Vehicle maintenance management device and vehicle maintenance management method

Abstract

To accurately grasp the sudden cancellation of a user's maintenance reservation.SOLUTION: The present invention relates to a vehicle maintenance management device that manages maintenance work of a vehicle. The apparatus includes a reservation management database configured to manage a status of reservation by a user for the work, a vehicle information database configured to manage vehicle information including failure diagnosis information of the vehicle for which the reservation of the work is made by the user, a work progress status evaluation unit configured to refer to the vehicle information database and evaluate a progress status related to the reserved work based on the failure diagnosis information of the vehicle, a user notification unit configured to make a predetermined notification to an information communication terminal device of a user who has made the reservation based on the progress status evaluated by the work progress status evaluation unit, and a reservation cancellation unit configured to cancel the reservation of the user in the reservation management database when the user desires to cancel the reservation in response to the predetermined notification.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle maintenance management device and a vehicle maintenance management method. [Background technology]

[0002] Mobility services require efficient vehicle utilization to increase vehicle utilization rates and improve user convenience. Vehicles require regular or irregular maintenance work, such as repairs and maintenance, at service stations such as dealerships and repair shops. Because vehicle maintenance work requires considerable preparation and time, maintenance work at service stations is usually scheduled.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a technology for notifying notification information such as a recall that involves the entry of a vehicle. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-179836 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Even if a user has a reservation for vehicle maintenance at a certain service station, the user may cancel the previous maintenance reservation at the last minute or fail to show up at the scheduled time without contacting the service station due to various reasons. Such last-minute or unauthorized cancellations result in a loss of service opportunities for the service station.

[0006] However, the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 does not take into consideration the case where a user changes to a service station other than the one already reserved to receive maintenance, and notification information regarding the change in maintenance location is not sent to the original service station.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a vehicle maintenance management device and a vehicle maintenance management method that enable service stations to accurately grasp the occurrence of sudden cancellations of maintenance reservations due to the user's personal convenience. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention, which aims to solve the above problems, comprises the following invention-specifying matters and technical features.

[0009] According to one aspect, the present invention provides a vehicle maintenance management device for managing vehicle maintenance work. The vehicle maintenance management device includes: a reservation management database that manages the status of reservations made by users for vehicle maintenance work; a vehicle information database that manages vehicle information including fault diagnosis information for the vehicle for which the user has made a reservation for the maintenance work; a work progress status evaluation unit that refers to the vehicle information database and evaluates a progress status of the reserved maintenance work based on the fault diagnosis information of the vehicle; a user notification unit that issues a predetermined notification to an information communication terminal device of the user who made the reservation based on the progress status evaluated by the work progress status evaluation unit; and a reservation cancellation unit that cancels the user's reservation in the reservation management database if the user wishes to cancel the reservation in response to the predetermined notification.

[0010] Another aspect of the present invention is a vehicle maintenance management method using a vehicle maintenance management device that manages vehicle maintenance work, the method including: managing the status of reservations made by users for vehicle maintenance work in a reservation management database; managing vehicle information including fault diagnosis information for the vehicle for which the user has reserved the maintenance work in a vehicle information database; referring to the vehicle information database and evaluating a progress status of the reserved maintenance work based on the fault diagnosis information of the vehicle; sending a predetermined notification to an information communication terminal device of the user who made the reservation based on the evaluated progress status; and canceling the user's reservation in the reservation management database if the user wishes to cancel the reservation in response to the predetermined notification.

[0011] Furthermore, the present invention also provides a computer program for executing the vehicle maintenance management method and a recording medium on which the computer program is non-temporarily recorded. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, a service station can accurately grasp the occurrence of a sudden cancellation of a maintenance reservation due to a user's personal convenience, without direct contact from the user.

[0013] Other technical features, objects, and operational effects or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The effects described in this specification are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting, and other effects may also be present. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle maintenance management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration model of a vehicle maintenance management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the reservation information database in the vehicle maintenance management device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the vehicle information database in the vehicle maintenance management device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a maintenance work management process performed by the vehicle maintenance management device according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below are merely examples, and are not intended to exclude various modifications or applications of techniques not explicitly described below. The present invention can be implemented in various modifications (e.g., combinations of the embodiments) without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Furthermore, in the following description of the drawings, identical or similar parts are denoted by identical or similar reference numerals. The drawings are schematic and do not necessarily correspond to actual dimensions, ratios, etc. Parts in the drawings may have different dimensional relationships or ratios.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle maintenance management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the diagram, a vehicle maintenance management device 10 is connected to an information communication terminal device 20 and a vehicle V via a communication network N so that they can communicate with each other. The vehicle maintenance management device 10 comprehensively manages management services related to maintenance work at service stations 30, such as dealerships and repair shops, that can perform maintenance work on a user's vehicle V in a certain area, for example. The vehicle maintenance management device 10 implements, for example, a vehicle maintenance management program and executes the vehicle maintenance management program under the control of a processor, thereby realizing management services related to maintenance work on the vehicle V.

[0017] The vehicle maintenance management device 10 includes various databases 12 that accumulate and manage data necessary to realize such management services. The databases 12 may include, for example, a reservation management database 12a and a vehicle information database 12b. The databases 12 may be configured as part of the vehicle maintenance management device 10, or all or part of the databases 12 may be configured separately from the vehicle maintenance management device 10. Alternatively, the vehicle maintenance management device 10 may not include the vehicle information database 12b, but may be configured to be able to access a vehicle information database provided in an external device (for example, a vehicle dispatch management device).

[0018] In general, the vehicle maintenance management device 10 manages reservations and progress statuses for maintenance work at a specified service station 30 for each user's vehicle V in a reservation management database 12a, and if it determines that the progress status of the maintenance work for the vehicle V indicates a completed state even though the maintenance work for the vehicle V at the specified service station 30 for which the user made a reservation has not been performed, it proposes to the user that the reservation at the specified service station 30 be canceled. If the user accepts the proposal to cancel the reservation, the vehicle maintenance management device 10 performs a process to cancel the reservation. The vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines whether the progress of the maintenance work for the vehicle V has completed based on, for example, fault diagnosis information such as a DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Code) collected from the vehicle V and various status information.

[0019] The vehicle V is a vehicle owned or managed by a user and registered in the vehicle information database 12b. The vehicle V is equipped with a control device CTL that controls the vehicle V itself or various onboard equipment. An electronic control unit (EUC) is one aspect of the control device CTL. The control device CTL is configured to include a processor, memory, a communication interface, etc., and realizes various functions by executing a control program. The control device CTL also holds fault diagnosis information such as DTC. Under the control of the control device CTL, the vehicle V transmits vehicle information to the vehicle maintenance management device 10 on a regular or irregular basis. The vehicle information may include, for example, location information acquired by a GPS system, status information acquired by a status monitoring sensor that monitors the status of each device and part, and fault diagnosis information.

[0020] The information communication terminal device 20 is, for example, a computing device that allows a user to communicate with the vehicle maintenance management device 10. The information communication terminal device 20 is, for example, a smartphone, a pad computer, a notebook personal computer, a desktop computer, etc., but is not limited to these. The information communication terminal device 20 has, for example, an email function, a messaging function, a web function, etc. For example, the user may receive a predetermined notification from the vehicle maintenance management device 10 by email and view it on a user interface. The predetermined notification is sent to the information communication terminal device 20 when the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines that, even though the user has made a reservation at a service station 30 for maintenance work on the vehicle V, there is no actual maintenance work on the vehicle V at the service station 30 and the progress of the maintenance work on the vehicle V has been completed, even though the user has made a reservation at a service station 30 for maintenance work on the vehicle V.

[0021] 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration model of a vehicle maintenance management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the configuration model of the vehicle maintenance management device 10 may include, for example, a reservation reception unit 110, a vehicle information acquisition unit 120, a work progress status evaluation unit 130, a user notification unit 140, and a reservation cancellation unit 150. As described above, the vehicle maintenance management device 10 may also include a reservation management database 12a and a vehicle information database 12b.

[0022] The reservation management database 12a manages the reservation and progress status of maintenance work on the vehicle V at the service station 30. For example, as shown in Fig. 3, the reservation management database 12a stores, for each user, information regarding the vehicle V, the service station, reservation date and time, entry date and time, exit date and time, and the progress status of the maintenance work.

[0023] The vehicle information database 12b manages information (vehicle information) related to the user's vehicle V. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle information includes information related to the vehicle ID, current location, vehicle attributes (vehicle registration number, vehicle model, and maximum number of occupants, vehicle characteristics, other specifications, maintenance work history, status of the vehicle V and onboard equipment, fault diagnosis, etc. The vehicle information acquired from the vehicle V via a vehicle communication unit (not shown) can be updated as needed.

[0024] 2, the reservation reception unit 110 receives a reservation from a user for maintenance work on the vehicle V at the service station 30. For example, the user operates the user interface of the information communication terminal device 20 to access a website provided by the vehicle maintenance management device 10, and inputs necessary information such as a user ID and reservation date. In response, the reservation reception unit 110 receives the reservation from the user. The reservation reception unit 110 registers the received reservation in the reservation management database 12a.

[0025] The vehicle information acquisition unit 120 periodically or irregularly acquires vehicle information from the vehicle V registered in the reservation management database 12a. The vehicle information may include fault diagnosis information and status information in addition to the vehicle ID and location information. The vehicle information acquisition unit 120 registers the acquired vehicle information in the vehicle information database 12b. This allows the vehicle information database 12b to be kept up to date, and makes it possible to determine whether the vehicle V is in a faulty state.

[0026] The work progress evaluation unit 130 evaluates the progress of maintenance work on the vehicle V based on vehicle information collected from the vehicle V. For example, the work progress evaluation unit 130 determines the progress of maintenance work based on fault diagnosis information included in the vehicle information of the vehicle V. The fault diagnosis information is expressed as two or more values, for example, a first value (ON) indicating a fault state and a second value (OFF) indicating a normal state. For example, when the work progress evaluation unit 130 detects that the value of the fault diagnosis information has changed from the first value to the second value, it can determine that the progress of maintenance work on the vehicle V has ended. This makes it possible to prompt the user to cancel their reservation at the service station 30 by comparing the status of the fault diagnosis information of the vehicle V with the progress status in the reservation management database 12a.

[0027] Furthermore, the work progress evaluation unit 130 can determine the progress of maintenance work on the vehicle V based on status information included in the vehicle information of the vehicle V. The status information is information obtained from status monitoring sensors that monitor the status of each device and part of the vehicle V. For example, the work progress evaluation unit 130 can estimate the accuracy of the completion state of maintenance work on the vehicle V based on various status information, and determine that the maintenance work on the vehicle V has been completed if the estimated accuracy exceeds a predetermined threshold. More specifically, the work progress evaluation unit 130 estimates the accuracy of the completion state of maintenance work to be relatively low for work such as changing engine oil or adjusting tire pressure. This makes it possible to estimate the need for maintenance work on the vehicle V based on the status of the vehicle V and its onboard equipment itself.

[0028] Furthermore, the work progress state evaluation unit 130 refers to the reservation management database 12a and identifies the progress state of the maintenance work at a specific service station 30 for which a reservation has been made by the user. Next, the work progress state evaluation unit 130 identifies a vehicle V for which the progress state of the maintenance work at the specific service station 30 is not completed but for which the progress state of the maintenance work for the vehicle V based on the vehicle information is completed. In other words, for a vehicle V for which maintenance work has been performed at a service station 30 managed by the vehicle maintenance management device 10 and is in an completed state, the progress state of the vehicle V in the reservation management database 12a is updated to an completed state. Therefore, the work progress state evaluation unit 130 identifies a vehicle V for which the progress state of the maintenance work is in an completed state, even though the progress state of the maintenance work has not been updated to an completed state in the reservation management database 12a.

[0029] The user notification unit 140 issues a predetermined notification to the information communication terminal device 20 of the user who made the reservation, based on the progress state evaluated by the work progress state evaluation unit 130. More specifically, the user notification unit 140 transmits a notification to the information communication terminal device 20 of the user of the vehicle V whose progress state for the maintenance work has been identified as being in an end state, even though the progress state of the vehicle V has not been updated to an end state in the reservation management database 12a, to suggest canceling the reservation at the predetermined service station 30. The user can take an action of accepting or rejecting such a reservation cancellation suggestion notification via the user interface of the information communication terminal device 20.

[0030] Furthermore, the user notification unit 140 may identify a user who has not responded to a predetermined notification sent for a certain period of time, and may send a predetermined re-notification to the information communication terminal device of the identified user. Furthermore, the user notification unit 140 may increase the frequency of the predetermined re-notification for a user who has not responded to a predetermined notification sent even though the reservation date at the service station 30 is approaching. This makes it possible to encourage cancellation of reservations at the service station 30.

[0031] When a user wishes to cancel a reservation in response to a predetermined notification, the reservation cancellation unit 150 performs processing to cancel the user's reservation. For example, in response to the user's consent to cancellation, the reservation cancellation unit 150 cancels the user's reservation in the reservation management database 12a and releases the corresponding time slot for reservations by other users.

[0032] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of maintenance work management processing by a vehicle maintenance management device according to one embodiment of the present invention. This processing is realized by the vehicle maintenance management device 10 executing a maintenance work management server program under the control of a processor, thereby cooperating with various hardware resources. The vehicle maintenance management device 10 executes this processing at a predetermined timing (for example, every 60 minutes, every 3 hours, or every 24 hours).

[0033] As shown in the figure, the vehicle maintenance management device 10 refers to the reservation management database 12a and extracts vehicles V that have reservations for maintenance work at the service station 30 (S501). In other words, the maintenance work for vehicles V that have reservations at the service station 30 has not yet been completed.

[0034] Next, the vehicle maintenance management device 10 refers to the vehicle information database 12b to acquire vehicle information of the extracted vehicle V (S502). In this example, fault diagnosis information and status information are extracted as the vehicle information. The vehicle maintenance management device 10 may also acquire vehicle information in real time by communicating with the vehicle V.

[0035] Next, the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines, based on the acquired vehicle information, whether or not there is any vehicle V among the extracted vehicles V whose fault diagnosis information has changed from a first value (fault state) to a second value (normal state) (S503). When the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines that there is a vehicle V whose fault diagnosis information has changed from the first value to the second value (Yes in S503), it transmits a predetermined notification to the information communication terminal device 20 of the user of the vehicle V to suggest canceling the reservation at the predetermined service station 30 (S506). In other words, such a vehicle V is a vehicle that may have had maintenance work performed at a location other than the reserved service station 30, and therefore the user is prompted to cancel the reservation.

[0036] On the other hand, if the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines that there is no vehicle V whose fault diagnosis information has changed from the first value to the second value (No in S503), the vehicle maintenance management device 10 next estimates the accuracy of the completion state of the maintenance work on the vehicle V based on the state information of the acquired vehicle information (S504). Subsequently, the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines whether the estimated accuracy exceeds a predetermined threshold value (S505).

[0037] If the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines that the estimated accuracy exceeds a predetermined threshold (Yes in S505), then the vehicle maintenance management device 10 transmits a predetermined notification to the information communication terminal device 20 of the user of the vehicle V to suggest canceling the reservation at a predetermined service station 30 (S506). On the other hand, if the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines that the estimated accuracy does not exceed the predetermined threshold (No in S505), it does not suggest canceling the reservation to the user of the vehicle V.

[0038] In this example, the vehicle maintenance management device 10 sends a notification to suggest canceling the reservation when there is a change in the fault diagnosis information, but this is not limited to this.The device may also take into account changes in the fault diagnosis information and estimate the accuracy of the completion state of the maintenance work based on the status information.

[0039] After suggesting the cancellation of the reservation, the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines whether or not there has been a response from the user (S507). If the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines that there has been no response from the user (No in S507), the vehicle maintenance management device 10 increases the priority of the notification for the user who has not responded, for example, by one level (S508). Next, the vehicle maintenance management device 10 waits until a predetermined time has elapsed (No in S509). Then, when the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines that the predetermined time has elapsed (Yes in S509), it again transmits a predetermined notification to the information communication terminal device 20 of the user of the vehicle V, suggesting the cancellation of the reservation at the predetermined service station 30 (S506).

[0040] On the other hand, if the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines that there has been a response from the user (Yes in S507), the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines whether the response is consent to cancel the reservation (S510). If the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines that the response is consent to cancel the reservation (Yes in S510), the vehicle maintenance management device 10 performs a process to cancel the reservation (S511). On the other hand, if the vehicle maintenance management device 10 determines that the response is not consent to cancel the reservation (No in S510), the vehicle maintenance management device 10 ends the current execution without canceling the reservation.

[0041] As described above, according to this embodiment, the vehicle maintenance management device 10 enables the service station 30 to accurately grasp the occurrence of a sudden cancellation of a maintenance reservation due to personal reasons of the user, without direct contact from the user. Therefore, the service station 30 can minimize the loss of service provision opportunities.

[0042] The above-described embodiments are merely examples for explaining the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention to these embodiments. The present invention can be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0043] For example, in the methods disclosed herein, steps, operations, or functions may be performed in parallel or in a different order unless the results are inconsistent. The steps, operations, and functions described are provided merely as examples, and some of the steps, operations, and functions may be omitted or combined into one, or other steps, operations, or functions may be added, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0044] Furthermore, although various embodiments are disclosed in this specification, specific features (technical matters) in one embodiment can be added to or substituted for specific features in other embodiments, with appropriate modifications, and such forms are also included in the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0045] 1. Vehicle maintenance management system 10...Vehicle maintenance management device 110…Reservations 120...Vehicle information acquisition unit 130...Work progress status evaluation unit 140...User notification section 150…Reservation Cancellation Section 12...Database 12a...Reservation management database 12b...Vehicle information database 20...Information and communication terminal equipment 30...Service station N: Communication network V...Vehicle CTL: Control unit

Claims

1. A vehicle maintenance management device that manages vehicle maintenance work, a reservation management database for managing the status of reservations made by users for maintenance work on the vehicle; a vehicle information database for managing vehicle information including fault diagnosis information of the vehicle for which the maintenance work has been reserved by the user; a work progress evaluation unit that refers to the vehicle information database and evaluates a progress status of the reserved maintenance work based on the fault diagnosis information of the vehicle; a user notification unit that issues a predetermined notification to the information communication terminal device of the user who made the reservation based on the progress state evaluated by the work progress state evaluation unit; a reservation cancellation unit that cancels the reservation of the user in the reservation management database when the user wishes to cancel the reservation in response to the predetermined notification, Vehicle maintenance management device.

2. a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information including at least the fault diagnosis information from the vehicle; the vehicle information acquisition unit updates the vehicle information database in accordance with the fault diagnosis information included in the acquired vehicle information. The vehicle maintenance management device according to claim 1 .

3. the work progress status evaluation unit determines that the maintenance work has been completed when the value of the fault diagnosis information has changed from a first value to a second value; The vehicle maintenance management device according to claim 2 .

4. the vehicle information acquisition unit acquires predetermined state information included in the vehicle information acquired from the vehicle; the work progress state evaluation unit estimates a probability that the progress state of the maintenance work is in an end state based on the predetermined state information, and determines that the progress state of the maintenance work is in an end state based on the estimated probability. The vehicle maintenance management device according to claim 2 .

5. the user notification unit identifies a user who has not responded to the predetermined notification, and performs a predetermined re-notification to the information communication terminal device of the identified user. The vehicle maintenance management device according to claim 1 .

6. A vehicle maintenance management method using a vehicle maintenance management device that manages vehicle maintenance work, managing the status of reservations made by users for the vehicle maintenance work in a reservation management database; managing vehicle information including fault diagnosis information of the vehicle for which the maintenance work has been reserved by the user in a vehicle information database; referring to the vehicle information database and evaluating the progress of the reserved maintenance work based on the fault diagnosis information of the vehicle; sending a predetermined notification to the information communication terminal device of the user who made the reservation based on the evaluated progress state; and canceling the reservation of the user in the reservation management database if the user wishes to cancel the reservation in response to the predetermined notification. Vehicle maintenance management methods.

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