Apparatus, method and program for providing alternative solutions

Abstract

The alternative proposal providing device (2000) generates a scan plan for each of the original occupancy plan and one or more alternative occupancy plans. The scan plan indicates a schedule of a moving object for scanning an assigned space without entering a space occupied by a second party indicated by the occupancy plan. The occupancy plan indicates when and which space the second party will occupy. One occupancy plan is an original occupancy plan provided by the second party, and the other occupancy plan is an alternative occupancy plan generated based on the original occupancy plan. If a maximum utility scan plan is generated based on one of the alternative occupancy plans, the alternative proposal providing device (2000) provides the second party with the alternative occupancy plan utilized in generating the maximum utility scan plan.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates generally to techniques for managing space occupancy. [Background technology]

[0002] It is necessary to occupy a space for some reason, such as moving an object to scan the space, moving an object to deliver an item in or through the space, holding an event such as a fireworks display in the space, etc. In relation to the management of space occupancy, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for detecting and resolving conflicts between multiple moving objects each moving along a defined path. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] European Patent Application Publication No. 0380460 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The patent document 1 does not deal with moving objects scanning a space. The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a novel technique for managing space occupancy. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The alternative proposal providing device of the present disclosure includes at least one processor and a memory storing instructions, the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to generate a scan plan for a moving object of a first party for each of a plurality of occupancy plans, the scan plan indicating a schedule for the moving object to scan an assigned space without entering a space occupied by a second party indicated by the occupancy plan, the occupancy plan indicating when and which space the second party will occupy, one of the occupancy plans being an original occupancy plan provided by the second party, the occupancy plans other than the original occupancy plan being alternative occupancy plans generated based on the original occupancy plan, and when the scan plan with the maximum utility is generated based on one of the alternative occupancy plans, provide the alternative occupancy plan used to generate the scan plan with the maximum utility to the second party.

[0006] The disclosed control method is executed by a computer, and includes: planning a scan of a moving object of a first party for each of a plurality of occupancy plans, the scan plans indicating a schedule of the moving object to scan an assigned space without entering a space occupied by a second party indicated by the occupancy plans, the occupancy plans indicating when and which spaces the second party will occupy, one of the occupancy plans being an original occupancy plan provided by the second party, the occupancy plans other than the original occupancy plan being alternative occupancy plans generated based on the original occupancy plan, and providing the alternative occupancy plan utilized in generating the scan plan with the highest utility to the second party when the scan plan with the highest utility is generated based on one of the alternative occupancy plans.

[0007] The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of the present disclosure stores a program that causes a computer to execute the control method of the present disclosure described above. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present disclosure, novel techniques for managing space occupancy are provided. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of an alternative providing device according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of scanning an allocation space. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary configuration of a scan plan. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an occupancy plan. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a functional configuration of an alternative providing device; [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a computer that realizes an alternative proposal providing device. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example flow of a process performed by an alternative suggestion providing device. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing an exemplary flow of a process performed by an alternative offer providing device to conduct a first example negotiation with a second party. [Figure 9] 11 is a flowchart showing an exemplary flow of a process performed by an alternative offering device to start a second example negotiation with a second party. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a corrective action applied to the occupied space of a volume. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of corrective actions applied to a period of a volume. [Figure 12] 1 is a flow chart illustrating a path planning algorithm for generating a scan plan. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of conversion from a path to an occupied space of a volume. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the occupied space of a volume for which the minimum scanning time is calculated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. Throughout the drawings, the same elements are given the same reference numerals, and duplicated descriptions are omitted as necessary. The storage unit is composed of one or more storage devices.

[0011] First embodiment <Summary> 1 shows an overview of an alternative providing device 2000 according to a first embodiment. Note that the overview shown in FIG. 1 shows an example of the operation of the alternative providing device 2000 to facilitate understanding of the alternative providing device 2000, and is not intended to limit or narrow the range of possible operations of the alternative providing device 2000.

[0012] The alternative suggestion providing device 2000 generates a scan plan for the first party's moving object. The scan plan indicates a schedule of the scanning operation of the moving object. In other words, the scan plan indicates the date, time and location where the moving object is scheduled to travel.

[0013] The moving object may be any object that can navigate in a two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) space in a controllable manner. For example, the moving object is an autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) that is intended to navigate in a two-dimensional space such as a floor or a road. In another example, the moving object is a controllable air vehicle such as a drone that is intended to fly in a three-dimensional space such as the sky.

[0014] The first party may be anyone responsible for the first party's moving object, such as an operator of the moving object or a company that owns or controls the moving object.

[0015] The first party moving object scans the assigned space according to the scanning plan. In this disclosure, "scanning the assigned space" refers to the act of moving within the assigned space to cover (visit) all or nearly all locations within the assigned space. The assigned space is a space that is scanned in its entirety or nearly all by the moving object.

[0016] An example of traversing an allocation space is shown in Figure 2. In Figure 2, the allocation space 20 is a portion of a 2D space represented using a 2D grid map. grid represents a unit of location that the moving object 10 can visit. The moving object 10 scans the assigned space 20 by visiting all or nearly all of the grids that form the assigned space 20 along the scan path 50. Note that in the present disclosure, the space may be represented by a 3D space rather than a 2D space. In this case, the assigned space 20 may be represented using a 3D grid map.

[0017] While the moving object 10 is scanning the assigned space 20, the moving object 10 or a device attached thereto may perform any operation. For example, a sensor attached to the moving object 10 may perform a detection operation (for example, a camera attached to the moving object 10 may generate a video during scanning).

[0018] The scan plan is adopted to control the scanning operation of the moving object 10. As described above, the scan plan indicates a schedule of the scanning operation of the moving object 10. For example, the scan plan may indicate a scanning path along which the moving object 10 proceeds. The scanning path may be represented by time-based data of positions visited by the moving object 10. In other words, the scanning path may be represented by pairs of positions visited by the moving object 10 and the time at which the corresponding positions were visited.

[0019] Fig. 3 shows an exemplary configuration of a scan plan. In Fig. 3, the scan plan 30 includes an object identifier 32 and a scan path table 34. The object identifier 32 indicates an identifier of the moving object 10. The scan path table 34 includes a pair of two types of data: a visit time 36 and a position 38. Each row of the scan path table 34 indicates that the moving object 10 is scheduled to visit a corresponding position 38 at a corresponding visit time 36. In Fig. 3, it is assumed that the moving object 10 moves in a 2D space, so each position is represented by a 2D coordinate.

[0020] In other embodiments, the scan plan may represent a schedule of scanning movements of the moving object 10 in a manner similar to the occupancy plan described below.

[0021] The moving object 10 must be scheduled to scan the assigned space 20 without entering the space occupied by the second party. In this disclosure, the second party is any party other than the first party that occupies a part of the space, such as an individual or a company. For example, the second party occupies a space for delivering an item using a vehicle, such as a drone or an autonomous vehicle. In this case, the second party occupies the space through which the vehicle travels while the vehicle is traveling. In another example, the second party occupies a space for holding an event, such as a fireworks display. In this case, the second party occupies the space where the event is held during the event. For example, during the fireworks display, one or more air spaces required for the fireworks are occupied.

[0022] The occupancy of the space by the second party is represented by an occupancy plan, which indicates when and which space the second party occupies. To this end, the occupancy plan includes one or more volumes each representing an occupied space and a time period pair, where the occupied space represents a space occupied by the second party and the time period represents when the corresponding occupied space is occupied by the second party.

[0023] If the space occupied by the second party changes over time, the occupancy plan includes multiple volumes (time-based volumes). Figure 4 shows an example of an occupancy plan. An exemplary structure of an occupancy plan 40 is shown at the top of Figure 4. Specifically, the occupancy plan 40 includes a party identifier 41 and a volume table 42. The party identifier 41 indicates an identifier of the second party. The volume table 42 includes one or more rows representing volumes. A volume is represented by a tuple of a volume identifier 43, a period 44, and an occupied space 45. The volume identifier 43 indicates an identifier of the volume. The period 44 indicates a period during which the corresponding occupied space 45 is occupied. The occupied space 45 indicates an occupied space.

[0024] In the lower part of Fig. 4, a graph is used to show the occupancy plan. The X-axis indicates time and the Y-axis indicates space. As depicted in the graph, multiple volumes may overlap each other (not shown) in space (see volumes V1 and V2), in time (see volumes V2 and V3), or both. Also, volumes that are adjacent to each other in time may be separated in time (see volumes V3 and V4).

[0025] As described above, the scanning plan may represent a schedule of the scanning operation of the moving object 10 in a form similar to that of the occupancy plan. Specifically, the scanning plan may represent the schedule of the scanning operation of the moving object 10 as a set of volumes. Hereinafter, the set of volumes representing the schedule of the scanning operation of the moving object 10 is referred to as a "scanning volume set." Also, each volume in the scanning volume set is referred to as a "scanning volume."

[0026] Returning to FIG. 1, in order to determine an appropriate scan plan, the alternative proposal providing device 2000 generates multiple scan plans based on different occupancy plans. Specifically, the alternative proposal providing device 2000 obtains an original occupancy plan initially provided by a second party, and generates a scan plan based on the original occupancy plan, whereby the moving object 10 is scheduled to scan the assigned space 20 without entering the occupancy space indicated by the original occupancy plan. Furthermore, the alternative proposal providing device 2000 generates one or more alternative occupancy plans by modifying the original occupancy plan in different ways. The alternative occupancy plan is an occupancy plan generated by modifying the original occupancy plan. Then, for each alternative occupancy plan, the alternative proposal providing device 2000 generates a scan plan, whereby the moving object 10 is scheduled to scan the assigned space 20 without entering the occupancy space indicated by the corresponding alternative occupancy plan.

[0027] In the following, a situation where the scanning plan indicates a schedule of the scanning operation of the moving object 10 that enters the occupancy space indicated by the occupancy plan is described as "the scanning plan conflicts with the occupancy plan." Using this expression, it can be said that the alternative proposal providing device 2000 generates each scanning plan so as not to conflict with the corresponding occupancy plan.

[0028] After generating a plurality of scan plans, the alternative plan providing device 2000 may provide an alternative scan plan to the second party as necessary. Specifically, if the scan plan with the maximum utility among the generated scan plans is generated based on the alternative occupancy plan, the alternative plan providing device 2000 provides the alternative occupancy plan (i.e., the alternative occupancy plan used to generate the scan plan with the maximum utility) to the second party. The utility of the scan plan will be described in detail later.

[0029] In a situation where a scanning plan with the maximum utility is generated based on an alternative occupancy plan, the first party may prefer this alternative occupancy plan to the original one because the alternative occupancy plan enables a higher utility of the scanning plan. Therefore, it is preferable for the first party that the second party changes its occupancy plan to the alternative occupancy plan corresponding to the scanning plan with the maximum utility. Therefore, the alternative plan providing device 2000 provides the alternative occupancy plan corresponding to the scanning plan with the maximum utility to the second party.

[0030] Assume that there is an original occupancy plan OP1 and three alternative occupancy plans AP1, AP2, and AP3. Then, scanning plans SP1 to SP4 are generated based on the occupancy plans OP1, AP1, AP2, and AP3, respectively. Furthermore, the scanning plan SP3 has the highest utility among the generated scanning plans. In this case, the providing unit 2040 provides the second party with the alternative plan AP2 corresponding to the scanning plan SP3.

[0031] <Examples of effects> According to the alternative plan providing device 2000, a novel technique for managing space occupancy in consideration of the scanning operation of the moving object 10 is provided. Specifically, the alternative plan providing device 2000 generates a scanning plan of the moving object 10 for each of the original occupancy plan and one or more alternative occupancy plans. Then, when a scanning plan with the maximum utility is generated based on the alternative occupancy plan and not on the original occupancy plan, the alternative occupancy plan corresponding to the scanning plan with the maximum utility is provided to the second party. This allows the first party to provide the second party with an alternative occupancy plan that is more preferable than the original occupancy plan from the first party's point of view. As described below, this enables the first party to negotiate space occupancy with the second party.

[0032] The alternative providing device 2000 will be described in more detail below.

[0033] <Example of functional configuration> FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a functional configuration of the alternative plan providing device 2000. In this example, the alternative plan providing device 2000 includes a scanning plan generating unit 2020 and a providing unit 2040. The scanning plan generating unit 2020 acquires an original occupancy plan. The scanning plan generating unit 2020 generates a scanning plan based on the original occupancy plan so that the scanning plan does not conflict with the original occupancy plan. The scanning plan generating unit 2020 generates one or more alternative occupancy plans. For each alternative occupancy plan, the scanning plan generating unit 2020 generates a scanning plan so that the scanning plan does not conflict with the corresponding alternative occupancy plan. When the scanning plan with the maximum utility is generated based on the alternative occupancy plan, the providing unit 2040 provides the alternative occupancy plan used to generate the scanning plan with the maximum utility to the second party.

[0034] <Example of hardware configuration> The alternative providing device 2000 may be realized by one or more computers. Each of the one or more computers may be a dedicated computer manufactured for realizing the alternative providing device, or may be a general-purpose computer such as a personal computer (PC), a server machine, or a mobile device. In some embodiments, the one or more computers realizing the alternative providing device 2000 may be incorporated in the moving object 10. In this case, the alternative providing device 2000 may be realized in an integrated circuit such as a System on Chip (SoC) incorporated in the moving object 10.

[0035] The alternative providing device 2000 can be realized by installing an application on a computer. The application is realized by a program that causes the computer to function as the alternative providing device 2000. In other words, the program implements the functional components of the alternative providing device 2000.

[0036] 6 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a computer 1000 that realizes an alternative providing apparatus 2000. In FIG. 6, the computer 1000 includes a bus 1020, a processor 1040, a memory 1060, a storage device 1080, an input / output interface 1100, and a network interface 1120.

[0037] The bus 1020 is a data communication path for the processor 1040, the memory 1060, the storage device 1080, the input / output interface 1100, and the network interface 1120 to transmit and receive data to and from each other. The processor 1040 is a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The memory 1060 is a main storage element such as a random access memory (RAM) or a read only memory (ROM). The storage device 1080 is an auxiliary storage element such as a hard disk, a solid state drive (SSD), or a memory card. The input / output interface 1100 is an interface between the computer 1000 and a peripheral device (such as a keyboard, a mouse, or a display device). The network interface 1120 is an interface between the computer 1000 and a network. The network may be a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN).

[0038] The storage device 1080 may store the programs described above. Processor The component 1040 executes the program to realize each functional component of the alternative suggestion providing device 2000 .

[0039] The computer 1000 is not limited to the configuration shown in Fig. 6. For example, as described above, the alternative providing device 2000 may be realized by a plurality of computers. In this case, the computers may be connected to each other via a network.

[0040] <Processing flow> FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an exemplary flow of processing performed by the alternative plan providing device 2000. The scanning plan generating unit 2020 acquires an original occupancy plan (S102). The scanning plan generating unit 2020 generates a scanning plan based on the original occupancy plan (S104). The scanning plan generating unit 2020 generates one or more alternative occupancy plans (S106). For each alternative occupancy plan, the scanning plan generating unit 2020 generates a scanning plan based on the corresponding alternative occupancy plan (S108). When the scanning plan with the maximum utility is generated based on the alternative occupancy plan, the providing unit 2040 provides the alternative occupancy plan corresponding to the scanning plan with the maximum utility to the second party (S110).

[0041] The process flow shown in FIG. 7 is merely an example, and some configurations can be replaced, added, or modified. In some embodiments, the alternative plan providing device 2000 may determine whether or not it is necessary to generate an alternative occupancy plan before generating an alternative occupancy plan, and executes step S106 and subsequent steps only when it is determined that it is necessary to generate an alternative occupancy plan. For example, the alternative plan providing device 2000 may determine whether or not the utility of the scan plan generated based on the original occupancy plan is sufficiently high (e.g., equal to or greater than a threshold) before generating an alternative occupancy plan. Then, the alternative plan providing device 2000 executes step S106 and subsequent steps only when it is determined that the utility of the scan plan generated based on the original occupancy plan is not sufficiently high. On the other hand, if the utility of the scan plan generated based on the original occupancy plan is sufficiently high, step S106 and subsequent steps may not be executed, and a scan plan based on the original occupancy plan may be applied to the moving object 10.

[0042] A more specific example of the flow of the process performed by the alternative providing device 2000 will be illustrated using a use case described below.

[0043] <Use example> The alternative scanning plan may be provided to the second party for negotiation between the first and second parties. In the following, as an example of a use case, negotiation between a first party and a second party using the alternative proposal providing device 2000 is illustrated.

[0044] <<First Example of Negotiations>> In this example, the negotiation is initiated by the second party. A scan plan for the moving object 10 is generated before the original occupancy plan is provided to the alternative proposal providing device 2000. This scan plan is called the "original scan plan." If the original scan plan conflicts with the original occupancy plan, the second party initiates the negotiation by sending a negotiation request to the first party. The negotiation request includes a change request to ask the first party to change the original scan plan.

[0045] In some embodiments, it is a moving object managed by a second party that transmits a negotiation request to the alternative proposal providing device 2000. An example of such a moving object is a delivery drone that flies in the air space to deliver goods. In this case, the occupancy plan indicates a delivery schedule of the delivery drone. When the alternative proposal providing device 2000 is implemented in the moving object 10 (e.g., the alternative proposal providing device 2000 is implemented as an integrated circuit incorporated in the moving object 10), the moving object 10 of the first party and the moving object of the second party can be expressed as automatically negotiating to resolve conflicts in their schedules.

[0046] 8 is a flowchart showing an exemplary flow of a process performed by the alternative proposal providing device 2000 to perform the first example of negotiation with a second party. First, the scanning plan generating unit 2020 receives a negotiation request from the second party (S202). This request includes an original occupancy plan. After receiving the negotiation request, the scanning plan generating unit 2020 generates a scanning plan that does not conflict with the original occupancy plan (S204).

[0047] Next, the scanning plan generating unit 2020 checks whether the utility of the scanning plan is sufficiently high (e.g., above a predetermined threshold) (S206), and thereby determines whether the negotiation request can be accepted. If the utility of the scanning plan is sufficiently high (S206: YES), the alternative providing device 2000 sends a response accepting the negotiation request to the second party (S208). The response may include an instruction to accept a request to change the original scanning plan and the scanning plan generated based on the original occupancy plan. Since a scanning plan that does not conflict with the original occupancy plan is provided from the first party, the second party may accept the response from the first party, which results in an agreement to the negotiation initiated by the second party.

[0048] If the utility of the scanning plan corresponding to the original occupancy plan is not high enough (S206: NO), the first party does not accept the negotiation request. The scanning plan generator 2020 may then attempt to provide a counterproposal to the second party. The counterproposal may include a request to change the original occupancy plan to an alternative occupancy plan used to generate the scanning plan, the utility of which is high enough.

[0049] Specifically, the scan plan generating unit 2020 generates alternative occupancy plans (S210), and generates a scan plan for each alternative occupancy plan (S212). Then, the providing unit 2040 selects a scan plan with maximum utility (S214). Then, the providing unit 2040 transmits a counterproposal to the second party as a response to a negotiation request from the second party (S216). The counterproposal may include an alternative occupancy plan used to generate the selected scan plan. Furthermore, the counterproposal may include a scan plan corresponding to the alternative occupancy plan included in the counterproposal, in order to notify the second party of the updated scan plan.

[0050] If the second party accepts the counterproposal, the negotiations reach an agreement, in which the first party manages the moving object 10 to perform a scanning operation based on a scanning plan corresponding to the alternative occupancy plan provided to the second party, while the second party occupies the space based on the alternative occupancy plan provided by the alternative proposal providing device 2000.

[0051] In some embodiments, if it is determined that the utility of the scan plan corresponding to the original scan plan is not high enough (S206: NO), the alternative proposal providing device 2000 may reject the negotiation request instead of providing a counterproposal. Thus, the negotiation can reach an agreement only if a scan plan with a sufficiently high utility can be generated based on the original occupancy plan.

[0052] In some embodiments, the alternative suggestion providing device 2000 may reject a negotiation request from a second party if none of the scan plans generated based on the alternative occupancy plans has a sufficiently high utility. In this case, after selecting a scan plan with the maximum utility (S214), the alternative suggestion providing device 2000 checks whether the utility of the selected scan plan is sufficiently high. high If not, the alternative providing device 2000 rejects the negotiation request from the second party, which means that if the alternative providing device 2000 fails to generate a suitable counterproposal (i.e., fails to generate an alternative occupancy plan that can generate a scanning plan with sufficiently high utility), the negotiation will not reach an agreement.

[0053] <<Second Example of Negotiations>> In this example, the first party (alternative proposal providing device 2000) initiates negotiation with the second party as necessary. As in the first example of negotiation, it may be a moving object managed by the second party that negotiates with the alternative proposal providing device 2000. For example, the alternative proposal providing device 2000 integrated in the moving object 10 may send a request to a delivery drone of the second party.

[0054] 9 is a flowchart showing an exemplary flow of a process performed by the alternative plan providing device 2000 to start a second example negotiation with a second party. First, the scanning plan generating unit 2020 acquires an original occupancy plan (S302). The original occupancy plan may be acquired by any method, such as reading it from a storage device. Based on the acquired original occupancy plan, the scanning plan generating unit 2020 generates a scanning plan that does not conflict with the original occupancy plan (S304).

[0055] Next, the scanning plan generating unit 2020 checks whether the utility of this scanning plan is sufficiently high (S306). If the utility of this scanning plan is sufficiently high (S306: YES), a scanning plan with sufficiently high utility can be generated without modifying the original occupancy plan, and therefore there is no need to start negotiation with the second party.

[0056] On the other hand, if the utility of the scanning plan corresponding to the original occupancy plan is not high enough (S306: NO), the alternative plan providing device 2000 starts negotiation with the second party. Specifically, the scanning plan generating unit 2020 generates alternative occupancy plans (S308), and generates a scanning plan for each alternative occupancy plan (S310). Then, the providing unit 2040 selects a scanning plan with the maximum utility (S312). Then, the providing unit 2040 transmits a request for changing the occupancy plan to the second party (S314). This request includes an alternative occupancy plan corresponding to the selected scanning plan. In order to inform the second party of the scanning plan corresponding to the provided alternative occupancy plan, it is preferable that the request also includes a scanning plan corresponding to the provided alternative occupancy plan.

[0057] In the following, each function of the alternative providing device 2000 will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0058] <Acquisition of original occupancy plan: S102> The scan plan generator 2020 acquires an original occupancy plan (S102 in FIG. 7). There are various ways to acquire the original occupancy plan. In some embodiments, the scan plan generator 2020 acquires the original occupancy plan by reading it from a storage device in which the original occupancy plan is pre-stored. This may be the case when the negotiation is initiated by a first party, as illustrated in the second example of negotiation above.

[0059] In another embodiment, the original occupancy plan is sent from another computer to the alternative plan providing device 2000. In this case, the scan plan generating unit 2020 receives the original occupancy plan sent by the other computer. This may be the case when the negotiation is initiated by the second party, as illustrated in the first example of the negotiation above.

[0060] <Scanning plan generation: S104~S108> The scanning plan generating unit 2020 generates a scanning plan for each of the original occupancy plan and the alternative occupancy plan (S104 to S108 in FIG. 7). Specifically, for each of the original occupancy plan and the alternative occupancy plan, the scanning plan generating unit 2020 generates a scanning plan based on the corresponding occupancy plan so as not to conflict with the corresponding occupancy plan (i.e., so that the moving object 10 is scheduled to scan the assigned space 20 without entering the occupancy space indicated by the corresponding occupancy plan). The alternative occupancy plan is also generated by the scanning plan generating unit 2020.

[0061] The following describes a method for generating an alternative occupancy plan and a method for generating a scan plan.

[0062] <<Generate alternative occupancy plans>> An alternative occupancy plan is generated by modifying a portion of the original occupancy plan. The occupancy plan may be modified by modifying one or more volumes therein. The volumes may be modified in space (i.e., the occupied space may be modified), in time (i.e., the duration may be modified), or in both. For example, a volume may be generated based on a given path by randomly modifying the start time of the given path and adding a margin of time, space, or both to the path for safety of progression. In another example, a volume may be generated based on a given path by adding a movement in any direction at any point of the given path and adding a margin of time, space, or both to the path for safety of progression. There may be various other methods to generate a similar volume based on a given path in a random manner.

[0063] The modification operations applied to the occupied space of the volume may include removing a portion of the occupied space of the volume, transposing a portion of the occupied space of the volume, and shifting the entire occupied space of the volume. The transposition of a portion of the occupied space can be achieved by removing a portion of the occupied space and moving it to another position. It should be noted that the transposition of a portion of the occupied space may result in a shift of the portion of the occupied space. Also, the portion of the occupied space may be transposed to a position separated from the original occupied space.

[0064] Figure 10 shows examples of modification operations applied to the occupied space of a volume. The remove operation in Figure 10 removes the top left grid of the original occupied space 90. The transpose operation in Figure 10 transposes the top left grid of the original occupied space 90 to a different position. The shift operation in Figure 10 shifts the entire original occupied space 90 by one grid to the right.

[0065] Similarly, the modification operations applied to the volume period may include removing a portion of the volume period, transposing a portion of the volume period, and shifting the volume period. FIG. 11 shows an example of a modification operation applied to the volume period. In FIG. 11, the original period is from time t1 to t2.

[0066] By the removal operation in FIG. 11, the period from ta to t2 (t1 < ta < t2) is removed from the original period. By the transposition operation in FIG. 11, the period from ta to t2 is transposed to from t3 to t4. The duration from ta to t2 is equal to the duration from t3 to t4. By the shift operation in FIG. 11, the period from t1 to t2 is shifted by +d. As a result, the original period of the volume is changed to the period from t1 + d to t2 + d.

[0067] Note that the above-described modification operations are merely examples, and other types of operations capable of modifying the volume can be adopted.

[0068] In some embodiments, the scan plan generation unit 2020 generates an alternative occupancy plan by randomly applying one or more modification operations. Specifically, the scan plan generation unit 2020 randomly selects one or more volumes to be modified. The number of volumes to be selected may be predefined by the scan plan generation unit 2020 or may be determined randomly. Next, for each selected volume, the scan plan generation unit 2020 randomly selects one or more of the above-described modification operations and applies the selected modification operations to the selected volumes. When the selected modification deals with a portion of the occupancy space or period, those portions may be determined randomly. The number of portions to be selected and the size of each portion may be predefined by the scan plan generation unit 2020 or may be determined randomly. Also, the position to which the selected portion is transposed and the position by which the selected portion is shifted may be predefined by the scan plan generation unit 2020 or may be determined randomly.

[0069] Note that if the original occupancy plan included multiple volumes, the modifications to the original occupancy plan may also include the removal of one or more volumes.

[0070] In some embodiments, the modifications to the original occupancy plan may be performed in a predefined manner rather than in a random manner, in which case a set of one or more modifications to the original occupancy plan may be predefined, and the scan plan generator 2020 generates an alternative occupancy plan for each predefined set of modifications.

[0071] <<Generate a scanning plan>> The scan plan generator 2020 generates a scan plan for each occupancy plan so as not to conflict with the corresponding occupancy plan. In other words, the scan plan is generated so that the moving object 10 is scheduled to scan the assigned space 20 without entering the occupancy space indicated by the corresponding occupancy plan.

[0072] To generate a scan plan, the scan plan generator 2020 generates one or more candidates for a scan path (hereinafter, referred to as a candidate path) and selects one of them as the scan path. The scan path may be generated using a path search algorithm. An example of a path search algorithm will be described in detail below. Note that the algorithm described below is merely an example, and other path search algorithms capable of handling time-based obstacles can be adopted.

[0073] 12 is a flow chart illustrating a pathfinding algorithm for generating one or more candidate paths. The algorithm consists of the A* algorithm that modifies the search tree branching points (step S408) and implements a backtracking mechanism (step S412).

[0074] First, the scanning plan generating unit 2020 creates a time-based grid map for use in path planning (S402). The time-based grid map indicates a start cell where the moving object 10 starts a scanning operation, a destination cell where the moving object ends a scanning operation, and occupied cells that are occupied by obstacles and cannot be entered by the scanning plan. In this grid map, the occupied space indicated by the occupancy plan is represented as a set of occupied cells. Since the occupied space may change over time in the occupancy plan, the grid map is formed as a time-based grid map so that it can indicate occupied cells that change over time.

[0075] The scan plan generator 2020 uses the occupancy plan to set occupied cells in a time-based grid map. Specifically, a set of cells corresponding to the occupied space indicated by the occupancy plan during the time period indicated by the occupancy plan are set as occupied cells. Furthermore, cells corresponding to permanent obstacles such as walls are set as occupied cells permanently, i.e., from the start of the scan to the end of the scan. The scan plan generator 2020 also sets a value representing the distance from the target cell to each cell.

[0076] After creating the grid map, the scan plan generator 2020 runs a modified A* algorithm (S404), where the cost function minimizes the total duration of the path, and the search prioritizes neighboring cells with the highest values.

[0077] If any one of the conditions C402-C406 is satisfied, the algorithm proceeds to the step corresponding to the satisfied condition. If the next cell that the path search is searching is occupied at the current time (C402 is satisfied), the algorithm considers two possibilities: (S408) Waiting for an occupied cell to become empty, or (S410) Searching for other unsearched cells (branching the route search (S406)).

[0078] When the path search is blocked because there are no remaining neighboring cells to search (C404 is satisfied), the algorithm backtracks the discovered paths until it reaches a cell that contains unvisited neighboring cells (S412).

[0079] When the path search reaches the target cell and a predetermined percentage of the allocation space 20 is covered (C406 is satisfied), the algorithm outputs the found path as a candidate path (S414). The predetermined percentage is defined to detect the situation where almost all of the allocation space 20 is covered. In other words, the situation where the predetermined percentage or more of the allocation space 20 is covered is interpreted as the situation where almost all of the allocation space 20 is covered. The percentage of the allocation space 20 covered by the path may be calculated by dividing the number of cells visited at least once by the total number of cells in the allocation space 20. Hereinafter, the percentage of the allocation space 20 covered is referred to as the "coverage ratio".

[0080] If the entire allocation space 20 is covered (C408: YES), execution of the algorithm ends. On the other hand, if there are uncovered cells (C408: NO), the algorithm proceeds to step S404 to continue route searching.

[0081] The algorithm may output multiple routes since the route search branches at step S406 and continues until all cells are covered. Thus, the scanning plan generator 2020 may obtain multiple candidate routes as a result of the route search. It should be noted that other conditions may be adopted to terminate the algorithm. For example, the algorithm may be terminated when a predetermined number of candidate routes have been output, when a predetermined time has expired, etc.

[0082] When multiple candidate paths are obtained, the scan plan generator 2020 may select one of the candidate paths as the scan path to include in the scan plan. To do so, the scan plan generator 2020 may use a utility function to calculate a utility score for each candidate path and select the candidate path with the highest utility score (i.e., the highest utility) as the scan path to include in the scan plan. The utility function may be configured to calculate a higher utility score for a path as the travel time of the path becomes shorter. In this case, the candidate path with the shortest travel time is selected as the candidate path with the highest utility.

[0083] The travel time of a path is the time it takes for the moving object 10 to travel from a starting point to a destination along the path. As a simple method, the travel time may be calculated by dividing the total length of the path by the speed of the moving object 10. The speed of the moving object 10 may be predefined to calculate the travel time. More specifically, since the moving object 10 takes time to turn (i.e., to change direction) as well as to move forward, the total time taken to turn may also be included in the travel time. The speed of the moving object 10 and the time per turn may be predefined for calculating the travel time.

[0084] In addition to travel time, the coverage of a candidate route may be considered. A route with a higher coverage is considered more favorable to the first party. Thus, the utility function may be configured to calculate a higher utility score as the coverage of the route increases. The coverage of a route may be calculated as the number of locations covered by the route relative to the total number of locations in the allocation space 20.

[0085] In some embodiments, as described above, the scan plan may represent a schedule of the scanning operation of the moving object 10 by a scan volume set. In this case, the scan plan generator 2020 may convert each candidate path into a scan volume set, select the scan volume set with the maximum utility, and include the selected scan volume set in the scan plan. Each volume may be generated by adding a margin of time, space, or both to the corresponding candidate path for safety of progress.

[0086] Essentially, when converting a path into a single volume, the scan plan generator 2020 determines the volume's occupancy space and duration based on the path. With respect to occupancy space, the path can be converted into an occupancy space that contains the entire path. Figure 13 shows an example of a volume path-to-occupancy space conversion. In Figure 13, a path 100 is converted into an occupancy space 110 that contains the entire path 100.

[0087] If the candidate path is a 2D path while the moving object 10 may move three-dimensionally (e.g., fly through the air), it is preferable to convert the 2D scanning path into a 3D occupancy space. In this case, for example, the altitude of the moving object 10 (e.g., the flying altitude of the moving object 10) is predefined, and the altitude range of the 3D occupancy space is determined based on the predetermined altitude. For example, the upper limit altitude of the 3D occupancy space is set to the predetermined altitude plus a predetermined width, and the lower limit altitude of the 3D occupancy space is set to the predetermined altitude minus the predetermined width.

[0088] With respect to duration, a volume generated from a path represents a duration that includes the entire duration of the scanning operation according to the path, and thus the duration of the volume can be set to start at the start time of the scanning operation and end at the end time of the scanning operation.

[0089] To ensure the avoidance of conflicts, it is preferable to add a margin of space, time, or both to the volume. Specifically, the occupied space of the volume may be set to be larger than the minimum in order to include the entire path. Similarly, the duration of the volume may be set to be longer than the minimum in order to include the entire period of the scanning operation according to the path.

[0090] When converting a candidate path into a single scan volume, the scan plan generator 2020 operates as described above. On the other hand, when converting a candidate path into a set of multiple scan volumes, the scan plan generator 2020 divides the candidate path into multiple sub-paths, converts each sub-path into a scan volume as described above, and generates a scan volume set including all the scan volumes corresponding to the sub-paths.

[0091] After converting each candidate path into a scan volume set, the scan plan generator 2020 calculates a utility score for each scan volume set. The utility score of a scan volume set may be expressed using the minimum scan time of the scan volume set, which is the expected minimum time required to scan the occupied space represented by the scan volume set. The utility score of a scan volume set may be calculated to be larger as the minimum scan time becomes shorter.

[0092] The minimum scan time for a set of scanned volumes may be calculated as the sum of the minimum scan times for each volume in the set of scanned volumes. The minimum scan time for a volume may be calculated using the following equation (1):

number

[0093] The minimum distance D_ms[V] may be calculated using the following equation (2):

number

[0094] Assume that the occupied space is represented by cells of size 30m x 40m, where the smallest dimension of a cell is 30m.

[0095] The number of turns N_t[V] may be calculated using the following equation (3):

number

[0096] Assume that the occupied space forms a rectangular shape with grid dimensions of 7 by 5. In this case, the number of cells with the smallest grid dimension is 5.

[0097] The turn time T_t may be calculated using the following equation (4):

number

[0098] An example of the calculation of the minimum scanning time will be described below with reference to FIG. 14. FIG. 14 shows the occupied space of a volume for which the minimum scanning time has been calculated. The grid dimensions of the occupied space 110 in FIG. 14 are 7×5. The size of each cell is 30m×40m. The speed of the moving object 10 is 17[m / s] and the acceleration is 6.2[m / s^2]. In this case, the minimum scanning time is calculated using equations (1) to (4) as shown in FIG. 14.

[0099] The utility of a scan volume set may also be calculated taking into account the coverage of the scan volume set, which may be calculated by dividing the total number of locations in the occupied space of the scan volume set by the total number of locations in the allocation space 20. The utility score of a scan volume set may be calculated to be larger as the coverage of the scan volume set becomes higher.

[0100] <Provision of alternative occupancy plan: S110> If the maximum utility scan plan is generated based on an alternative occupancy plan rather than based on the original occupancy plan, the alternative occupancy plan is more preferable to the first party than the original occupancy plan, and thus the providing unit 2040 provides the alternative occupancy plan corresponding to the selected scan plan (i.e., the alternative occupancy plan used to generate the maximum utility scan plan) to the second party.

[0101] There are various ways to provide the alternative occupancy plan to the second party. In some embodiments, the providing unit 2040 may send a message including the alternative occupancy plan to the second party. In other embodiments, the providing unit 2040 may store the alternative occupancy plan in a storage device shared with the second party. In this case, the second party can retrieve the alternative occupancy plan from the storage device. It is preferable to notify the second party that the alternative occupancy plan has been stored in the storage device. This notification may be performed by the providing unit 2040 or by the storage device.

[0102] There are a variety of circumstances in which an alternative occupancy plan may be provided to a second party. For example, as exemplified above in the first negotiation example, the alternative occupancy plan may be provided to a second party as a counterproposal. In another example, as exemplified above in the second negotiation example, the alternative occupancy plan may be provided to a second party as a request for a change to the occupancy plan.

[0103] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the above-described embodiment, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present disclosure within the scope of the present invention.

[0104] The program referred to in this disclosure includes instructions (or software codes) that, when loaded into a computer, cause the computer to execute one or more of the functions described in the embodiments. The program may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium or tangible storage medium. By way of example and not limitation, the non-transitory computer-readable medium or tangible storage medium may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, solid-state drive (SSD) or other types of memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD), Blu-ray disk or other types of optical disk storage, and magnetic cassette, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other types of magnetic storage. The program may be transmitted on a transitory computer-readable medium or communication medium. By way of example and not limitation, the transitory computer-readable medium or communication medium may include electrical, optical, acoustic or other forms of propagating signals.

[0105] A part or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as, but is not limited to, the following supplementary notes. <Additional Notes> (Appendix 1) An alternative suggestion providing device, At least one processor; a memory for storing instructions; The at least one processor executes the instructions to generating a scan plan for a moving object of a first party for each of a plurality of occupancy plans, the scan plan indicating a schedule for the moving object to scan an assigned space without entering a space occupied by a second party as indicated by the occupancy plan, the occupancy plan indicating when and which space the second party will occupy, one of the occupancy plans being an original occupancy plan provided by the second party, and the occupancy plans other than the original occupancy plan being alternative occupancy plans generated based on the original occupancy plan; and an alternative suggestion providing device configured to, when the scanning plan with the greatest utility is generated based on one of the alternative occupancy plans, provide to the second party the alternative occupancy plan utilized in generating the scanning plan with the greatest utility. (Appendix 2) The generation of the scanning plan includes: generating the scan plan based on the original occupancy plan; if the utility of the scan plan generated based on the original occupancy plan is less than a threshold, generating one or more alternative occupancy plans by modifying the original occupancy plan; and generating the scan plan for each of the alternative occupancy plans. (Appendix 3) the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to further receive a negotiation request from the second party, the negotiation request being a request for a change to an original scan plan and including the original occupancy plan, the original scan plan being the scan plan generated prior to receiving the negotiation request; The alternative proposal providing device of Appendix 2, wherein providing the alternative occupancy plan includes sending a response to the negotiation request to the second party, the response including a request to change the original occupancy plan to the alternative occupancy plan used to generate the scanning plan with maximum utility. (Appendix 4) The alternative proposal providing device of Appendix 2, wherein providing the alternative occupancy plan includes sending a negotiation request to the second party, the negotiation request including a request to change the original occupancy plan to the alternative occupancy plan used to generate the scanning plan with maximum utility. (Appendix 5) 5. The apparatus for providing alternatives according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the utility of the scanning plan increases as the time required to scan the allocated space according to the scanning plan decreases. (Appendix 6) The alternative suggestion providing device of any one of appendix 1 to 5, wherein the utility of the scanning plan increases as the proportion of the allocated space scanned by the moving object based on the scanning plan increases. (Appendix 7) 1. A computer-implemented control method comprising: planning a scan of a moving object of a first party for each of a plurality of occupancy plans, the scan plans indicating a schedule of the moving object for scanning an assigned space without entering a space occupied by a second party indicated by the occupancy plan, the occupancy plans indicating when and which spaces the second party will occupy, one of the occupancy plans being an original occupancy plan provided by the second party, and the occupancy plans other than the original occupancy plan being alternative occupancy plans generated based on the original occupancy plan; and when the maximum utility scan plan is generated based on one of the alternative occupancy plans, providing the alternative occupancy plan utilized in generating the maximum utility scan plan to the second party. (Appendix 8) The generation of the scanning plan includes: generating the scan plan based on the original occupancy plan; if the utility of the scan plan generated based on the original occupancy plan is less than a threshold, generating one or more alternative occupancy plans by modifying the original occupancy plan; and generating the scan plan for each of the alternative occupancy plans. (Appendix 9) receiving a negotiation request from the second party, the negotiation request being a request for a change to an original scan plan and including the original occupancy plan, the original scan plan being the scan plan generated prior to receiving the negotiation request; 9. The control method of claim 8, wherein providing the alternative occupancy plan includes sending a response to the negotiation request to the second party, the response including a request to change the original occupancy plan to the alternative occupancy plan utilized in generating the maximum utility scan plan. (Appendix 10) 9. The control method of claim 8, wherein providing the alternative occupancy plan includes sending a negotiation request to the second party, the negotiation request including a request to change the original occupancy plan to the alternative occupancy plan utilized in generating the scanning plan with maximum utility. (Appendix 11) 11. The control method of any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the utility of the scanning plan increases as the time required to scan the allocated space according to the scanning plan decreases. (Appendix 12) 12. The control method of any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the utility of the scanning plan increases as the proportion of the allocated space that is scanned by the moving object based on the scanning plan increases. (Appendix 13) On the computer, executing a scan planning of a moving object of a first party for each of a plurality of occupancy plans, the scan plans indicating a schedule of the moving object for scanning an assigned space without entering a space occupied by a second party as indicated by the occupancy plans, the occupancy plans indicating when and which spaces the second party will occupy, one of the occupancy plans being an original occupancy plan provided by the second party, and the occupancy plans other than the original occupancy plan being alternative occupancy plans generated based on the original occupancy plan; and, if the maximum utility scan plan is generated based on one of the alternative occupancy plans, providing the alternative occupancy plan utilized in generating the maximum utility scan plan to the second party. (Appendix 14) The generation of the scanning plan includes: generating the scan plan based on the original occupancy plan; if the utility of the scan plan generated based on the original occupancy plan is less than a threshold, generating one or more alternative occupancy plans by modifying the original occupancy plan; and generating the scan plan for each of the alternative occupancy plans. (Appendix 15) the program further causes the computer to receive a negotiation request from the second party, the negotiation request being a request for a change to an original scan plan and including the original occupancy plan, the original scan plan being the scan plan generated prior to receiving the negotiation request; 15. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein providing the alternative occupancy plan includes sending a response to the negotiation request to the second party, the response including a request to change the original occupancy plan to the alternative occupancy plan utilized in generating the maximum utility scan plan. (Appendix 16) 15. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein providing the alternative occupancy plan includes sending a negotiation request to the second party, the negotiation request including a request to change the original occupancy plan to the alternative occupancy plan utilized in generating the scanning plan with maximum utility. (Appendix 17) 17. The storage medium of any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the utility of the scan plan increases as the time required to scan the allocated space according to the scan plan decreases. (Appendix 18) A storage medium described in any one of Appendix 13 to 17, wherein the utility of the scanning plan increases as the proportion of the allocated space that is scanned by the moving object based on the scanning plan increases.

[0106] This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-178628, filed on November 1, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this specification. [Explanation of symbols]

[0107] 10 moving objects 20 Allocated Space 30 Scanning Plan 32 Object Identifiers 34 Traversal Path Table 36 Visit time 38 positions 40 Occupancy Plan 41 Party Identifier 42 Volume Table 43 Volume Identifier 44 period 45 Occupied Space 50 Scanning Path 90 Occupied Space 100 routes 110 Occupied Space 1000 Computers 1020 Bus 1040 Processor 1060 Memory 1080 Storage Device 1100 Input / Output Interface 1120 Network Interface 2000 Alternative offer device 2020 Scanning Plan Generation Department 2040 Providing Department

Claims

1. generating a scan plan for the first party moving object for each of the plurality of occupancy plans; the scan plan indicates a schedule for the moving object to scan an assigned space without entering a space occupied by a second party as indicated by the occupancy plan; the occupancy plan indicating when and which space the second party will occupy; one of the occupancy plans is an original occupancy plan provided by the second party; the occupancy plan other than the original occupancy plan is an alternative occupancy plan generated based on the original occupancy plan; an alternative proposal providing device that, when the scanning plan with the highest utility is generated based on one of the alternative occupancy plans, provides the alternative occupancy plan utilized in generating the scanning plan with the highest utility to the second party;

2. The generation of the scanning plan includes: generating the scan plan based on the original occupancy plan; if the utility of the scan plan generated based on the original occupancy plan is less than a threshold, generating one or more alternative occupancy plans by modifying the original occupancy plan; and generating the scan plan for each of the alternative occupancy plans.

3. further receiving a negotiation request from the second party; the negotiation request is a request for a change to an original scan plan and includes the original occupancy plan; the original scan plan is the scan plan generated prior to receipt of the negotiation request; providing the alternative occupancy plan includes transmitting a response to the request for negotiation to the second party; 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the response includes a request to change the original occupancy plan to the alternative occupancy plan utilized in generating the maximum utility scan plan.

4. providing the alternative occupancy plan includes transmitting a request for negotiation to the second party; 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the negotiation request includes a request to change the original occupancy plan to the alternative occupancy plan utilized in generating the maximum utility scan plan.

5. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the utility of the scan plan increases as the time required to scan the allocated space according to the scan plan decreases.

6. The apparatus for providing alternatives according to claim 1 , wherein the utility of the scanning plan increases as a proportion of the allocated space that is scanned by the moving object based on the scanning plan increases.

7. 1. A computer-implemented control method comprising: planning a scan of the first party's moving object for each of a plurality of occupancy plans; the scan plan indicates a schedule for the moving object to scan an assigned space without entering a space occupied by a second party as indicated by the occupancy plan; the occupancy plan indicating when and which space the second party will occupy; one of the occupancy plans is an original occupancy plan provided by the second party; the occupancy plan other than the original occupancy plan is an alternative occupancy plan generated based on the original occupancy plan; and if the maximum utility scan plan is generated based on one of the alternative occupancy plans, providing the alternative occupancy plan utilized in generating the maximum utility scan plan to the second party.

8. The generation of the scanning plan includes: generating the scan plan based on the original occupancy plan; if the utility of the scan plan generated based on the original occupancy plan is less than a threshold, generating one or more alternative occupancy plans by modifying the original occupancy plan; and generating the scan plan for each of the alternative occupancy plans.

9. causing the computer to perform a scan plan of the first party moving object for each of the plurality of occupancy plans; the scan plan indicates a schedule for the moving object to scan the assigned space without entering a space occupied by a second party as indicated by an occupancy plan; the occupancy plan indicating when and which space the second party will occupy; one of the occupancy plans is an original occupancy plan provided by the second party; the occupancy plan other than the original occupancy plan is an alternative occupancy plan generated based on the original occupancy plan; and when the maximum utility scanning plan is generated based on one of the alternative occupancy plans, providing the alternative occupancy plan used to generate the maximum utility scanning plan to the second party.

10. The generation of the scanning plan includes: generating the scan plan based on the original occupancy plan; if the utility of the scan plan generated based on the original occupancy plan is less than a threshold, generating one or more alternative occupancy plans by modifying the original occupancy plan; and generating the scan plan for each of the alternative occupancy plans.

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