Vehicle management method and vehicle management device

Abstract

When a vehicle (1) operated by autonomous driving with occupants riding together is managed by a terminal (D), suitable attributes that enable responding to an emergency of the vehicle (1) are stored in a database (B) for each user who could serve as an occupant, wherein the terminal (D): acquires occupant information of a target vehicle; searches, for each occupant, the database (B) on the basis of the occupant information; and adjusts the occupants of the target vehicle so that at least one suitable person rides in the target vehicle, on the basis of the suitable attributes stored for each occupant. The adjustment includes searching the database for suitable candidate users who can ride in the target vehicle without delaying the destination arrival time or the permitted destination arrival time of the target vehicle, and asking the suitable candidate users to ride in the target vehicle.

Description

Vehicle management method and vehicle management device

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle management method and a vehicle management device.

[0002] The vehicle management system described in Patent Document 1 below acquires environmental information around a vehicle that is driving autonomously, as well as the position of the vehicle that is driving autonomously and the position of an emergency vehicle.Based on this information, if remote instructions are required, a shelter position for the vehicle that will not interfere with the emergency vehicle's movement is identified, and information about the shelter position is sent to the autonomous vehicle.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-166412

[0004] As autonomous driving of vehicles becomes more widespread, it is expected that vehicles without drivers will be operated with passengers. In such cases, if all of the passengers are unable to drive (operate) the vehicle, there is a concern that appropriate responses will not be possible in the event of an emergency, such as when the autonomous driving vehicle is no longer able to continue autonomous driving. The present invention aims to provide a vehicle management method and vehicle management device that can appropriately respond to emergencies involving vehicles operated by autonomous driving with passengers.

[0005] One aspect of the present invention is a vehicle management method in which a processing unit manages vehicles that are shared by occupants and driven automatically to a destination, wherein suitable attributes for responding to vehicle emergencies are stored in a database for each user who can become a occupant, the processing unit acquires occupant information for a specified vehicle, searches the database for each occupant based on the occupant information, and adjusts the occupants of the specified vehicle based on the stored suitable attributes for each occupant so that one or more occupants with suitable attributes are riding in the specified vehicle, and the adjustment includes searching the database for users with suitable attributes who can ride the specified vehicle without delaying the destination arrival time or allowable destination arrival time of the specified vehicle as suitable occupants who can ride, and asking the suitable occupants who can ride to ride the specified vehicle.

[0006] According to one aspect of the present invention, one or more occupants with suitable attributes who can respond to a vehicle emergency are on board an autonomous shared vehicle, thereby enabling appropriate response in the event of a vehicle emergency. The objects and advantages of the present invention will be realized and attained by using the elements and combinations set forth in the appended claims. It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not intended to be limiting of the invention as claimed.

[0007] FIG. 1 is an overall diagram showing the schematic configuration of an operation management system for an autonomously driving shared vehicle in the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication system between an operating establishment and users who will be passengers of the autonomously driving shared vehicle in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the autonomously driving shared vehicle of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the seats of the autonomously driving shared vehicle of FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of display information in an emergency displayed on the monitor of FIG. 4. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of display information in an emergency displayed on the monitor of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of display information in an emergency displayed on the monitor of FIG. 4. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of display information in an emergency displayed on the monitor of FIG. 4. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of arithmetic processing executed by the arithmetic processing device of FIG. 2. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a subroutine executed in the arithmetic processing of FIG. 9. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of arithmetic processing executed by the arithmetic processing device of FIG. 2.

[0008] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that each drawing is a schematic diagram and may differ from the actual vehicle. The operation management system shown in FIG. 1 is based on the premise that an autonomous shared vehicle (hereinafter simply referred to as a vehicle) 1 is operated and managed by a specific operating establishment O, and the vehicle 1 operates autonomously along a specified route at a specified (approximate) date and time. In principle, autonomous driving is performed without a driver. An overview of operation management of this autonomous shared vehicle 1 will be described. In this operation management, as an example, a user wishing to ride informs the operating establishment O of the desired route, date and time, etc. The route is specified by a departure point and a destination, and, if necessary, intermediate stops are also specified. The route may be predetermined, as with current shared buses, or may be ordered by the user. The date and time may also be predetermined, as with current shared buses, or may be ordered by the user. The vehicle 1 is shared by multiple users who wish to ride along a similar route at a similar date and time. When a user orders a route, for example, by specifying different departure points and destination points as stopover points for the vehicle 1, it is possible to efficiently accommodate multiple users in one vehicle 1. Therefore, once the passengers who will be riding in one vehicle 1 are determined to a certain extent, the departure point, destination, and stopover points (=route) of the vehicle are determined, and the (approximate) arrival time at the destination is determined according to the driving action plan to the destination.

[0009] To achieve this, the user can contact the operating company O from a terminal T, such as a smartphone or a personal computer (hereinafter also referred to as a PC) (actual communication is performed via a communications company). The operating company O can also communicate with the vehicle 1. In this example, the operating company O can also communicate with other businesses C, such as information management businesses or other autonomous shared vehicle operating businesses. In this embodiment, as will be described later, the vehicle 1 is configured to be able to acquire attribute information of users who will be passengers in the vehicle 1 from other businesses C. The vehicle 1 can also perform road-to-vehicle communication with infrastructure E, such as a roadside unit, and can also perform vehicle-to-vehicle communication with other vehicles M. Road-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-vehicle communication can exchange road information, regulation information, traffic congestion information, and other road information, and can also acquire information on objects in the blind spots of the vehicle 1, for example. Communication between the operating company O and the vehicle 1 is also included as part of road-to-vehicle communication. The vehicle 1 has at least a function of autonomously driving from a departure point to a destination point, including intermediate points, and a function of moving (and stopping) in response to operations inside the vehicle 1. The latter function can be operated only by a crew member who is capable of operating it in an emergency.

[0010] FIG. 2 shows an outline of a communication system between a terminal T of a user who will become a passenger and a terminal D, such as a PC, within an operating establishment O. The terminal D within the operating establishment O can also communicate with, for example, a database B managed by another establishment C, which stores the user's attribute information. This embodiment is premised on an emergency response in which one of the two functions of the vehicle 1 described above, the function of autonomously driving from a departure point to a destination, fails. The inability to continue autonomous driving is caused, for example, by a failure of the environment recognition system 5, described below, which makes it impossible to acquire surrounding environmental information. The emergency response will be described later. As described above, since there is no dedicated driver, this response must be performed by a passenger aboard the vehicle 1. Therefore, in this embodiment, whether a potential passenger of the vehicle 1 is suitable for this emergency response is stored in database B as user attribute information (hereinafter also referred to as suitable attributes). The suitable attributes are stored in association with user identification information such as name, address, and ID. This person qualified to respond to an emergency corresponds to, for example, someone who has attended and completed a training course held by the operating establishment O or an employee of the operating establishment O. Therefore, the terminal D of the operating establishment O can obtain whether or not a user who will become a crew member has the attributes to be qualified to respond to an emergency by accessing the database B. In this embodiment, the user's attribute information also includes location information of the user, such as where the user is (usually) located, such as being at XX company during the day on weekdays or being scheduled to be at XX location on △ month △ day. The terminal D is a computer system, and includes a processor that performs arithmetic processing and a storage device that stores programs and data.

[0011] As shown in Fig. 3, the vehicle 1 includes a drive unit 2 for driving the vehicle 1, a braking unit 3 for braking the vehicle 1, and a steering unit 4 for steering the vehicle 1. The drive unit 2 includes a drive source (not shown) such as an engine or an electric motor, and a drive controller 2a for controlling the drive force of the vehicle 1 generated by the drive source. The drive controller 2a includes a processor P that performs arithmetic processing for electronically controlling the operating state of the drive source, and a storage device R that stores programs executed by the processor P. The brake unit 3 includes a braking mechanism (not shown) such as a hydraulic brake mechanism or an electric brake mechanism, and a brake controller 3a that controls the braking force of the vehicle 1 generated by the braking mechanism. The brake controller 3a includes a processor P that performs arithmetic processing for electronically controlling the operating state of the braking mechanism, and a storage device R that stores programs executed by the processor P. The steering device 4 is equipped with a steering mechanism (not shown) such as a hydraulic steering mechanism or an electric steering mechanism, as well as a steering controller 4a for controlling the steering state of the vehicle 1 by the steering mechanism. The steering controller 4a is equipped with a processor P that handles arithmetic processing for electronically controlling the operating state of the steering mechanism, and a storage device R that stores programs executed by the processor P. Emergency lamps 51 are provided on the front, rear, left, and right sides of the vehicle 1 to indicate, for example, that the vehicle 1 is unable to continue autonomous driving. These emergency lamps 51 can be substituted, for example, with hazard lamps on current vehicles.

[0012] The vehicle 1 also includes an environment recognition system 5 for recognizing the surrounding environment, a communication system 6 for performing the aforementioned road-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and an automatic driving control device 7 for performing automatic driving. The environment recognition system 5 includes a surrounding environment information acquisition means (not shown) such as a camera, radar, or sensor, as well as an environment recognition controller 5a that detects the location of what is around the vehicle 1 based on the surrounding environment information acquired by the surrounding environment information acquisition means. The environment recognition controller 5a includes a processor P that performs arithmetic processing for analyzing the surrounding environment information and a storage device R that stores programs executed by the processor P. Note that technology for analyzing surrounding environment information and detecting the location of what is already well developed. The communication system 6 includes a communication device (not shown) such as a wireless communication device, as well as a communication controller 6a that controls communication targets and communication states of the communication device. The communication controller 6a includes a processor P that performs arithmetic processing for controlling communication targets and communication states, i.e., communication timing and communication time, and a storage device R that stores programs executed by the processor P. The autonomous driving control device 7 is configured with an autonomous driving controller 7a that manages the control states of the control objects in the drive device 2, braking device 3, and steering device 4 based on control inputs such as surrounding environment information obtained by the environment recognition system 5 and communication information obtained by the communication system 6. The autonomous driving controller 7a is configured with a processor P that handles arithmetic processing to obtain control outputs of the operating states of the control objects from the control inputs, and a storage device R that stores programs executed by the processor P. This autonomous driving control device 7 achieves autonomous driving of the vehicle 1 in accordance with a driving action plan from the departure point to the destination, including intermediate points. The autonomous driving logic is configured with current autonomous driving logic of, for example, level 3 or higher.

[0013] The vehicle 1 further includes a vehicle control device 8 for controlling the vehicle 1, for example, in the event of a malfunction of the autonomous driving function. The vehicle control device 8 includes a vehicle controller 8a that outputs command signals indicating the operating states of the control targets in the drive unit 2, the braking unit 3, and the steering unit 4 based on operational inputs within the vehicle 1, as described below. The vehicle controller 8a is an electronic control unit (ECU) that performs arithmetic processing, as described below, and outputs control commands to the drive controller 2a, the braking controller 3a, and the steering controller 4a. Therefore, the vehicle controller 8a includes a computer system with advanced arithmetic processing capabilities. Similar to well-known computer systems, this computer system includes a processor P that exhibits advanced arithmetic processing capabilities and a storage device R that stores information such as programs and sensor signals. The processor P includes, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) or a microprocessing unit (MPU). The storage device R includes a semiconductor storage device, a magnetic storage device, and an optical storage device. The storage device R may further include a register, a cache memory, and a memory used as a main storage device. The arithmetic processing executed by the vehicle controller 8a is realized, for example, by the processor P executing a computer program stored in the storage device R of the vehicle controller 8a. The arithmetic processing executed by the vehicle controller 8a may also be executed by a functional logic circuit set in a general-purpose semiconductor integrated circuit. For example, the vehicle controller 8a may include a programmable logic device such as a field programmable gate array. Each of the above-mentioned controllers has the same configuration and function, and the controllers can also share data and communicate with each other.

[0014] As shown in an example in FIG. 4 , the vehicle 1 includes a plurality of seats 10, each divided for one occupant, and all of the seats 10 face forward. Similar to typical seats, a seat back 54 is provided on the rear side of a seat cushion 53, and a headrest 55 is attached to the upper end of the seat back 54. For example, as shown in the figure, if three rows of seats 10 are arranged, a monitor (display device) 9 is attached to the rear side of the headrests 55 of the first and second rows at the front of the vehicle. A monitor 9 is also provided for each seat 10 at the front side of the front row of the vehicle. These monitors 9 display moving images such as television broadcasts and movies during autonomous driving of the vehicle 1. Similar to a smartphone, a touch panel 11 (see FIG. 5 , etc.) is attached to the surface of the monitor screen. When the touch panel 11 is activated by the vehicle control device 8, the occupant can input information from the touch panel 11 to the vehicle control device 8, as described below. In this embodiment, as will be described later, a combination of the display content displayed on the monitor 9 and the touch panel 11, i.e., buttons 12 displayed on the screen (see Figure 7), constitutes a vehicle operator for operating the vehicle 1.

[0015] In this embodiment, to respond to an emergency in which the function of autonomous driving from the departure point to the destination fails, the aforementioned competent emergency responder (hereinafter simply referred to as the competent person) is aboard the vehicle 1, for example, as described below. Below, an overview of the control mode of the arithmetic processing executed by the vehicle controller 8a when autonomous driving cannot be continued will be described. In this arithmetic processing, when autonomous driving of the vehicle 1 cannot be continued, the occupant's emergency response qualification attributes are read and the touch panel 11 on the monitor 9 in front of the competent person's seat 10 is activated. Next, the competent person is designated as the vehicle operator, and vehicle operation information is successively displayed on the monitor 9 in front of the competent person's seat 10, and the vehicle 1 is operated in accordance with the vehicle operator's operation of the touch panel 11. As an example, when autonomous driving of the vehicle 1 fails to continue, the purpose is to pull the vehicle 1 over to the left side of the road and stop it. First, as shown in FIG. 5, a message indicating that autonomous driving to the destination cannot be continued is displayed on the vehicle operator's monitor 9, and then, as shown in FIG. 6, a message indicating that the vehicle 1 will pull over to the left side of the road and stop it is displayed. Next, as shown in FIG. 7 , an instruction is given to move the vehicle 1 to the left, and "arrow" and "brake" buttons 12 for moving the vehicle 1 are displayed on the monitor 9 in front of the vehicle operator's seat 10. The arrow buttons 12 for moving the vehicle 1 are, for example, command buttons for gradually moving the vehicle 1 in a corresponding direction. While the command buttons are being touched, a control command is output from the vehicle controller 8 a, and the drive unit 2 and the steering unit 4 are activated in response to control signals from the drive controller 2 a and the steering controller 4 a, respectively, to move the vehicle 1 in the corresponding direction. Furthermore, while the brake button 12 is being touched, for example, a control command is output from the vehicle controller 8 a, and the brake unit 3 is activated in response to control signals from the brake controller 3 a, thereby braking and stopping the vehicle 1. Once the vehicle 1 has been moved to the left side of the road and stopped, a message indicating that the emergency response operation has been completed is displayed, as shown in FIG. 8 , and the operation of the vehicle 1 is completed. That is, in an emergency, the vehicle 1 is operated by a qualified person, and the operation of the vehicle 1 includes driving and steering the vehicle 1.

[0016] Therefore, in order to respond to an emergency in which the function of autonomous driving from the departure point to the destination is lost, at least one person qualified to respond to an emergency must be on board the vehicle 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a calculation process executed by the terminal D of the operating establishment O shown in FIG. 2. The calculation process determines whether one or more people qualified to respond to an emergency are on board the vehicle 1 to be considered. If no people are on board, the process is executed to invite a user with suitable attributes who is near the departure point to board the vehicle under consideration as a qualified emergency responder. Here, all passengers in the vehicle 1 are assumed to be traveling from the same departure point to the same destination. This logic is programmed in the storage device of the terminal D of the operating establishment O and is realized by the processor within the terminal D executing this program. In this calculation process, first, in step S1, a vehicle under consideration remaining in the list of vehicles under consideration is selected by specifying the date, time, route, etc. The route includes the departure point, destination, and possibly intermediate destinations (however, no new passengers board or disembark). Next, the process proceeds to step S2, where the user identification information of the passengers of the vehicle under consideration is read. Next, the process proceeds to step S3, where the database B is accessed to search for the occupants (user identification information) of the vehicle under consideration, and the suitability attributes of all occupants are read in. Next, the process proceeds to step S5, where it is determined from the suitability attributes of each occupant that have been read in whether or not there is at least one person suitable for emergency response (suitable person) among the occupants of the vehicle under consideration. If there is at least one suitable person among the occupants, the process returns; if not, the process proceeds to step S5.

[0017] In step S5, it is determined whether the deadline for recruiting suitable personnel has passed. If the deadline has passed, the process proceeds to step S6; if not, the process returns. The deadline for recruiting suitable personnel is set, for example, 24 hours before the departure time (date and time) of the considered vehicle. In step S6, according to individual calculation processing (not shown), users who have suitable attributes and can board the considered vehicle without delaying the arrival time (date and time) at the destination are selected as suitable candidate users (= suitable passengers who can board). Here, since all passengers boarding the considered vehicle continue to ride from the departure point to the destination, users who have suitable attributes and can board the considered vehicle without delaying the arrival time (date and time) at the destination must be users who can arrive at the departure point by the departure time (date and time) of the considered vehicle. Users who can arrive at the departure point by the departure time (date and time) of the considered vehicle can be identified, for example, by searching a database for the user's location before the departure time (date and time) of the considered vehicle and determining that the location is within a predetermined distance from the departure point. Next, the process proceeds to step S7, where the suitable candidate users selected in step S6 are asked to ride the considered vehicle according to the calculation process shown in FIG. 10 (described later), and then the process returns. Note that there may be only one suitable candidate user, or there may be multiple suitable candidate users. Next, the calculation process of the subroutine executed in step S7 of the calculation process shown in FIG. 9 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. 10. In this calculation process, the recruitment requirements for suitable candidates are set according to individual calculation processes (not shown). The recruitment requirements for suitable candidates include the route of the considered vehicle (including the departure time (date and time) and the arrival time at the destination (date and time)), the application deadline, and the remuneration. The application deadline is set, for example, 12 hours before the departure time (date and time) of the considered vehicle. The remuneration is set, for example, according to the ride time of the considered vehicle, i.e., the time required from the departure time to the arrival time at the destination (= commitment time). In this embodiment, the suitable applicant, who will be described later, may respond that he / she is willing to accept a lower remuneration than the remuneration presented in the recruitment requirements, and the amount of the response is defined as the bid amount. Next, the process proceeds to step S9, where the suitable candidate user is notified of the recruitment requirements set in step S8 as recruitment information for the suitable candidate user, and then the process returns.This notification is made, for example, by sending the recruitment information to a terminal T such as a smartphone of the suitable candidate user.

[0018] In these calculation processes, if one or more suitable persons are on board the considered vehicle, the calculation is terminated. However, if no suitable persons are on board, it is determined whether the deadline for recruiting suitable persons has passed. If the deadline for recruiting suitable persons has passed, the destination arrival time is not delayed. In other words, in this case, users with suitable attributes who can arrive at the departure point at the departure time of the considered vehicle are selected as suitable candidate users. Once suitable candidate users are selected in this way, all suitable candidate users are asked to board the considered vehicle, regardless of whether there is only one. In other words, as described above, since the considered vehicle must have one or more suitable persons on board, if the calculation process of FIG. 9 finds that no suitable persons are on board the considered vehicle, it is possible to have a suitable person board the considered vehicle by asking users with suitable attributes who can make it to the departure time of the considered vehicle to board the considered vehicle. For the suitable candidate user, the route of the vehicle under consideration (departure date and time, arrival date and time at the destination) is revealed, and the recruitment requirements for the suitable candidate, including the application deadline and compensation, are set, and these recruitment requirements are notified as recruitment information. The notification is sent to a terminal T such as a smartphone, and the suitable candidate user can apply by replying (answering) to the notification by the application deadline. The vehicle under consideration can be any autonomous shared vehicle with a confirmed date, time, and route. However, by starting consideration with an earlier vehicle, it is possible to have one or more suitable candidates ride in an earlier vehicle than the vehicle currently under consideration. Furthermore, if the consideration is made at a date and time significantly earlier than the vehicle's actual departure date and time, there is a possibility that the suitable candidate will ride (reserve) the considered vehicle after consideration. Therefore, if the consideration date and time has not passed the suitable candidate recruitment deadline, the consideration is temporarily terminated and the candidate can consider it again at a later date.

[0019] Next, the individual calculation processes executed by the terminal D of the operating establishment O shown in FIG. 2 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 11. In this calculation process, first, in step S10, a considered vehicle remaining in the considered vehicle list is selected by specifying a date, time, route, etc. Next, proceeding to step S11, it is determined whether or not a suitable candidate user has completed an application to ride the considered vehicle for this considered vehicle. If the application has been completed, proceed to step S12; otherwise, return. In step S12, it is determined whether or not an application has been made by a suitable candidate user by the application deadline. If an application has been made for the suitable candidate (→ suitable applicant = suitable rider who can apply for the ride), proceed to step S13; otherwise, proceed to step S17. In step S13, it is determined whether or not there are two or more suitable applicants. If there are two or more suitable applicants, proceed to step S14; otherwise, proceed to step S16. In step S14, the priority of the suitable applicant is calculated according to individual calculation processes not shown, and then proceed to step S15. The priority is calculated by quantifying the cancellation rate, complaint rate, and bid amount of the suitable applicants and adding them together. The cancellation rate is given as the ratio of the number of times a suitable applicant refused or did not board despite having applied (number of times) in the past. The smaller the ratio, the higher the priority value and the greater the weighting as a parameter. The complaint rate is given as the ratio of the number of complaints that occurred when a suitable applicant boarded (number of times) in the past. The smaller the ratio, the higher the priority value and the medium weighting as a parameter. The bid amount is given as the proposed reward amount in response to the set reward. The smaller the bid amount, the higher the priority value and the smaller the weighting as a parameter. The priority may also reflect, for example, the preferences of users other than the suitable applicant who wish to board. In step S15, the suitable applicant with the highest priority (largest value) calculated in step S14 is selected as the suitable applicant, and then the process proceeds to step S19. Meanwhile, in step S16, the suitable applicant is set as the suitable applicant, and then the process proceeds to step S19.In addition, in step S17, it is determined whether the application deadline has not yet arrived. If the application deadline has not yet arrived, the process returns; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S18. In step S18, a suitable person (in the form of employment) who can arrive at the departure point by the departure time, i.e., who will not delay the arrival time of the considered vehicle at the destination, is selected, and then the process proceeds to step S19. This suitable person selection method involves, for example, selecting suitable candidate users in the same manner as in step S6 of the calculation process in FIG. 9, and selecting as the suitable person a suitable candidate user who is as close as possible to the departure point. In step S19, the selected (set) suitable person is notified of an instruction to board the considered vehicle. This notification is performed in the same manner as the notification of the application information described above. Next, the process proceeds to step S20, where the considered vehicle is removed from the considered vehicle list and the process returns.

[0020] According to this calculation process, if there is one suitable applicant by the application deadline, that suitable applicant becomes the suitable candidate for the considered vehicle, and that suitable candidate is notified of an instruction to board the considered vehicle. If there are two or more suitable applicants, the priority of those suitable applicants is calculated, and the suitable candidate with the higher priority is selected as the suitable candidate, and that suitable candidate is notified of an instruction to board the considered vehicle. If there is no suitable applicant by the application deadline, for example, a suitable candidate user who is reliably near the departure point is selected as the suitable candidate, and that suitable candidate is notified of an instruction to board the considered vehicle. Therefore, by repeating this series of considerations and recruitment of suitable candidates for the considered vehicle, it becomes possible to have a suitable candidate board the considered vehicle at some point. In addition, in the case of immediate recruitment (selection) of a suitable candidate, such as a vehicle dispatch plan for approximately 10 minutes to 1 hour in the future, the location of the suitable candidate user may be determined based on location information from, for example, the GPS (Global Positioning System) function of a smartphone or a wireless LAN access point, and based on that location, it may be determined whether the suitable candidate user can board the vehicle without delaying the vehicle's arrival time at the destination.

[0021] The vehicle operation management system according to the embodiment has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the configuration described in the above embodiment and various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, the above embodiment assumes that a suitable person will continuously ride vehicle 1 from the departure point to the destination. However, since the suitable person rides vehicle 1 as a user, they may board at an intermediate point after the departure point or disembark at an intermediate point before the destination. In such a case, there may be a situation where there is no suitable person along the route. The present invention can also be applied to cases where a suitable person is allowed to board vehicle 1 in such a situation. In such a case, the suitable person can be considered for the section of the vehicle from the departure point to the intermediate point, the section between the intermediate points, and the section from the intermediate point to the destination. In such a case, it may be necessary to board a suitable person at a location other than the original intermediate point, which may delay the arrival time at the destination on the original route. Therefore, for example, when booking a ride for a user who is not suitable, an allowable detour coefficient or an allowable detour time may be proposed and accepted. When reserving a ride, the user knows that the operating business O's vehicle operation allows for shared rides. Therefore, when reserving a ride, the user can propose and receive acceptance of an allowable detour coefficient or allowable detour time. For example, if the required travel time from the boarding location to the destination is 30 minutes and an allowable detour time of 1.5 times that amount is allowed, then "1.5" is the allowable detour coefficient, and 30 minutes multiplied by 1.5 is 45 minutes, which is the allowable detour time. In other words, the allowable detour coefficient and allowable detour time are indicators of how long the user, or passenger, is willing to wait and depend on factors such as the characteristics of the town. If the allowable detour coefficient and allowable detour time are accepted, the destination arrival time can be postponed in accordance with the allowable detour coefficient or allowable detour time when a suitable person is allowed to board the vehicle by detouring from the original route. This postponed destination arrival time is defined as the allowable destination arrival time. Therefore, if the allowable destination arrival time is acceptable, the suitable person can be allowed to board the vehicle within the allowable destination arrival time.

[0022] Thus, in this embodiment, when terminal D manages vehicle 1, which is operated by automated driving and has passengers on board, the appropriate attributes for responding to an emergency for vehicle 1 are stored in database B for each user who can become a passenger, terminal D acquires passenger information for the vehicle under consideration, searches database B for each passenger based on the passenger information, and adjusts the passengers of the vehicle under consideration based on the stored appropriate attributes for each passenger so that one or more suitable persons are riding in the vehicle under consideration, and the adjustment includes searching the database for suitable candidate users who can ride in the vehicle under consideration without delaying the destination arrival time or the allowable destination arrival time of the vehicle under consideration, and asking the suitable candidate users to ride in the vehicle under consideration. As a result, since one or more suitable people who can respond to an emergency for vehicle 1 are riding in autonomous driving shared vehicle 1, it is possible to appropriately respond even in an emergency for vehicle 1. In addition, the sounding out includes notifying the suitable candidate user of recruitment information for riding in the considered vehicle, and the adjustment includes notifying the suitable candidate user of instruction information to ride in the considered vehicle as a suitable candidate when an application is notified from the suitable candidate user. This makes it possible to allow a suitable candidate user who is actively seeking to ride in the considered vehicle to ride in the considered vehicle as a suitable candidate.

[0023] Furthermore, by including a deadline for applications from suitable candidate users in the recruitment information, it is possible to reliably allow suitable candidate users who are actively seeking to ride in the considered vehicle to ride in the considered vehicle as the suitable candidate. Furthermore, by including a reward for the suitable candidate user in the recruitment information, it is possible to reliably allow suitable candidate users who are actively seeking to ride in the considered vehicle to ride in the considered vehicle as the suitable candidate. Furthermore, when application notifications are received from multiple suitable candidate users, the priority levels of the suitable candidate users are calculated, and the suitable candidate user with the highest priority level is selected as the suitable candidate. This makes it possible to allow the most suitable suitable candidate user who is actively seeking to ride in the considered vehicle to ride in the considered vehicle as the suitable candidate. Furthermore, the suitable candidate is a driver who is capable of operating the vehicle 1, and this operation includes at least one of driving and steering the vehicle 1. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately respond to an emergency, for example, by pulling the vehicle 1 over to the left side of the road and stopping it. Furthermore, when the allowable destination arrival time is accepted by the driver, it is possible to set a user with suitable attributes who will not delay the allowable destination arrival time as the suitable candidate user.

[0024] 1...vehicle, 8...vehicle control device, 8a...vehicle controller, 9...monitor, 10...seat, 11...touch panel, 12...button, B...database, D...terminal (arithmetic processing device)

Claims

1. A vehicle management method in which a processing unit manages vehicles that are shared by passengers and driven automatically to a destination, the method comprising: storing in a database for each user who can become a passenger the suitable attributes to respond in an emergency for the vehicle; the processing unit acquiring passenger information for a specified vehicle, searching the database for each passenger based on the passenger information, and adjusting the passengers of the specified vehicle based on the suitable attributes for each stored passenger so that one or more passengers with the suitable attributes are in the specified vehicle; the adjustment includes searching the database for users with the suitable attributes who can ride the specified vehicle without delaying the destination arrival time or allowable destination arrival time of the specified vehicle as suitable passengers who can ride, and asking the suitable passengers to ride the specified vehicle.

2. The vehicle management method described in claim 1, characterized in that the inquiry includes notifying the suitable crew member available to ride in the specified vehicle of recruitment information, and the coordination includes, when an application is received from the suitable crew member available to ride, notifying the applying suitable crew member of instructions to ride in the specified vehicle as a suitable person to respond to an emergency.

3. A vehicle management method according to claim 2, wherein the recruitment information includes a deadline for applications from the suitable crew members available to ride.

4. A vehicle management method according to claim 2, wherein the recruitment information includes compensation for the suitable crew member available for riding.

5. A vehicle management method as described in any one of claims 2 to 4, which includes, when application notifications are received from multiple suitable available crew members, calculating the superiority of those applying suitable available crew members and selecting the suitable available crew member with the highest superiority as the suitable emergency response crew member.

6. A vehicle management method as described in claim 5, in which the superiority of the applied suitable crew member is calculated based on the past cancellation rate of the applied suitable crew member or the past complaint rate against the applied suitable crew member.

7. A vehicle management method as described in claim 1, characterized in that the occupant having the suitable attributes is an occupant who is capable of operating the vehicle, and the operation includes at least one of driving and steering the vehicle.

8. A vehicle management method according to claim 1, wherein the destination arrival allowable time is set with the consent of the occupants of the specified vehicle.

9. A vehicle management device equipped with a processing unit that manages vehicles that are shared by occupants and driven automatically to a destination, the vehicle management device comprising a database that stores, for each user who can become a occupant, the suitable attributes for responding to an emergency for the vehicle, the suitable attributes for responding to an emergency for the vehicle; the processing unit acquires occupant information for a specified vehicle, searches the database for each occupant based on the occupant information, and adjusts the occupants of the specified vehicle based on the suitable attributes for each stored occupant so that one or more occupants having the suitable attributes are riding in the specified vehicle; the adjustment includes searching the database for users having the suitable attributes who can ride in the specified vehicle without delaying the destination arrival time or allowable destination arrival time of the specified vehicle as suitable occupants who can ride, and asking the suitable occupants who can ride in the specified vehicle.

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