Delivery Plan Graph Balancing Passenger, Cargo, and Operator Needs

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing delivery plan technologies for combined passenger and cargo transportation systems prioritize one type of user, either passengers or cargo transport requesters, and fail to consider the requirements of transportation operators, leading to biased vehicle operations.

Innovation Solution

A computer system that generates delivery plans by quantitatively evaluating the satisfaction of passengers, cargo transport requesters, and transportation operators using a search-use graph with cost settings for edges representing satisfaction levels, allowing for comprehensive plan generation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If delivery plans prioritize one type of user (passengers or cargo transport requesters), then the requirements of that user type are satisfied, but the requirements of other parties (cargo transport requesters or passengers, and transportation operators) are not met

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesatisfaction of user requirementsVSAvoidconsideration of multiple parties' requirements
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the evaluation of delivery plans by separating the satisfaction metrics into distinct components: passenger satisfaction, cargo transport requester satisfaction, and transportation operator satisfaction. Each component is evaluated independently through specific indicators (e.g., travel time for passengers, delivery time for cargo, operational efficiency for operators), allowing the system to consider and balance the requirements of all three parties simultaneously rather than prioritizing one group over the others.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Productivity

If delivery plans are generated considering only passenger or cargo requirements, then vehicle operation is biased toward that user type, but comprehensive satisfaction of all parties is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevehicle operation efficiencyVSAvoidcomprehensive satisfaction of all parties
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the parameters used for evaluating delivery plans from single-perspective metrics to multi-perspective composite metrics. Instead of optimizing for only passenger throughput or cargo delivery speed, the system uses a set of parameters that includes passenger travel time, cargo delivery time, operational efficiency, and satisfaction scores for all three parties. This parameter transformation enables the system to generate delivery plans that achieve balanced satisfaction across all stakeholders while maintaining viable vehicle operation efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP4693124A1Computer system and method for generating delivery plan
Publication Date: 2026.02.11 HITACHI LTD
  • EP4693124A1 patent drawingFigure 1~3A
  • EP4693124A1 patent drawingFigure 3B~4
  • EP4693124A1 patent drawingFigure 5

AI summary

A computer system receives a reservation for transport of cargo, the reservation including a departure point and a destination, searches for a path including a combination of routes from the departure point to the destination, generates a path graph including location nodes corresponding to intermediate points of the path and a route edge connecting the intermediate points between which a vehicle is movable using a corresponding one of the routes, generates a search-use graph from the path graph, and generates a delivery plan including a waypoint, a route, and an operation schedule by using the search-use graph. Costs representing degrees of satisfaction of respective requirements of a requester, a business operator, and a passenger are set for the edge of the search-use graph.