Method and apparatus for managing path information, and recording medium

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to: a method performed by an electronic device; an apparatus; and a recording medium. The method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may comprise the steps of: identifying basic data including information related to a plurality of candidate positions; generating, on the basis of the basic data and the type of a transportation means, a plurality of sub-paths corresponding to the type of the transportation means, each of the plurality of sub-paths including one or more visit positions selected from among the plurality of candidate positions; generating one or more sets of sub-paths corresponding to the type of the transportation means, a set of sub-paths including at least some of the plurality of sub-paths; and generating an entire path corresponding to the type of the transportation means on the basis of a first condition related to an amount of work, a second condition related to a cost, and the one or more sets of sub-paths.

Description

Method, device and recording medium for managing path information

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a technology for managing route information. More specifically, it relates to a technology for generating route information for each transportation mode, which visits each location and processes tasks.

[0002] Fulfillment services involve various tasks, such as collecting and transporting products on behalf of the seller for resale to a warehouse, transporting these products to various hubs, or shipping products from hubs to individual customers based on customer orders. Therefore, they can generate significantly higher transport volumes than traditional e-commerce services. Furthermore, the advancement of logistics and the growing demand for fulfillment services are driving the need for optimized product transport.

[0003] A technical problem to be solved through one embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a technology for generating optimal route information in route information management.

[0004] Another technical challenge to be solved through one embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a technique for reducing the problem size of optimal path generation by combining metaheuristic techniques and rigorous techniques.

[0005] Another technical challenge to be solved through one embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a technology for searching for an optimal route while satisfying various conditions related to a transportation route.

[0006] The technical problems of the present disclosure are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art of the present disclosure from the description below.

[0007] A method performed by an electronic device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may include: identifying basic data including information regarding a plurality of candidate locations; generating a plurality of sub-routes corresponding to a type of transportation means based on the basic data and a type of transportation means, wherein each of the plurality of sub-routes includes at least one visited location selected from among the plurality of candidate locations; generating a set of at least one sub-route corresponding to the type of transportation means, wherein the set of sub-routes includes at least a portion of the plurality of sub-routes; and generating an entire route corresponding to the type of transportation means based on a first condition regarding a workload, a second condition regarding a cost, and the one or more sets of sub-routes.

[0008] In an embodiment, the step of generating the sub-route may include: selecting a first visit location to be included in the sub-route from among the plurality of candidate locations; checking whether a sub-route generation condition is satisfied in response to selecting the first visit location; and selecting a second visit location from among the plurality of candidate locations based on the first visit location if the sub-route generation condition is not satisfied.

[0009] In an embodiment, the step of determining whether the sub-route creation condition is satisfied may include the step of determining item information corresponding to the first visited location based on the basic data; and the step of determining whether the sub-route creation condition is satisfied based on the item information and the type of the transportation means.

[0010] In an embodiment, the step of determining whether the sub-path creation condition is satisfied may include a step of determining whether the sub-path creation condition is satisfied based on a visit location selected corresponding to the sub-path.

[0011] In an embodiment, the method may include: determining whether each sub-route set among the one or more sub-route sets satisfies a path condition; and, if each sub-route set satisfies the path condition, generating an entire path based on the one or more sub-route sets.

[0012] In an embodiment, the method may further include a step of removing the sub-path set if the sub-path set does not satisfy the path condition.

[0013] In an embodiment, the method may include: calculating a shortest travel time for each of the one or more sub-paths; and determining whether the set of sub-paths satisfies a path condition based on the shortest travel time for each of the one or more sub-paths and a specified time limit.

[0014] In an embodiment, the method may include: checking an order corresponding to each of the one or more sub-paths in the set of sub-paths; checking an expected visit time corresponding to one or more visited locations included in each of the sub-paths based on the order corresponding to each of the sub-paths; and checking whether a path condition is satisfied based on information about the one or more visited locations and the expected visit time.

[0015] In an embodiment, the workload may be calculated based on item information corresponding to each of one or more visited locations included in the entire path.

[0016] In an embodiment, the cost may be calculated based on the type of transportation means and the total travel distance corresponding to the entire route.

[0017] In an embodiment, the step of generating a full route corresponding to the type of the transportation means includes the step of generating a full route corresponding to the first type based on one or more sets of sub-routes corresponding to a first type of the types of the transportation means, and the method may further include the step of generating a plurality of sub-routes corresponding to a second type of the types of the transportation means; and the step of generating a full route corresponding to the second type based on the plurality of sub-routes corresponding to the second type.

[0018] In an embodiment, the method may further include a step of assigning the entire generated route to a corresponding type of transportation means.

[0019] In an embodiment, the basic data may include item information corresponding to each of a plurality of candidate locations, information regarding visitable times, and information regarding the quantity of transportation means corresponding to the type of transportation means and the cost of using the transportation means.

[0020] An electronic device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure comprises one or more processors, one or more memories storing instructions to be executed by the one or more processors, and when the instructions are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors may be configured to execute a method according to the present disclosure.

[0021] A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations, wherein the instructions can be configured to cause the one or more processors to perform a method according to the present disclosure.

[0022] According to the present disclosure, optimal route information can be generated in route information management.

[0023] According to the present disclosure, more efficient path planning can be provided by combining metaheuristic techniques and rigorous techniques to reduce the problem size for generating an optimal path.

[0024] According to the present disclosure, a technology is provided for automatically searching for an optimal route while satisfying various conditions related to a transportation route.

[0025] The effects according to the technical idea of ​​the present disclosure are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the specification.

[0026] FIG. 1 illustrates an environment in which an electronic device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied.

[0027] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of generating candidate locations and sub-paths.

[0030] Figure 5 is a drawing for explaining the generated sub-path.

[0031] Figure 6 is a drawing for explaining the operation of generating the entire path.

[0032] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] The various embodiments described in this disclosure are exemplified for the purpose of clearly explaining the technical concept of this disclosure and are not intended to be limited to specific embodiments. The technical concept of this disclosure includes various modifications, equivalents, alternatives, and embodiments selectively combined from all or part of the embodiments described in this disclosure. Furthermore, the scope of the technical concept of this disclosure is not limited to the various embodiments presented below or the specific descriptions thereof.

[0034] Terms used in this disclosure, including technical or scientific terms, unless otherwise defined, may have the meaning commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0035] The expressions "includes," "may include," "comprises," "may have," "have," and "may have" used in this disclosure indicate the presence of a target feature (e.g., a function, operation, or component), but do not exclude the presence of other additional features. In other words, such expressions should be understood as open-ended terms that imply the possibility of including other embodiments.

[0036] The singular expressions used in this disclosure may include the plural meaning unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, and the same applies to the singular expressions set forth in the claims.

[0037] The expressions "first," "second," or "first", "second", etc. used in this document, unless the context indicates otherwise, are used to refer to multiple similar objects and to distinguish one object from another, and do not limit the order or importance among the objects.

[0038] As used herein, the expressions "A, B, and C", "A, B, or C", "A, B, and / or C", or "at least one of A, B, and C", "at least one of A, B, or C", "at least one of A, B, and / or C", etc., may refer to each of the listed items or to all possible combinations of the listed items. For example, "at least one of A or B" may refer to (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, (3) at least one A and at least one B.

[0039] The expression "based on" as used in this disclosure is used to describe one or more factors that influence a decision, act of judgment, or action described in a phrase or sentence containing this expression, and this expression does not exclude additional factors that influence the decision, act of judgment, or action.

[0040] As used herein, the expression that a component (e.g., a first component) is “connected” or “connected” to another component (e.g., a second component) may mean that the component is directly connected or connected to the other component, as well as connected or connected via a new other component (e.g., a third component).

[0041] The expression "configured to" used in the present disclosure may have the meanings of "set to", "having the ability to", "modified to", "made to", "capable of", etc., depending on the context. This expression is not limited to the meaning of "specifically designed in hardware", and for example, a processor configured to perform a specific operation may mean a general purpose processor that can perform the specific operation by executing software, or a special purpose computer that is structured through programming to perform the specific operation.

[0042] Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In the attached drawings and the description of the drawings, identical or substantially equivalent components may be assigned the same reference numerals. Furthermore, in the description of various embodiments below, duplicate descriptions of identical or corresponding components may be omitted, but this does not mean that such components are not included in the embodiments.

[0043] Figure 1 illustrates an environment in which an electronic device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied. An electronic device (101) and a user terminal (102) are connected via a network and can communicate with each other.

[0044] The electronic device (101) may be a server device that manages route information according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. That is, the electronic device (101) may be a server device that operates under the management of a route information management entity.

[0045] The route information managed by the electronic device (101) may include route information regarding the transportation of goods. The route information may include information regarding one or more visited locations. In one embodiment, the route information may be managed by unit schedule. For example, if the unit schedule is daily, the route information may be information managed by date. The electronic device (101) may generate route information for each unit schedule. The route information may be assigned to each transportation method within the unit schedule. For example, the route information may include information regarding multiple visited locations to be visited within the unit schedule for each transportation method. The route information may include information regarding at least some of the multiple visited locations to be included in the route, the order between the visited locations, the visiting time for each visited location, the distance between visited locations, the time required between visited locations, and the time required for each visited location. The time required for each visited location may be understood as the time required to load or unload items corresponding to the visited location onto the transportation method. The electronic device (101) may generate, modify, and store the route information.

[0046] The electronic device (101) can manage basic data. Basic data may include raw data for generating route information. Basic data may include at least some of item information, seller information, location information, and transportation information. In one embodiment, basic data may be managed on a schedule-by-schedule basis. The electronic device (101) may generate, receive, classify, or store basic data on a schedule-by-schedule basis.

[0047] Item information may include information about one or more items to be transported within a unit schedule. Item information may include at least some of the following: item type, item quantity, item volume, item weight, and item packaging unit. Item information may be mapped to seller information and / or location information. In one embodiment, the packaging unit may indicate how each item is or is to be packaged. For example, the packaging unit may be distinguished based on at least some of the following packaging methods: individual packaging, pallet packaging, and box packaging.

[0048] Location information may include information regarding the location of each seller. In one embodiment, the location information may be mapped to seller information and item information corresponding to each location. Based on the location information, the electronic device (101) may identify at least some of the information regarding the type, quantity, volume, weight, and packaging unit of the item corresponding to each location.

[0049] Transportation information may include information about one or more transportation methods for transporting items. The transportation method information may include information about the type of transportation method. The types of transportation methods may be categorized into types by loading capacity and types by usage method. The types by loading capacity may be categorized based on the maximum amount of cargo that each transportation method can carry at one time. For example, transportation methods may be categorized by loading capacity, such as 14 tons, 10 tons, 5 tons, and 3.5 tons. The types by usage method may be categorized based on the method by which each transportation method is operated. For example, the types may be categorized into fixed vehicle types that are managed and used on a fixed basis and rental vehicle types that are additionally rented. The transportation method information may include information about at least some of the following: maximum loading capacity, the number of transportation methods for each type, and the unit cost of each type of transportation method. The unit cost of a means of transportation may include at least a portion of the cost per unit time corresponding to the time taken to use the means of transportation and the cost per unit distance corresponding to the distance traveled.

[0050] In this way, path information and / or basic data can be managed by the electronic device (101). Information management by the electronic device (101) can collectively refer to a series of actions involving controlling and processing the information. For example, information management can include acquiring, storing, updating, or modifying the information.

[0051] The electronic device (101) described above may be implemented as one or more computing devices. For example, all functions of the electronic device (101) may be implemented in a single computing device. For another example, a first function of the electronic device (101) may be implemented in a first computing device, and a second function may be implemented in a second computing device. As another example, multiple computing devices may be used, each of which implements all or specific functions of the electronic device (101). The computing devices described above may be, but are not limited to, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an application server, a proxy server, or a cloud server, and any type of device equipped with computing functions may be a computing device.

[0052] The user terminal (102) may be a device used by a transportation worker or seller to receive route information from an electronic device (101). The user terminal (102) may be implemented as a terminal capable of transmitting and receiving various information with the electronic device (101) via a network. For example, the user terminal (102) may be one of a computer, a laptop, a portable communication terminal (such as a smartphone), a portable multimedia device, a wearable device, or an HMD. However, the type of the user terminal (102) is not limited thereto, and the user terminal (102) may be any device that includes an input / output interface capable of receiving information from a user or outputting information to a user, and that can communicate with the electronic device (101) or other devices via a network.

[0053] The user terminal (102) can provide information received from the electronic device (101) to the user, and can receive input from the user and transmit it to the electronic device (101). Specifically, the user terminal (102) can obtain inputs from the user to call various pages, and generate commands to call various pages in response to the obtained inputs. The user terminal (102) can transmit commands to the electronic device (101) to instruct the calling of various pages. The inputs obtained from the user can include various forms of input, such as clicking using a mouse, touching using a touchpad or a touch screen, voice recognition, and other electronic inputs. The user terminal (102) can receive various pages from the electronic device (101) and output the received various pages.

[0054] In one embodiment, the user terminal (102) may be implemented as a terminal capable of transmitting and receiving various information with the electronic device (101) via a network. For example, the user terminal (102) may be one of a computer, a laptop, a portable communication terminal (such as a smartphone), a portable multimedia device, a wearable device, or an HMD. However, the type of the user terminal (102) is not limited thereto, and the user terminal (102) may be any device that includes an input / output interface capable of receiving information from a user or outputting information to a user, and that can communicate with the electronic device (101) or other devices via a network.

[0055] A network may serve to connect an electronic device (101) with a user terminal (102) or other external devices. For example, the network may provide a connection path so that a user terminal (102) can be connected to the electronic device (101) and transmit and receive packet data with the electronic device (101). The network may be implemented as any type of wired or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a mobile radio communication network, or Wibro (Wireless Broadband Internet).

[0056] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) and the user terminal (102) may operate as a single device. The user terminal (102) may be included in the electronic device (101) as a component of all or part of the electronic device (101). In this case, for example, various types of information exchanged between the electronic device (101) and the user terminal (102) over a network may be various types of information exchanged between components within a single device.

[0057] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The electronic device (200) can process information regarding an e-commerce service. In one embodiment, the electronic device (200) may include one or more processors (210), one or more memories (220), and a communication interface (230) as components. In one embodiment, at least one of the components of the electronic device (200) may be omitted, or another component may be added to the electronic device (200). In one embodiment, additionally or alternatively, some of the components may be implemented in an integrated manner or implemented as a single or multiple entities. In the present disclosure, one or more processors (210) may be referred to as a processor (210). The expression “processor (210)” may mean a set of one or more processors, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In the present disclosure, one or more memories (220) may be referred to as a memory (220). The expression "memory (220)" may mean a set of one or more memories, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In one embodiment, at least some of the components inside / outside the electronic device (200) may be connected to each other via a bus, a General Purpose Input / Output (GPIO), a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), or a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI), and may exchange information (data, signals, etc.).

[0058] The processor (210) may control at least one component of an electronic device (200) connected to the processor (210) by running software (e.g., commands, programs, etc.). In addition, the processor (210) may perform various operations such as calculations, processing, data generation, and processing related to the present disclosure. In addition, the processor (210) may load data, etc. from the memory (220) or store data in the memory (220). In one embodiment, the processor (210) may control the communication interface (230) to request various information from the user terminal (102) or the administrator device (103), and receive various information from the user terminal (102) or the administrator device (103).

[0059] The memory (220) can store various information (data). The information stored in the memory (220) is information acquired, processed, or used by at least one component of the electronic device (200), and may include software (e.g., commands, programs, etc.). The memory (220) may include volatile and / or non-volatile memory. In the present disclosure, the commands or programs are software stored in the memory (220), and may include an operating system for controlling the resources of the electronic device (200), an application, and / or middleware for providing various functions to the application so that the application can utilize the resources of the electronic device (200). In one embodiment, the memory (220) may store commands that, when executed by the processor (210), cause the processor (210) to perform operations. The memory (220) may store at least a portion of information received from a database via the communication interface (230) and / or information transmitted to the database via the communication interface (230). Specifically, the memory (220) can store information regarding e-commerce or delivery order services and commands executed by the processor (210).

[0060] The communication interface (communication interface, 230) can perform wireless or wired communication between the electronic device (200) and a database or other external electronic device. For example, the communication interface (230) can perform wireless communication according to a method such as eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband), URLLC (Ultra Reliable Low-Latency Communications), MMTC (Massive Machine Type Communications), LTE (Long-Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE Advance), NR (New Radio), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), WiBro (Wireless Broadband), WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), Bluetooth (Bluetooth), NFC (Near Field Communication), GPS (Global Positioning System), or GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System). For example, the communication interface (230) may perform wired communication according to a method such as Universal Serial Bus (USB), High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), Recommended Standard-232 (RS-232), or Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS). In one embodiment, the electronic device (200) may be implemented by being integrated with another device. In this case, the communication interface (230) may function as a connection circuit or interface connecting the electronic device (200) and the other device.

[0061] Hereinafter, the operations described as being performed by the electronic device in FIGS. 3 to 7 can be understood as being performed by the processor (210) of the electronic device (200) described in FIG. 2.

[0062] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0063] The method disclosed in FIG. 3 can be understood as a series of operations related to generating path information. The operations illustrated in FIG. 3 will now be described in detail.

[0064] The electronic device (101) can check basic data (S310).

[0065] The basic data may include at least some of item information, seller information, location information, and transportation information. In one embodiment, the basic data may be managed by unit schedule. The electronic device (101) may check the basic data by unit schedule. In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may check information regarding multiple candidate locations included in the basic data. A candidate location may refer to a candidate location that may be included in a sub-route among one or more location pieces of information. The candidate location may be checked based on the location information. For example, the electronic device (101) may check location information in the basic data corresponding to the unit schedule. In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may also check location information based on item information corresponding to the unit schedule.

[0066] The electronic device (101) can generate a plurality of sub-paths corresponding to the type of transportation means based on the basic data and the type of transportation means (S320).

[0067] A sub-route may include one or more visited locations. A visited location may refer to a location selected from among multiple candidate locations to be included in the sub-route. A sub-route may include one or more visited locations. The electronic device (101) may select one or more visited locations from among the multiple candidate locations based on the type of transportation vehicle. In one embodiment, the multiple candidate locations may be determined based on the type of a specified transportation vehicle. For example, some of the locations to be visited corresponding to a given unit schedule may not be accessible by certain types of transportation vehicles. For example, information regarding the largest transportation vehicle capable of entering the corresponding location may be included in the location information. For another example, if the largest transportation vehicle capable of entering a first location corresponds to a type corresponding to a loading capacity of 10T, the first location may not be included in the candidate locations corresponding to a type of transportation vehicle with a maximum loading capacity of 14T. The electronic device (101) may identify multiple candidate locations based on the type of transportation vehicle. The electronic device (101) may identify multiple candidate locations from among the locations corresponding to the corresponding unit schedule.

[0068] In one embodiment, one or more visited locations included in a subpath may be unordered or ordered. The order may refer to the visit order among one or more visited locations.

[0069] In one embodiment, the order of the visited locations for a sub-route may not be specified, but both the starting and ending locations of each sub-route may be the center. That is, the vehicle can be understood as departing from the center, visiting one or more visited locations included in the sub-route, and then returning to the center.

[0070] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may select one visiting location to be included in the sub-route when generating a sub-route. The electronic device (101) may determine whether a sub-route generation condition is satisfied in response to selecting a visiting location to be included in the sub-route from among a plurality of candidate locations. The sub-route generation condition may be determined based on the type of the designated transportation means. That is, depending on the type of transportation means with regard to loading capacity, whether the sub-route generation condition is satisfied may be determined in response to the total amount of items to be loaded at all visiting locations selected to be included in the sub-route. For example, when generating a sub-route corresponding to a type of transportation means with a loading capacity of 14T, each time a visiting location is added to the sub-route, the total amount of items corresponding to each visiting location and the loading capacity are compared, and if the total amount of items corresponding to each visiting location included in the sub-route is equal to or exceeds the loading capacity in response to adding a visiting location to the sub-route, the sub-route generation condition is determined to be satisfied, and the sub-route generation may be terminated. That is, when adding each visited location to a sub-route, the total amount of items corresponding to each added visited location is accumulated, and if the total amount exceeds the loading capacity, the sub-route generation can be terminated. The electronic device (101) can check the item information corresponding to the visited location newly selected to be included in the sub-route based on the basic data, add the accumulated amount to the total amount of items in the sub-route, and check whether the sub-route generation condition is satisfied based on the total amount and the type of transportation means. The total amount of items can be determined based on at least some of the volume, weight, and packaging unit corresponding to each item.For example, in response to adding a certain visited location to a sub-route, if the total amount of items corresponding to all added visited locations exceeds any one of the weight-based loading capacity corresponding to the designated means of transportation, the volume-based loading capacity, or the loading capacity calculated based on the packaging unit, the sub-route creation condition is satisfied, and the creation of the corresponding sub-route may be terminated. Subsequently, the electronic device (101) may create the next sub-route. At this time, if there are remaining items in the previously created sub-route that cause the loading capacity to be exceeded, that is, the loading capacity for the last added visited location is exceeded, the electronic device (101) may add the corresponding visited location to the newly created sub-route.

[0071] In one embodiment, if the sub-route creation condition is satisfied, the electronic device (101) may complete the sub-route creation and create another sub-route. If the sub-route creation condition is not satisfied, a visit location to be included in the sub-route may be selected from among a plurality of candidate locations and added to the sub-route. In one embodiment, the visit location to be added to the sub-route may be determined based on the previous visit location last added to the sub-route. For example, when adding a first visit location to the sub-route and then selecting a second visit location from among a plurality of candidate locations, the electronic device (101) may select the second visit location based on the first visit location. For example, the electronic device (101) may select the candidate location closest to the first visit location as the second visit location. In one embodiment, the closest candidate location may be understood as the candidate location with the shortest expected travel time based on the expected travel time from the first visit location, but the criteria for selecting the closest candidate location are not limited thereto.

[0072] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may preferentially generate a sub-route that includes only one visited location based on the type of transportation means and the sub-route generation conditions. For example, the electronic device (101) may preferentially select a visited location among multiple candidate locations based on the total quantity of items. When generating a sub-route, the electronic device (101) may select the first visited location to be included in the sub-route based on the total quantity of items corresponding to each candidate location. However, the criteria for selecting the first visited location are not limited thereto. In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may randomly select the first visited location to be included in the sub-route. In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may select the closest or furthest visited location among the visited locations that have items to be processed as the first visited location.

[0073] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may determine whether a sub-route generation condition is satisfied based on the total number of visited locations included in the sub-route. For example, for a specific type of transportation means, there may be a case where the number of stops is specified when performing a single sub-route. For example, a transportation means corresponding to the type 14T may only make a maximum of four stops per sub-route, that is, from once departing from a center to returning to the center. In this case, if four visited locations are selected to be included in the sub-route, the sub-route generation condition may be satisfied.

[0074] The electronic device (101) can generate one or more sub-route sets corresponding to the type of transportation means (S330).

[0075] A set of sub-paths may include one or more sub-paths. The electronic device (101) may select at least some of the generated multiple sub-paths and generate a set of sub-paths.

[0076] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may select one or more sub-paths, each of which includes different visiting locations, from among a plurality of sub-paths to generate a sub-path set. The sub-path set may include a combination of all visiting locations that a single vehicle visits during a unit schedule. In other words, the sub-path set may include all sub-paths that a single vehicle visits, i.e., may include one or more visiting locations corresponding to each of the sub-paths. The sub-path set may include order information for each of the one or more sub-paths included.

[0077] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may determine the order of one or more visited locations included in each sub-route for each of one or more sub-routes included in a sub-route set. The electronic device (101) may determine the order between visited locations for each of one or more sub-routes included in the sub-route set based on various methods. For example, the electronic device (101) may determine the order of visited locations based on a Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) algorithm so that all visited locations are visited with the shortest path for each sub-route. The electronic device (101) may determine the order between one or more visited locations for each sub-route based on a time zone condition. For example, the electronic device (101) may calculate the expected time zone of each sub-route in the sub-route set based on the order of the corresponding sub-route. For example, for a first sub-route included in a first sub-route set, the electronic device (101) may calculate the expected time zone in which a transportation means will perform transportation work for the first sub-route based on the order of the first sub-route. At this time, if the expected time zone corresponds to a peak time, the electronic device (101) can calculate the expected time required between visited locations corresponding to the peak time, and determine the order in which all visited locations are visited along the shortest route for each sub-route based on the expected time required corresponding to the peak time. The electronic device (101) can determine the peak time corresponding to each visited location included in the sub-route. For example, for the first visited location, the peak time can be set to 3:00-4:00 PM, and for the second visited location, the peak time can be set to 5:00-6:00 PM. The electronic device (101) can determine the order of visited locations for each sub-route based on the actual time required for transportation.For example, the electronic device (101) may calculate an estimated time between one or more visited locations included in each sub-route based on historical information regarding actual transport times, and determine an order to visit all visited locations along the shortest route based on the estimated time. The electronic device (101) may also determine an order between visited locations based on the estimated time required for each visited location. The time required for each visited location may be understood as the time required to load or unload items at each visited location, and may be calculated based on item information corresponding to each visited location.

[0078] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) can calculate the shortest travel time corresponding to each of one or more sub-route sets. The electronic device (101) can calculate the shortest travel time for each of one or more sub-routes included in each sub-route set. The electronic device (101) can calculate the shortest travel time corresponding to the sub-route set based on the shortest travel time for each sub-route.

[0079] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) can determine whether a sub-path set satisfies a path condition. The path condition may include one or more conditions regarding the feasibility of each sub-path set.

[0080] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) can determine whether a sub-route set satisfies the route condition based on a specified time limit. The specified time limit may correspond, for example, to the working hours of workers corresponding to each means of transportation. For example, if the shortest travel time corresponding to a sub-route set exceeds the specified time limit, the electronic device (101) can determine that the sub-route set does not satisfy the route condition.

[0081] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) can identify the expected visit time corresponding to each visited location included in each of one or more sub-routes included in a sub-route set. The electronic device (101) can determine whether the route condition is satisfied based on information about each visited location and the expected visit time corresponding to each visited location. The electronic device (101) can identify information about the visitable time for each visited location based on the information about the visited locations. For example, if the expected visit time corresponding to a second visited location is 3 PM and the available visit time corresponding to the second visited location is 4 PM to 6 PM, the sub-route set can be determined to not satisfy the route condition.

[0082] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) can remove a sub-path set that does not satisfy a path condition among one or more sub-path sets.

[0083] In one embodiment, a sub-path set can be generated by sampling (extracting) a plurality of sub-paths. The electronic device (101) can generate a sub-path set by sampling at least some of the plurality of sub-paths based on various sampling algorithms. For example, the electronic device (101) can sample one or more sub-paths by assigning a higher weight to a sub-path that is not included in a previously generated sub-path set among the plurality of sub-paths than to a sub-path included in a previously generated sub-path set based on a negative sampling algorithm, and generate a sub-path set including the sampled one or more sub-paths.

[0084] The electronic device (101) can generate an entire route corresponding to the type of transportation means based on the set of sub-routes (S340).

[0085] The entire route may include route information to be assigned to at least a portion of one or more transportation means corresponding to the type of transportation means. Each piece of route information may correspond to one of the generated sub-route sets. In other words, the entire route may include at least a portion selected from one or more sub-route sets.

[0086] The electronic device (101) can generate an overall route corresponding to a type of transportation means based on a first condition regarding workload, a second condition regarding cost, and one or more sets of sub-routes.

[0087] In one embodiment, the workload corresponding to the entire route may be calculated based on item information corresponding to each of one or more visited locations included in the entire route. The electronic device (101) may calculate the workload of the entire route corresponding to the type of transportation means. The electronic device (101) may calculate the workload corresponding to the entire route based on the workload corresponding to each visited location. The workload corresponding to each visited location may be calculated based on information regarding one or more item transport requests corresponding to each visited location. Each candidate location may correspond to at least one transport request. Therefore, the transport requests corresponding to the visited locations included in the entire route may be understood as the workload corresponding to each visited location. The electronic device (101) may calculate the workload corresponding to the entire route based on the workload corresponding to each visited location.

[0088] The electronic device (101) can generate an entire route based on a workload condition. In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) can select one or more sub-route sets so that the workload of the entire route corresponding to the type of transportation means is greater than or equal to a specified workload. In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) can select one or more sub-route sets so that the workload of the entire route corresponding to the type of transportation means is maximized.

[0089] In one embodiment, the cost corresponding to the entire route may be calculated based on the type of transportation means and the total driving distance corresponding to the entire route. The electronic device (101) may calculate the total driving distance corresponding to the entire route. The electronic device (101) may calculate the driving distance corresponding to each of one or more sub-routes included in the entire route, and may calculate the driving distance corresponding to the entire route based on the driving distance corresponding to each sub-route. The electronic device (101) may determine the unit cost corresponding to the type of transportation means based on the type of transportation means. The unit cost corresponding to the type of transportation means may include information regarding the cost per driving distance for each type of transportation means. The electronic device (101) may calculate the cost of the entire route corresponding to the type of transportation means based on the unit cost corresponding to the type of transportation means and the total driving distance of the entire route corresponding to the type of transportation means.

[0090] The electronic device (101) can generate an entire route based on cost conditions. In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) can select one or more sub-route sets so that the cost of the entire route corresponding to the type of transportation means is less than or equal to a specified cost. In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) can select one or more sub-route sets so that the cost of the entire route corresponding to the type of transportation means is minimized.

[0091] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may generate an entire route based on cost efficiency. Cost efficiency may be calculated based on the total distance traveled corresponding to a unit of work. Alternatively, cost efficiency may be calculated based on the cost corresponding to a unit of work. The electronic device (101) may select one or more sub-route sets that combine to maximize cost efficiency.

[0092] Figure 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of generating candidate locations and sub-paths.

[0093] Figure 5 is a drawing for explaining the generated sub-path.

[0094] Referring to FIG. 4, the electronic device (101) can generate multiple sub-paths based on location information (400). The location information (400) can include information about multiple candidate locations (401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406). The location information (400) can further include location information of a center (410). The electronic device (101) can select at least one candidate location among the multiple candidate locations as a visited location. In the example of FIG. 4, the first location (401) may be selected as the visited location. The electronic device (101) can select the visited location (401) and include it in a sub-path. At this time, each of the multiple sub-paths (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5) described with reference to FIG. 5 can include one or more visited locations and can be sub-paths corresponding to any one of multiple types of transportation means. For example, the plurality of sub-paths (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5) may be sub-paths generated corresponding to the first type of transportation means. For example, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the electronic device (101) may select the first location (401) as the initial visiting location to generate the first sub-path (S1) corresponding to the first type. Subsequently, the electronic device (101) may check whether the first sub-path (S1) satisfies the sub-path generation condition. In FIG. 4, the electronic device (101) may select the first location (401) as a visiting location to be included in the first sub-path (S1) and check whether the sub-path generation condition is satisfied. If the sub-path generation condition is not satisfied, one of the plurality of candidate locations may be further selected to be included in the first sub-path (S1). For example, in FIG. 4, the electronic device (101) can further select the second location (402) closest to the first location (401) as the visited location based on the distance condition.After selecting the second location (402), the electronic device (101) can check whether the first sub-route (S1) satisfies the sub-route generation condition. Thereafter, in response to the fact that the first sub-route (S1) still does not satisfy the sub-route generation condition, the electronic device (101) can further select a visit location to be included in the first sub-route (S1) among the candidate locations. For example, the electronic device (101) may not select the sixth location (406) based on the type of the transportation means. For example, the sixth location (406) may correspond to a location that cannot be visited by a transportation means corresponding to the first type. The electronic device (101) can check whether the sixth location (406) is a location that can be visited by a transportation means corresponding to the first type based on the information about the first type and the information about the sixth location (406).

[0095] Referring to FIG. 4, the electronic device (101) may select a visiting location among other candidate locations based on the distance between the pre-selected second location (402) and the other candidate locations or the expected time required for movement. For example, in the examples of FIGS. 4 and 5, the distance between the second location (402) and the third location (403) or the fourth location (404) may be compared to select the third location (403) as a visiting location to be included in the first sub-route (S1). Subsequently, the electronic device (101) may again determine whether the first sub-route (S1) satisfies the sub-route generation condition and complete the generation of the first sub-route (S1). Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a first sub-path (S1) includes a first location (401), a second location (402), and a third location (403). When a first type of transportation means performs transportation work according to the first sub-path (S1), it departs from a center (410), visits the visiting locations (401, 402, 403) included in the first sub-path (S1), and then performs a transportation request corresponding to each visiting location, that is, loads or unloads an item corresponding to each visiting location, and returns to the center (410). At this time, the visiting order for each of one or more visiting locations (401, 402, 403) included in the first sub-path (S1) may not be determined. Subsequently, the electronic device (101) may further generate a plurality of sub-paths (S2, S3, S4, S5) corresponding to the first type of transportation means in a similar manner as described above.

[0096] Figure 6 is a drawing for explaining the operation of generating the entire path.

[0097] Referring to FIG. 6, the electronic device (101) can verify the entire sub-route generated in response to the type of transportation means (610). The electronic device (101) can generate a plurality of sub-routes (610), including a first sub-route (S1) and a second sub-route (S2).

[0098] The electronic device (101) may generate one or more sub-route sets corresponding to the type of transportation means (620). Referring to FIG. 6, the electronic device (101) may generate one or more sub-route sets, including, for example, a sub-route set I1 arranged in the order of sub-route S5, S3, S2, and 쪋. In this case, the sub-route set I3 that does not satisfy the route condition may be removed (630).

[0099] Next, among one or more sub-path sets (640) that satisfy the path condition including sub-path sets I1, I2, I4, etc., at least some of the sub-path sets (I1, I4, I5, 쪋) may be included in the entire path (641). In one embodiment, one or more of the sub-path sets I1, I4, I5, 쪋, etc. selected as the entire path (641) may not include sub-paths that overlap with each other. The electronic device (101) may select the sub-path sets to be included in the entire path (641) so as not to include sub-paths that overlap with each other.

[0100] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0101] The electronic device (101) can generate an entire route corresponding to the first type based on a set of sub-routes corresponding to the first type (S710). The first type may be any type of transportation means. Operation S710 may be performed in a manner identical to or similar to operation S340 described with reference to FIG. 3.

[0102] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may generate a full route based on at least some of one or more sub-route sets generated corresponding to the first type. The electronic device (101) may assign the full route generated corresponding to the first type to one or more means of transportation corresponding to the first type.

[0103] The electronic device (101) may generate a plurality of sub-paths corresponding to the second type (S720). The electronic device (101) may generate an entire path corresponding to the first type, and then generate a plurality of sub-path sets corresponding to a second type that are different from the first type. Based on the basic data and the entire path corresponding to the first type, the electronic device (101) may identify one or more candidate locations that are not included in the first type, and select at least some of the one or more candidate locations as visiting locations corresponding to the second type to generate the plurality of sub-paths. Operation S720, in which the electronic device (101) generates one or more sub-paths corresponding to the second type, may be performed in the same or similar manner as operation S320 described with reference to FIG. 3 .

[0104] The electronic device (101) can generate an entire path corresponding to the second type based on a plurality of sub-paths corresponding to the second type (S730).

[0105] The electronic device (101) can generate one or more sub-path sets based on a plurality of sub-paths corresponding to the second type, and generate an entire path based on the sub-path sets, in the same or similar manner as operations S330 and S340 described with reference to FIG. 3.

[0106] In one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may determine the order of the types of transportation means for which the entire route will be generated. For example, the electronic device (101) may determine the first type based on cost-effectiveness. That is, the electronic device (101) may first generate the entire route for the more cost-effective type of transportation means (e.g., the first type) and then generate the entire route for the less cost-effective type of transportation means (e.g., the second type).

[0107] In the flowcharts according to the present disclosure, each step of the method or algorithm is described in a sequential order. However, the steps may be performed in any order that can be arbitrarily combined, in addition to being performed sequentially. The description of the flowcharts or flowcharts of the present disclosure does not exclude changes or modifications to the method or algorithm, and does not imply that any step is essential or desirable. In one embodiment, at least some of the steps may be performed in parallel, iteratively, or heuristically. In another embodiment, at least some of the steps may be omitted, or other steps may be added.

[0108] Various embodiments according to the present disclosure may be implemented as software on a machine-readable storage medium. The software may be software for implementing various embodiments described in the present disclosure. The software may be inferred from various embodiments described in the present disclosure by programmers skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. For example, the software may be a program including machine-readable commands (e.g., instructions, codes, or code segments). The device may be a device capable of operating according to commands called from a storage medium, such as a computer. In one embodiment, the device may be a computing device according to various embodiments described in the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the processor of the device may execute the called command, causing components of the device to perform functions corresponding to the command. The storage medium may refer to any type of recording medium that stores data and can be read by the device. The storage medium may include, for example, a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, etc. In one embodiment, the storage medium may be implemented in a distributed form, such as in a network-connected computer system. In this case, the software may be distributed, stored, and executed in the computer system. In another embodiment, the storage medium may be a non-transitory storage medium. A non-transitory storage medium refers to a tangible medium that exists regardless of whether data is stored semi-permanently or temporarily, and does not include signals that are transmitted transitively.

[0109] While the technical concepts of the present disclosure have been described through various embodiments, the technical concepts of the present disclosure encompass various substitutions, modifications, and variations that can be made within the scope understandable to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. Furthermore, it should be understood that such substitutions, modifications, and variations are encompassed within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. In a method performed by an electronic device, A step of verifying base data including information on multiple candidate locations; A step of generating a plurality of sub-routes corresponding to the type of the transportation means based on the above basic data and the type of the transportation means, wherein each of the plurality of sub-routes includes at least one visited location selected from the plurality of candidate locations; generating one or more sub-route sets corresponding to the types of said means of transportation, said sub-route set including at least some of said plurality of sub-routes; and A method comprising the step of generating an entire route corresponding to the type of the transportation means based on a first condition regarding the workload, a second condition regarding the cost, and the one or more sets of sub-routes.

2. In paragraph 1, The steps for creating the above sub-paths are: A step of selecting a first visited location to be included in a sub-path among the above multiple candidate locations; A step of checking whether a condition for generating a sub-path is satisfied in response to selecting the first visiting location; and A method comprising the step of selecting a second visit location among the plurality of candidate locations based on the first visit location if the above sub-path generation condition is not satisfied.

3. In paragraph 2, The step of checking whether the above sub-path creation conditions are satisfied is: A step of checking item information corresponding to the first visited location based on the above basic data; and A method comprising the step of determining whether a sub-route generation condition is satisfied based on the above item information and the type of the above transportation means.

4. In paragraph 2, The step of checking whether the above sub-path creation conditions are satisfied is: A method comprising the step of determining whether the sub-path generation condition is satisfied based on a selected visit location corresponding to the sub-path.

5. In paragraph 1, A step of checking whether each sub-path set among the one or more sub-path sets satisfies the path condition; and A method comprising the step of generating an entire path based on one or more of the sub-path sets, if each of the sub-path sets satisfies the path condition.

6. In paragraph 5, A method further comprising the step of removing the sub-path set if the sub-path set does not satisfy the path condition.

7. In paragraph 1, A step of calculating the shortest time required for each of the above one or more sub-paths; and A method comprising the step of determining whether the set of sub-paths satisfies a path condition based on the shortest travel time and a specified time limit for each of the one or more sub-paths.

8. In paragraph 1, A step of checking the order corresponding to each of the one or more sub-paths in the set of sub-paths; A step of checking an expected visit time corresponding to one or more visit locations included in each of the sub-paths based on the order corresponding to each of the sub-paths; and A method comprising the step of determining whether a route condition is satisfied based on information about one or more of the visited locations and the expected time of the visit.

9. In paragraph 1, The above workload is, A method, wherein the method is calculated based on item information corresponding to each of one or more visited locations included in the entire path.

10. In paragraph 1, The above costs are, A method calculated based on the type of the above transportation means and the total driving distance corresponding to the entire route.

11. In paragraph 1, The step of generating the entire route corresponding to the type of the above means of transportation is: A step of generating an entire route corresponding to the first type based on one or more sub-route sets corresponding to the first type among the types of the above transportation means, The above method, A step of generating a plurality of sub-paths corresponding to the second type among the types of the above transportation means; and A method further comprising the step of generating an overall path corresponding to the second type based on a plurality of sub-paths corresponding to the second type.

12. In paragraph 1, A method further comprising the step of assigning the entire generated route to a corresponding type of transportation means.

13. In paragraph 1, The above basic data is, Item information and information about possible visit times corresponding to each of the multiple candidate locations; and A method comprising information on the quantity of transportation means corresponding to the type of transportation means and the cost of using the transportation means.

14. In electronic devices, one or more processors, comprising one or more memories storing instructions executed by said one or more processors; An electronic device, wherein when the instructions are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors are configured to execute a method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform an operation, A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium configured to cause the one or more processors to execute a method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

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