Information processing system

Abstract

To provide an information processing system that contributes to reducing variation in work end time of a garbage collection vehicle.SOLUTION: An information processing system includes: an identification unit that identifies, on the basis of a collection plan that indicates a garbage collection vehicle that collects garbage for each of a plurality of garbage collection points and scheduled time of arrival at the garbage collection points, a delayed vehicle, which is a garbage collection vehicle whose arrival time at the garbage collection point is later than the scheduled arrival time, and a non-delayed vehicle, which is a garbage collection vehicle whose arrival time at the garbage collection point is not later than the scheduled arrival time; and a modification unit that modifies the collection plan for the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system.

Background Art

[0002] There is a technology for supporting conventional garbage collection operations. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for dynamically determining a collection route such that each garbage collection vehicle efficiently fills a luggage container according to the output at each collection point.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In a garbage collection operation in which a plurality of garbage collection points are visited by a plurality of garbage collection vehicles in which workers ride, the route may be determined in advance for each garbage collection vehicle. In such a case, there is a problem that the work end times of the plurality of garbage collection vehicles may vary. For example, one garbage collection vehicle may finish work earlier than the scheduled time, and another garbage collection vehicle may finish work later than the scheduled time. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to contribute to reducing the variation in the work end times of garbage collection vehicles.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] To achieve the above object, an information processing system, based on a collection plan indicating a garbage collection vehicle that performs garbage collection at each of a plurality of garbage collection points and a scheduled time for garbage collection, determines a delayed vehicle that is the garbage collection vehicle whose arrival time at the garbage collection point is later than the scheduled time, and a non-delayed vehicle that is the garbage collection vehicle whose arrival time at the garbage collection point is not later than the scheduled time indicated by the collection plan, a specifying unit that specifies them, and a correcting unit that corrects the collection plan for the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle.

[0006] The information processing system corrects the collection plan for the delayed vehicle whose arrival time at the garbage collection point is later than the schedule and the non-delayed vehicle that is not delayed. Thereby, the information processing system can contribute to reducing the variation in the work end time of the garbage collection vehicle by correcting the collection plan so that the non-delayed vehicle follows the delay of the delayed vehicle.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] Here, embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order. (1) Configuration of the garbage collection support system: (2) Correction process: (3) Other embodiments:

[0009] (1) Configuration of the garbage collection support system: FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the garbage collection support system 10 according to the present embodiment. The garbage collection support system 10 is a system that supports garbage collection operations by determining the routes of each garbage collection vehicle in garbage collection operations that go around a plurality of garbage collection points using a plurality of garbage collection vehicles. The garbage collection support system 10 includes a manager terminal 100, an information processing system 200, and a plurality of worker terminals 300. The manager terminal 100 is a terminal used by a manager who manages garbage collection operations, and is used for various instructions to the information processing system 200, confirmation of the working status of each garbage collection vehicle, etc., and is equipped with a display, an operation input unit, etc. The information processing system 200 generates a collection plan for a plurality of garbage collection vehicles and notifies each worker terminal 300 of a route according to the collection plan. The collection plan is a plan for garbage collection, and in the present embodiment, it is information indicating which garbage collection vehicle will visit each of a plurality of garbage collection points at what time. The worker terminal 300 is a terminal held by a worker who rides on a garbage collection vehicle. In the present embodiment, one worker terminal 300 is carried for each garbage collection vehicle.

[0010] The hardware configurations of the information processing system 200 and the worker terminal 300 will be described. The information processing system 200 includes a control unit 210, a communication unit 220, and a storage medium 230. The control unit 210 includes a processor, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc., and controls the information processing system 200 by executing various programs stored in the storage medium, ROM, etc. The communication unit 220 includes a circuit used for communication with external devices such as the manager terminal 100 and the worker terminal 300.

[0011] The storage medium 230 stores various programs such as a collection support program 211, position information 230a, a cost table 230b, a collection plan 230c, map information 230d, etc. The location information 230a is the location information of a plurality of garbage collection points to be collected, the starting point and the ending point of each of a plurality of garbage collection vehicles that perform garbage collection. In the present embodiment, the plurality of garbage collection vehicles that perform garbage collection depart from the same starting point and finally arrive at the same ending point. Hereinafter, each of the plurality of garbage collection points, the starting point and the ending point of each of the plurality of garbage collection vehicles that perform garbage collection is based on a base point. FIG. 2A shows an example of the location information 230a. In the present embodiment, the location information of each base point indicated by the location information 230a is S * (X*, Y*), etc., is information in which the identification information of the base point (S * ) and the location of the base point ((X*, Y*)) are associated. Here, * is a subscript indicating which base point it is, and is any one of A, B, C ···.

[0012] The cost table 230b is a table for storing the moving costs between base points. In the present embodiment, the cost table 230b shows the moving costs between base points for all combinations obtained by selecting two points from among the base points. FIG. 2B shows an example of the cost table 230b. In the example of FIG. 2B, the cost table 230b stores the correspondence information of information (S *1 →S *2 ) indicating between which base points and the moving cost C *1*2 ) between the corresponding base points. The moving cost is an index value indicating the degree of burden for moving in the corresponding section, and in the present embodiment, it is the period required for the garbage collection vehicle to move in the section. For example, for the section between the base point S A and the base point S B , the information (S A →S B :C AB ) is stored.

[0013] The collection plan 230c is information indicating the collection plan, and is generated by the function of the generation unit described later. In the present embodiment, the collection plan 230c is information indicating which garbage collection points each garbage collection vehicle will visit at which scheduled arrival time. The map information 230d shows a map of the area encompassing all bases. In the present embodiment, the map information 230d includes node data, shape interpolation point data, link data, data indicating the positions of features existing on roads and their surroundings, and the like. Information indicating the movement cost for each road section indicated by the link data is associated with the link data.

[0014] The worker terminal 300 includes a control unit 310, a communication unit 320, a UI (User Interface) unit 330, and a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) reception unit 340. Further, the worker terminal 300 includes a storage medium for storing various programs and various data. The control unit 210 includes a processor, a RAM, a ROM, etc., and controls the worker terminal 300 by executing various programs stored in the storage medium, ROM, etc. The communication unit 320 includes a circuit used for communication with external devices such as the information processing system 200. The UI unit 330 includes an input unit for information such as an operation unit of a touch panel and hard buttons, and a display unit for information such as a display unit of the touch panel and a display. The GNSS reception unit 340 receives signals from satellites for position measurement.

[0015] Subsequently, the functions of the information processing system 200 and the worker terminal 300 will be described. The control unit 210 of the information processing system 200 functions as a generation unit 211a, a route search unit 211b, a specification unit 211c, and a correction unit 211d by executing the collection support program 211 stored in the storage medium 230. The generation unit 211a has a function of generating a collection plan. Based on the cost table 230b stored in the storage medium 230 by the function of the generation unit 211a, the control unit 210 determines the visiting order of bases for each of the plurality of garbage collection vehicles. More specifically, the control unit 210 operates as follows. In the present embodiment, an objective function regarding the moving cost for moving between bases is set. In the present embodiment, this objective function is a function in which the value increases as the total moving cost of the plurality of garbage collection vehicles increases. The control unit 210 uses a known algorithm for a given delivery planning problem and determines, for each of the plurality of garbage collection vehicles, the bases to be visited and the visiting order of the bases under given constraints. These given constraints are that each of the plurality of garbage collection vehicles departs at the same time, one of the garbage collection vehicles visits all the garbage collection points, and arrives at the end point of garbage collection within a given period. More specifically, based on the moving cost between each base indicated by the cost table 230b and this objective function, the control unit 210 determines, for each of the plurality of garbage collection vehicles, the bases that the garbage collection vehicle visits and the visiting order of the bases so as to minimize this objective function.

[0016] The control unit 210 identifies, for each base, the garbage collection vehicles to visit based on the determined bases to be visited by the plurality of garbage collection vehicles and the order of visiting the bases. Further, the control unit 210 identifies the scheduled arrival times of the garbage collection vehicles at each base based on the order of visiting the bases for the determined plurality of garbage collection vehicles and the moving costs (the periods required for moving between the bases) between the bases indicated by the cost table 230b. More specifically, the control unit 210 identifies, as the scheduled arrival time at the garbage collection location where a certain garbage collection vehicle first visits, the time obtained by adding the period indicated by the moving cost from the garbage collection start location to this garbage collection location to the garbage collection start time. Also, the control unit 210 identifies, as the scheduled arrival time at the garbage collection location where this garbage collection vehicle next visits, the time obtained by adding the period indicated by the moving cost from the garbage collection location where it first visits to the garbage collection location where it next visits to the scheduled arrival time at the garbage collection location where it first visits. In this way, the control unit 210 identifies, as the scheduled arrival time of the garbage collection vehicle at a certain base, the time obtained by adding the total of the periods indicated by the moving costs between all the bases that this garbage collection vehicle has moved through until it arrives at this base to the garbage collection start time. The control unit 210 stores, in the storage medium 230 as the collection plan 230c, the information on the bases to be visited and the scheduled arrival times at the bases for each of the garbage collection vehicles.

[0017] The route search unit 211b is a function that searches for routes between the bases to be visited for each of the plurality of garbage collection vehicles. Based on the function of the route search unit 211b, the control unit 210 performs the following processing for each garbage collection vehicle according to the collection plan 230c. That is, the control unit 210 identifies the order of visiting the bases of the garbage collection vehicles. The control unit 210 identifies the positions of the bases that the garbage collection vehicle visits based on the position information 230a. The control unit 210 searches for the routes (routes) between the bases that the garbage collection vehicle visits based on the identified positions and the map information 230d. More specifically, the control unit 210 searches for the route with the lowest movement cost from one of the selected movement points to the other by a predetermined route search algorithm. The control unit 210 transmits the information on the routes between the searched bases to the worker terminal 300 carried by the passengers of the garbage collection vehicle. On the worker terminal 300, the route along which the garbage collection vehicle moves is displayed based on the transmitted route information.

[0018] Based on the collection plan 230c, the identification unit 211c is a function for identifying a delayed vehicle, which is a garbage collection vehicle whose arrival time at the garbage collection point is later than the scheduled arrival time, and a non-delayed vehicle, which is a garbage collection vehicle whose arrival time at the garbage collection point is not later than the scheduled arrival time. The control unit 210 periodically obtains, as the position information of the garbage collection vehicle, the position information of the worker terminals 300 carried by the passengers of each of the plurality of garbage collection vehicles through the function of the specifying unit 211c. When the distance between the position indicated by the acquired position information of the garbage collection vehicle and the position of the garbage collection point where this garbage collection vehicle patrols is a predetermined threshold value (for example, 10 m, 30 m, 50 m, etc.), the control unit 210 determines that the garbage collection vehicle has arrived at the garbage collection point. Hereinafter, this threshold value is referred to as the distance threshold value. When the control unit 210 determines that the garbage collection vehicle has arrived at the garbage collection point, it determines that the patrol at this garbage collection point has been completed. Further, the control unit 210 specifies the current time (processing time) as the arrival time of this garbage collection vehicle at this garbage collection point. The control unit 210 stores the information of the garbage collection point where the patrol has been completed in the storage medium 230, RAM, etc. Hereinafter, this information is referred to as the completion information. Further, when the specifying unit 211c determines that the garbage collection vehicle has arrived at the garbage collection point, it compares the specified arrival time with the scheduled arrival time indicated by the collection plan 230c. In the present embodiment, when the specified arrival time is later than the scheduled arrival time by a predetermined threshold value (hereinafter referred to as the period threshold value), the control unit 210 determines that a delay has occurred in the garbage collection, and specifies the corresponding garbage collection vehicle as a delayed vehicle. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the period threshold value is 10% of the period from the start time of the garbage collection to the scheduled arrival time at the corresponding garbage collection point. Further, when the specified arrival time is not later than the scheduled arrival time by the period threshold value, the control unit 210 determines that no delay has occurred in the garbage collection, and specifies the corresponding garbage collection vehicle as a non-delayed vehicle.

[0019] The correcting unit 211d is a function for correcting the collection plan 230c for the delayed vehicles and non-delayed vehicles specified by the function of the specifying unit 211c. When the delay vehicles and non-delay vehicles are identified by the function of the identification unit 211c, the control unit 210 identifies the positions of the delay vehicles and non-delay vehicles respectively based on the position information obtained from the delay vehicles and non-delay vehicles. Further, the control unit 210 identifies, among the bases to be patrolled by the identified delay vehicles and non-delay vehicles, the bases that have not been patrolled based on the collection plan 230c and the completion information. Hereinafter, the identified base is referred to as an unarrived base.

[0020] Based on the position information 230a and the map information 230d, the control unit 210 searches for each route from the positions of the delay vehicles and non-delay vehicles to each unarrived base, and identifies the travel period of the searched route as the travel cost of this route. Further, the control unit 210 identifies the travel cost between unarrived bases from the cost table 230b. The control unit 210 determines the unarrived bases to be patrolled and the patrol order for each of the delay vehicles and non-delay vehicles based on the positions of the delay vehicles and non-delay vehicles and the travel cost between each unarrived base. More specifically, the control unit 210 uses a known algorithm for a given delivery planning problem to determine, under given constraints, the bases to be patrolled and the patrol order of the bases for each of the delay vehicles and non-delay vehicles. This constraint is that each of the delay vehicles and non-delay vehicles departs at the current time (processing time), and all the garbage collection points indicated by the unarrived bases are patrolled by any one garbage collection vehicle and arrive at the garbage collection end point within a given period. The control unit 210 determines the bases to be patrolled and the patrol order of the bases for each of the delay vehicles and non-delay vehicles so as to minimize this objective function based on the positions of the delay vehicles and non-delay vehicles, the travel cost between each unarrived base, and this objective function.

[0021] The control unit 210 modifies the collection plan 230c based on the determined bases to be visited and the visiting order of the bases for each of the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle. More specifically, the control unit 210 performs the following processing based on the visiting order of the bases for the determined plurality of garbage collection vehicles and the moving cost (the period required for moving between each base) between each base indicated by the cost table 230b. The control unit 210 identifies the garbage collection vehicles to visit each of the unarrived bases and the scheduled arrival times of the garbage collection vehicles. Then, the control unit 210 modifies the collection plan 230c so that each of the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle visits the identified base at the identified scheduled arrival time.

[0022] When the control unit 210 modifies the collection plan 230c, it searches for routes for the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle to visit the unarrived bases by the function of the route search unit 211b. More specifically, the control unit 210 searches for routes between each base visited by each of the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle based on the positions of each of the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle, the positions of each of the unarrived bases, and the map information 230d. More specifically, for each of the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle, the control unit 210 searches for routes from the position of the garbage collection vehicle to the first base in the visiting order, from the first base to the next base, and so on. The control unit 210 searches for a route from one base to another base with the lowest moving cost by a predetermined route search algorithm. The control unit 210 transmits the information on the searched routes between each base to each of the worker terminals 300 carried by the passengers of each of the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle. Based on the transmitted route information, the modified collection plan 230c shows the route along which the garbage collection vehicle moves on the worker terminal 300.

[0023] Here, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the processing related to the specific part 211c and the correction part 211d in the case of collecting garbage with two garbage collection vehicles, namely garbage collection vehicle A and garbage collection vehicle B, will be described. Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the collection plan 230c indicates that garbage collection vehicle A starts garbage collection at 12:00 and is scheduled to visit garbage collection points 1 to 4 at arrival scheduled times of 13:00, 14:00, 14:30, and 15:00 respectively. Also, as shown in FIG. 3, the collection plan 230c indicates that garbage collection vehicle B starts garbage collection at 12:00 and is scheduled to visit garbage collection points 5 to 6 at arrival scheduled times of 14:00 and 15:00 respectively. In this way, each of the garbage collection vehicles A and B is scheduled to arrive at the last garbage collection point at 15:00.

[0024] Suppose garbage collection vehicle A arrives at garbage collection point 1 at 13:30, which is later than the scheduled arrival time of 13:00. In this case, garbage collection vehicle A takes 90 minutes from the starting point, while it was originally supposed to take 60 minutes. Also, suppose garbage collection vehicle B arrives at garbage collection point 5 at 13:30, which is earlier than the scheduled arrival time of 14:00. In this case, garbage collection vehicle B arrives in 90 minutes from the starting point, while it was originally supposed to take 120 minutes. In such a case, the completion time of garbage collection for garbage collection vehicle A will be later than the schedule, and the completion time of garbage collection for garbage collection vehicle B will be earlier than the schedule. As a result, there will be variations in the completion time of garbage collection for each garbage collection vehicle.

[0025] The difference between the arrival time and the scheduled arrival time when garbage collection vehicle A arrives at garbage collection point 1 (arrival time 13:30 - scheduled arrival time 13:00) = 30 minutes is greater than the period threshold (scheduled arrival time 13:00 - starting time 12:00) × 10% = 6 minutes. Therefore, the control unit 210 specifies garbage collection vehicle A as a delayed vehicle through the function of the specific part 211c.

[0026] Also, the difference between the arrival time when the garbage collection vehicle B arrives at the garbage collection point 5 and the scheduled arrival time (arrival time 13:30 - scheduled arrival time 14:00) = -30 minutes is smaller than the period threshold (scheduled arrival time 14:00 - start time 12:00) × 10% = 12 minutes. Therefore, the control unit 210 specifies the garbage collection vehicle B as a non-delayed vehicle by the function of the specifying unit 211c.

[0027] The control unit 210 specifies the positions of the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle by the function of the correcting unit 211d. Also, based on the collection plan 230c and the completion information, the control unit 210 specifies, among the bases to be toured by the specified delayed vehicle and non-delayed vehicle, the garbage collection points 2 to 4, 6 that are bases not yet toured, and the end point of garbage collection as non-arrived bases. The control unit 210 searches for each route from the positions of the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle to each non-arrived base, and specifies the moving period of the searched route as the moving cost of this route. Also, the control unit 210 specifies the moving cost between non-arrived bases from the cost table 230b. The control unit 210 determines the non-arrived bases to be toured and the tour order of the non-arrived bases for each of the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle based on the positions of the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle and the moving cost between each non-arrived base. Here, the control unit 210 determines the garbage collection points 3 to 4 and the end point of garbage collection as the non-arrived bases to be toured by the garbage collection vehicle A, and determines the tour order as the order of garbage collection point 3, garbage collection point 4, and the end point of garbage collection. Also, the control unit 210 determines the garbage collection points 2, 6 and the end point of garbage collection as the non-arrived bases to be toured by the garbage collection vehicle B, and determines the tour order as the order of garbage collection point 2, garbage collection point 6, and the end point of garbage collection.

[0028] The control unit 210 modifies the collection plan 230c based on the determined bases to be visited and the visiting order of the bases for each of the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle. The planned garbage collection of the garbage collection vehicles A and B indicated by the modified collection plan 230c is shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, the garbage collection vehicle B will visit the garbage collection location 2 where the garbage collection vehicle A was originally scheduled to make a circuit. Also, both the garbage collection vehicles A and B are scheduled to arrive at the last garbage collection location at 15:00. Thus, it can be seen that by modifying the collection plan 230c so that the control unit 210 has the garbage collection vehicle B follow the delay of the garbage collection vehicle A, the variation in the completion time of garbage collection can be reduced compared to the case of FIG. 3.

[0029] The control unit 310 of the worker terminal 300 functions as a display control unit 311a and a position specifying unit 311b by executing an information display program 311 recorded in the storage medium of the worker terminal 300. The display control unit 311a has a function of displaying the movement route (route between bases) of the garbage collection vehicle received from the information processing system 200 on the UI unit 330. The control unit 310 receives, from the information processing system 200, information on the route between bases of the garbage collection vehicle carried by the worker terminal 300, which is the own device, by the function of the display control unit 311a. Then, the control unit 310 displays the received information on the route between bases on the UI unit 330. Thereby, the worker on the garbage collection vehicle can confirm the movement route. Also, the control unit 310 receives, from the information processing system 200, information on the route between bases re-searched in response to the modification of the collection plan 230c by the function of the modification unit 211d, and displays the received information on the route between bases on the UI unit 330. Thereby, the worker on the garbage collection vehicle can confirm the movement route according to the modified collection plan 230c.

[0030] The position specifying unit 311b is a function that specifies the position of the worker terminal 300 as the position of the garbage collection vehicle carrying this worker terminal 300. The control unit 310 periodically receives GNSS signals via the GNSS receiving unit 340 by the function of the position specifying unit 311b, and specifies the position of the worker terminal 300 based on the received GNSS signals. The control unit 310 transmits the specified position to the information processing system 200.

[0031] As described above, with the configuration of this embodiment, the information processing system 200 can contribute to reducing the variation in the completion times of garbage collection for each garbage collection vehicle by modifying the collection plan 230c for both the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle. Also, in this embodiment, the information processing system 200 is assumed to specify a garbage collection vehicle that has arrived at the base with a delay of more than a predetermined period threshold as a delayed vehicle. Even if there is a delay in arriving at the base, if the delay is minute, it may be desired not to modify the collection plan 230c. By specifying a garbage collection vehicle that has arrived at the base with a delay of more than a predetermined period threshold as a delayed vehicle, the information processing system 200 can reduce the burden of unnecessary modification processing of the collection plan 230c.

[0032] (2) Modification processing: Using FIG. 5, the modification processing executed by the information processing system 200 will be described. When an instruction to start the process is given from the administrator terminal 100 in response to the start of garbage collection, the control unit 210 of the information processing system 200 starts the process of FIG. 5.

[0033] In step S100, the control unit 210 receives the position information of each garbage collection vehicle from each worker terminal 300 carried by the passengers of each of the plurality of garbage collection vehicles used for garbage collection by the function of the specifying unit 211c. After the completion of the process in step S100, the control unit 210 advances the process to step S105.

[0034] In step S105, the control unit 210 specifies the positions of the respective garbage collection vehicles at the processing time based on the position information received in the immediately preceding step S100 by the function of the specifying unit 211c. Further, the control unit 210 specifies the base to which each garbage collection vehicle will next make a circuit based on the collection plan 230c. The control unit 210 specifies, as the garbage collection vehicles that have arrived at this base, the garbage collection vehicles for which the distance between the specified position of the garbage collection vehicle and the base to which the specified garbage collection vehicle will next make a circuit is equal to or less than a predetermined distance threshold. Further, the control unit 210 specifies the processing time as the arrival time. Further, the control unit 210 stores the information of this base as completion information. The control unit 210 specifies, from the collection plan 230c, the scheduled arrival time at the arrived base for each of the specified garbage collection vehicles. The control unit 210 obtains the difference obtained by subtracting the specified scheduled arrival time from the arrival time for each of the specified garbage collection vehicles. Then, the control unit 210 specifies, as delayed vehicles, the garbage collection vehicles for which the obtained difference is equal to or more than a predetermined period threshold. Further, the control unit 210 specifies, as non-delayed vehicles, the garbage collection vehicles for which the obtained difference is not equal to or more than the period threshold. The control unit 210 stores the information of the specified delayed vehicles and non-delayed vehicles in the RAM. After completion of the processing in step S105, the control unit 210 advances the processing to step S110.

[0035] In step S110, the control unit 210 determines, by the function of the correction unit 211d, whether or not information of one or more delayed vehicles is stored in the RAM. When the control unit 210 determines that information of one or more delayed vehicles is stored in the RAM, the processing proceeds to step S115, and when the control unit 210 determines that information of delayed vehicles is not stored in the RAM, the processing proceeds to step S130.

[0036] In step S115, the control unit 210 determines, by the function of the correction unit 211d, whether or not information of one or more non-delayed vehicles is stored in the RAM. When the control unit 210 determines that information of one or more non-delayed vehicles is stored in the RAM, the processing proceeds to step S120, and when the control unit 210 determines that information of non-delayed vehicles is not stored in the RAM, the processing proceeds to step S130.

[0037] In step S120, the control unit 210 specifies the positions of the delayed vehicles and non-delayed vehicles stored in the RAM based on the position information acquired in the immediately preceding step S100 by the function of the correction unit 211d. Further, the control unit 210 specifies, based on the collection plan 230c and the completion information, among the bases visited by the delayed vehicles and non-delayed vehicles, the unvisited bases as the unarrived bases.

[0038] Based on the position information 230a and the map information 230d, the control unit 210 searches for each route from the positions of the delayed vehicles and non-delayed vehicles to each unarrived base, and specifies the travel period of the searched route as the travel cost of this route. Further, the control unit 210 specifies the travel cost between unarrived bases from the cost table 230b. The control unit 210 determines the unarrived bases to be visited and the visit order for each of the delayed vehicles and non-delayed vehicles based on the positions of the delayed vehicles and non-delayed vehicles and the travel costs between the respective unarrived bases. Then, the control unit 210 corrects the collection plan 230c based on the bases to be visited and the base visit order determined for each of the delayed vehicles and non-delayed vehicles. More specifically, the control unit 210 specifies the garbage collection vehicles to visit each base of the unarrived bases and the scheduled arrival times of the garbage collection vehicles based on the visit order of the bases for the determined plurality of garbage collection vehicles and the travel costs between the bases indicated by the cost table 230b. The control unit 210 corrects the information of each of the delayed vehicles and non-delayed vehicles in the collection plan 230c so as to indicate that the specified bases are to be visited at the specified scheduled arrival times after the processing time. After completing the processing of step S120, the control unit 210 advances the processing to step S125.

[0039] In step S125, the control unit 210 performs the following processing based on the positions of the delayed vehicles and non-delayed vehicles stored in the RAM, the positions of the non-arrived destinations, and the map information 230d by the function of the route search unit 211b. That is, the control unit 210 searches for the routes between the respective bases that each of the delayed vehicles and non-delayed vehicles circulate. The control unit 210 transmits the information on the searched routes between the bases to each of the worker terminals 300 carried by the passengers of the delayed vehicles and non-delayed vehicles, respectively. Also, the control unit 210 deletes the information on the delayed vehicles and non-delayed vehicles from the RAM. After completing the processing of step S125, the control unit 210 advances the processing to step S130.

[0040] In step S130, when all the garbage collection points are included in the base where the tour indicated by the completion information is completed by the function of the route search unit 211b, the control unit 210 completes the processing of FIG. 5. Also, when there are garbage collection points not included in the base where the tour indicated by the completion information is completed by the function of the route search unit 211b, the control unit 210 advances the processing to step S100.

[0041] (3) Other embodiments: The above embodiments are examples for implementing the present invention, and various other embodiments can also be adopted. For example, an example is cited where the information processing system 200 constituting the above-described embodiment is composed of a plurality of devices. In this case, some functions of the information processing system 200 may be realized by an external device or the like. For example, the function of the route search unit 211b may be realized by an external device. Also, some configurations of the above-described embodiments may be omitted, or the order of processing may be changed or omitted. For example, the order of processing in step S105 and step S110 may be reversed.

[0042] In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 210 was assumed to identify, as a non-delayed vehicle, a garbage collection vehicle whose arrival time at the base is not delayed by more than a period threshold from the scheduled arrival time. However, the control unit 210 may identify non-delayed vehicles by different methods. For example, the control unit 210 may identify, as a non-delayed vehicle, a garbage collection vehicle whose arrival time at the base to be toured is earlier than the scheduled arrival time. For example, in step S105, when the control unit 210 identifies a garbage collection vehicle that has arrived at the base, the following processing is performed. That is, when the arrival time at the base is earlier than the scheduled arrival time at the base indicated by the collection plan 230c by a predetermined period threshold or more, the control unit 210 identifies this garbage collection vehicle as a vehicle with margin. Then, in step S110, when there is a vehicle with margin, the control unit 210 may identify the vehicle with margin as a non-delayed vehicle. Thereby, the control unit 210 corrects the collection plan 230c so that a garbage collection vehicle with a margin in the schedule follows the delayed vehicle. As a result, the control unit 210 can correct the collection plan 230c so that the delayed vehicle is followed without changing the schedule of a garbage collection vehicle that has no delay but has no margin in the schedule. Also, for example, the control unit 210 may identify, as a non-delayed vehicle, a garbage collection vehicle whose arrival time at the base is before the scheduled arrival time.

[0043] Also, in the above-described embodiment, the period threshold was assumed to be 10% of the period from the start time of garbage collection to the scheduled arrival time at the corresponding garbage collection point. However, the period threshold may be other values. For example, the period threshold may be 5%, 15%, or 20% of the period from the start time of garbage collection to the scheduled arrival time at the corresponding garbage collection point. Also, the period threshold may be 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, or the like. Also, the period threshold may be a period corresponding to the length of the elapsed period since the start time of garbage collection. For example, the period threshold may be a value that increases as the elapsed period since the start time of garbage collection becomes longer. For example, the period threshold may be a period obtained by multiplying the elapsed period since the start time of garbage collection by a predetermined ratio (e.g., 10%, 15%, etc.). For example, a delay in the early stage of garbage collection has a greater impact than a delay in the final stage because there are still many remaining bases to be visited. Therefore, the control unit 210 can correct the collection plan 230c so that it can follow up more on garbage collection vehicles that have caused delays with a greater impact later by identifying delay vehicles using a shorter period threshold in the early stage of garbage collection than in the final stage.

[0044] Also, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit 210 corrects the collection plan 230c for the delay vehicle and the non-delay vehicle at the timing when both the delay vehicle and the non-delay vehicle are identified. However, the control unit 210 may correct the collection plan 230c at other timings. For example, the control unit 210 may correct the collection plan 230c at regular intervals from the start time of garbage collection. For example, when any garbage collection vehicle arrives at any garbage collection point, the control unit 210 identifies whether this garbage collection vehicle is a delay vehicle or a non-delay vehicle. Then, when the timing for correcting the collection plan 230c arrives, the control unit 210 may correct the collection plan 230c for the delay vehicle and the non-delay vehicle identified so far.

[0045] Furthermore, the present invention is also applicable as a program or a method. Also, systems, programs, and methods as described above may be realized as a single device, or may be realized by using components shared with each part provided in a vehicle, and include various aspects. For example, it is possible to provide a method and a program realized by a system as described above. Also, it can be appropriately changed, such as partly being software and partly being hardware. Furthermore, the invention is also established as a recording medium for a program that controls a device. Of course, the recording medium for the software may be a magnetic recording medium, a semiconductor memory, or any recording medium to be developed in the future, and can be considered in exactly the same way.

Explanation of Signs

[0046] 10…Garbage collection support system, 100…Administrator terminal, 200…Information processing system, 210…Control unit, 211…Collection support program, 211a…Generation unit, 211b…Route search unit, 211c…Specification unit, 211d…Correction unit, 220…Communication unit, 230…Storage medium, 230a…Location information, 230b…Cost table, 230c…Collection plan, 230d…Map information, 300…Worker terminal, 310…Control unit, 311…Information display program, 311a…Display control unit, 311b…Location specification unit, 320…Communication unit, 330…UI unit, 340…GNSS receiver

Claims

1. Based on a collection plan indicating a garbage collection vehicle that performs garbage collection for each of a plurality of garbage collection points and an expected arrival time at the garbage collection point, a delayed vehicle which is the garbage collection vehicle whose arrival time at the garbage collection point is later than the expected arrival time, and a non-delayed vehicle which is the garbage collection vehicle whose arrival time at the garbage collection point is not later than the expected arrival time are identified by an identification unit; a correction unit that corrects the collection plan for the delayed vehicle and the non-delayed vehicle; An information processing system comprising the above.

2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the non-delayed vehicle is the garbage collection vehicle whose arrival time at the garbage collection point is earlier than the expected arrival time indicated by the collection plan.

3. The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the delayed vehicle is the garbage collection vehicle whose arrival time at the garbage collection point is later than the expected arrival time indicated by the collection plan by a predetermined threshold value or more.

4. The information processing system according to claim 3, wherein the threshold value is a larger value as the elapsed period from the start time of garbage collection is longer.

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