Vehicle allocation method and vehicle allocation device

Abstract

To provide a vehicle allocation method and a vehicle allocation device which can suppress the occurrence of infection between passengers sharing a vehicle.SOLUTION: The above-mentioned problem is solved by receiving a vehicle allocation desired condition including a desired getting-on place and a desired getting-off place from a terminal operated by a user; specifying one sharing user and another sharing user who share a vehicle from the received vehicle allocation desired condition; generating a travel path that passes through the desired getting-on place and the desired getting-off place of each of the specified one sharing user and other sharing user; calculating the sharing time in which the one sharing user and the other sharing user share the vehicle on the basis of the generated travel path; and generating a vehicle allocation plan for allocating the same vehicle that travels in the travel path to the one sharing user and the other sharing user when the sharing time is less than a prescribed threshold.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] A technology is known in which, for each user who has made a ride-pool reservation, users who meet a first condition of having the same boarding and disembarking locations are grouped together into a ride-pool passenger group, and among the users not grouped, users whose location information meets a second condition are added to the ride-pool passenger group (Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-200555 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the technology of Patent Document 1, since the passengers are determined regardless of the duration of the ride, the passengers may stay in the same vehicle for a long time. If the duration of the ride is long, there is a problem that if one of the passengers has an infectious disease, he or she may infect the other passengers.

[0005] The problem that the present invention aims to solve is to provide a vehicle dispatch method and device that suppresses the occurrence of infection among passengers in a shared ride. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention solves the above problem by accepting desired dispatch conditions including a desired boarding location and a desired disembarking location from a terminal operated by a user, identifying one carpooling user and other carpooling users based on the accepted desired dispatch conditions, generating a driving route that passes through the desired boarding location and desired disembarking location of each of the identified one carpooling user and the other carpooling users, calculating the riding time that the one carpooling user and the other carpooling users will be riding together in a vehicle based on the generated driving route, and if the riding time is less than a predetermined threshold, generating a vehicle dispatch plan that dispatches the same vehicle traveling on the driving route to the one carpooling user and the other carpooling users. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent infection among passengers sharing a ride. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle dispatch system according to this embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example in which the vehicle allocation method according to the present embodiment is executed. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is an example of an image displayed on a display device of a user terminal. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a control process of the vehicle allocation method according to the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle dispatching system 1000 including a vehicle dispatching device 1 according to this embodiment. The vehicle dispatching system 1000 is a system that dispatches a vehicle for transporting a user who boards at a boarding location to another disembarking location. The vehicle dispatching system 1000 includes a vehicle dispatching device 1 that dispatches a vehicle to a user who requests a vehicle dispatch, a vehicle 2, a user terminal 3, and a network 4 that constitutes a telecommunications network. The vehicle dispatching device 1, the vehicle 2, and the user terminal 3 exchange information via the network 4. In this embodiment, when the vehicle dispatching device 1 receives vehicle dispatch request information from multiple user terminals, it determines whether there are multiple users who can share a vehicle in the same vehicle based on the vehicle dispatch request conditions included in the vehicle dispatch request information. The vehicle dispatch request conditions include the user's desired boarding location and desired disembarking location. If there are multiple users who can share a vehicle, the multiple users are determined as carpooling users, and a vehicle dispatch plan is generated to allocate the same vehicle to the carpooling users. At this time, the dispatch device 1 dispatches the vehicle to multiple users if the ride-sharing time of the users is less than a predetermined threshold. The dispatch device 1 transmits a movement instruction to the dispatched vehicle to drive along a route that passes through the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location. The vehicle 2 has an autonomous driving function. When the vehicle 2 receives the movement instruction from the dispatch device 1, it starts driving according to the movement instruction. The vehicle 2 is one or more vehicles. The user terminal 3 accepts input of vehicle dispatch request information by the user. When the user terminal 3 accepts the input of the vehicle dispatch request information, it transmits the vehicle dispatch request information to the dispatch device 1. The user terminal 3 is one or more terminals.

[0010] The vehicle dispatch device 1 includes a controller 10, a communication device 11, a map information database 12, a vehicle information database 13, a user information database 14, and a vehicle dispatch plan database 15. The controller 10 includes a computer having hardware and software, and the computer includes a ROM storing a program, a CPU executing the program stored in the ROM, and a RAM functioning as an accessible storage device. The controller 10 includes, as functional blocks, a vehicle dispatch request information acquisition unit 100, a boarding and alighting place determination unit 101, a user identification unit 102, a threshold setting unit 103, a travel route generation unit 104, a ride-along time calculation unit 105, a vehicle dispatch plan generation unit 106, a user notification unit 107, and a movement instruction unit 108. In this embodiment, the functions of the controller 10 are divided into nine blocks, and the functions of each functional block are described. However, the functions of the controller 10 do not necessarily have to be divided into nine blocks, and may be divided into eight or less functional blocks, or into ten or more functional blocks.

[0011] The vehicle dispatch request information acquisition unit 100 acquires vehicle dispatch request information from the user terminal 3 operated by the user who desires a vehicle dispatch, via the communication device 11. The vehicle dispatch request information includes vehicle dispatch request conditions such as a desired boarding time, a desired boarding place and a desired disembarking place, and a desired upper limit of the riding time. If there is a companion who will ride with the user, the vehicle dispatch request information includes the number of companions. The vehicle dispatch request information may include user information. The user information includes the attributes of the user, for example, age and health condition. The vehicle dispatch request information is stored in the user information database 14 for each user. The boarding and disembarking place determination unit 101 determines the boarding place and disembarking place of the user based on the position information of the desired boarding place and the desired disembarking place included in the vehicle dispatch request information. For example, the boarding and disembarking place determination unit 101 determines the places indicated by the position information of the desired boarding place and the desired disembarking place as the boarding place and the disembarking place, respectively, from among the candidate boarding and disembarking places registered in advance in the map information database 12.

[0012] The user identification unit 102 identifies a ride-sharing user who will ride together based on the desired dispatch conditions. First, the user identification unit 102 refers to the user information database 14 and acquires the desired boarding location and desired disembarking location of each user based on the desired dispatch conditions. The user identification unit 102 generates a travel route that passes through the desired boarding location and desired disembarking location of one user based on the desired boarding location and desired disembarking location of one user. Then, based on the travel route and the desired boarding location and desired disembarking location of the other user, the user identification unit 102 identifies the one user and the other user as ride-sharing users if the desired boarding location and desired disembarking location of the other user are within a predetermined range from the travel route. For example, after one user inputs a desired boarding location and a desired disembarking location, when another user inputs ride dispatch request information including a desired boarding location and a desired disembarking location by the desired boarding time of the one user, the user identification unit 102 determines whether the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location of the other user are within a predetermined range from a travel route that passes through the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location of the one user. If it is determined that the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location of the other user are within a predetermined range from the travel route, the user identification unit 102 identifies the one user and the other user as ride-sharing users. In addition, the user identification unit 102 may compare the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location of the one user with the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location of the other user for each user who inputs the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location. If the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location of the one user are the same as the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location of the other user, the user identification unit 102 identifies the one user and the other user as ride-sharing users. In addition, the user identification unit 102 may identify one user and another user as carpooling users when the distance between the desired boarding location of one user and the desired boarding location of the other user is less than or equal to a predetermined distance, and the distance between the desired disembarking location of one user and the desired disembarking location of the other user is less than or equal to a predetermined distance.

[0013] The threshold setting unit 103 sets a ride-along time threshold for the one user and the other users identified by the user identification unit 102. The threshold setting unit 103 sets the ride-along time threshold based on the time determined to have been in a predetermined close contact with a person infected with a specific infectious disease. That is, the ride-along time threshold is set based on the contact time determined to increase the possibility of infection of other people who have come into contact with a person infected with a specific infectious disease. For example, the ride-along time threshold is 15 minutes. The ride-along time threshold may be a desired upper limit time set by a user. The threshold setting unit 103 refers to the user information database 14 and sets the desired upper limit time included in the user information as the ride-along time threshold. The threshold setting unit 103 may also correct the ride-along time threshold based on the user attributes of the one user and the other users. The user attributes include the age and health condition of the user. The threshold setting unit 103 acquires the user information from the user information database 14. The threshold setting unit 103 refers to the user information to determine the age of the user. The threshold setting unit 103 may determine the age of the user in the vehicle by image recognition based on an image of the user's face captured by the in-vehicle camera of the vehicle 2. The threshold setting unit 103 may also determine the health condition of the user by referring to the user information stored in the user information database 14 and health information registered in a health card such as medical insurance. The health condition includes the user's illness, including chronic illness and underlying disease, and the user's obesity level. For the obesity level, the threshold setting unit 103 may determine the user's BMI by referring to the user information database 14. The threshold setting unit 103 may also determine the user's attributes by referring to an external database. For example, the threshold setting unit 103 may determine the user's age by referring to a database of personal identification information managed by a country or local government. The threshold setting unit 103 may also determine the user's illness and obesity level by referring to an external database that manages the user's health information. In this embodiment, the threshold setting unit 103 determines the user attributes of the one user identified by the user identification unit 102 and the other users.

[0014] In addition, the threshold setting unit 103 corrects the riding time threshold lower when at least one of the first user and the other user is an elderly person or an infant. That is, when at least one of the first user and the other user is a specific user who is equal to or above a first predetermined age or equal to or below a second predetermined age, the threshold setting unit 103 corrects the riding time threshold lower than when neither of the users is a specific user. The first predetermined age is, for example, 65 years old. The second predetermined age is, for example, 5 years old. In addition, the threshold setting unit 103 refers to the user information and sets the riding time threshold lower when a specific user is present among the passengers who ride with the user. In addition, the threshold setting unit 103 corrects the riding time threshold lower when at least one of the first user and the other user is a specific user who has a chronic illness or an underlying disease than when neither of the users is a specific user who has a chronic illness or an underlying disease. In addition, when the BMI of at least one of the first user and the second user is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the threshold setting unit 103 corrects the ride-along time threshold to be lower than when the BMI of both users is less than the predetermined value. The predetermined value is, for example, BMI 40.

[0015] The threshold setting unit 103 may also correct the riding time threshold based on the distance between the seats where the one user and the other user sit. Specifically, when the distance between the seats where the one user and the other user sit is less than a predetermined distance, the threshold setting unit 103 sets the riding time threshold lower than when the distance between the seats is equal to or greater than the predetermined distance. The predetermined distance is, for example, 1 m. The threshold setting unit 103 refers to the user information to acquire position information of the seat where the user sits. Also, the threshold setting unit 103 acquires position information of the seat where the user sits by image recognition based on an image of the interior of the vehicle captured by the interior camera of the vehicle 2. Also, the threshold setting unit 103 may acquire position information of the seat where the user sits based on load information of a seating sensor installed in each seat of the vehicle 2. Also, the threshold setting unit 103 refers to the vehicle information database of the vehicle 2 to acquire seat arrangement information of the vehicle 2. Then, the threshold setting unit 103 may select seats where each of the multiple users who will share a ride will sit, and estimate the distance between the selected seats. For example, the threshold setting unit 103 selects a seat in the case where a ride-sharing user sits in the seat located farthest from the seated user, and determines whether the distance between the selected seats is greater than or equal to a predetermined distance.

[0016] The travel route generating unit 104 generates a travel route of a candidate vehicle to be allocated to the one user and the other user identified by the user identification unit 102. First, the travel route generating unit 104 identifies a candidate vehicle to be allocated to the one user and the other user. Specifically, the travel route generating unit 104 identifies a vehicle 2 that can arrive at the desired boarding location from the current location of the vehicle 2 at the user's scheduled boarding time as a candidate vehicle to be allocated, based on the vehicle information and the vehicle allocation request information. In addition, when the user information includes an allowable vehicle waiting time, the travel route generating unit 104 may identify a vehicle 2 that can arrive at the desired boarding location within the allowable vehicle waiting time as a candidate vehicle to be allocated. In addition, at this time, the travel route generating unit 104 identifies a vehicle 2 that has a seat remaining for the ride-sharing user to sit in as a candidate vehicle to be allocated, based on the vehicle information. The travel route generating unit 104 generates a travel route that passes through the boarding location and disembarking location of the one user and the boarding location and disembarking location of the other user. The ride-along time calculation unit 105 calculates a ride-along time for one user and another user to ride together in a candidate vehicle for dispatch based on the travel route generated by the travel route generation unit 104. The ride-along time calculation unit 105 identifies a section in which the one user rides, i.e., a travel route from the boarding location of the one user to the disembarking location, of the travel route of the candidate vehicle for dispatch, and identifies a section in which the other user rides, i.e., a travel route from the boarding location of the other user to the disembarking location. Then, the ride-along time calculation unit 105 identifies a section in which the section in which the one user rides overlaps with the section in which the other user rides as a shared ride section. The ride-along time calculation unit 105 calculates the time required for the candidate vehicle to travel in the shared ride section as the ride-along time.

[0017] The vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 generates a vehicle allocation plan for allocating vehicles to the user. The vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 determines whether the riding-along time calculated by the riding-along time calculating unit 105 is equal to or greater than the riding-along time threshold. When the vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 determines that the riding-along time is not equal to or greater than the riding-along time threshold, the vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 generates a vehicle allocation plan for allocating candidate vehicles to the one user and the other user. The vehicle allocation plan includes a travel route, a carpooling user, a boarding location and a planned boarding time of the carpooling user, and a disembarking location and a planned disembarking time of the carpooling user. When the vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 determines that the riding-along time is equal to or greater than the riding-along time threshold, the vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 does not allocate a candidate vehicle to the user. In this case, the vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 again identifies another candidate vehicle for allocation based on the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location.

[0018] In addition, in this embodiment, the interval between the seats of the passengers in the vehicle may be used to extract the candidate vehicles to be allocated, instead of using the interval between the seats of the passengers in the vehicle to correct the ride-along time threshold. That is, when it is determined that the ride-along time is equal to or greater than the ride-along time threshold, the vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 may extract candidate vehicles that can be allocated to the one user and the other user based on the interval between the seats of the passengers in the vehicle. That is, even if the ride-along time is long, if the distance between the passengers is far from each other, the vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 allocates the same vehicle to the carpooling user because it is considered that the possibility of infection is low. For example, the vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 extracts candidate vehicles that can arrive at the user's desired boarding location from the current location at the desired boarding time based on the vehicle information and the desired vehicle allocation information. Then, the vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 determines whether or not there is a specific vehicle among the extracted candidate vehicles in which the interval between the seats of the one user and the other user when seated is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance. The predetermined distance is, for example, 1 m. Specifically, the vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 acquires information on seat arrangement included in the vehicle information of the candidate vehicle and position information of the seat used by the user included in the user information, and calculates the distance between the seats when the one user and the other user are seated. For example, the vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 identifies the seat used by the user in the candidate vehicle based on the position information of the seat used included in the user information, and calculates the distance between the seats when the one user and the other user are seated. The vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 is not limited to using the user information as the seat position information, and may use information acquired by an indoor camera or a seating sensor. The vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 determines whether or not there is a specific vehicle in which the calculated distance between the seats of the one user and the other user is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance. When it is determined that there is a specific vehicle in which the distance between the seats is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance, the vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 generates a vehicle allocation plan for allocating the specific vehicle to the one user and the other user. If it is not determined that there is a specific vehicle in which the distance between the seats is equal to or greater than the predetermined distance, the vehicle allocation plan generating unit 106 does not allocate the candidate vehicle to the one user and the other users.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example in which control related to the vehicle dispatch method in this embodiment is executed. In FIG. 2, after user A inputs vehicle dispatch desired information, user B and user C input vehicle dispatch desired information. Users A, B, and C respectively wish to board at boarding locations Pa, Pb, and Pc, and to disembark at disembarking location Pe. Since boarding location Pb and boarding location Pc are within a predetermined range from the travel route from boarding location Pa to disembarking location Pe, the vehicle dispatch device 1 identifies users B and C as potential users who will ride together in the dispatch vehicle V to be dispatched to user A. The ride section Sa is the section in which user A is riding (the section from boarding location Pa to disembarking location Pe). The ride section Sb is the section in which user B is riding (the section from boarding location Pb to disembarking location Pe). The ride section Sc is the section in which user C is riding (the section from boarding location Pc to disembarking location Pe). Users A and B ride together in the dispatch vehicle V in the ride section Sb. The riding time of user A and user B is 20 minutes. Furthermore, user A and user C ride together in dispatched vehicle V in the riding section Sc. The riding time of user A and user C is 10 minutes. In the example shown in FIG. 2, when the riding time threshold is 15 minutes, the controller 10 determines that the riding time of user A and user B is equal to or greater than the riding time threshold because the riding time of user A and user B is 20 minutes. Furthermore, the controller 10 determines that the riding time of user A and user C is less than the riding time threshold because the riding time of user A and user C is 10 minutes. Therefore, the controller 10 does not dispatch dispatched vehicle V to user B, but dispatches dispatched vehicle V to user C.

[0020] The user notification unit 107 notifies the user terminal 3 of the one user and the other user of the dispatch information via the communication device 11. The dispatch information includes the boarding and disembarking locations, the boarding time, the dispatched vehicle information, the travel route of the dispatched vehicle, and the ride-sharing time with the ride-sharing user. FIG. 3 is an example of an image displayed on the display device 32 of the user terminal 3 of the one user. The example shown in FIG. 3 is an example of an image displayed on the user terminal 3 of the one user when another user newly joins the dispatched vehicle traveling to the disembarking location with the one user. In FIG. 3, the boarding location (point Pc) of the other user and the ride-sharing time (10 minutes) are displayed on the map in addition to the current location of the one user and the travel route of the dispatched vehicle to the disembarking location. The movement instruction unit 108 transmits a movement instruction to the in-vehicle communication device 21 of the dispatched vehicle via the communication device 11. The movement instruction is an instruction to move the dispatched vehicle along a travel route that passes through the boarding and disembarking locations of the one user and the other user.

[0021] The communication device 11 transmits and receives information between the terminal communication device 31 and the in-vehicle communication device 21. The communication device 11 receives vehicle dispatch request information from the terminal communication device 31. In addition, the communication device 11 receives vehicle information from the in-vehicle communication device 21. The communication device 11 transmits vehicle dispatch information to the terminal communication device 31. In addition, the communication device 11 transmits a movement instruction to the in-vehicle communication device 21 of the dispatched vehicle.

[0022] The map information database 12 is a database that stores map information. The map information is map data including road information and the like. The road information includes information on road boundaries, lanes, road markings, features, and the like. The map information also includes location names and location information on candidate boarding and alighting points of the dispatched vehicle. The vehicle information database 13 is a database that stores vehicle information of a plurality of vehicles 2 managed as dispatched vehicles. The vehicle information includes location information and seat information of the vehicles 2. The location information of the vehicles 2 is updated at regular intervals. The seat information includes information on the total number of seats, seat arrangement, and the seat in which the user is seated. The user information database 14 is a database that stores user information. The user information includes dispatch request information, the user's age, health condition, and the desired upper limit time for sharing the ride. The user information database 14 stores information input by the user when the user initially registers the application or when registering a dispatch request. The dispatch plan database 15 is a database that stores a dispatch plan for dispatching a dispatched vehicle to a carpooling user. The vehicle dispatch plan includes, for each dispatched vehicle, a driving route, ride-pooling users, each ride-pooling user's boarding location and scheduled boarding time, and each ride-pooling user's disembarking location and scheduled disembarking time.

[0023] The vehicle 2 includes an in-vehicle controller 20, an in-vehicle communication device 21, an information presentation device 22, an automatic driving ECU 23, and an in-vehicle sensor group 24. The in-vehicle controller 20 includes a ROM that stores various programs for the vehicle 2, a CPU that executes the programs stored in the ROM, and a RAM that functions as an accessible storage device. The in-vehicle controller 20 includes an information acquisition unit 25, an information transmission unit 26, and a movement instruction receiving unit 27 as functional blocks, and executes the programs stored in the ROM by the CPU to perform each function. The information acquisition unit 25 acquires vehicle information. Specifically, the information acquisition unit 25 acquires position information of the vehicle 2 using a GPS provided in the vehicle 2. The information acquisition unit 25 acquires position information of the vehicle 2 at a constant cycle. In addition, the information acquisition unit 25 acquires image information captured by an in-vehicle camera and load information detected by a seating sensor. The information transmission unit 26 transmits vehicle information of the vehicle 2 to the vehicle dispatch device 1 via the in-vehicle communication device 21. The movement instruction receiving unit 27 receives a movement instruction transmitted from the vehicle dispatching device 1 via the in-vehicle communication device 21. Upon receiving the movement instruction, the movement instruction receiving unit 27 generates driving control information based on the movement instruction, and outputs the driving control information to the autonomous driving ECU 23.

[0024] The in-vehicle communication device 21 transmits and receives various information to and from the communication device 11. Specifically, the in-vehicle communication device 21 transmits vehicle information to the vehicle dispatch device 1 and receives a movement instruction from the vehicle dispatch device 1. The information presentation device 22 presents various information to a user aboard the vehicle 2. For example, the information presentation device 22 is a display mounted on the vehicle 2. The information presentation device 22 displays to the user the travel route of the vehicle 2, the planned travel time, and the ride-sharing time of the carpooling user. The autonomous driving ECU 23 controls the travel of the vehicle 2 based on the travel control information. The in-vehicle sensor group 24 is a sensor group mounted on the vehicle 2, and includes, for example, an in-vehicle camera, a seating sensor, and a GPS sensor. The in-vehicle camera captures an image of the interior of the vehicle 2. Specifically, the in-vehicle camera captures an image of the user's face and the user's seat in the vehicle. The seating sensor is a sensor installed on the seat or seat belt, and detects the load on each seat. The seating sensor outputs an ON value when it detects that a load of a predetermined value or more is applied to the seat.

[0025] The user terminal 3 is a device operated by a user. The user terminal 3 is a computer having a ROM in which a program is stored, a CPU as an operating circuit that executes each function by executing the program stored in the ROM, and a RAM that functions as an accessible storage device. The user terminal 3 may be, for example, a personal computer, a smartphone, a PDA, or other portable terminal device. The user terminal 3 has an input device 30, a terminal communication device 31, a display device 32, and a control device 33. The input device 30 is composed of a touch panel that allows input by a user's operation, and accepts input of information from the user. The input device 30 accepts input of vehicle dispatch request information. For example, when the input device 30 is a touch panel with a display, the user inputs the desired boarding point and the desired disembarking point by specifying the positions of the desired boarding point and the desired disembarking point on a map displayed on the display. The terminal communication device 31 exchanges information with the communication device 11. The terminal communication device 31 transmits vehicle dispatch request information to the communication device 11 and receives vehicle dispatch information from the communication device 11. The display device 32 displays various information including vehicle dispatch information to the user. The display device 32 is, for example, configured with a liquid crystal display, and in the case of a touch panel display, it can be used as the input device 30 as well. The display device 32 displays an operation screen of an application program for a vehicle dispatch service. The control device 33 executes processes such as accepting vehicle dispatch request information and displaying the vehicle dispatch information. The control device 33 transmits the vehicle dispatch request information input from the input device 30 to the vehicle dispatch device 1 via the terminal communication device 31, and causes the display device 32 to display the vehicle dispatch information received from the vehicle dispatch device 1 via the terminal communication device 31.

[0026] Next, an example of the control procedure of the dispatch device will be described with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the dispatch device according to this embodiment. FIG. 4 shows a control process in an embodiment in which, after one user inputs dispatch request information and makes a dispatch request, another user inputs dispatch request information by the desired boarding time of the one user. In this embodiment, when dispatch request information is transmitted from the input device 30 of the user terminal 3 operated by the other user, the dispatch device 1 starts the control flow from step S1. In step S1, the dispatch device 1 acquires the dispatch request information. The dispatch request information includes a desired boarding place and a desired disembarking place. In step S2, the dispatch device 1 determines the boarding place and disembarking place of the other user based on the desired boarding place and the desired disembarking place included in the dispatch request information acquired in step S1. In step S3, the dispatch device 1 identifies a carpooling user. For example, when the desired boarding location and desired disembarking location of one user are within a predetermined range from a travel route that passes through the desired boarding location and desired disembarking location of another user, the dispatch device 1 identifies the one user and the other user as ride-sharing users. In step S4, the dispatch device 1 determines the user attributes of the one user and the other user based on the user information. In step S5, the dispatch device 1 sets a ride-sharing time threshold based on the user attributes.

[0027] In step S6, the dispatch device 1 identifies a candidate vehicle to be dispatched to the ride-sharing user identified in step S3. In step S7, the dispatch device 1 generates a travel route of the candidate vehicle that passes through the desired boarding and disembarking locations of one user and the desired boarding and disembarking locations of the other user. In step S8, the dispatch device 1 calculates the riding time based on the generated travel route. Specifically, the dispatch device 1 identifies the one user's riding section and the other user's riding section of the travel route, and identifies an overlapping section between the one user's riding section and the other user's riding section. Then, the dispatch device 1 calculates the time it takes for the vehicle to travel the overlapping section as the riding time. In step S9, the dispatch device 1 determines whether the riding time calculated in step S8 is equal to or greater than the riding time threshold. If it is determined that the riding time is equal to or greater than the riding time threshold, the dispatch device 1 proceeds to step S14. When it is determined that the ride-sharing time is less than the ride-sharing time threshold, that is, when it is not determined that the ride-sharing time is equal to or greater than the ride-sharing time threshold, the dispatch device 1 proceeds to step S10. In step S10, the dispatch device 1 determines the one user and the other user as carpooling users. In step S11, the dispatch device 1 determines the candidate vehicle identified in step S6 as a vehicle to be dispatched to the one user and the other user. In step S12, the dispatch device 1 determines a driving route that passes through the boarding location and disembarking location of the one user and the boarding location and disembarking location of the other user. In step S13, the dispatch device 1 presents the carpooling user with the dispatch information. Specifically, the dispatch device 1 transmits a control signal to the user terminal 3 of each of the carpooling users to cause the user terminal 3 to present the dispatch information such as the ride-sharing time. After presenting the information on the carpooling to the carpooling user, the dispatch device 1 ends the control flow. In step S14, the dispatch device 1 determines whether or not there is another candidate vehicle to be dispatched. If it is determined that there are other candidate vehicles, the vehicle dispatching device 1 proceeds to step S3. If it is not determined that there are other candidate vehicles, the vehicle dispatching device 1 proceeds to step S15. In step S15, the vehicle dispatching device 1 notifies other users of vehicle dispatch unavailability information indicating that a vehicle cannot be dispatched. After notifying the vehicle dispatch unavailability information, the vehicle dispatching device 1 ends the control flow.

[0028] As described above, in this embodiment, a desired vehicle dispatch condition including a desired boarding location and a desired disembarking location is received from a terminal operated by a user, and a ride-sharing user and other ride-sharing users are identified based on the received desired vehicle dispatch condition, a driving route is generated that passes through the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location of each of the identified ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing users, a riding time that the ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing users will ride together in a vehicle is calculated based on the generated driving route, and if the riding time is less than a predetermined threshold, a vehicle dispatch plan is generated to dispatch the same vehicle that will travel the driving route to the ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing users. This makes it possible to prevent infection from occurring among the ride-sharing passengers.

[0029] In addition, in this embodiment, the predetermined threshold is set based on the time that is determined to be a predetermined close contact with an infectious disease patient, so that a passenger can ride along for a ride time that can avoid close contact with an infectious disease patient.

[0030] In addition, in this embodiment, when the ride-sharing time is equal to or longer than a predetermined threshold, candidate vehicles that can be allocated to the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing users are extracted, and when there is a specific vehicle among the extracted candidate vehicles in which the distance between the seats of the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing users is equal to or longer than a predetermined distance, a vehicle allocation plan is generated to allocate the specific vehicle to the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing users. This allows the ride-sharing passengers to avoid close contact and prevent infection between the ride-sharing passengers, even if the ride-sharing time is long.

[0031] In addition, in this embodiment, when at least one of the first and other ride-sharing users is a specific user who is equal to or above a first predetermined age or equal to or below a second predetermined age, the predetermined threshold is corrected to be lower than when neither the first nor other ride-sharing user is a specific user. This makes it possible to suppress infection among ride-sharing passengers of an age at high risk of developing severe symptoms.

[0032] In addition, in this embodiment, when a vehicle dispatch plan is generated, the ride-sharing time is transmitted to the terminals operated by the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing users, respectively. This allows the ride-sharing user to know the ride-sharing time with the other users.

[0033] The above-described embodiments are described for the purpose of facilitating understanding of the present invention, and are not described for the purpose of limiting the present invention. Therefore, the elements disclosed in the above embodiments are intended to include all design modifications and equivalents that fall within the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 1000…Dispatch system 1...Dispatch device 10…Controller 11...Communication equipment 2. Vehicle 20…In-vehicle controller 21...In-vehicle communication device 22...Information presentation device 24…In-vehicle sensors 3. User terminal 30...Input device 31...Terminal communication device 32...Display device 33...Control device

Claims

1. A vehicle dispatch method executed by a controller, comprising: The controller: A desired vehicle dispatch condition including a desired boarding location and a desired disembarking location is received from a terminal operated by a user; Identifying the one carpooling user and the other carpooling users based on the received desired vehicle dispatch conditions; Generate a driving route that passes through the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location of each of the identified one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user; Calculate a ride time for the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user based on the generated travel route; If the riding time is less than a predetermined threshold, a vehicle allocation plan is generated to allocate the same vehicle traveling on the travel route to the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user; A vehicle dispatch method in which the specified threshold is set based on the time it is determined that a specified close contact has occurred with a person infected with an infectious disease.

2. A vehicle dispatch method executed by a controller, comprising: The controller: A desired vehicle dispatch condition including a desired boarding location and a desired disembarking location is received from a terminal operated by a user; Identifying the one carpooling user and the other carpooling users based on the received desired vehicle dispatch conditions; Generate a driving route that passes through the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location of each of the identified one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user; Calculate a ride time for the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user based on the generated travel route; If the ride-sharing time is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold, extracting candidate vehicles that can be allocated to the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user; Acquire seat arrangement information included in the vehicle information of the candidate vehicle; Acquire position information of the seat used by the user using user information and information acquired by an interior camera or a seating sensor of the candidate vehicle; Calculate a distance between the seats of the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user when they are seated based on the information on the seat arrangement and the position information of the seats used by the users; If there is a specific vehicle among the extracted candidate vehicles in which the distance between the seats of the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user is greater than or equal to a predetermined distance when they are seated, the vehicle allocation method generates a vehicle allocation plan to allocate the specific vehicle to the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user.

3. A vehicle dispatch method executed by a controller, comprising: The controller: A desired vehicle dispatch condition including a desired boarding location and a desired disembarking location is received from a terminal operated by a user; Identifying the one carpooling user and the other carpooling users based on the received desired vehicle dispatch conditions; Generate a driving route that passes through the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location of each of the identified one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user; Calculate a ride time for the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user based on the generated travel route; If the riding time is less than a predetermined threshold, a vehicle allocation plan is generated to allocate the same vehicle traveling on the travel route to the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user; A vehicle dispatch method in which, when at least one of the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user is a specific user who is above a first specified age or below a second specified age, the specified threshold is corrected to be lower than when neither the one ride-sharing user nor the other ride-sharing user is a specific user.

4. A vehicle dispatch method described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when the vehicle dispatch plan is generated, the controller transmits the ride time to the terminals operated by the one ridepool user and the other ridepool user, respectively.

5. An input unit that receives desired vehicle dispatch conditions including a desired boarding location and a desired disembarking location from a terminal operated by a user; A user identification unit that identifies one ride-sharing user and another ride-sharing user based on the desired vehicle dispatch conditions received by the input unit; a travel route generating unit that generates a travel route that passes through the desired boarding location and the desired disembarking location of each of the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user identified by the user identifying unit; A ride-sharing time calculation unit that calculates a ride-sharing time for the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user based on the ride-sharing route generated by the ride-sharing route generation unit; and a vehicle allocation plan generating unit that generates a vehicle allocation plan for allocating the same vehicle traveling on the travel route to the one ride-sharing user and the other ride-sharing user when the ride-sharing time is less than a predetermined threshold value, The specified threshold is set based on the time it takes for a specified amount of close contact to be made with a person infected with an infectious disease.

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