Space-Time Routing for On-Demand Transport Vehicles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for optimizing the driving routes of buses-on-demand are complex and inefficient, leading to low demand and high costs, as they fail to effectively utilize transport vehicles while meeting predetermined starting and arrival times for passengers or goods.
Innovation Solution
A method that notes object-specific coordinates in space-time, including starting points, destinations, and times, and defines a transport path network with average speeds, to determine and bundle suitable paths into driving routes for individual vehicles, considering their capacities and locations, and transmits these routes to the vehicles involved.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If complex optimization methods are used to determine driving routes, then route optimization may be improved, but implementation complexity and computational effort increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the route optimization problem into discrete computational steps: collecting transport requests with space-time coordinates, defining transport path networks, determining suitable paths, and bundling them into driving routes. This segmentation transforms a complex optimization problem into manageable, sequential processing stages that can be implemented efficiently.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a space-time coordinate system to represent transport requests, adding the time dimension to traditional spatial routing. By noting starting points, destinations, and time coordinates for each object, the system optimizes routes in four-dimensional space-time rather than three-dimensional space alone, enabling more efficient consolidation of transport requests while meeting time constraints.
2Ease of operation
If buses-on-demand use fixed routes, then route determination is simple, but vehicle utilization is low and fares remain high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic route determination where driving routes are generated in real-time based on collected transport requests. Instead of fixed predetermined routes, the system continuously adapts routes by bundling suitable transport paths according to current demand patterns, vehicle locations, and time constraints, thereby maximizing vehicle utilization while maintaining operational simplicity through automated processing.
3Adaptability or versatility
If buses-on-demand collect passengers at their starting points, then service convenience improves, but transport costs increase due to lower vehicle utilization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual transport requests into consolidated driving routes by bundling suitable transport paths. The system collects transport requests from multiple starting points and destinations, then combines them into efficient routing sequences that maximize vehicle utilization. This merging approach maintains the convenience of door-to-door service while reducing total transport costs through improved fleet efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
In a method of transporting objects with transport vehicles, a starting point, a destination, a starting time and an arrival time are noted as object coordinates in a space-time. A transport path network of possible transport paths together with average speeds on the possible transport ways is defined. Suitable transport paths of the possible transport paths between the object coordinates of the objects are determined and noted in the space-time. In the space-time, one of the suitable transport paths per object is bundled into driving routes of the transport vehicles, transport capacities and the actual locations of the transport vehicles of the plurality of transport vehicles being considered. The driving routes together with the object coordinates of the associated objects are transmitted to those transport vehicles involved. Then, the objects are transported in that the transport vehicles involved are driven along the transmitted driving routes.