Patent ID: 11928619
Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 7:
8. A vehicle dispatch service method that uses a terminal and a vehicle dispatch information data server including a map database to determine a boarding location for a dispatched vehicle based on a vehicle dispatch request from the terminal and uses an in-vehicle terminal installed in the dispatched vehicle to autonomously dispatch the dispatched vehicle to the boarding location, the vehicle dispatch service method characterized in that
the vehicle dispatch information data server:
receives the vehicle dispatch request, the vehicle dispatch request including position information indicating a starting location of a user who generated the vehicle dispatch request;
calculates boarding location candidates present within a range surrounding the starting location based on the position information and map information in the map database;
extracts information on peripheral targets present in peripheries of the boarding location candidates from the map information, each of the peripheral targets being a visible landmark existing within a range of a respective one of the boarding location candidates, the peripheral targets being registered as the points on a map in the map information;
calculates a boarding location recognition difficulty of each of the boarding location candidates based on a predetermined specificity value and a distance between each of the boarding location candidates and a respective one of the peripheral targets such that the boarding location recognition difficulty decreases commensurately as the distance decreases,
the predetermined specificity value being a numerical value from 0 to 1, inclusive, and set to be larger when a radius of the peripheral target is smaller and smaller when the radius of the peripheral target is larger,
a base boarding location recognition difficulty being calculated by subtracting the predetermined specificity value from 1, and
the boarding location recognition difficulty being calculated by applying a correction to the base boarding location recognition difficulty, the correction being based on the distance, the boarding location recognition difficulty being a numerical value expressing a degree of difficulty for the user to visually recognize each of the boarding location candidates;

determines one of the boarding location candidates as the boarding location, the one boarding location candidate having a lower boarding location recognition difficulty than others of the boarding location candidates; and
transmits a movement instruction to the in-vehicle terminal installed in the dispatched vehicle,
the vehicle dispatch service method being further characterized in that
the in-vehicle terminal controls the dispatched vehicle to move autonomously from a current location to the boarding location that was determined in response to the movement instruction.