Shared Vehicle Zone Management Balancing Supply and Demand

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing shared vehicle management devices do not effectively promote even use of shared vehicles across multiple parking lots, leading to user inconvenience due to undesirable candidate parking lot selection.

Innovation Solution

A shared vehicle management device and method that divides an area into zones, using a controller to prompt users to select zones based on demand and supply calculations, minimizing differences between demand and supply by reconfiguring parking lots within zones to balance usage, thereby optimizing the distribution of shared vehicles.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If candidate parking lots are selected based on turnover rate, then even use of shared vehicles between parking lots is promoted, but user convenience deteriorates because the presented parking lot may not be desirable to the user

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveeven use of shared vehiclesVSAvoiduser convenience

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The service area is divided into multiple zones, each containing one or more parking lots. This segmentation allows the system to manage parking lots in groups rather than individually, enabling broader redistribution of vehicles across zones while still maintaining user-friendly zone-level selection.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Zones act as an intermediary layer between the user and individual parking lots. Users select zones based on their preferences and needs, while the system internally manages the distribution of vehicles to specific parking lots within those zones to achieve balanced utilization.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Device complexity

If parking lots are fixed without dynamic adjustment, then system complexity is reduced, but supply and demand balance deteriorates leading to uneven vehicle distribution

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesystem complexityVSAvoidsupply and demand balance

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adjusts the composition of zones by adding or removing parking lots from zones based on real-time supply and demand conditions. This dynamic reconfiguration enables the system to adapt to changing vehicle distribution needs without requiring complete system redesign.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the parameters of zone composition by adding or removing parking lots from zones. This allows flexible adjustment of the service area structure to optimize vehicle distribution while maintaining manageable system complexity through standardized zone management.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS11386440B2Device and method for management of shared vehicles

Publication Date: 2022.07.12 TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK

AI summary

A shared vehicle management device manages shared vehicles located in an area where a user is present. The area includes multiple zones differing from one another, and each of the zones includes one or more parking lots. The shared vehicle management device includes a controller configured to prompt the user to select a zone including a parking lot where the user will start use of a shared vehicle or return the shared vehicle, a use history acquisition unit, a demand calculator, a supply calculator, and a zone setting unit configured to determine the parking lots included in each zone so as to minimize a value obtained by adding differences between the demand for shared vehicles and the supply of shared vehicles in each zone included in the area.