sensitive to heat and a passenger who is sensitive to cold do not ride in the same vehicle 200A. This allows the occupants to travel to their destination in comfort, since they will not be riding in the same vehicle 200A as occupants with different preferences for air conditioning settings.

[0065] The ride management system 1A according to this embodiment includes a communication unit 160 that transmits information related to the occupant allocation for each vehicle 200A to the vehicle 200A and the mobile terminal 100A carried by the occupant. That is, the ride management system 1A causes the display unit 130 of the mobile terminal 100A carried by each occupant to display information (for example, a vehicle ID) relating to the vehicle 200A in which each occupant should ride. The passenger management system 1A displays information (for example, passenger ID) about passengers riding in the vehicle 200A driven by the driver on the display unit 130 of the mobile terminal 100A carried by each driver. The passenger management system 1A causes the display unit 230 of each vehicle 200A to display information about the passengers riding in each vehicle 200A (for example, passenger IDs). This allows the passengers participating in the group trip to immediately know which vehicle 200A they should board.

[0066] <Variation 1> The above-mentioned passenger management systems 1, 1A perform the process of determining occupant placement in the server 300 or the mobile terminal 100A, but the process of determining occupant placement may also be performed in a processor and memory installed in the vehicle 200 or the vehicle 200A.

[0067] <Variation 2> The passenger allocation determination unit 352 of the passenger management system 1 may acquire, from the vehicle 200, electricity cost information to be referred to when determining passenger allocation. The vehicle 200 calculates the electricity cost during actual travel based on, for example, the distance actually traveled and the power consumption of the storage battery 221. That is, the ride management system 1 calculates the remaining driving distance of the vehicle 200 based on the actual driving data of the vehicle 200, and therefore, the remaining driving distance of the vehicle 200 can be calculated with higher accuracy. As a result, the passenger management system 1 can determine with high accuracy a passenger allocation that allows all vehicles traveling in a group to travel efficiently.

[0068] <Variation 3> The mobile terminals 100 and 100A described above acquire occupant information from each occupant when traveling in a group, but may also acquire information about the occupants from the vehicles 200 and 200A, for example, and automatically generate the occupant information shown in Figure 3. For example, the mobile terminal 100 carried by person A, who is participating in a group drive, acquires in advance information about the air conditioning temperature settings during past vehicle driving from the vehicle 200 driven by person A, and estimates person A's preference information (sensitive to heat / sensitive to cold / neither) based on the acquired information. The mobile terminal 100 carried by Person A generates occupant information that links the terminal owner's name (occupant ID), physical information (weight information), email address (mobile terminal information), and estimated preference information of Person A, which are stored in a memory (not shown) of the mobile terminal 100, for example. This allows the mobile terminals 100 and 100A to generate passenger information without requiring participants in the group driving to input information. This allows participants in a group trip to obtain information about passenger placement without having to perform cumbersome information input operations. In addition, the mobile terminal 100 may transmit information regarding the air conditioning temperature settings during previous vehicle driving to the server 300, and have the server 300 estimate the occupant's preference information (sensitive to heat / sensitive to cold / neither) to automatically generate occupant information.

[0069] <Variation 4> The mobile terminal 100 described above requires group driving participants to input group driving information when a group driving event takes place, but it may also be configured to automatically generate the group driving information shown in Figure 4 by collecting information from the vehicles 200 participating in the group driving event and the mobile terminals 100 carried by the participants in the group driving event. The mobile terminal 100 communicates with the vehicles 200 participating in the group driving, for example, by short-range wireless communication, and acquires participating vehicle information (vehicle IDs) and owner information (passenger IDs of the drivers). The mobile terminal 100 communicates with the mobile terminals 100 carried by the participants in the group running, for example, by short-distance wireless communication, and acquires the names of the terminal owners (passenger IDs) and the like. The mobile terminal 100 generates group driving information that links the participating vehicle information (vehicle ID) and owner information (driver's passenger ID) obtained from the vehicle 200 with the terminal owner name (passenger ID) obtained from the mobile terminal 100 carried by the participant in the group driving. This allows the mobile terminal 100 to generate group running information without the participants of the group running having to perform any information input operation. This allows participants in a group trip to obtain information about passenger placement without having to perform cumbersome information input operations.

[0070] <Variation 5> The mobile terminal 100A described above requires group driving participants to input participating vehicle information when driving in a group, but it may also be configured to collect information from the vehicle 200A driving in the group and automatically generate the group driving participating vehicle information shown in Figure 11. The mobile terminal 100A communicates with the vehicle 200A participating in the group driving, for example, by short-range wireless communication, and acquires participating vehicle information (vehicle model number information), owner information (driver's passenger ID), and the like. This allows the mobile terminal 100A to generate group driving participant vehicle information without the participants of the group driving having to perform an information input operation. This allows participants in a group trip to obtain information about passenger placement without having to perform cumbersome information input operations.

[0071] The passenger management system 1 of the present invention can be realized by recording the processing of the above-mentioned occupant placement determination unit 352 on a recording medium readable by a computer system, reading the program recorded on this recording medium into memory, and executing it. The computer system here includes the OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

[0072] If the above computer system uses a WWW (World Wide Web) system, it also includes the homepage providing environment (or display environment). The above program may be transmitted from a computer system in which the program is stored in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by transmission waves in the transmission medium. The transmission medium for transmitting the above-mentioned program refers to a medium having a function for transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.

[0073] The above program may be for realizing part of the above-mentioned functions. The above program may be a so-called differential file (differential program) that can realize the above-mentioned functions in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system.

[0074] The above describes in detail an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. However, all ride management systems that can be implemented by a person skilled in the art by appropriately modifying the design based on the ride management system described above as an embodiment of the present invention also fall within the scope of the present invention as long as they include the gist of the present invention. Within the scope of the concept of the present invention, a person skilled in the art may conceive of various modifications and alterations, and it is understood that these modifications and alterations also fall within the scope of the present invention. For example, any embodiment in which a person skilled in the art has appropriately added or deleted components or modified the design, or added or omitted steps or modified conditions, is included within the scope of the present invention as long as it contains the essence of the present invention.

[0075] Furthermore, other effects and advantages brought about by the aspects described in this embodiment that are clear from the description in this specification or that can be appropriately thought of by a person skilled in the art are naturally understood to be brought about by the present invention. Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining the multiple components disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be omitted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, components from different embodiments may be combined as appropriate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0076] 1. Ride management system 100;Mobile devices 110;Communications Department 120; Input section 130;Display section 140; Terminal control unit 200;Vehicle 210;Communications Department 220: Remaining charge information acquisition unit 221; Storage battery 230;Display section 300; Server 310; Controller 320;Communications Department 350;processor 351: Group driving information acquisition unit 352; Crew Allocation Decision Department 360;Memory 361: Occupant information storage unit N; Network

Claims

1. a group driving information acquisition unit that acquires group driving information including vehicle information about vehicles participating in a group driving in which a plurality of vehicles travel from the same starting point to the same destination, and occupant information about occupants riding in the vehicles; an occupant placement determination unit that determines an occupant placement for each of the vehicles traveling in the group based on the vehicle information and the occupant information so as to minimize a difference in travelable distance between the vehicles; A passenger management system comprising:

2. The vehicle information includes at least remaining charge information of a storage battery of the vehicle and electricity cost information of the vehicle, The passenger management system according to claim 1, wherein the passenger information includes at least weight information of the passenger and preference information regarding air conditioning settings of the passenger.

3. 3. The passenger management system according to claim 1, further comprising a communication unit that transmits information regarding the occupant allocation for each vehicle to a mobile terminal carried by the vehicle and the occupant.

4. A ride management system including a controller, the controller includes one or more processors and one or more memories communicatively coupled to the one or more processors; the one or more processors: Acquire vehicle information about vehicles participating in a group trip in which multiple vehicles travel from the same starting point to the same destination, and acquire occupant information about occupants riding in the vehicles; A passenger management system characterized by determining the passenger placement for each vehicle based on the vehicle information and the passenger information so as to minimize the difference in travelable distance for each vehicle traveling in the group.

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