Vehicle allocation system and vehicle allocation method

Abstract

Provided is a vehicle dispatch system capable of dispatching an electric vehicle in which it is unlikely that the amount of electric power drops below a prescribed amount of electric power during travel.　The vehicle dispatch system 1 for dispatching electric vehicles that are powered by electric power, the vehicle dispatch system comprising: a vehicle reservation database 14 that stores vehicle reservation data; and a vehicle dispatch unit 40 that calculates, with respect to combinations of dispatchable vehicles that are capable of being dispatched as determined on the basis of the vehicle reservation information, a cost relating to a remaining charge amount determined in advance for the dispatchable vehicles, and determines the combination of dispatchable vehicles having the lowest cost as a vehicle dispatch result.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle allocation system and a vehicle allocation method. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, in addition to conventional gasoline-fueled vehicles that run on gasoline, electric vehicles (EVs) that run on electricity have become common. EVs are also widely used not only for personal use but also for business purposes. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle allocation method for allocating a mixture of EVs and gasoline-fueled vehicles to multiple users who wish to use vehicles. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-73979 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The vehicle allocation method disclosed in Patent Document 1 discloses that, because EV vehicles can only travel a short distance on a single charge, in principle, EV vehicles are allocated when the planned travel distance is short, and gasoline vehicles are allocated when the planned travel distance is long. However, in order to prevent EV vehicles from being unable to travel due to a lack of power (running out of power), it is more preferable to allocate EV vehicles so that a certain amount of power remains at the end of the trip.

[0005] In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention aims to provide a vehicle dispatching system capable of dispatching EV vehicles that are unlikely to fall below a predetermined amount of electric power while traveling. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, one aspect of the present invention is a vehicle dispatching system for dispatching electric vehicles powered by electricity, comprising: a vehicle reservation memory unit that stores vehicle reservation data; and a dispatching unit that calculates a cost related to a predetermined remaining charge amount for each of the dispatchable vehicles, which are combinations of dispatchable vehicles that are determined based on the vehicle reservation data stored in the vehicle reservation memory unit, and determines as the dispatch result the combination of the dispatchable vehicles that has the smallest cost.

[0007] Another aspect of the present invention is a vehicle dispatching method for dispatching electric vehicles powered by electricity, executed by a computer device, including the steps of receiving vehicle reservation data, and calculating a cost related to a predetermined remaining charge amount for each of the dispatchable vehicles, which are combinations of dispatchable vehicles that are determined based on the vehicle reservation data, and determining as the dispatch result the combination of the dispatchable vehicles that has the smallest cost.

[0008] Another aspect of the present invention is a computer program that causes a computer device to execute the above-described vehicle allocation method. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a vehicle dispatch system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a user DB. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a vehicle reservation DB. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen for accepting a vehicle reservation in a vehicle reservation application for users that runs on a user terminal. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a GS (gasoline) vehicle basic DB. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an EV vehicle basic DB. [Figure 7]1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a computer device that can be used in a vehicle dispatch system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of a vehicle allocation method according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a vehicle dispatch system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle status DB. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of a battery remaining capacity prediction method executed in a vehicle dispatch server according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of a vehicle allocation method executed in a vehicle allocation unit of a vehicle allocation server according to a second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0011] (First embodiment) (Configuration of the vehicle dispatch system) FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a vehicle dispatch system according to this embodiment. The vehicle dispatch system 1 according to this embodiment includes a vehicle dispatch server 10, a user terminal 60, and an administrator terminal 65. For example, the vehicle dispatch server 10 accepts vehicle reservations from multiple users (user terminals 60) via a user-oriented vehicle reservation application running on the user terminals 60. Each time a vehicle reservation is accepted from a user, the vehicle dispatch server 10 executes a vehicle dispatch process to satisfy the usage conditions desired by each user while leaving a certain amount of power (safety reserve) in the EV vehicle so that the EV vehicle does not run out of power (however, the timing of executing the vehicle dispatch process is not limited to this, and it can be executed at other times). The vehicle dispatch server 10 may also execute the vehicle dispatch process to reduce the total cost, including the cost of fuel (including hydrogen) consumed by the dispatched gasoline-powered vehicle or fuel cell vehicle, the cost of electricity consumed by the EV vehicle, and a hypothetical cost proportional to the amount of power consumed below the safe reserve. Then, the vehicle allocation server 10 outputs the vehicle allocation result 42 to the administrator terminal 65, and notifies the user terminal 60 of each user of the vehicle allocated to that user.

[0012] The user terminal 60 is a computer terminal operated by each user who wishes to make a reservation for vehicle use, and may be, for example, a portable computer such as a laptop computer, a smartphone, or a portable tablet terminal, or a stationary computer such as a desktop computer. Each user can use a user-oriented vehicle reservation application running on their own user terminal 60 to make a reservation for vehicle use at any time during the service provision.

[0013] The administrator terminal 65 is a computer terminal operated by, for example, a vehicle manager who provides a vehicle dispatch service or an operator of a service provider, and is, for example, a portable computer such as a notebook computer, a smartphone, or a portable tablet terminal, or a stationary computer such as a desktop computer. The user terminal 60, the administrator terminal 65, and the vehicle dispatch server 10 are connected to each other via a network so as to be able to communicate with each other via wired or wireless communication.

[0014] In this embodiment, it is assumed that vehicle allocation processing is performed on a daily basis. Vehicles can be used during some or all of the consecutive hours of a day, such as 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM (hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, referred to as "business hours" (dispatch hours) in this specification). The vehicle is allocated so that the usage conditions specified in all reservations are met and a predetermined amount of power (hereinafter, referred to as "safe remaining capacity") remains so that the allocated EV vehicle does not run out of power. Charging of all EV vehicles is performed when the vehicle is not in use, regardless of whether it is during or outside of business hours. It is assumed that the EV vehicles to be used that day are fully charged at the start of business hours.

[0015] The vehicle dispatch server 10 may be a computer system made up of one or more computer devices. The vehicle dispatch server 10 includes a user DB (database) 12, a vehicle reservation DB (vehicle reservation storage unit) 14, a vehicle basic DB 16, and a vehicle dispatch unit 40.

[0016] The user DB 12 is a DB that stores data related to users who make vehicle reservations via the user terminal 60. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the user DB 12. As an example, the user DB 12 includes a user ID, a user name, and a user email address. The "user ID" is a column that stores an identifier for uniquely identifying a user. The "user name" is a column that stores the user's name. The user's name does not have to be the user's real name, and may be, for example, an anonymous username used in a vehicle reservation application for users that runs on the user terminal 60. The "user email address" is a column that stores the user's email address. The user DB 12 may also store other information related to users. For example, the user's telephone number, the name of the organization to which the user belongs, and information such as the password for the vehicle reservation application may be stored.

[0017] Returning to FIG. 1, the vehicle reservation DB 14 is a DB that stores vehicle reservation data received from the user terminal 60 of a user who wishes to reserve a vehicle. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the vehicle reservation DB 14. For example, the vehicle reservation DB 14 includes a reservation ID, a user ID, a start date and time of use, an end date and time of use, a departure point, a stopover point, an arrival point, a planned driving distance, a vehicle ID to be used, a desired vehicle, and a notification address. The "reservation ID" is a column that stores an identifier for uniquely identifying each reservation information. The "user user ID" is a column that stores a user ID indicating the user who made the vehicle reservation. That is, when a user makes a vehicle reservation using the user terminal 60, the "user ID" of the user registered in the user DB 12 is saved in the "user user ID." The "start date and time of use" and the "end date and time of use" are columns that store the start date and time of use and the end date and time of use of the vehicle, respectively, specified by the user using, for example, a vehicle reservation application running on the user terminal 60. Similarly, "Departure", "Intermediate", and "Destination" are columns that respectively store the departure, intermediate, and destination locations when using a vehicle, as specified by the user in a vehicle reservation application, etc. Note that the "Departure", "Intermediate", and "Destination" columns may store data that can identify a geographical location, such as a place name, address, or location information (latitude, longitude, etc.).

[0018] The "Planned Travel Distance" field stores the distance traveled by a vehicle from the specified departure point to the destination via the intermediate points specified in the vehicle reservation application. More specifically, the "Planned Travel Distance" column may be configured to automatically calculate the travel distance using existing map data (road data on which the vehicle can travel) and the geographical locations, such as the latitude and longitude, of the departure point, intermediate points, and destination specified by the user in the vehicle reservation application, and input the calculated result into the "Planned Travel Distance" column. The "Vehicle ID to Use" field stores a vehicle ID, which is an identifier for uniquely identifying a vehicle assigned to a user as a result of the vehicle allocation process by the vehicle allocation server 10. The "Desired Vehicle" field stores a vehicle ID, which is an identifier for uniquely identifying a vehicle desired by a user specified in the vehicle reservation application. More specifically, the "Desired Vehicle" field may store the ID of a vehicle designated for use using the user terminal 60, among the vehicle IDs stored in the GS vehicle basic DB 161 and the EV vehicle basic DB 162 (described later). Furthermore, for example, in a vehicle reservation application running on user terminal 60, if the user is allowed to specify classification information for the vehicle they wish to use, such as the vehicle model, type, category, shape, etc., which is predefined based on the vehicle's structure, size, etc., the vehicle ID of a vehicle that matches the classification information specified by the user may be extracted from GS vehicle basic DB 161 and EV vehicle basic DB 162 and stored in the "Desired Vehicle" column. Alternatively, the classification information specified by the user itself may be stored in the "Desired Vehicle" column.

[0019] "Notification address" is a column that stores the user's email address to notify the user when a vehicle has been allocated to the user. The email address may be stored in the "notification address" column as data in the "user email address" column registered in the user DB 12. The vehicle reservation DB 14 may also store other information related to the vehicle reservation data. For example, information entered by the user in the remarks field in the vehicle reservation application may also be stored in the vehicle reservation DB 14.

[0020] FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen for accepting a vehicle reservation in a vehicle reservation application for users that runs on the user terminal 60. For example, when a user logs in to the vehicle reservation application using a user ID, password, or the like, the user can access a vehicle reservation screen 80 as shown in FIG. 4. The user then inputs the departure point, arrival point, intermediate points, vehicle use start date and time, vehicle use end date and time, and the desired vehicle on the vehicle reservation screen 80 via a user interface such as a touch panel or keyboard of the user terminal 60. When the user then selects a reservation send button 81, the information input by the user is transmitted to the vehicle dispatch server 10 via the communication interface of the user terminal 60 and stored in the vehicle reservation database 14. The vehicle dispatch server 10 then executes the vehicle dispatch process described below.

[0021] Returning to FIG. 1, the vehicle basic DB 16 is a DB that stores information about the specifications of each vehicle. As an example, the vehicle basic DB 16 includes a GS vehicle basic DB 161 that stores information about the specifications of gasoline vehicles, and an EV vehicle basic DB 162 that stores information about the specifications of EV vehicles. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the GS vehicle basic DB 161. As an example, the GS vehicle basic DB 161 shown in FIG. 5 is configured to include gasoline price, vehicle ID, vehicle name, category, and fuel efficiency. "Gasoline price" is a column that stores gasoline price. This may be changed according to price fluctuations in the gasoline market. "Vehicle ID" is a column that stores an identifier that uniquely identifies each gasoline vehicle. "Vehicle name" is a column that stores the vehicle name of each gasoline vehicle. "Category" is a column that stores the category (classification information) of each gasoline vehicle. "Fuel efficiency" is a column that stores the fuel efficiency of each gasoline vehicle. Furthermore, in this embodiment, a gasoline-fueled vehicle is described as an example of a vehicle to be dispatched. However, in addition to gasoline-powered vehicles, vehicles that can run on gasoline, such as hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles, can also be dispatched. Furthermore, in addition to these vehicles, vehicles other than EV vehicles powered only by batteries, such as fuel cell vehicles that can run on fuel cells using hydrogen or the like, can also be dispatched. Because fuel cell vehicles, like gasoline vehicles, do not require as much time to refuel as EV vehicles, they can be treated similarly to gasoline vehicles and can be dispatched in the vehicle dispatch system 1 according to this embodiment. Furthermore, when vehicles other than gasoline-powered vehicles that run only on gasoline are dispatched, the specifications of the vehicle dispatch system 1 can be modified to suit the vehicle to be dispatched. For example, when a fuel cell vehicle is dispatched, a fuel cell vehicle basic DB can be provided instead of or in addition to the GS vehicle basic DB 161. This fuel cell vehicle basic DB can have a configuration similar to the GS vehicle basic DB 161, but can store, for example, "hydrogen prices" instead of "gasoline prices."By appropriately changing the specifications of the vehicle dispatch system 1 to match the characteristics of the vehicle to be dispatched in this way, it is possible to treat fuel cell vehicles as vehicles to be dispatched in the same way as gasoline vehicles (same throughout this specification).

[0022] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the EV vehicle basic DB 162. The EV vehicle basic DB 162 shown in FIG. 6 includes, for example, the electricity price, vehicle ID, vehicle name, category, electricity cost, maximum charging capacity, charging speed, and safe remaining capacity. The "Electricity Price" column stores the electricity price. This may change depending on price fluctuations in the electricity market. The "Vehicle ID," "Vehicle Name," "Category," and "Electricity Cost" columns store an identifier unique to each EV, the vehicle name, category (classification information), and electricity cost of each EV, respectively. The "Maximum Charging Capacity" column stores the maximum power capacity that each EV can charge. The "Charging Speed" column stores the charging speed of each EV. The "Safe Remaining Capacity" column stores a predetermined remaining charge amount to prevent each EV from becoming unable to run due to a lack of power (running out of power). It is desirable for each EV to have the remaining power indicated in the "Safe Remaining Capacity" column at all times. However, this condition is not mandatory, and the remaining charge of an EV vehicle may be below the safe remaining charge value (as will be described later, EV vehicles that are likely to run out of power as a result of being dispatched are excluded from dispatching (EV minimum remaining charge constraint), so it is not necessarily a problem if the remaining charge is below the safe remaining charge value). The value in the "safe remaining charge" column may be different for each EV vehicle, or it may be a common value.

[0023] 5 and 6 may further store other information related to gasoline-powered vehicles or EV vehicles, respectively. For example, information such as size (e.g., overall length, width, and length), shape, interior and exterior, and exterior photographs may also be stored in the GS vehicle basic DB 161 and EV vehicle basic DB 162.

[0024] The vehicle allocation unit 40 allocates a plurality of vehicles, including gasoline vehicles and electric vehicles, based on the vehicle reservation data stored in the vehicle reservation DB 14 and the predetermined safe remaining capacity for each of the plurality of vehicles. The unit also allocates vehicles so that the cost of the allocated vehicles is minimized.

[0025] (Hardware configuration) The configurations of one or more computers, the user terminal 60, and the administrator terminal 65 constituting the vehicle dispatch server 10 described above can be realized using hardware similar to that of a typical computer. FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the hardware configuration of one or more computers, the user terminal 60, and the administrator terminal 65 constituting the vehicle dispatch server 10. The computer 70 shown in FIG. 7 includes, for example, a processor 71, a random access memory (RAM) 72, a read-only memory (ROM) 73, an internal hard disk drive 74, a removable memory 75 such as an external hard disk drive, CD, DVD, USB memory, memory stick, or SD card, an input / output user interface 76 (including a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, speaker, microphone, LED (light emitting diode)), etc.) through which a user inputs and outputs data to and from the computer 70, a wired / wireless communication interface 77 capable of communicating with other computers, and a display 78. The processor 71 can be realized using electronic circuits such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a microprocessor.

[0026] Any one or a combination of the RAM 72, ROM 73, hard disk drive 74, and removable memory 75 may constitute the above-mentioned user DB 12, vehicle reservation DB 14, and vehicle basic DB 16, as well as the below-described vehicle status DB 18. The communication interface 77 also enables one or more computer devices, user terminal 60, and administrator terminal 65 that constitute the vehicle dispatch server 10 to establish communication with each other or with further other computer devices, and send and receive various data.

[0027] Furthermore, each function of the vehicle dispatch server 10, user terminal 60, and administrator terminal 65 according to this embodiment described in this specification (for example, the above-mentioned vehicle dispatch unit 40 and the later-described battery remaining capacity prediction unit 44, as well as other processing mechanisms) can be realized, for example, by the processor 71 reading a program stored in a memory area such as a hard disk drive 74, ROM 73, removable memory 75, etc. into a memory area such as RAM 72, and executing the program while appropriately reading data necessary for processing from a memory area such as the hard disk drive 74, ROM 73, removable memory 75, etc.

[0028] The hardware configuration shown in Figure 7 is merely an example and is not limited to this. Also, in Figure 7, one or more computers constituting the vehicle dispatch server 10, the user terminal 60, and the administrator terminal 65 are illustrated as a single computer 70, but may be configured with two or more computers. The hardware configuration illustrated in Figure 7 can also be employed in the vehicle dispatch system according to the second embodiment described below.

[0029] In addition, the various programs that execute the functions of one or more computer devices, user terminal 60, and administrator terminal 65 that constitute the vehicle dispatch server 10 in this embodiment can be stored in part or in whole on a computer-readable medium or downloaded via a wired or wireless communication network, etc.

[0030] (Vehicle allocation method) 8 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of a vehicle dispatch method executed by the vehicle dispatch unit 40 of the vehicle dispatch server 10 according to this embodiment. As described above, the vehicle dispatch system 1 according to this embodiment is assumed to dispatch vehicles on a daily basis. The flowchart described below shows an example of the processing of the vehicle dispatch unit 40 when executing vehicle dispatch processing for a specific date (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a "vehicle dispatch target date") that is the target of vehicle dispatch processing (when a vehicle is to be dispatched).

[0031] In step S100, vehicle reservation data in which the target vehicle allocation date is the vehicle usage date is read out from all vehicle reservation data stored in vehicle reservation DB 14. The usage date can be identified from the "usage start date and time" and "usage end date and time" of the vehicle reservation data. In step S102, all combinations of vehicles that can be allocated (distributable vehicles) for the vehicle reservation data read out in step S100 are generated. For example, if N_k vehicles are available for allocation for the k-th vehicle reservation data among the vehicle reservation data read out in step S100, there are a total of (N_1 * N_2 *··· * N_k *··· * N (total number of reservations)) combinations ("*" is an operator representing multiplication). Note that the N_k vehicles available for allocation for the k-th vehicle reservation data may be vehicles that meet the conditions, such as the type or model of the desired vehicle, if the user specifies those conditions in the vehicle reservation application, or may be the number of vehicles that are allowed if the vehicle manager (manager terminal 65) who allocates the vehicles allows each user or each reservation to use only specific vehicles. Also, in this step, overlaps in vehicles, usage time periods, etc. with other users who wish to use the vehicle do not need to be taken into consideration.

[0032] Next, in step S104, from all the combinations generated in step S102, combinations in which the same vehicle is assigned to be used two or more times at the same time are excluded (vehicle allocation constraints).

[0033] In step S106, for all combinations after the processing of step S104 is executed, the progress of the charge state of each EV vehicle included in the combination (data showing how the charge state of each EV vehicle changes over time) is calculated under the conditions (1) to (3) below. (1) Discharge is determined based on the distance traveled and the electricity consumption. (This determines the amount of discharge for each EV included in all combinations after the process of step S104 is executed. More specifically, discharge amount = electricity consumption * distance traveled. The amount of discharge for each EV can be calculated by using the data in the "Planned Distance Traveled" column of the vehicle reservation DB 14 for "distance traveled" and the data in the "Electricity Consumption" column of the EV basic DB 162 for "electricity consumption.") (2) When the EV is not discharging (when not in motion) and is not fully charged, it must be charged promptly (even during business hours). (3) Charging of the EV vehicle must be stopped when it is fully charged. As described above, this embodiment is based on the premise that the EVs to be used that day are fully charged at the start of business hours.

[0034] In step S108, combinations including EV vehicles whose remaining EV charge (remaining charge) is less than 0 kWh as a result of the calculation of the change in the state of charge of each EV vehicle in step S106 are excluded from all combinations after the processing of step S104 is performed (EV minimum remaining charge constraint). This is because such EV vehicles will run out of power while driving. Furthermore, in step S110, combinations including EV vehicles that will not be fully charged by the start of business hours the next day are also excluded from all combinations after the processing of step S104 is performed (EV full charge constraint). For example, it can be determined whether a vehicle will be fully charged by the start of business hours the next day based on the remaining EV charge at the end of business hours, the chargeable power that can be calculated using the "charging speed" in the EV vehicle basic DB 162, and the charging time until the start of business hours the next day. More specifically, it can be determined whether the amount of power calculated using the formula: remaining EV charge + charging speed * charging time until the start of business hours the next day will reach full charge.

[0035] In step S112, for each combination after the processing up to step S110 has been executed, a cost function is calculated, which is the sum of the following: (A) The predicted fuel cost for each gasoline vehicle on the day of dispatch when the vehicles are driven according to the combination. The amount of fuel consumed on that day can be calculated from the data in the "Planned driving distance" column of the vehicle reservation DB14 and the data in the "Fuel efficiency" column of the GS vehicle basic DB161. The fuel cost for that day can also be calculated from the calculated amount of fuel and the value in the "Gasoline price" column of the GS vehicle basic DB161. More specifically, the predicted fuel cost = gasoline price * (Planned driving distance ÷ Fuel efficiency). (B) The predicted value of the electricity charge for each EV vehicle on the dispatch date when the vehicle is driven according to the combination. This can be calculated from the discharge amount in (1) above and the value in the "Electricity Price" column of the EV vehicle basic DB 162. More specifically, the predicted value of the electricity charge = electricity price * discharge amount. (C) A virtual cost proportional to the amount of electricity that falls below the safe remaining charge. This is calculated by multiplying the cumulative value of the difference (remaining charge - value in the "safe remaining charge" column) when the remaining charge falls below the value in the "safe remaining charge" column of the EV vehicle basic DB 162 by a large coefficient such as 1000 during the transition of the charge state of each EV calculated in step S106.

[0036] In step S114, the combination (vehicle allocation) that minimizes the value of the cost function calculated in step S112 is selected. In step S116, the selected combination (vehicle allocation result 42) is sent to the vehicle manager (manager terminal 65) or the user terminal 60. Furthermore, each user (user terminal 60) who has reserved a vehicle for the relevant vehicle allocation date is notified of the vehicle allocated to each user at the address stored in the "notification destination address" column of the vehicle reservation DB 14. Furthermore, the ID of the allocated vehicle is stored in the "used vehicle ID" column of each vehicle reservation data stored in the vehicle reservation DB 14. The timing of notification to the user terminal 60 may be, for example, the evening of the day before the relevant vehicle allocation date, taking into account the user's convenience.

[0037] The vehicle dispatch unit 40 according to this embodiment executes the above-described process for each vehicle dispatch date. The vehicle dispatch system according to this embodiment can dispatch a mixture of gasoline-powered vehicles and electric vehicles, and can determine vehicle dispatch that reduces the total cost by taking into account the remaining fuel reserve and the fuel and electricity costs required for driving.

[0038] (Second embodiment) The second embodiment of the present invention will be described below, focusing on the differences from the first embodiment.

[0039] (Configuration of the vehicle dispatch system) 9 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle dispatch system according to this embodiment. The vehicle dispatch system 1 according to this embodiment includes a vehicle dispatch server 10, a user terminal 60, and an administrator terminal 65. The user terminal 60 and the administrator terminal 65 have the same functions as the user terminal 60 and the administrator terminal 65 in the first embodiment, respectively. In addition to the configuration of the vehicle dispatch server 10 in the first embodiment, the vehicle dispatch server 10 further includes a vehicle status DB 18 and a remaining battery charge prediction unit 44.

[0040] The vehicle status DB (vehicle status data storage unit) 18 is a DB that stores vehicle status data for each vehicle. Generally, there are services provided by service providers and the like that provide vehicle status data. The vehicle dispatch system 1 according to this embodiment can also use this vehicle status data. The vehicle status DB 18 stores vehicle status data itself acquired from an external telematics server 50 such as a service provider, or appropriately processed acquired vehicle status data (collectively referred to as "vehicle status data" below). FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the vehicle status DB 18. The vehicle status DB 18 shown in FIG. 10 includes, for example, a vehicle ID, date and time, vehicle speed, mileage, SOC (battery level), air conditioner temperature setting, and battery voltage. The vehicle status DB 18 stores this vehicle status data for each vehicle during its past travels, for example, every second. The vehicle status DB 18 may also store other information related to the vehicle status data.

[0041] The remaining battery charge prediction unit 44 predicts the minimum value or the maximum decrease amount of the remaining battery charge using a trained prediction model. The remaining battery charge prediction unit 44 receives inputs of vehicle status data stored in the vehicle status DB 18, data stored in the vehicle basic DB 16, vehicle reservation data stored in the vehicle reservation DB 14, past weather data and future weather forecast data obtainable from an external weather data server 52, and vehicle travel route information obtainable from an external route search server 54, and outputs the minimum value or the maximum decrease amount of the remaining battery charge. Examples of the external weather data server 52 that can be used include weather data provided by the Japan Meteorological Agency and data from the Open Weather Map hourly forecast (https: / / openweathermap.org / api / hourly-forecast), which provides a developer API. Examples of the external route search server 54 that can be used include data from the Google Map DIRECTION API (https: / / developers.google.com / maps / documentation / directions / overview) provided by Google (registered trademark). The battery remaining capacity prediction unit 44 can predict the travel time from the departure point, via the intermediate points, to the destination based on the information on the "departure point," "intermediate points," and "destination point" of each vehicle reservation data stored in the vehicle reservation DB and the vehicle travel route information acquired from the route search server 54.

[0042] Furthermore, the vehicle dispatch unit 40 according to this embodiment executes the vehicle dispatch process using the minimum value or maximum value of the remaining battery capacity predicted by the remaining battery capacity prediction unit 44 .

[0043] (Prediction of minimum remaining battery capacity (maximum decrease)) FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of a remaining battery charge prediction method executed by the vehicle dispatch server 10 according to this embodiment.

[0044] In step S202, the value of counter n for counting the vehicle reservation data stored in the vehicle reservation DB 14 is set to "1." In step S204, the nth data is read out from all vehicle reservation data stored in the vehicle reservation DB 14, of which the use date (date specified in the "use start date and time" and "use end date and time") is the vehicle dispatch target date.

[0045] In step S206, the remaining battery charge prediction unit 44 reads one or more pieces of vehicle status data from the vehicle status DB 18 for each of the vehicle IDs of one or more vehicles that can be dispatched for the n-th vehicle reservation data read in step S204 (for example, a vehicle specified in the "Desired Vehicle" column of the n-th vehicle reservation data, or a vehicle that is permitted for use by the reserving user or for the vehicle reservation data). The remaining battery charge prediction unit 44 also references the value in the "SOC" column of the one or more pieces of vehicle status data for the one or more read vehicle IDs to extract the minimum SOC value for each vehicle ID from the start date and time of use to the end date and time of use in the vehicle reservation DB 14. Note that while the minimum SOC (remaining charge) value is extracted here, it may alternatively extract the maximum value of the decrease in SOC obtained by subtracting the remaining charge from the fully charged state at the start of travel. The processing of steps S204 and S206 is repeated until all vehicle reservation data stored in the vehicle reservation DB 14 for which the dispatch date is the usage date is read (the value of counter n is incremented by "1" until "n = total number of vehicle reservation data") (steps S208, S210).

[0046] In step S212, the battery remaining capacity prediction unit 44 predicts the minimum value or the maximum decrease amount of the battery remaining capacity. In this embodiment, as an example, linear multiple regression is used as a prediction model for predicting the battery remaining capacity. The planned driving distance of the vehicle reservation data and weather forecast data for the planned driving date (determined from the use start date and time and the use end date) are used as explanatory variables. The minimum value of the SOC for each vehicle reservation data of the vehicle to be dispatched extracted in steps S202 to S210 is used as a response variable. The use start date and time, use end date and time, departure point, intermediate point, and arrival point of the vehicle reservation data, as well as weather forecast data (temperature, precipitation, sunshine hours, wind speed, etc.) for the dispatch target date of each vehicle reservation data are used as inputs to the prediction model, and the output of the prediction model is the minimum value of the battery remaining capacity (maximum decrease amount).

[0047] The prediction model used in the battery remaining charge prediction unit 44 is a model that has been trained in advance through a learning phase using past data to determine weights that minimize the error between the predicted amount of battery remaining charge decrease (minimum value) and the actual amount. The prediction model uses various values ​​that can be calculated from past weather data and past vehicle reservation data as input values ​​and pre-learns the correlation between the remaining battery charge recorded as past vehicle behavior data. An example of an input value to the prediction model is a statistical quantity such as the average value of weather forecast data during the usage time. Note that the statistical quantity can be any statistical quantity such as the median, in addition to the average value. In addition to the above-mentioned temperature, precipitation, sunshine hours, and wind speed, any type of weather forecast data available from the weather data server 52 can be used. Note that the usage time can be determined by calculating the time between the usage start date and time and the usage end date and time stored in the vehicle reservation DB 14. Another example of an input value to the prediction model can be travel time information calculated by the route search server 54 based on the information on the departure point, intermediate points, and arrival point stored in the vehicle reservation DB 14.

[0048] The prediction model for predicting the remaining battery capacity is not limited to linear multiple regression, and other prediction models such as gradient boosting decision trees can be used. Also, the mean square error (MSE) can be used as the error index. Alternatively, other error indexes such as the mean absolute error (MAE) can be used as the error index.

[0049] In step S214, the remaining battery capacity predicting unit 44 outputs to the dispatching unit 40 the minimum value or the maximum value of the decrease in the remaining battery capacity predicted in step S212.

[0050] (Vehicle allocation method) Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of a vehicle allocation method executed by the vehicle allocation unit 40 of the vehicle allocation server 10 according to this embodiment. In the vehicle allocation method shown in Fig. 12, vehicles are allocated using the minimum value (maximum amount of decrease) of the remaining battery charge predicted by the flowchart in Fig. 11.

[0051] The processes in steps S100 to S104 and steps S110 to S116 are the same as those in FIG. 8, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0052] In step S306, instead of the processing of step S106 in Fig. 8, the battery remaining capacity prediction unit 44 executes a series of processing from step S202 to step S214 in Fig. 11, and obtains the minimum value or maximum decrease amount of the remaining battery capacity output in step S214 in Fig. 11. Then, in step S308, EVs whose remaining EV charge capacity calculated from the minimum value or maximum decrease amount of the remaining battery capacity obtained in step S306 is less than 0 (zero) kWh are excluded (EV minimum remaining capacity constraint).

[0053] (summary) For example, in the vehicle dispatching method disclosed in Patent Document 1, the remaining charge of the battery of an EV vehicle is used to dispatch vehicles, and data indicating the remaining charge of the battery of the EV vehicle is obtained directly from the EV vehicle. If, for some reason, data indicating the remaining charge of the battery cannot be obtained from the EV vehicle, appropriate vehicle dispatching cannot be performed. Another possible method is to calculate the remaining charge of the battery using the electricity consumption value published by the manufacturer in the catalog of each EV vehicle. However, this electricity consumption value often deviates from the actual value, resulting in the remaining charge of the battery also deviating from the actual value. This can lead to problems such as running out of power or determining that the EV vehicle cannot be dispatched. The vehicle dispatching system according to this embodiment can solve these problems by predicting the remaining charge more accurately.

[0054] Furthermore, while the vehicle allocation system described above targets both gasoline-powered vehicles and electric vehicles, it can also be applied to a system that targets only electric vehicles. In that case, vehicle allocation processing can be performed in the same way by omitting the processing related to gasoline-powered vehicles from the above-described processing. For example, in step S112 of Figures 8 and 12, "(A) The predicted value of the fuel cost for each gasoline-powered vehicle on the target day for allocation" can be excluded from the cost function.

[0055] In addition, in the above-mentioned vehicle dispatch system, gasoline vehicles are targeted for dispatch, but this is not limited to gasoline vehicles; vehicles powered by other liquid fuels, hydrogen, etc. can also be targeted for dispatch in the same way.

[0056] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and may be embodied in various different forms within the scope of the technical concept thereof.

[0057] Furthermore, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments shown and described, but includes all embodiments that achieve equivalent effects to those intended by the present invention. Furthermore, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the combination of inventive features defined by each claim, but can be defined by any desired combination of specific features from among all the respective disclosed features.

[0058] The following embodiments are also included within the scope of the present invention.

[0059] (Invention 1) A vehicle dispatching system for dispatching electric vehicles powered by electricity, a vehicle reservation storage unit that stores vehicle reservation data; a vehicle allocation unit that calculates a cost related to a predetermined remaining charge amount for each of the allocable vehicles among a combination of allocable vehicles that are determined based on the vehicle reservation data stored in the vehicle reservation storage unit, and determines, as a vehicle allocation result, the combination of the allocable vehicles that minimizes the cost; A dispatch system that includes:

[0060] (Invention 2) The vehicle dispatch system described in (Invention 1), wherein the vehicle dispatch unit calculates the cost of electricity predicted to be consumed by EV vehicles included in the dispatchable vehicles based on the vehicle reservation data, and includes the cost of the electricity in addition to the cost related to the remaining charge.

[0061] (Invention 3) The vehicle dispatch system targets fuel vehicles powered by liquid fuel and fuel cell vehicles powered by hydrogen in addition to EV vehicles, The vehicle dispatching system described in (Invention 1) or (Invention 2), wherein the vehicle dispatching unit calculates at least one of the cost of liquid fuel predicted to be consumed by fuel vehicles included in the vehicles available for dispatch and the cost of hydrogen predicted to be consumed by fuel cell vehicles included in the vehicles available for dispatch based on the vehicle reservation data, and includes at least one of the cost of the liquid fuel and the cost of the hydrogen as the cost in addition to the cost related to the remaining charge.

[0062] (Invention 4) The vehicle dispatching system described in any one of (Invention 1) to (Invention 3), wherein the vehicle dispatching unit determines the combinations of vehicles that can be dispatched by excluding combinations in which the same vehicle is assigned to be used two or more times at the same time from the combinations of vehicles that can be dispatched for each of the vehicle reservation data.

[0063] (Invention 5) The vehicle dispatching system according to any one of (Invention 1) to (Invention 4), wherein the dispatching unit calculates the progress of the charging state of each EV vehicle included in the combination of vehicles available for dispatching, and determines the dispatch result based on the progress of the charging state.

[0064] (Invention 6) The vehicle dispatching system according to any one of (Invention 1) to (Invention 5), wherein the vehicle dispatching unit determines the vehicle dispatch result by excluding combinations of EV vehicles included in the combinations of dispatchable vehicles that include EV vehicles whose remaining charge will be less than zero kWh based on the change in the charging state.

[0065] (Invention 7) The vehicle dispatching system described in any one of (Invention 1) to (Invention 6), wherein the vehicle dispatching unit determines the vehicle dispatch result by setting multiple consecutive hours in one day as the target vehicle dispatch time, and excluding, from the combinations of vehicles available for dispatching, combinations including EV vehicles that will not be fully charged at the start of the target vehicle dispatch time on the target day of dispatch if charging of the EV vehicles begins at the end of the target vehicle dispatch time on the target day of dispatching.

[0066] (Invention 8) a vehicle status data storage unit that stores vehicle status data of the dispatch target vehicle; a remaining battery capacity prediction unit that predicts a minimum value or a maximum decrease amount of the remaining battery capacity using a prediction model that receives the vehicle behavior data as an input; Furthermore, A vehicle dispatching system according to any one of (Invention 1) to (Invention 7), wherein the dispatching unit determines the dispatch result using the minimum value or maximum value of the predicted remaining battery charge.

[0067] (Invention 9) The vehicle dispatch system according to any one of (Invention 1) to (Invention 8), wherein the vehicle reservation storage unit receives and stores the vehicle reservation data from an external user terminal.

[0068] (Invention 10) A vehicle dispatching method for dispatching electric vehicles powered by electricity, executed by a computer device, comprising: receiving vehicle reservation data; a step of calculating a cost related to a predetermined remaining charge amount for each of the allocable vehicles among a combination of allocable vehicles that are determined based on the vehicle reservation data, and determining, as a vehicle allocation result, the combination of the allocable vehicles that minimizes the cost; and dispatch methods, including:

[0069] (Invention 11) The vehicle allocation method is applicable to vehicles that are fuel-powered by liquid fuel and fuel cell vehicles that are powered by hydrogen, in addition to EV vehicles. The vehicle dispatch system described in (Invention 10), wherein the determining step calculates at least one of the cost of liquid fuel predicted to be consumed by fuel vehicles included in the dispatchable vehicles and the cost of hydrogen predicted to be consumed by fuel cell vehicles included in the dispatchable vehicles based on the vehicle reservation data, and in addition to the cost related to the remaining charge, also includes at least one of the cost of the liquid fuel and the cost of the hydrogen as the cost.

[0070] (Invention 12) A computer program that causes a computer device to execute the vehicle dispatch method described in (Invention 10) or (Invention 11). [Explanation of symbols]

[0071] 1. Vehicle dispatch system 10...Dispatch server 12...User DB 14...Vehicle reservation database 16...Vehicle Basic DB 161...GS vehicle basic database 162...EV vehicle basic database 18...Vehicle movement database 40...Dispatch Department 42...Dispatch results 44...Battery remaining capacity prediction unit 50...Telematics server, etc. 52...Weather data server 54...Route search server 60...User terminal 65...Administrator terminal 70...Computer equipment 71...Processor 72...RAM 73...ROM 74...Hard disk drive 75...Removable memory 76... Input / output user interface 77...Communication interface 78...Display 80...Vehicle reservation screen 81...Scheduled Send button

Claims

1. A vehicle dispatching system for dispatching electric vehicles powered by electricity, a vehicle reservation storage unit that stores vehicle reservation data; a vehicle dispatching unit that calculates a cost related to a predetermined threshold of remaining charge amount so that the electric power possessed by the allocatable vehicles does not become zero among combinations of allocatable vehicles that are determined based on the vehicle reservation data stored in the vehicle reservation storage unit, and determines the combination of allocatable vehicles that minimizes the cost as a dispatch result; Equipped with the vehicle dispatching unit calculates a transition of a state of charge of each EV vehicle included in the combination of dispatchable vehicles; the cost includes a value calculated using a cumulative value of the difference between the threshold and the remaining charge when the remaining charge of each EV vehicle becomes lower than the threshold during the calculated change in the state of charge of each EV vehicle.

2. 2. The vehicle dispatch system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle dispatch unit calculates the cost of electricity predicted to be consumed by EV vehicles included in the dispatchable vehicles based on the vehicle reservation data, and includes the cost of the electricity in addition to the cost related to the remaining charge.

3. The vehicle dispatch system targets fuel vehicles powered by liquid fuel and fuel cell vehicles powered by hydrogen in addition to EV vehicles, The vehicle dispatch system described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the dispatch unit calculates at least one of the cost of liquid fuel predicted to be consumed by fuel vehicles included in the dispatchable vehicles and the cost of hydrogen predicted to be consumed by fuel cell vehicles included in the dispatchable vehicles based on the vehicle reservation data, and in addition to the cost related to the remaining charge, also includes at least one of the cost of the liquid fuel and the cost of the hydrogen as the cost.

4. The vehicle dispatching system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the vehicle dispatching unit determines the combinations of vehicles that can be dispatched by excluding combinations in which the same vehicle is assigned to be used two or more times at the same time from the combinations of vehicles that can be dispatched for each of the vehicle reservation data.

5. 5. The vehicle dispatch system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle dispatch unit determines the dispatch result by excluding, from the combinations of vehicles available for dispatch, combinations of EV vehicles that include EV vehicles whose remaining charge will be less than zero kWh, based on the transition of the charging state.

6. 6. The vehicle dispatch system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle dispatch unit determines the vehicle dispatch result by setting a plurality of consecutive hours in one day as the target vehicle dispatch time, and excluding, from the combinations of vehicles available for dispatch based on the change in the charging state, combinations including EV vehicles that will not be fully charged at the start of the target vehicle dispatch time on the target day for dispatch if charging of the EV vehicles is started at the end of the target vehicle dispatch time on the target day for dispatch.

7. a vehicle status data storage unit that stores vehicle status data of the dispatchable vehicles; a remaining battery capacity prediction unit that predicts a minimum value or a maximum decrease amount of the remaining battery capacity using a prediction model that receives the vehicle behavior data as an input; Furthermore, The vehicle allocation system according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle allocation unit determines the vehicle allocation result using a minimum value or a maximum value of a decrease in the predicted remaining battery charge.

8. The vehicle dispatch system according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle reservation storage unit receives and stores the vehicle reservation data from an external user terminal.

9. A vehicle dispatching method for dispatching electric vehicles powered by electricity, executed by a computer device, comprising: receiving vehicle reservation data; a step of calculating a cost related to a predetermined threshold of remaining charge amount so that the electric power possessed by the allocatable vehicles does not become zero among combinations of allocatable vehicles that are determined based on the vehicle reservation data, and determining the combination of the allocatable vehicles that minimizes the cost as a vehicle allocation result; Including, the determining step includes calculating a transition of a state of charge of each electric vehicle included in the combination of dispatchable vehicles; the cost includes a value calculated using a cumulative value of the difference between the threshold and the remaining charge when the remaining charge of each electric vehicle becomes lower than the threshold during the calculated change in the state of charge of each electric vehicle.

10. The vehicle allocation method is also applicable to vehicles that use liquid fuel as a power source and fuel cell vehicles that use hydrogen as a power source, in addition to EV vehicles.

10. The vehicle dispatch system of claim 9, wherein the determining step calculates at least one of the cost of liquid fuel predicted to be consumed by fuel vehicles included in the dispatchable vehicles and the cost of hydrogen predicted to be consumed by fuel cell vehicles included in the dispatchable vehicles based on the vehicle reservation data, and includes at least one of the cost of the liquid fuel and the cost of the hydrogen as the cost in addition to the cost related to the remaining charge.

11. A computer program that causes a computer device to execute the vehicle allocation method according to claim 9 or 10.

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