Arrival Information System

Abstract

To provide a technique for reducing a possibility to complicate guidance.SOLUTION: An arrival guidance system includes: a first arrival determination section for determining an arrival of a vehicle at a destination when the vehicle arrives at a road corresponding to the destination; a second arrival determination section for determining the arrival of the vehicle at the destination when the vehicle arrives at a place within a predetermined distance range from the destination; and a guidance control section for allowing a guidance section to guide that the vehicle arrives at the destination. The guidance control section gives preference to guidance which indicates that the first arrival determination section determines the arrival at the destination over guidance which indicates that the second arrival determination section determines the arrival at the destination.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an arrival guidance system. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are known techniques for determining whether a vehicle has arrived at a destination. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a link where a mobile terminal's current location is located is set as a destination link, and a determination is made as to whether the destination link and the link where the current location information is located are the same. Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique in which an area with a radius k from the destination is set as an arrival determination area, and when the vehicle arrives within this area, the vehicle is determined to have arrived at the destination. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-42046 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-241561 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] A configuration that determines whether or not a destination has been reached using multiple determination methods can reduce the possibility of erroneous recognition, in which it is not possible to determine that the destination has been reached even though the destination has actually been reached, compared to a configuration that determines whether or not a destination has been reached using a single determination method. On the other hand, if the determination results from multiple determination methods are presented separately, when it is determined that the destination has been reached using both determination methods, the same arrival determination at the destination will be presented multiple times, which can be confusing. The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a technology that can reduce the possibility of guidance becoming complicated. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the arrival guidance system comprises a first arrival determination unit that determines that a vehicle has arrived at a destination when the vehicle arrives on a road corresponding to the destination; a second arrival determination unit that determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination when the vehicle arrives within a predetermined distance from the destination; and a guidance control unit that causes a guidance unit to provide guidance that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, wherein, after the first arrival determination unit determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, if the second arrival determination unit determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, the guidance control unit causes the guidance unit to provide guidance indicating that the first arrival determination unit has determined that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, but does not cause the guidance unit to provide guidance indicating that the second arrival determination unit has determined that the vehicle has arrived at the destination; and, after the second arrival determination unit determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, if the first arrival determination unit determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, the guidance control unit causes the guidance unit to provide guidance indicating that the second arrival determination unit has determined that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, and then overwrites the guidance with guidance indicating that the first arrival determination unit has determined that the vehicle has arrived at the destination.

[0006] That is, the arrival guidance system is configured to determine whether or not the vehicle has arrived at the destination using the first arrival determination unit and the second arrival determination unit, and guidance that the vehicle has arrived at the destination is provided based on either of the determination results. Therefore, both determination results do not coexist. This reduces the possibility of the guidance becoming complicated. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an arrival guidance system. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of delivery plan information. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of plan progress information. [Figure 4] 10 is an example of a guidance screen. [Figure 5] 5A and 5B are diagrams for explaining the transition of guidance. [Figure 6]FIG. 6A is a flowchart of the arrival guidance process, and FIG. 6B is a flowchart of the process executed by the server in response to the arrival guidance process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Here, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order. (1) System configuration: (1-1) Server configuration: (1-2) Arrival Information System Configuration: (2) Arrival information processing: (3) Other embodiments:

[0009] (1) System configuration: FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an arrival guidance system 10 according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the arrival guidance system 10 cooperates with a server 100 via communication. The arrival guidance system 10 is a delivery vehicle terminal used in each of a plurality of delivery vehicles. In this embodiment, the arrival guidance system 10 is mounted on the delivery vehicle, but of course the arrival guidance system 10 may be portable or may have any other configuration. In this embodiment, the delivery vehicles driven by each of a plurality of drivers are determined in advance, and the delivery points and order in which each delivery vehicle should visit, as well as the packages to be delivered to each delivery point, are also determined in advance. The arrival guidance system 10 and the server 100 may cooperate with other devices. For example, the arrival guidance system 10 may cooperate with an administrator terminal used by a delivery plan administrator, and delivery plan information recorded in the server 100 and the current location of the delivery vehicle, etc., may be displayed on the display of the administrator terminal.

[0010] (1-1) Server configuration: The server 100 includes a control unit 200 equipped with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., a recording medium 300, and a communication unit 400. The communication unit 400 includes a circuit for sending and receiving information to and from the arrival guidance system 10. The control unit 200 can communicate with the arrival guidance system 10 via the communication unit 400.

[0011] Furthermore, delivery plan information 300a and plan progress information 300b are recorded on the recording medium 300. The delivery plan information 300a is information indicating a delivery plan for each of a plurality of delivery vehicles, and is generated, for example, by an administrator inputting a delivery plan using an administrator terminal (not shown) and transferring it to the server 100. Of course, the delivery plan information 300a may also be generated by solving a delivery plan problem based on delivery conditions.

[0012] In this embodiment, the delivery plan information 300a includes information related to delivery vehicles, information related to delivery points, and information related to packages. Specifically, the information related to delivery vehicles is identification information for the delivery vehicles. The information related to delivery points is information indicating the location of each delivery point to which each delivery vehicle should deliver, the name of each delivery point, the estimated time of arrival at each delivery point, the estimated time of departure from each delivery point, and the delivery route between the points. The information related to packages includes information indicating packages to be delivered to each delivery point.

[0013] Each piece of information may be recorded in various ways. FIG. 2 shows an example of delivery plan information 300a. In FIG. 2, a delivery vehicle "T001" is associated with a delivery plan for delivery to delivery points named stores 11, 12, 13, ..., store 1e in that order, and the location of each delivery point is defined by coordinates. A delivery route is information indicating a route between points, and in the example shown in FIG. 2, it is defined by a permutation of nodes (nodes N1, N2, etc.), but it may also be a permutation of links, or a permutation of nodes and links. A point is either a departure point, a delivery point, or a movement end point. For example, a delivery route to the first delivery point is a permutation of nodes that must be passed from the departure point to the delivery point. Note that the departure point and the movement end point of the delivery vehicle may be the same or different. A package is identification information for a package to be delivered to each delivery point or a package to be picked up from each delivery point.

[0014] The plan progress information 300b is information relating to the progress of a delivery plan being executed by a plurality of delivery vehicles. The plan progress information 300b may take any form, but in this embodiment, when the arrival guidance system 10 detects that a delivery vehicle has arrived at a delivery point that is a destination, the server 100 acquires and updates identification information indicating the destination that has been reached.

[0015] In this embodiment, the current location of each delivery vehicle is recorded, and the arrival time and departure time for each delivery point are also recorded to identify progress. Figure 3 shows an example of planned progress information 300b. As in Figure 2, delivery vehicles are identified by identification information, and delivery points are identified by location and name. The arrival time is the time when each delivery vehicle arrives at each delivery point.

[0016] In this embodiment, the arrival time is determined by the server 100. Specifically, when it is determined that each delivery vehicle has arrived at the destination delivery point, identification information indicating the delivery point at which the delivery vehicle has arrived is sent to the server 100. The server 100 then identifies the destination delivery point at which the delivery vehicle has arrived based on the identification information, and determines the arrival time. FIG. 3 shows the process by which the arrival time determined in this manner is recorded in the planned progress information 300b. Delivery points with no value entered indicate that the delivery vehicle has not yet arrived. In this embodiment, whether or not the delivery vehicle has arrived at the destination is determined using two types of determination methods (the first arrival determination unit 21a and the second arrival determination unit 21b, which will be described later). In the planned progress information 300b, the time at which the first arrival determination unit 21a determines that the delivery vehicle has arrived is indicated as the first determination, and the time at which the second arrival determination unit 21b determines that the delivery vehicle has arrived is indicated as the second determination.

[0017] In this embodiment, the departure time is also determined by the server 100. Specifically, when it is determined that each delivery vehicle has departed from a delivery point, identification information indicating the delivery point from which it departed is sent to the server 100. The server 100 identifies the delivery point from which it departed based on the identification information and determines the departure time. Figure 3 shows the process by which the departure time determined in this manner is recorded in the planned progress information 300b. Delivery points for which no value is entered indicate that the delivery vehicle has not yet departed. The current location of each delivery vehicle is collected from each delivery vehicle at regular intervals and updated. The planned progress information 300b may be sent to an administrator terminal (not shown) used by the administrator, and the planned progress information 300b may be displayed on the display unit of the administrator terminal.

[0018] The control unit 200 can execute a program stored in the recording medium 300 or ROM. In this embodiment, the program that can be executed is a plan management program 210. The plan management program 210 is a program that causes the control unit 200 to execute a function of receiving information from the arrival guidance system 10 and managing the progress of the delivery plan. When the plan management program 210 is executed, the control unit 200 functions as a plan management unit 210a.

[0019] The plan management unit 210a has a function to distribute delivery plan information 300a to each delivery vehicle and a function to update plan progress information 300b. Specifically, the control unit 200, using the function of the plan management unit 210a, references the delivery plan information 300a and extracts delivery plan information for each delivery vehicle based on the identification information of each delivery vehicle. Then, the control unit 200 sends the delivery plan information for each delivery vehicle to each delivery vehicle as the destination via the communication unit 400. As a result, the delivery vehicle terminal of the delivery vehicle provides the driver with information such as the delivery points indicated in the delivery plan, the order of delivery to each delivery point, and the delivery route.

[0020] Furthermore, the control unit 200, using the function of the plan management unit 210a, periodically collects the current location of each delivery vehicle from each delivery vehicle via the communication unit 400. The collected current location is recorded in the plan progress information 300b in association with the identification information of each delivery vehicle.

[0021] Furthermore, the control unit 200, using the function of the plan management unit 210a, acquires from the arrival guidance system 10 information indicating that it has been determined that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the destination delivery point. In other words, when it is determined that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the destination delivery point, the arrival guidance system 10 transmits information indicating that it has been determined that the delivery vehicle has arrived, in association with the identification information of the delivery point and the determination method. The determination method is information indicating either the first arrival determination unit 21a or the second arrival determination unit 21b. When information indicating that it has been determined that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the delivery point is acquired, the control unit 200 regards the current time as the arrival time and adds it to the planned progress information 300b as the arrival time according to the received determination method. When the planned progress information 300b is updated, the control unit 200 returns information indicating the arrival time at the destination to the delivery vehicle that sent the information. As a result, the arrival time at the destination delivery point is identified for the delivery vehicle.

[0022] Furthermore, the control unit 200, using the function of the plan management unit 210a, acquires from the arrival guidance system 10 information indicating that it has been determined that the delivery vehicle has departed from the delivery point. In other words, when it is determined that the delivery vehicle has departed from the delivery point, the arrival guidance system 10 associates the identification information of the delivery point with the information indicating that it has departed and transmits it. When information indicating that it has been determined that the delivery vehicle has departed from the delivery point is acquired, the control unit 200 regards the current time as the departure time and adds it to the planned progress information 300b. When the planned progress information 300b is updated, the control unit 200 returns information indicating the departure time from the delivery point to the delivery vehicle that sent the information. As a result, the departure time from the delivery point is identified for the delivery vehicle.

[0023] (1-2) Arrival Information System Configuration: The arrival guidance system 10 according to this embodiment is a delivery vehicle terminal used in a delivery vehicle. The arrival guidance system 10 includes a control unit 20 equipped with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., a recording medium 30, a communication unit 40, a position measurement unit 41, and a user I / F unit 42. The user I / F unit 42 is an interface unit for inputting instructions from a user (driver) and providing various information to the user, and includes a display unit consisting of a touch panel display (not shown), an input unit such as switches, and an audio output unit such as a speaker.

[0024] The position measurement unit 41 is a device that measures the current location of the delivery vehicle. The position measurement unit 41 may acquire the current location using various methods. In this embodiment, the unit is equipped with a GNSS receiver, a vehicle speed sensor, and a gyro sensor (not shown). The GNSS receiver is a device that receives signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System, receives radio waves from navigation satellites, and outputs a signal for calculating the current location of the vehicle via an interface (not shown). The vehicle speed sensor outputs a signal corresponding to the rotation speed of the wheels of the vehicle. The gyro sensor detects the angular acceleration of the vehicle's turning in a horizontal plane and outputs a signal corresponding to the vehicle's orientation. The vehicle speed sensor, gyro sensor, etc. are used to identify the vehicle's traveling trajectory. In this embodiment, the current location is identified based on the vehicle's starting position and traveling trajectory, and the current location of the vehicle identified based on the starting position and traveling trajectory is corrected based on the output signal of the GNSS receiver.

[0025] The communication unit 40 is a device for communicating with other devices. In this embodiment, the control unit 20 can communicate with the server 100 via the communication unit 40. The control unit 20 can execute a program (not shown). In this embodiment, information indicating the delivery plan transmitted from the server 100 is displayed on the display of the user I / F unit 42. The display form of the information indicating the delivery plan may be various forms. The display unit and audio output unit of the user I / F unit 42 are examples of a guidance unit for providing various kinds of guidance regarding the delivery vehicle. Here, an example will be described in which the guidance unit is a display unit.

[0026] Various types of information can be recorded on the recording medium 30. In this embodiment, delivery plan information 30a and map information 30b are recorded. The delivery plan information 30a has the same content as the delivery plan information 300a recorded on the server 100, but the delivery plan information 30a only needs to indicate the delivery plan for each delivery vehicle, and does not need to include delivery plans for other delivery vehicles.

[0027] The map information 30b includes node data, shape interpolation point data, link data, and feature data indicating the positions of roads and surrounding features, etc. The map information 30b also includes information for drawing intersections indicated by the node data, road sections indicated by the shape interpolation data and link data, and features indicated by the feature data.

[0028] The control unit 20 can realize various functions by executing a program (not shown) recorded on the recording medium 30. In this embodiment, the control unit 20 performs route guidance and delivery support guidance using a program (not shown). The route guidance is guidance for driving a vehicle along a delivery route indicated by delivery plan information 30a, and the control unit 20 displays a map on the display unit of the user I / F unit 42 based on map information 30b, and displays the current location of the delivery vehicle and the delivery route from the current location on the map.

[0029] The delivery support guidance is guidance for supporting delivery to the delivery point, and the control unit 20 causes the display unit of the user I / F unit 42 to display information indicating arrival at and departure from the delivery point, information indicating packages to be unloaded at the delivery point, and information indicating packages to be collected at the delivery point. FIG. 4 is an example of a guidance screen displayed on the display unit. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the current location of the delivery vehicle, the delivery route, and the delivery point are superimposed on a map displayed on the right. On the map, the current location is indicated by an icon with a black circle within a circle. The delivery route is indicated by a line thicker than the road, with gray indicating the portion that has been traveled and black indicating the portion that has not yet been traveled. White circles with numbers attached indicate delivery points, and the numbers indicate the delivery order. S and E are the departure and arrival points.

[0030] Furthermore, on the screen on the left side of Figure 4, the delivery order is schematically shown by arranging the delivery points from top to bottom in the delivery order. In this screen, too, an icon with a black circle inside a circle indicates the current location, gray lines schematically indicate delivery routes that have already been traveled, and black lines schematically indicate delivery routes that have not yet been traveled. Furthermore, white circles with numbers attached indicate delivery points, and the numbers indicate the delivery order. The names of the delivery points are associated with the delivery points.

[0031] The left screen shows the estimated arrival time and estimated departure time associated with each delivery point. The estimated arrival time and estimated departure time are shown to the left of the line indicating the delivery route. That is, on the delivery route, white circles are also shown above and below the white circle with a number attached, with the upper white circle schematically indicating arrival and the lower white circle schematically indicating departure. Therefore, for example, the estimated arrival time at the first store 11 in the delivery order is 7:00, and the estimated departure time is 7:10.

[0032] Furthermore, when the delivery vehicle arrives at or departs from a delivery point, the time is displayed on the screen. On the screen shown on the left side of FIG. 4, the arrival time and departure time are displayed to the right of the line indicating the delivery route. Therefore, for example, the arrival time at store 11, which is the first in the delivery order, is 7:01, which is one minute later than the scheduled arrival time. Furthermore, the departure time from store 11, which is the first in the delivery order, is 7:10, which coincides with the scheduled departure time of 7:10. On the screen shown in FIG. 4, since the current location is between the first and second delivery points, the arrival time at store 12, which is the second in the delivery order, and the departure time from store 12 are not displayed.

[0033] As described above, in this embodiment, two types of determination methods are used to determine whether or not the delivery vehicle has arrived at the destination delivery point. Therefore, the possibility of a situation occurring in which the delivery plan is deemed not to be progressing even though the delivery vehicle actually arrived at the delivery point and departed after completing work at the delivery point is smaller than when a single half-value method is used.

[0034] However, when determining whether or not a delivery point has been reached using two different determination methods, if information indicating arrival at a single delivery point (for example, arrival time) is displayed side by side, the display will be very confusing for users. Therefore, in this embodiment, even if two different determination methods coexist, the determination results from the two determination methods are not displayed.

[0035] To provide such guidance, the control unit 20 executes an arrival guidance program 21. The arrival guidance program is part of a program that executes route guidance and delivery assistance guidance. When the arrival guidance program 21 is executed, the control unit 20 functions as a first arrival determination unit 21a, a second arrival determination unit 21b, and a guidance control unit 21c. The first arrival determination unit 21a has a function of determining that a vehicle has arrived at its destination when the vehicle arrives on a road corresponding to the destination. In this embodiment, roads that can be considered as arriving at the destination are defined in advance. Specifically, when a delivery vehicle reaches the last road section of the road sections that make up the delivery route to each delivery point, this can be considered as arriving at the destination. In the example shown in Figure 2, since the delivery route is specified by a node sequence, the road section whose endpoints are the last node and the node just before the last node is a road that can be considered as arriving at the destination.

[0036] Therefore, the control unit 20 uses the function of the first arrival determination unit 21a to identify the road section where the delivery vehicle's current location is located based on the output signal of the position measurement unit 41 and the map information 30b. The control unit 20 also references the delivery plan information 30a to identify the delivery point (next delivery point) that is the destination to which the delivery vehicle is currently heading. The control unit 20 then references the delivery plan information 30a and the map information 30b to identify a road that can be considered as arriving at the delivery point, i.e., the final road section of the delivery route that should be traveled immediately before arriving at the delivery point. If the current location of the delivery vehicle is on the identified road section, the control unit 20 determines that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the destination. When it is determined that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the destination, the control unit 20 associates information indicating that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the destination with identification information of the delivery point where the delivery vehicle has arrived and transmits this information to the server 100 via the communication unit 40.

[0037] The second arrival determination unit 21b has a function of determining that a vehicle has arrived at its destination when it arrives within a predetermined distance from the destination. In this embodiment, the delivery vehicle is also considered to have arrived at its destination when it arrives within a predetermined distance from the destination. Therefore, the control unit 20, using the function of the second arrival determination unit 21b, determines the distance between the delivery vehicle's current location and the delivery point to which it is currently heading, based on the output signal of the position measurement unit 41 and map information 30b. Then, the control unit 20 determines that the delivery vehicle has arrived at its destination when the distance changes from a state greater than a predetermined threshold to a threshold or less. When it is determined that the delivery vehicle has arrived at its destination, the control unit 20 associates information indicating that the second arrival determination unit 21b has been made with the identification information of the delivery point at which the delivery vehicle has arrived, and transmits this information to the server 100 via the communication unit 40.

[0038] When it is determined that the delivery point has been reached by at least one of the two determination methods, the control unit 20 transitions the process of the delivery plan to the process next to the delivery point where the delivery point has been reached. That is, in the route guidance, route guidance is started with the next delivery point after the delivery point as the next destination, and in the delivery support guidance, guidance of the package to be worked on at the delivery point is started.

[0039] The guidance control unit 21c has a function of causing the guidance unit to notify that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the destination. That is, when the first arrival determination unit 21a and the second arrival determination unit 21b determine that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the delivery point, which is the destination, the control unit 20 controls the display unit of the user I / F unit 42 to display information indicating that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the delivery point. In this embodiment, in addition to indicating that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the destination, information indicating whether the first arrival determination unit 21a or the second arrival determination unit 21b determined that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the destination is also displayed. That is, information that allows the user to distinguish whether the determination was made by the first arrival determination unit 21a or the second arrival determination unit 21b is displayed.

[0040] Although such information may be displayed in various ways, in this embodiment, it is configured so that it is possible to distinguish whether the determination was made by the first arrival determination unit 21a or the second arrival determination unit 21b by the characters written next to the arrival time. Specifically, when the first arrival determination unit 21a determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, the control unit 20 writes the characters (arrival) next to the characters indicating the arrival time. When the second arrival determination unit 21b determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, the control unit 20 writes the characters (approaching) next to the characters indicating the arrival time.

[0041] When the second arrival determination unit 21b determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, the display on the display unit of the user I / F unit 42 shows (approaching), but the control unit 20 determines that the vehicle has arrived at the delivery point, which is the destination. Therefore, the route guidance and delivery support guidance change to guidance for after the vehicle has arrived at the delivery point.

[0042] In this embodiment, as described above, the determination methods for determining arrival at the destination are differentiated, but the system is configured so that the determination results from the two determination methods do not coexist for the same delivery point. In this case, the determination result from the first arrival determination unit 21a is displayed preferentially over the determination result from the second arrival determination unit 21b. Specifically, when the first arrival determination unit 21a determines that the delivery has arrived at the destination, the control unit 20 transmits information indicating arrival at the destination to the server 100 via the communication unit 40. At this time, the control unit 20 associates the information indicating arrival at the destination with the identification information of the delivery point and information indicating that the determination was made by the first arrival determination unit 21a. When the information is transmitted, the server 100 identifies the arrival time at the delivery point and replies. The control unit 20 acquires the arrival time via the communication unit 40. The control unit 20 then controls the display unit of the user I / F unit 42 to display the arrival time and the word "arrival." That is, the control unit 20 causes a display to be displayed indicating that the first arrival determination unit 21a has determined that the vehicle has arrived at the destination.

[0043] Thereafter, even if second arrival determination unit 21b determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, control unit 20 does not modify the display. Therefore, when first arrival determination unit 21a determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination and then second arrival determination unit 21b determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, control unit 20 causes the display unit to display a guide indicating that first arrival determination unit 21a has determined that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, but does not cause the display unit to display a guide indicating that second arrival determination unit 21b has determined that the vehicle has arrived at the destination.

[0044] FIG. 5A is a diagram showing an example of such a display. FIG. 5A shows a time axis. In this example, the first arrival determination unit 21a determines that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the delivery point and sets the arrival time to 7:01, and then the second arrival determination unit 21b determines that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the delivery point and sets the arrival time to 7:02. The time axis information shows an excerpt from the display on the left side of the screen in FIG. 4. As shown in this example, when the first arrival determination unit 21a determines that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the store 11 at 7:01, the arrival time of 7:01 and the text (arrival) are displayed above the store 11. Thereafter, even if the second arrival determination unit 21b determines that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the store 11 at 7:02, the display does not change, and the arrival time of 7:01 and the text (arrival) are maintained displayed above the store 11.

[0045] Therefore, multiple displays indicating arrival at the same delivery point do not coexist, reducing the possibility of the guidance becoming complicated. Furthermore, the user can understand the progress of the plan, for example, whether there is a delay to the schedule, based on the arrival time. Note that even if the delivery vehicle departs from the delivery point without the second arrival determination unit 21b determining that it has arrived at the delivery point after the first arrival determination unit 21a has determined that it has arrived at the delivery point, the arrival time of 7:01 and the text (arrival) will remain displayed.

[0046] On the other hand, if the second arrival determination unit 21b determines that the delivery has arrived at the destination, the control unit 20 transmits information indicating that the delivery has arrived at the destination to the server 100 via the communication unit 40. At this time, the control unit 20 associates the information indicating that the delivery has arrived at the destination with the identification information of the delivery point and information indicating that the determination was made by the second arrival determination unit 21b. When the information is transmitted, the server 100 identifies the arrival time at the delivery point and replies. The control unit 20 acquires the arrival time via the communication unit 40. Then, the control unit 20 controls the display unit of the user I / F unit 42 to display the arrival time and the word "approaching." In other words, the control unit 20 causes a display to be displayed indicating that the second arrival determination unit 21b has determined that the delivery has arrived at the destination.

[0047] Thereafter, when the first arrival determination unit 21a determines that the delivery has arrived at the destination, the control unit 20 transmits information indicating that the delivery has arrived at the destination to the server 100 via the communication unit 40. At this time, the control unit 20 associates the information indicating that the delivery has arrived at the destination with the identification information of the delivery point and information indicating that the determination was made by the first arrival determination unit 21a. When the information is transmitted, the server 100 identifies the arrival time at the delivery point and replies. The control unit 20 acquires the arrival time via the communication unit 40. Then, the control unit 20 controls the display unit of the user I / F unit 42 to display the arrival time and the word (Arrived). That is, the control unit 20 causes a display indicating that the first arrival determination unit 21a has determined that the delivery has arrived at the destination. At this time, the control unit 20 deletes the original display content and overwrites the display with the newly acquired information.

[0048] Therefore, when the control unit 20 determines that the second arrival determination unit 21b has determined that the vehicle has arrived at the destination and then determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination by the first arrival determination unit 21a, the control unit 20 causes the guidance unit to provide guidance indicating that the second arrival determination unit 21b has determined that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, and then overwrites the guidance with guidance indicating that the first arrival determination unit 21a has determined that the vehicle has arrived at the destination.

[0049] FIG. 5B is a diagram showing an example of such a display. FIG. 5B shows a time axis. In this example, the second arrival determination unit 21b determines that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the delivery point and sets the arrival time to 7:01, and then the first arrival determination unit 21a determines that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the delivery point and sets the arrival time to 7:02. The time axis information shows an excerpt from the display on the left side of the screen in FIG. 4. As shown in this example, when the second arrival determination unit 21b determines that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the store 11 at 7:01, the arrival time of 7:01 and the text (approaching) are displayed above the store 11. Thereafter, when the first arrival determination unit 21a determines that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the store 11 at 7:02, the arrival time of 7:01 and the text (approaching) are deleted. Furthermore, the arrival time of 7:02 and the text (arrival) are displayed above the store 11.

[0050] In the example shown in Figure 5B, if the delivery vehicle departs from the delivery point after the second arrival determination unit 21b determines that it has arrived at the delivery point, without the first arrival determination unit 21a determining that it has arrived at the delivery point, the arrival time of 7:01 and the text (approaching) will remain displayed.

[0051] With the above configuration, multiple arrival indications for the same delivery point do not coexist, reducing the possibility of complicated guidance. Furthermore, users can grasp the progress of their plan, for example, whether there is a delay relative to the schedule, based on the arrival time.

[0052] Furthermore, with the above configuration, a guide indicating that the first arrival determination unit 21a has determined that the vehicle has arrived at the destination is prioritized. The first arrival determination unit 21a is a determination method for determining whether the vehicle has arrived on a road corresponding to the delivery point, which is the destination. The road corresponding to the delivery point can be selected from roads surrounding the destination. Therefore, a road suitable for determining whether the vehicle has arrived at the delivery point, such as the road closest to the delivery point or a road facing a parking lot where the vehicle should be parked for loading and unloading work at the delivery point, can be selected in advance. On the other hand, the second arrival determination unit 21b is a determination method for determining whether the vehicle has arrived within a predetermined distance from the delivery point. Therefore, when the vehicle approaches the delivery point until the distance is equal to or less than the predetermined distance, it is determined that the vehicle has arrived at the delivery point regardless of the road from which the vehicle approached the delivery point. Therefore, arrival at the delivery point can be determined regardless of whether the vehicle has arrived at a position on a predetermined road, such as the road closest to the delivery point or a road facing a parking lot.

[0053] Because the first arrival determination unit 21a and the second arrival determination unit 21b have such different characteristics, if the determination result by the first arrival determination unit 21a is given priority when providing guidance, the user can recognize whether the delivery vehicle has arrived at the pre-expected location based on the guidance. For example, in the example shown in Figures 5A and 5B, if the word "(ARRIVAL)" is displayed, the user can recognize that the delivery vehicle has arrived at the expected location. If the word "EXTENDED" is displayed but the word "ARRIVAL" is not displayed, the user can recognize that the loading and unloading operation has begun without the delivery vehicle arriving at the expected location.

[0054] (2) Arrival information processing: Next, the arrival guidance processing will be explained. When delivery by a delivery vehicle begins, the control unit 20 of the arrival guidance system 10 executes route guidance processing and delivery support guidance processing. After these processes are executed, the control unit 20 of the arrival guidance system 10 also executes arrival guidance processing at the delivery point, which is the destination. Figure 6A is a flowchart of the arrival guidance processing. In the server 100, the control unit 200 executes the plan management program 210. Figure 6B shows the arrival guidance processing and the processing executed by the server 100 in relation to the arrival guidance processing.

[0055] When the arrival guidance process starts, the control unit 20 determines whether the current location has reached the road corresponding to the destination using the function of the first arrival determination unit 21a (step S100). The control unit 20 periodically acquires the current location of the delivery vehicle based on the output signal of the position measurement unit 41. The control unit 20 then references the delivery plan information 30a to identify the delivery point that is the next destination from the current location, and references the map information 30b to identify the road section corresponding to the delivery point. The control unit 20 then determines that the current location has reached the road corresponding to the destination when the current location of the delivery vehicle transitions from a state where it is not on the road section corresponding to the delivery point to a state where it is on the road section.

[0056] In step S100, if it is determined that the current location has reached the road corresponding to the destination, the control unit 20 uses the function of the first arrival determination unit 21a to transmit the arrival determination by the first arrival determination unit (step S105). That is, the control unit 20 assumes that the first arrival determination unit 21a has determined that the vehicle has arrived at the delivery point, which is the destination, and associates the identification information of the delivery point and the determination method with information indicating that the vehicle has been determined to have arrived, and transmits this information via the communication unit 40.

[0057] The server 100 performs the process shown in FIG. 6B and determines whether or not a time request has been received from the arrival guidance system 10 (step S200). That is, when information indicating arrival at or departure from a delivery point is transmitted from the arrival guidance system 10 to the server 100, the information is considered to be a request for the occurrence time of an event such as arrival or departure. If it is determined in step S200 that a time request has been received, the control unit 200 uses the function of the plan management unit 210a to record the reception time as the event occurrence time in the plan progress information 300b, and transmits information indicating the time via the communication unit 400 (step S205). If it is not determined in step S200 that a time request has been received, the control unit 200 repeats the process from step S200 onwards.

[0058] Since the server 100 performs such processing, when the control unit 20 transmits an arrival determination in step S105, the control unit 200 of the server 100 determines that a time request has been received in step S200. The control unit 200 also adds the arrival time determined by the first arrival determination unit 21a to the plan progress information 300b. The control unit 200 also transmits information indicating the arrival time to the arrival guidance system 10 in step S205.

[0059] The control unit 20 of the arrival guidance system 10 receives the arrival time transmitted from the server 100 via the communication unit 40 using the function of the guidance control unit 21c (step S110). Then, the control unit 20, using the function of the guidance control unit 21c, causes the display unit of the user I / F unit 42 to display the arrival time and the word (Arrived) for the delivery point determined to have been arrived at in step S100 (step S115).

[0060] When step S115 is executed, or when it is not determined in step S100 that the current location has reached the road corresponding to the destination, the control unit 20 determines whether the current location has reached within a predetermined distance from the destination using the function of the second arrival determination unit 21b (step S120). The control unit 20 references the delivery plan information 30a to identify a delivery point that is the next destination from the current location, and identifies the distance (straight-line distance or distance along the road) between the current location and the delivery point. Then, when the distance transitions from a state in which it is greater than the predetermined distance to a state in which it is equal to or less than the predetermined distance, the control unit 20 determines that the current location has reached within the predetermined distance from the destination.

[0061] In step S120, if it is determined that the current location has reached a predetermined distance from the destination, the control unit 20 uses the function of the second arrival determination unit 21b to transmit the arrival determination by the second arrival determination unit (step S125). That is, the control unit 20 assumes that the second arrival determination unit 21b has determined that the delivery point, which is the destination, has been reached, and transmits the information indicating the determination of arrival via the communication unit 40, associating the identification information of the delivery point and the determination method.

[0062] When the server 100 receives the transmitted information, after the determination in step S200, the control unit 200, using the function of the plan management unit 210a, records the reception time in the plan progress information 300b as the arrival time determined by the second arrival determination unit 21b in step S205, and transmits information indicating the time via the communication unit 400. The control unit 20 of the arrival guidance system 10, using the function of the guidance control unit 21c, receives the arrival time transmitted from the server 100 via the communication unit 40 (step S130).

[0063] In this case, the control unit 20 determines whether the characters (ARRIVAL) have already been displayed using the function of the guidance control unit 21c (step S135). That is, the control unit 20 determines whether the characters (ARRIVAL) have already been displayed in step S115 for the delivery point determined to have been arrived at in step S120. If it is determined in step S135 that the characters (ARRIVAL) have already been displayed, the process skips step S140 and onward and returns to step S100. That is, the process from step S100 onward is repeated without updating the characters (ARRIVAL) that have already been displayed.

[0064] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S135 that the word (Arrival) has not already been displayed, the control unit 20, using the function of the guidance control unit 21c, causes the arrival time and the word (Approaching) to be displayed on the display unit of the user I / F unit 42 for the delivery point determined to have been arrived at in step S120 (step S140).

[0065] Next, the control unit 20 determines whether the delivery vehicle has departed for the next destination (step S145). The determination of departure may be performed in various ways. For example, the control unit 20 may determine that the delivery vehicle has departed if the current location of the delivery vehicle has departed from the road corresponding to the destination. The control unit 20 may also determine that the delivery vehicle has departed if the current location of the delivery vehicle has departed from a predetermined distance from the destination.

[0066] If it is determined in step S145 that the delivery vehicle has departed for the next destination, the control unit 20 transmits a departure determination (step S150). That is, the control unit 20 transmits information indicating departure and identification information of the delivery point from which the delivery vehicle departed to the server 100 via the communication unit 40. In response to the transmission of this information, the server 100 executes steps S200 and S205 and transmits information indicating the departure time. The control unit 20 receives the departure time and displays it on the display unit of the user I / F unit 42 (step S155). As a result, for example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the departure time and the word (departure) are displayed below information about the store 11, etc., indicating the delivery point. If it is not determined in step S145 that the delivery vehicle has departed for the next destination, or if step S155 is executed, the control unit 20 repeats the processes from step S100 onwards.

[0067] (3) Other embodiments: The above embodiment is one example for implementing the present invention, and various other embodiments are also possible. For example, each system constituting the above-described embodiment may be configured with fewer devices. An example of such a configuration is one in which at least one device shown in FIG. 1 is configured with the same device as one or more other devices. For example, the arrival guidance system 10 and the server 100 may be configured as an integrated device, or some of the functions of the arrival guidance system 10 may be realized by the server 100, or some of the functions of the server 100 may be realized by the arrival guidance system 10. For example, the arrival time may be determined by the arrival guidance system 10 rather than the server 100.

[0068] 1 may be configured with a larger number of systems. For example, at least some of the functions of the arrival guidance system 10 and the server 100 may be configured with a cloud server.

[0069] Furthermore, at least some of the components constituting the server 100 (planning management unit 210a) and the components constituting the arrival guidance system 10 (first arrival determination unit 21a, second arrival determination unit 21b, guidance control unit 21c) may be separated into multiple devices. Configurations in which some of the components of the above-described embodiments are omitted, or configurations in which processing is varied or omitted, are also conceivable. Furthermore, either loading or collection of packages may be performed at the delivery point or another facility, or both may be performed.

[0070] Furthermore, the determination of departure from a destination to a next destination may be performed using multiple determination methods. Even in this case, it is preferable that the determination of departure using different determination methods is not displayed simultaneously. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a determination is made as to whether a delivery vehicle has arrived at a delivery point, but a determination may also be made as to whether any vehicle other than the delivery vehicle has arrived at a destination.

[0071] The first arrival determination unit is only required to be able to determine that the vehicle has arrived at the destination when the vehicle arrives at a road corresponding to the destination. That is, when a vehicle is traveling to a destination, there are certain roads on which the arrival of the vehicle at the destination can be considered to be equivalent to the arrival of the vehicle. Furthermore, by using vehicle positioning technology such as map matching, it is easy to determine whether the vehicle has reached a specific road. Therefore, the first arrival determination unit is only required to be able to determine whether the vehicle has arrived at that road based on whether the vehicle has reached the road.

[0072] The road corresponding to the destination may be any road that can be considered to be equivalent to having reached the destination when the vehicle reaches the specific road, and may be predetermined, such as the nearest road to the destination or the road the vehicle must take to get to the destination. Also, there may be cases where the parking lot where the vehicle should park when getting to the destination is far from the destination, but the vehicle must park in the parking lot and then walk from the parking lot to the destination. In this case, it is preferable to determine whether the vehicle has reached the destination based on whether the vehicle has reached the road to get to the parking lot, rather than the distance from the destination.

[0073] The second arrival determination unit is only required to be able to determine that the vehicle has arrived at the destination when the vehicle arrives within a predetermined distance from the destination. In other words, it is only required to be able to determine that the vehicle has arrived at the destination when the vehicle approaches the destination so closely that it can be considered as having arrived at the destination. In this case, it does not matter which road the vehicle approached the destination from. Therefore, the second arrival determination unit can determine whether the vehicle has arrived at the destination even if the vehicle arrives at the destination without using a previously assumed road. The predetermined distance only needs to be determined before determining whether the vehicle has arrived at the destination, and may be a predetermined fixed value or may vary depending on the destination and roads around the destination.

[0074] The guidance control unit is only required to be able to cause the guidance unit to notify the user that the vehicle has arrived at the destination. In other words, the guidance control unit is only required to be able to provide guidance in a manner that allows the user to recognize whether the vehicle has arrived at the destination. Therefore, the guidance provided by the guidance unit is not limited to the above-described manner, and guidance may be provided in various manners other than images, such as audio guidance.

[0075] Furthermore, the guidance indicating arrival at the destination is provided so that the determination result by the first arrival determination unit and the determination result by the second arrival determination unit do not coexist. However, it may be possible to recognize which determination unit has made the determination. The guidance indicating that the first arrival determination unit has made the determination of arrival at the destination and the guidance indicating that the second arrival determination unit has made the determination are not limited to the aspects of the above-described embodiment. For example, guidance may be provided using icons in addition to text such as "approaching" or "arrived." Arrival may also be determined by a change in color, etc. The distinction between the determination by the first arrival determination unit and the determination by the second arrival determination unit is not limited to "arrived" and "approaching," and various other aspects may be adopted.

[0076] Furthermore, the various types of guidance in the above-described embodiment are merely examples, and various other modes may be adopted. For example, guidance indicating arrival at a destination may be provided using an icon. In this case, it is preferable to distinguish between an icon indicating that arrival at the destination has been determined by the first arrival determination unit 21a and an icon indicating that arrival at the destination has been determined by the second arrival determination unit 21b.

[0077] Furthermore, the system may be configured so that guidance on the destination arrival determination results based on multiple determination methods can be disabled. Such a configuration is realized, for example, by configuring the arrival guidance system 10 so that invalidation or validity of the arrival determination can be selected using an input unit of the user I / F unit 42, a terminal (not shown) connected to the server 100, or a user I / F unit (not shown). Note that it is preferable that invalidation or validity is instructed for each method of determining arrival at the destination.

[0078] When guidance on the determination result of a certain determination method is disabled, the arrival determination result of that determination method is not displayed on the display unit of the user I / F unit 42. For example, when the display of the determination result by the second arrival determination unit 21b is disabled, even if the function of the second arrival determination unit 21b determines that the delivery point, which is the destination, has been reached, the control unit 20, using the function of the guidance control unit 21c, does not display information indicating that arrival on the display unit. As a result, only the determination result by the first arrival determination unit 21a is displayed, and the user does not need to be aware of which of the multiple determination methods determined that the arrival was made. Of course, this configuration is one example, and the display of the determination result by the first arrival determination unit 21a may be disabled.

[0079] Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied as a program or method. The above-described systems, programs, and methods may be realized as standalone devices or may be realized using components shared with various vehicle components, and thus encompass a variety of embodiments. For example, it is possible to provide a method or program realized by the above-described system. Furthermore, the invention can be implemented as a recording medium for a program that controls the device. Of course, the software recording medium may be a magnetic recording medium or a semiconductor memory, and any recording medium developed in the future can be considered in the same manner. [Explanation of symbols]

[0080] 10... arrival guidance system, 20... control unit, 21... delivery support program, 21a... delay time acquisition unit, 21b... maximum delay time acquisition unit, 21c... guidance control unit, 21d... input acceptance unit, 30... recording medium, 30a... delay time information, 30b... map information, 40... communication unit, 41... user I / F unit, 100... server, 101... delivery vehicle terminal, 102... control unit, 103... user I / F unit, 104... position measurement unit, 105... communication unit, 200... control unit, 210... plan management program 210a... information transmission and reception unit, 210b... delay time calculation unit, 300... recording medium, 300a... delivery plan information, 300b... map information, 400... communication unit

Claims

1. a first arrival determination unit that determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination when the vehicle arrives on a road corresponding to the destination; a second arrival determination unit that determines that the vehicle has arrived at the destination when the vehicle arrives within a predetermined distance from the destination; a guidance control unit that causes a guidance unit to notify the user that the user has arrived at the destination, The guidance control unit when it is determined by the first arrival determination unit that the vehicle has arrived at the destination and then by the second arrival determination unit that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, causing the guidance unit to provide guidance indicating that it has been determined by the first arrival determination unit that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, and not causing the guidance unit to provide guidance indicating that it has been determined by the second arrival determination unit that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, when it is determined by the first arrival determination unit that the vehicle has arrived at the destination after it is determined by the second arrival determination unit that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, causing the guidance unit to provide guidance indicating that it has been determined by the second arrival determination unit that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, and then overwriting the guidance with guidance indicating that it has been determined by the first arrival determination unit that the vehicle has arrived at the destination; Arrival information system.

2. The notification of arrival at the destination will include: and information indicating the arrival time at the destination. The arrival guidance system according to claim 1 .

3. The notification of arrival at the destination will include: At least one of an icon and text indicating arrival at the destination is included.

3. The arrival guidance system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The guidance control unit When the display of the determination result by the second arrival determination unit is disabled, the guidance unit is not caused to provide guidance indicating that the second arrival determination unit has determined that the vehicle has arrived at the destination. The arrival guidance system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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