vehicle

Abstract

To improve technology related to the smooth disembarkation of passengers. [Solution] A vehicle comprising a control unit, an in-vehicle position detection unit for detecting the seating positions of passengers inside the vehicle, and a plurality of doors, wherein the control unit acquires information regarding the stopping place where passengers will disembark, acquires the seating position of the disembarking passengers from the in-vehicle position detection unit, and when the vehicle arrives at the stopping place, selects the door closest to the seating position of the disembarking passenger and opens and closes the selected door.

Description

Technical Field

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[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, technologies related to smooth passenger disembarkation are known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for issuing a disembarkation guidance notice according to the boarding situation inside the vehicle.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] There was room for improvement in technologies related to smooth passenger disembarkation.

[0005] In view of such circumstances, an object of the present disclosure is to improve technologies related to smooth passenger disembarkation.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] A vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a control unit, an in - vehicle position detection unit that detects the seating position of a passenger inside the vehicle, a plurality of doors, and is a vehicle comprising the control unit acquires information regarding the disembarkation location where a passenger inside the vehicle disembarks, acquires the seating position of the passenger who is about to disembark from the in - vehicle position detection unit, when the vehicle arrives at the disembarkation location, selects the door closest to the seating position of the passenger who is about to disembark, and opens and closes the selected door.

Effects of the Invention

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, technology related to the smooth disembarkation of passengers is improved. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This block diagram shows a schematic configuration of a system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] This is a flowchart showing how the system works. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, parts having the same configuration or function are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the description of this embodiment, redundant descriptions of the same parts may be omitted or simplified as appropriate.

[0010] The embodiments of this disclosure will be described below.

[0011] Referring to Figure 1, an overview of System 1 according to the embodiment of this disclosure will be described. System 1 comprises a vehicle 10, an information processing device 20, and a user terminal 30. The vehicle 10, the information processing device 20, and the user terminal 30 are connected to a network 40, including, for example, the Internet and a mobile communication network.

[0012] Vehicle 10 is, for example, an automobile, but is not limited to that and may be any vehicle. The automobile may be, but is not limited to, a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), or FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle). Vehicle 10 may be equipped with an autonomous driving function. In this embodiment, vehicle 10 is a bus.

[0013] The information processing device 20 is a computer such as a server device. The information processing device 20 can communicate with the vehicle 10 via the network 40.

[0014] The user terminal 30 is a communication terminal such as a smartphone. The user terminal 30 can communicate with the vehicle 10 and the information processing device 20 via the network 40.

[0015] First, the outline of this embodiment will be described, and the details will be described later. The vehicle 10 acquires information regarding the alighting location where the passengers in the vehicle alight and the seating positions of the passengers who alight. When the vehicle 10 arrives at the alighting location, the door close to the seating position of the passenger who alights is opened and closed.

[0016] As described above, according to this embodiment, the door to be opened and closed is selected according to the seating position of the passenger who alights. For this reason, the time required for the passenger to alight is shortened, and the technology related to the smooth alighting of the passenger is improved.

[0017] Next, each component of the vehicle 10 will be described in detail.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 10 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a communication unit 13, an in-vehicle position detection unit 14, an out-vehicle position detection unit 15, a reading unit 16, a plurality of doors 17, and an air conditioning unit 18.

[0019] The control unit 11 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The processor is, for example, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for specific processing, but is not limited thereto. The programmable circuit is, for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), but is not limited thereto. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), but is not limited thereto. The control unit 11 controls the operation of the entire vehicle 10.

[0020] The storage unit 12 includes one or more memories. The memory is, for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic memory, an optical memory, etc., but is not limited thereto. Each memory included in the storage unit 12 may function as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 12 stores any information used for the operation of the vehicle 10. For example, the storage unit 12 may store a system program, an application program, and embedded software, etc.

[0021] The communication unit 13 includes one or more communication interfaces for connecting to the network 40. The communication interface corresponds to, for example, a mobile communication standard such as 4G (4th Generation) or 5G (5th Generation), but is not limited thereto. In the present embodiment, the vehicle 10 communicates with the information processing device 20 and the user terminal 30 via the communication unit 13 and the network 40.

[0022] The in-vehicle position detection unit 14 includes one or more cameras capable of photographing a subject and generating an image. The camera is an in-vehicle camera or the like. The image generated by the camera may be one or more still images or one or more moving images. The in-vehicle position detection unit 14 may include a distance measurement device such as a millimeter-wave sensor or LiDAR, or a sensor capable of determining whether a person is present in the vehicle interior, such as a piezoelectric mat.

[0023] The vehicle external position detection unit 15 includes one or more cameras capable of capturing images of a subject and generating images. The vehicle external position detection unit 15 may include, for example, a front camera, a side camera, or a rear camera.

[0024] The reading unit 16 includes a device capable of reading passenger information. The information included in the passenger information is not particularly limited, but may include, for example, information about the vehicle 10 being boarded, as well as the boarding and alighting locations. The reading unit 16 may be, for example, an IC card reader capable of reading passenger information from the passenger's IC (Integrated Circuit) card.

[0025] The door 17 includes two or more doors through which passengers can board and alight from the vehicle. Multiple doors 17 may be installed adjacent to each other. The method of opening and closing the multiple doors 17 is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a sliding door.

[0026] The air conditioning unit 18 is equipped with facilities for adjusting the temperature, humidity, air purification, and airflow inside the vehicle 10.

[0027] The operation of System 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 2.

[0028] S1: The user terminal 30 accepts registration of passenger information from passengers, including information about the vehicle 10 they will board, as well as their boarding and alighting locations.

[0029] S2: The user terminal 30 transmits the passenger information received in S1 to the information processing device 20. The information processing device 20 identifies the vehicle 10 on which the passenger included in the passenger information is riding, and transmits the passenger information to that vehicle 10.

[0030] S3: When boarding vehicle 10, the passenger presents the IC card on which the passenger information is recorded to the reader 16. Having received the passenger information from the information processing device 20 in S2, vehicle 10 retrieves the passenger information recorded on the IC card from the reader 16.

[0031] S4: When the reading unit 16 of the vehicle 10 acquires passenger information, the control unit 11 acquires an image of the interior of the vehicle from the in-vehicle position detection unit 14 and determines the seating position of the passenger corresponding to the passenger information.

[0032] S5: The control unit 11 of the vehicle 10 closes the open doors once passengers have finished boarding and alighting.

[0033] S6: The control unit 11 receives operational information, including the departure time of vehicle 10, from the information processing device 20. Then, when the current time becomes the departure time of vehicle 10, the control unit 11 acquires an image of the interior of the vehicle from the in-vehicle position detection unit 14. Once the control unit 11 confirms that all passengers are seated, it departs vehicle 10.

[0034] S7: Based on the passenger information acquired in S3, the control unit 11 identifies passengers who will alight at the next stop. The control unit 11 acquires images of the interior of the vehicle from the in-vehicle position detection unit 14, determines the seating positions of all passengers who will alight at the next stop, and calculates the average coordinates of the seating positions.

[0035] S8: When vehicle 10 arrives at a stop, the control unit 11 identifies door 17 as the first door, which is close to the average coordinates of the seating positions of all passengers disembarking, as calculated in S7. The control unit 11 sets the first door to be the door to open at the next stop.

[0036] S9: When the vehicle 10 arrives at the stopping point, the control unit 11 acquires an image of the stopping point from the external position detection unit 15 and determines the position of the passenger waiting to board at the front of the queue.

[0037] S10: The control unit 11 sets one of the doors 17, different from the first door, as the second door. The control unit 11 adjusts the stopping position of the vehicle 10 so that the second door is within a predetermined distance from the front of the waiting line. The predetermined distance is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, 1m. By offsetting the front of the waiting line and the position of the first door, it is possible to avoid collisions between passengers disembarking and passengers boarding.

[0038] S11: When the vehicle 10 arrives at the stop, the control unit 11 opens the first door.

[0039] When the first door is open, the control unit 11 may control the air conditioning unit 18 to suppress the airflow. This suppresses the exchange of air between the inside and outside of the vehicle while the door is open. Therefore, the power consumed by the vehicle's air conditioner is reduced, improving fuel efficiency or electricity consumption.

[0040] As described above, the vehicle 10 according to this embodiment acquires information about the disembarking location where passengers will get off the vehicle and the seating position of the disembarking passengers. When the vehicle 10 arrives at the disembarking location, it opens and closes the door closest to the seating position of the disembarking passenger.

[0041] With this configuration, the door to be opened or closed is selected based on the seating position of the passenger disembarking. As a result, the time required for passengers to disembark is reduced, and the technology related to the smooth disembarkation of passengers is improved.

[0042] While this disclosure has been described based on the drawings and embodiments, it should be noted that those skilled in the art may make various modifications and alterations based on this disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are within the scope of this disclosure. For example, the functions, etc., included in each component or step can be rearranged in a logically consistent manner, and multiple components or steps can be combined into one or divided into two.

[0043] For example, in the embodiment described above, it is also possible to distribute the configuration and operation of the information processing device 20 across multiple computers that can communicate with each other. Furthermore, for example, it is also possible to provide some or all of the components of the information processing device 20 in the vehicle 10 and the user terminal 30.

[0044] Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the passenger information received in S1 may be stored in the user terminal 30. In this case, the information processing device 20 may be omitted. In S3, the passenger may hold the user terminal 30 over the reading unit 16 to allow the control unit 11 to acquire the boarding information.

[0045] Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, the vehicle 10 does not have to be an automatically controlled bus. In this case, the control unit 11 may guide the driver of the vehicle 10 to the stopping position using a monitor or voice.

[0046] Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, if certain conditions are met, both the first and second doors may be opened even if there are no passengers boarding or alighting. The predetermined conditions are not particularly limited, but may include, for example, a small temperature difference between the inside and outside of the vehicle, or a large number of passengers boarding, alighting, or continuing to ride. This can shorten the time it takes for passengers to board and alight from the vehicle.

[0047] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the waiting positions of passengers waiting to board may be set in advance and stored in the memory unit 12. This makes it possible to stop the vehicle 10 at a position where the first door does not obstruct the leading position of the waiting line of passengers, even without the external position detection unit 15.

[0048] Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, if there are no passengers disembarking at the next stop, the control unit 11 may calculate the average coordinates of the seating positions of passengers who continue to ride. After the vehicle 10 stops at the stop, the control unit 11 may open the door 17 that is furthest from the calculated average coordinates. This allows passengers boarding at the next stop to board the vehicle 10 in a relatively empty position.

[0049] Furthermore, it is also possible to implement an embodiment in which a general-purpose computer functions as the information processing device 20 according to the above embodiment. Specifically, a program describing the processing content that realizes each function of the information processing device 20 according to the above embodiment is stored in the memory of the general-purpose computer, and the processor reads and executes the program. Therefore, this disclosure can also be implemented as a program that can be executed by a processor, or as a non-temporary computer-readable medium that stores said program. [Explanation of symbols]

[0050] 1: System, 10: Vehicle, 11: Control Unit, 12: Memory Unit, 13: Communication Unit, 14: In-vehicle Position Detection Unit, 15: Out-of-vehicle Position Detection Unit, 16: Reading Unit, 17: Door, 18: Air Conditioning Unit, 20: Information Processing Device, 30: User Terminal, 40: Network

Claims

1. Control unit and A vehicle position detection unit that detects the seating position of passengers inside the vehicle, Multiple doors, A vehicle equipped with, The control unit, We obtain information about the destinations where passengers disembark from the train. The in-vehicle position detection unit obtains the seating position of the passenger who is disembarking, When the vehicle arrives at the disembarking point, it selects the door closest to the seating position of the passenger disembarking, To open and close the selected door, vehicle.

2. When multiple passengers disembark, the control unit will: The positions of the multiple passengers are obtained from the in-vehicle position detection unit. The average coordinates of the positions of the aforementioned multiple passengers are calculated, When the vehicle arrives at the disembarking point, it selects the door closest to the average coordinates. The vehicle according to claim 1.

3. The vehicle further includes an external position detection unit that detects the position of the leading person in the queue of passengers waiting to board outside the vehicle. The control unit, At the stopping point, the position of the leading person in the waiting line of passengers waiting to board is obtained from the external position detection unit. Select one door different from the previously selected door, The stopping position of the vehicle is controlled so that the selected different door and the leading position of the waiting line are within a predetermined distance. The vehicle according to claim 1.

4. The aforementioned multiple doors are sliding doors. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The vehicle further comprises an air conditioning unit that adjusts the air inside the vehicle, The control unit suppresses the airflow of the air conditioning unit when the door is open. The vehicle according to claim 1.

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