Collection system, circular collection truck control server, collection method, circular collection truck control method, program

Abstract

To provide a core logistics system capable of efficiently delivering shipments from industrial parks to their final destinations.SOLUTION: A core logistics system includes: an industrial park; an industrial-park-connected core logistics facility, which is a logistics facility connected to the industrial park via a dedicated road and connected to an expressway or an expressway interchange; a core logistics facility connected to an expressway or an expressway interchange; autonomous cyclic collection trucks that circulate within the industrial park to collect shipments and return them to the industrial-park-connected core logistics facility; and autonomous core-delivery trucks that transport the collected shipments from the industrial-park-connected core logistics facility to the core logistics facility.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a backbone logistics system, a collection system, a circular collection truck control server, a collection method, a circular collection truck control method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Towards the realization of level 4 autonomous driving for large trucks, various efforts have been made (for example, Non-Patent Document 1). According to Non-Patent Document 1, the section assumed as the level 4 autonomous driving section is the section from entering the highway interchange to exiting the interchange. If in the future, logistics facilities directly connected to or connected by limited general roads at highway interchanges can be connected by level 4 autonomous driving, it is expected that the efficiency of logistics will improve dramatically.

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Documents

[0003]

Non-Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in logistics under the realization of level 4 autonomous driving, there are still no detailed findings on how to efficiently deliver the shipments from industrial parks.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a backbone logistics system that can efficiently deliver the shipments from industrial parks to the final destination.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The core logistics system of this disclosure includes an industrial park, a core logistics facility connected to the industrial park, a core logistics facility, a circular collection automated driving truck, and a core delivery automated driving truck.

[0007] The main logistics facility connected to the industrial park is located in the industrial park. and contact Continued re It is a logistics facility.

[0008] The automated trucks that circle the industrial park collect shipments and return to the main logistics facility connected to the industrial park.

[0009] The core delivery autonomous trucks transport collected shipments from one core logistics facility connected to an industrial park to another. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the core logistics system disclosed herein, shipments from industrial parks can be efficiently delivered to their final destinations. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] A diagram showing the functional configuration of the core logistics system in Example 1. [Figure 2] A block diagram showing the device configuration of the collection system in Example 1. [Figure 3] A block diagram showing the functional configuration of the circular collection truck control server in Example 1. [Figure 4] A flowchart illustrating the operation of the circular collection truck control server in Example 1. [Figure 5] A diagram illustrating an example of a computer's functional configuration. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] The embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below. Components having the same function will be numbered the same, and redundant explanations will be omitted. [Examples]

[0013] The functional configuration of the core logistics system of Embodiment 1 will be described below with reference to Figure 1. As shown in the figure, the core logistics system 1 of this embodiment includes an industrial park 11, a core logistics facility connected to the industrial park 12a, core logistics facilities 12b, 12c, ..., medium-sized logistics facilities 13a, 13b, 13c, ... connected to the core logistics facility connected to the industrial park 12a and core logistics facilities 12b, ..., small-scale logistics facilities 14a, 14b, 14c, ... connected to the medium-sized logistics facilities 13a, 13b, 13c, ..., a circular collection automated driving truck 15 (hereinafter also referred to as circular collection ADT15, ADT = Autonomous Driving Track), a core delivery automated driving truck 16 (hereinafter also referred to as core delivery ADT16), and a regional delivery truck 17 (hereinafter also referred to as regional delivery T17).

[0014] Furthermore, the logistics facilities connected hierarchically under the core logistics facility may extend up to the second level, as exemplified by the logistics facilities connected under 12a and 12b in the same figure, or they may extend up to the first level, as exemplified by the logistics facilities connected under 12c in the same figure. In addition, there may be third, fourth, ... levels of logistics facilities connected hierarchically under the core logistics facility, or there may be no levels at all, and the system may be configured so that goods are delivered directly from the core logistics facility to the delivery destination.

[0015] Industrial park 11 shall include factories 11a, 11b, 11c,.... The industrial park-connected trunk logistics facility 12a is a logistics facility connected to industrial park 11 by dedicated road 51 and directly or via an interchange to highway 52. Also, the trunk logistics facilities 12b, 12c,... are logistics facilities directly or via an interchange connected to highway 52. Further, the circular collection automated driving ADT 15 circulates around industrial park 11 to collect shipped goods and returns them to the industrial park-connected trunk logistics facility 12a. Also, the trunk distribution automated driving ADT 16 transports the shipped goods and other goods collected from the industrial park-connected trunk logistics facility 12a to the trunk logistics facilities 12b, 12c,.... Further, the regional distribution T17 distributes the shipped goods and other goods from industrial park 11 from the trunk logistics facility to the subordinate logistics facilities.

[0016] Also, the circular collection automated driving ADT 15 also has the function of delivering the goods for the industrial park collected at the industrial park-connected trunk logistics facility 12a to each of the factories 11a, 11b, 11c,... in industrial park 11.

[0017] According to the trunk logistics system 1 of this embodiment, since industrial park 11 and the industrial park-connected trunk logistics facility 12a are connected by dedicated road 51, the shipped goods from industrial park 11 can be placed on the trunk logistics route in the shortest time, which is efficient. Also, since the dedicated road 51 is not a general road, automated driving trucks can run, and it is efficient because the collection and distribution of shipped goods can be automated.

[0018] Also, since the circular collection automated driving ADT 15 circulates around industrial park 11 to collect shipped goods and returns them to the industrial park-connected trunk logistics facility 12a, and the trunk distribution automated driving ADT 16 uses highway 52 to transport the shipped goods collected from the industrial park-connected trunk logistics facility 12a to the trunk logistics facilities 12b, 12c,..., the shipped goods from factories 11a, 11b, 11c,... can be efficiently delivered to the final destination.

Example

[0019] Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 2, the device configuration of the goods collection system of Example 2 that controls the goods collection in the backbone logistics system 1 of Example 1 will be described.

[0020] As shown in the figure, the goods collection system 2 of this embodiment includes factory terminals 21a, 21b, …, 21i managed by each factory 11a, 11b, …, 11i in the industrial park 11, and a circuit goods collection truck control server 22. It is assumed that the factory terminals 21a, 21b, …, 21i and the circuit goods collection truck control server 22 are communicably connected via a network. It is assumed that the circuit goods collection truck control server 22 is communicably connected to the circuit goods collection ADT 15 via a network.

[0021] Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 3, the functional configuration of the circuit goods collection truck control server 22 of this embodiment will be described. As shown in the figure, the circuit goods collection truck control server 22 of this embodiment includes a goods collection request acquisition unit 221, an area-by-area aggregation unit 222 under the backbone logistics facility, and a goods collection command unit 223.

[0022] Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 4, the operations of each component will be described.

[0023] <Goods collection request acquisition unit 221> The goods collection request acquisition unit 221 acquires a goods collection request including a factory ID, a delivery area of the shipped goods, a goods ID, and a goods collection quantity from each of the factory terminals 21a, 21b, …, 21i (S221). The factory ID is an identifier of the factory. It is preferable that the delivery area of the shipped goods is divided for each delivery area responsible for each logistics facility under the industrial park-connected backbone logistics facility 12a or the backbone logistics facilities 12b, ........ The goods ID is an identifier of the goods. The goods collection quantity is information on the size, weight, and number of the corresponding goods.

[0024] <Area-by-area aggregation unit 222 under the backbone logistics facility> The area-by-area aggregation unit 222 under the backbone logistics facility aggregates the shipped goods included in the goods collection request for each delivery area responsible for each logistics facility under the backbone logistics facility 12a connected to the industrial park or under the backbone logistics facilities 12b, 12c, … (S222).

[0025] ≪Logistics facilities directly below≫ The logistics facilities directly beneath the main logistics facility 12a connected to the industrial park refer to, for example, the medium-sized logistics facilities 13a, 13b, and 13c, which are directly beneath the main logistics facility 12a connected to the industrial park, as shown in the example in Figure 1. Therefore, the delivery areas covered by each logistics facility directly beneath the main logistics facility 12a connected to the industrial park are the delivery areas covered by the medium-sized logistics facilities 13a, 13b, and 13c, respectively.

[0026] Furthermore, the logistics facilities directly under the core logistics facilities 12b, 12c, ... refer to the medium-sized logistics facilities 13d, 13e, and 13f, which are directly under the core logistics facility 12b, as shown in the example in the figure. Also, in the example in the figure, the core logistics facility 12c does not have any medium-sized logistics facilities under its control, and only has small-scale logistics facilities 14s, ..., 14aa under its control. In such a case, the logistics facilities directly under the core logistics facility would be the small-scale logistics facilities 14s, ..., 14aa.

[0027] <Collection Order Department 223> The collection order unit 223 transmits a collection order to the circular collection ADT 15, specifying a consolidated group of shipments in which the total amount collected from each factory falls within a predetermined range (S223).

[0028] Here, the upper limit of the predetermined range is typically determined based on the maximum load capacity or maximum load volume of the circular cargo collection ADT15. The lower limit of the predetermined range is determined considering the circular efficiency of the circular cargo collection ADT15, etc. For example, the upper limit of the predetermined range can be set as maximum load capacity × 0.95, and the lower limit of the predetermined range can be set as maximum load capacity × 0.6.

[0029] The collection order should preferably include the factory ID of the factory where ADT15 will receive the goods, the delivery area, the package ID of the relevant goods, and the quantity of the relevant goods to be collected.

[0030] Upon receiving a collection order, the circular collection vehicle ADT15 will circle the industrial park 11 in accordance with the order and collect the specified cargo.

[0031] According to the collection system 2 of this embodiment, the area aggregation unit 222 directly beneath the main logistics facility aggregates the shipments according to the delivery area that each logistics facility directly beneath it is responsible for, and the collection order unit 223 sends a collection order specifying the aggregated shipments to the circular collection ADT 15. As a result, the circular collection ADT 15 can automatically create blocks of shipments that are grouped by delivery area simply by performing circular collection.

[0032] The core distribution system ADT16 simply transports the automatically created blocks of shipments directly to the designated core logistics facility. The regional distribution system T17 then transports the blocks of shipments delivered to the core logistics facility directly to the corresponding lower-level logistics facility. This allows for efficient delivery of shipments from the factory to their final destination.

[0033] <Note> The functions realized by the components described herein may be implemented in a circuitry or processing circuitry, including general-purpose processors, application-specific processors, integrated circuits, ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), CPUs (a Central Processing Unit), conventional circuits, and / or combinations thereof, programmed to realize the functions described herein. A processor includes transistors and other circuits and is considered a circuitry or processing circuitry. A processor may be a programmed processor that executes a program stored in memory.

[0034] In this specification, circuitry, unit, and means are hardware programmed to perform or execute the functions described herein. Such hardware may be any hardware disclosed herein, or any hardware known to be programmed to perform or execute the functions described herein.

[0035] If the hardware is a processor that is considered to be a type of circuitry, then the circuitry, means, or unit is a combination of hardware and software used to constitute the hardware and / or processor.

[0036] The various processes described above can be carried out by loading a program that executes each step of the above method into the recording unit 10020 of the computer shown in Figure 5, and then causing the control unit 10010, input unit 10030, output unit 10040, etc. to operate.

[0037] The program describing this process can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Any computer-readable recording medium can be used, such as a magnetic recording device, optical disc, magneto-optical recording medium, or semiconductor memory.

[0038] Furthermore, this program may be distributed, for example, by selling, transferring, or lending portable recording media such as DVDs or CD-ROMs on which the program is recorded. Alternatively, the program may be stored in the storage device of a server computer and distributed by transferring the program from the server computer to other computers via a network.

[0039] A computer executing such a program may, for example, first store the program recorded on a portable storage medium or a program transferred from a server computer in its own storage device. Then, when processing is to be executed, the computer reads the program stored on its own storage medium and executes the processing according to the read program. Alternatively, the computer may directly read the program from the portable storage medium and execute the processing according to that program, or it may sequentially execute the processing according to the received program each time a program is transferred to it from a server computer. Furthermore, the processing may be executed by a so-called ASP (Application Service Provider) type service, where the processing function is realized only by execution instructions and result acquisition, without transferring the program from the server computer to this computer. Furthermore, the processing may be executed using a so-called SaaS (Software as a Service) type service, where a part of the server computer is made available to the user along with the program. In this form, the program includes information used for processing by an electronic computer that is equivalent to a program (data that is not a direct instruction to the computer but has the property of defining the computer's processing).

[0040] Furthermore, in this configuration, the device is configured by executing a predetermined program on a computer, but at least a part of these processes may be implemented in hardware.

Claims

1. A collection system for controlling collection in a core logistics system including an industrial park, a core logistics facility connected to the industrial park which is a logistics facility connected to the industrial park, a core logistics facility, a circular collection automated driving truck that travels around the industrial park to collect shipments and returns to the core logistics facility connected to the industrial park, and a core delivery automated driving truck that transports the collected shipments from the core logistics facility connected to the industrial park to the core logistics facility, This includes factory terminals managed by each factory in the aforementioned industrial park, and a control server for circulating collection trucks. The aforementioned circular collection truck control server is: A collection request acquisition unit acquires a collection request from the aforementioned factory terminal, including the factory ID, the delivery area of ​​the shipment, the package ID, and the collection quantity. A central logistics facility-direct area aggregation unit aggregates the shipments included in the collection request for each delivery area handled by the logistics facility directly beneath the central logistics facility connected to the industrial park, or by each logistics facility directly beneath the central logistics facility. The aforementioned automated circular collection truck includes a collection command unit that transmits a collection command specifying a block of shipments generated by aggregating the total amount of collected goods within a predetermined range. Collection system.

2. A core logistics system including an industrial park, a core logistics facility connected to the industrial park which is a logistics facility connected to the industrial park, a core logistics facility, a circular collection truck control server that controls collection in a core logistics system including a circular collection truck that travels around the industrial park to collect shipments and returns to the core logistics facility connected to the industrial park, and a core delivery truck that transports the collected shipments from the core logistics facility connected to the industrial park to the core logistics facility, wherein the circular collection truck control server controls collection in the core logistics system. A collection request acquisition unit acquires collection requests from factory terminals managed by each factory in the aforementioned industrial park, including the factory ID, the delivery area of ​​the shipped goods, the package ID, and the collection volume. A central logistics facility-direct area aggregation unit aggregates the shipments included in the collection request for each delivery area handled by the logistics facility directly beneath the central logistics facility connected to the industrial park, or by each logistics facility directly beneath the central logistics facility. The aforementioned automated circular collection truck includes a collection command unit that transmits a collection command specifying a block of shipments generated by aggregating the total amount of collected goods within a predetermined range. Circular cargo collection truck control server.

3. A collection method executed by a collection system that controls collection in a core logistics system including an industrial park, a core logistics facility connected to the industrial park which is a logistics facility connected to the industrial park, a core logistics facility, a circular collection automated driving truck that travels around the industrial park to collect shipments and returns to the industrial park connected core logistics facility, and a core delivery automated driving truck that transports the collected shipments from the industrial park connected core logistics facility to the core logistics facility, the collection method being executed by a collection system that controls collection in a core logistics system, The collection system includes factory terminals managed by each factory in the industrial park and a circulating collection truck control server. The aforementioned circular collection truck control server is: The steps include obtaining a collection request from the aforementioned factory terminal, which includes the factory ID, the delivery area of ​​the shipment, the package ID, and the collection quantity. The steps include: consolidating the shipments included in the collection request according to the delivery area handled by each logistics facility directly beneath the main logistics facility connected to the industrial park, or directly beneath the main logistics facility; The process involves sending a collection command to the aforementioned automated truck that travels around collecting goods, specifying a block of goods that has been generated by aggregating the total amount of collected goods within a predetermined range. Collection method.

4. A method for controlling circular collection trucks in a core logistics system that includes an industrial park, a core logistics facility connected to the industrial park which is a logistics facility connected to the industrial park, a core logistics facility, a circular collection automated driving truck that travels around the industrial park to collect shipments and returns to the industrial park connected core logistics facility, and a core delivery automated driving truck that transports the collected shipments from the industrial park connected core logistics facility to the core logistics facility, the method being executed by a circular collection truck control server that controls collection in a core logistics system, The steps include obtaining a collection request from a factory terminal managed by each factory in the aforementioned industrial park, which includes the factory ID, the delivery area of ​​the shipment, the package ID, and the collection quantity. The steps include: consolidating the shipments included in the collection request according to the delivery area handled by each logistics facility directly beneath the main logistics facility connected to the industrial park, or directly beneath the main logistics facility; The step includes transmitting a collection command to the aforementioned automated circular collection truck, specifying a block of shipments that is generated by aggregating the total amount of collected goods within a predetermined range. A method for controlling circular cargo collection trucks.

5. A collection system according to claim 1, The aforementioned predetermined range is defined as a range where the upper limit is the maximum load capacity of the automated circular cargo collection truck multiplied by 0.95, and the lower limit is the maximum load capacity of the automated circular cargo collection truck multiplied by 0.

6. Collection system.

6. A circular collection truck control server according to claim 2, The aforementioned predetermined range is defined as a range where the upper limit is the maximum load capacity of the automated circular cargo collection truck multiplied by 0.95, and the lower limit is the maximum load capacity of the automated circular cargo collection truck multiplied by 0.

6. Circular cargo collection truck control server.

7. A collection method according to claim 3, The aforementioned predetermined range is defined as a range where the upper limit is the maximum load capacity of the automated circular cargo collection truck multiplied by 0.95, and the lower limit is the maximum load capacity of the automated circular cargo collection truck multiplied by 0.

6. Collection method.

8. A method for controlling a circular collection truck according to claim 4, The aforementioned predetermined range is defined as a range where the upper limit is the maximum load capacity of the automated circular cargo collection truck multiplied by 0.95, and the lower limit is the maximum load capacity of the automated circular cargo collection truck multiplied by 0.

6. A method for controlling circular cargo collection trucks.

9. A program that causes a computer to function as a circular collection truck control server as described in claim 2.

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