Patent Publication Number: US-2023147506-A1

Title: Vehicle management system, vehicle management method, and program

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese patent application No. 2021-182060, filed on Nov. 8, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates to a vehicle management system, a vehicle management method, and a program. 
     Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2021-108002 discloses a technique of improving convenience of rental service for autonomous traveling vehicles that can also be used for logistics. 
     SUMMARY 
     There is an increasing demand for a technique for improving operational efficiency of an autonomous traveling vehicle for transportation. 
     The present disclosure has been made to solve the problem mentioned above and an object of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicle management system, a vehicle management method, and a program each adapted to improve operational efficiency of an autonomous traveling vehicle for transportation. 
     A vehicle management system according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a matching unit configured to perform matching, by referring to a first database in which a personally owned vehicle and an operation schedule of the personally owned vehicle are registered and a second database in which a transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle and an operation schedule of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle are registered, of the personally owned vehicle with the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle when the personally owned vehicle is able to tow the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle on at least a part of a traveling route of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle. 
     A vehicle management method according to another aspect of the present disclosure includes a step of a computer performing matching, by referring to a first database in which a personally owned vehicle and an operation schedule of the personally owned vehicle are registered and a second database in which a transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle with an operation schedule of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle are registered, of the personally owned vehicle with the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle when the personally owned vehicle is able to tow the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle on at least a part of a traveling route of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle. 
     A program according to further another aspect of the present disclosure causes a computer to execute processing for performing matching, by referring to a first database in which a personally owned vehicle and an operation schedule of the personally owned vehicle are registered and a second database in which a transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle and an operation schedule of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle are registered, of the personally owned vehicle with the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle when the personally owned vehicle is able to tow the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle on at least a part of a traveling route of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle. 
     According to the present disclosure, a vehicle management system, a vehicle management method, and a program each adapted to improve operational efficiency of an autonomous traveling vehicle for transportation can be provided. 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not to be considered as limiting the present disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a schematic configuration diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle management system according to a first embodiment; 
         FIG.  2    is a block diagram showing a configuration of a server according to the first embodiment; and 
         FIG.  3    is a flowchart showing a flow of a vehicle management method according to the first embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     First Embodiment 
     Hereinbelow, the present disclosure will be described through embodiments, but the embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure according to the claims. Further, not all of the components/structures described in the embodiments are necessarily indispensable for solving the problem. 
     Hereinbelow, a vehicle management system according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.  FIG.  1    is a schematic diagram showing an overview of a vehicle management system  1000  according to the first embodiment. The vehicle management system  1000  includes a personally owned vehicle  100 , an autonomous traveling vehicle for transportation (hereinafter referred to as a transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle)  200 , and a server  300 . 
     Note that the function of the server  300 , which will be described later, may be provided in the personally owned vehicle  100  or the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 . Therefore, a system which does not include the server  300  may also be included in the vehicle management system  1000  according to the first embodiment. 
     The personally owned vehicle  100  is a vehicle owned by an individual. The personally owned vehicle  100  is also referred to as a POV (Personally Owned Vehicle). The personally owned vehicle  100  may be a self-driving vehicle or a vehicle driven or assisted by a human driver. The personally owned vehicle  100  may be equipped with a car navigation device. 
     The personally owned vehicle  100  is capable of towing the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 , which will be described later. The personally owned vehicle  100  may include a coupling mechanism (not shown) for coupling itself with the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 . Note that the personally owned vehicle  100  may tow the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  using a hook or a rope. 
     The personally owned vehicle  100  may change the traveling control of the personally owned vehicle  100  when the personally owned vehicle  100  is towing the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 . For example, in the case where the personally owned vehicle  100  is a self-driving vehicle, the personally owned vehicle  100  may change the traveling control so as to increase the vehicle-to-vehicle distance between the personally owned vehicle  100  and other vehicles. Further, the personally owned vehicle  100  may change the suspension setting so that an impact on a package  10 , which will be described later, is reduced. The personally owned vehicle  100  may perform traveling control for traveling on a route which avoids uneven (rough) roads. In this way, the personally owned vehicle  100  can more safely transport the package  10  loaded in the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 , which will be described later. 
     The transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  is an autonomous traveling vehicle for transporting the package  10  and is a service vehicle for logistics. The transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  is equipped with a sensor (not shown) such as a camera for moving autonomously. The transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  may acquire a transportation route for the package  10  from the server  300 , which will be described later, and move autonomously along the acquired transportation route. 
     The transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  may move autonomously on electric power fed from a battery (not shown). For example, in the case where the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  is a small-sized vehicle, due to the battery life thereof being short, at least one of the traveling time, the traveling distance, and the traveling speed is limited. Note that the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  is not limited to a battery electric vehicle and may be a gasoline vehicle or a fuel cell electric vehicle. 
     The transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  can be towed by the personally owned vehicle  100 . The transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  includes a coupling mechanism (not shown) for coupling itself with the personally owned vehicle  100 . The transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  may control the coupling mechanism based on the result of matching (hereinafter referred to as the matching result) performed by the server  300 , which will be described later. In such a case, the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  determines, when it receives an application for coupling (hereinafter referred to as a coupling application) from the personally owned vehicle  100 , whether or not the personally owned vehicle  100  and the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  are matched with each other. The transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  may make an inquiry to the server  300  or perform determination based on the matching result received in advance from the server  300 . 
     The transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  unlocks the coupling mechanism (not shown) when the determination result is true, and does not unlock the coupling mechanism (not shown) when the determination result is false. Whether or not the matching holds can be determined based on, for example, the vehicle ID of the personally owned vehicle  100 . The vehicle ID may be received from the personally owned vehicle  100  or may be acquired by performing image recognition of a part of the personally owned vehicle  100  (e.g., the license plate). 
     Further, the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  may control the coupling mechanism based on the vehicle type of the personally owned vehicle  100 . In this way, the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  can be coupled with the personally owned vehicle  100  that is a vehicle type suitable for towing the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 . In such a case, the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  may determine the vehicle type of the personally owned vehicle  100  by performing image recognition of the personally owned vehicle  100  or receiving the vehicle type information from the personally owned vehicle  100 . 
     Note that when the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  has driving wheels and driven wheels, the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  may be towed by the personally owned vehicle  100  in a state in which the driving wheels are raised off the ground. For example, the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  may perform control for raising the driving wheels off the ground when performing the action of coupling itself with the personally owned vehicle  100 . 
     The server  300  includes a processor, a memory, and the like. In the server  300 , information about the personally owned vehicle  100  and information about the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  are registered. The server  300  performs matching of the personally owned vehicle  100  and the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  and outputs the matching result to a terminal owned by the owner of the personally owned vehicle  100 . The terminal owned by the owner is, for example a PC (Personal Computer) or a smart phone. The terminal owned by the owner may be disposed in the personally owned vehicle  100 . 
     Next, the server  300  will be described in detail with reference to  FIG.  2   . The server  300  includes a communication unit  310 , a storage unit  320 , a first registration unit  330 , a second registration unit  340 , a matching unit  350 , and an output unit  360 . Note that the storage unit  320  may be disposed outside the server  300 . 
     The communication unit  310  is a communication interface, and the server  300  is connected to a terminal  400  owned by the owner A of the personally owned vehicle  100 . As described above, the terminal  400  may be disposed in the personally owned vehicle  100 . The terminal  400  may be, for example, a car navigation device. 
     The storage unit  320  is a storage device such as a hard disk, flash memory, or the like. Further, the storage unit  320  may include a volatile storage device such as RAM (Random Access Memory) that is a storage area for temporarily holding information. 
     The storage unit  320  includes a first database  321  and a second database  322 . In the first database  321 , a vehicle ID  3211  of the personally owned vehicle  100  and an operation schedule  3212  of the personally owned vehicle  100  are registered. Note that the vehicle ID  3211  may be the owner ID of the owner A. In the first database  321 , the vehicle ID  3211  and the operation schedule  3212  may be registered for each of a plurality of the personally owned vehicles  100 . 
     The operation schedule  3212  includes information about the traveling route of the personally owned vehicle  100 . The operation schedule  3212  includes, for example, information indicating the departure point, the departure time, the destination point, and the estimated time of arrival. The number of the destination points may be more than one. Further, in the operation schedule  3212 , the traveling route itself may be registered instead of the departure point and the destination point. For example, in the operation schedule  3212 , the traveling route and the scheduled passage date and time at each point in the traveling route may be included. The operation schedule  3212  may be input by the owner A. Further, the operation schedule  3212  may be a route calculated by the terminal  400 . 
     Further, the first database  321  may further include a flag indicating whether or not the owner A wants (i.e., intends) to perform towing of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 . In such a case, the matching unit  350 , which will be described later, may include the personally owned vehicle  100  owned by the owner A who wants to perform towing of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  as the matching target. In this way, the matching unit  350 , which will be described later, can perform matching of the personally owned vehicle  100  with the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  in accordance with whether or not the owner A wants to perform the towing. 
     Further, the first database  321  may further include information indicating the vehicle type of the personally owned vehicle  100 . In such a case, the matching unit  350 , which will be described later, may perform matching of the personally owned vehicle  100  with the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  based also on the priority level set for each vehicle type of the personally owned vehicles  100 . Note that the priority level may be expressed by a binary value of 1 or 0, or by using three or more numbers. 
     In the operation schedule  3212 , for example, the traveling route which the user A uses for commuting to work or school and information indicating the day, the time, and the day of the week at which the user commutes to work or school are registered. However, the operation schedule  3212  is not limited to the regular schedule such as commuting to work or school. In the operation schedule  3212 , for example, the operation schedule to the traveling destination of the owner A may be registered. 
     In the second database  322 , the vehicle ID  3221  of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  and the operation schedule  3222  of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  are registered. In the second database  322 , the vehicle ID  3221  and the operation schedule  3222  may be registered for each of a plurality of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicles  200 . 
     The operation schedule  3222  includes information about the traveling route of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 . The operation schedule  3222  includes, for example, information indicating the delivery source (e.g., warehouse or house) the departure point, the time of departure, the delivery destination, and the estimated time of delivery. The number of the delivery destinations may be more than one. Further, in the operation schedule  3222 , the traveling route itself may be registered instead of the delivery destination and the like. In the operation schedule  3222 , information about the package  10  to be delivered may further be registered (e.g., the package ID). 
     The first registration unit  330  registers the information received from the terminal  400  to the first database  321 . The first registration unit  330  acquires the vehicle ID  3211  and the operation schedule  3212  from the terminal  400  and registers them in the first database  321 . As described above, the operation schedule  3212  may be the place of departure, the place of destination, and the estimated arrival time, and the like, or may be the traveling route itself. The traveling route may be acquired from the vehicle navigation device. 
     The second registration unit  340  determines the operation schedule  3222  of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  and registers it in corresponding relationship with the vehicle ID  3221  in the second database  322 . For example, the second registration unit  340  receives a request via a terminal (not shown) owned by a user who wants to ship and deliver the package  10  and determines the operation schedule  3212  based on the request. Note that the second registration unit  340  may receive the delivery schedule of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  from a management server (not shown) that manages the delivery of the package  10  and register it as the operation schedule  3222  in the second database  322 . 
     The matching unit  350  performs matching of the personally owned vehicle  100  with the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  by referring to the first database  321  and the second database  322  when the personally owned vehicle  100  is able to tow the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  on at least a part of the traveling route of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 . The matching unit  350  may perform matching of the personally owned vehicle  100  with the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  by extracting the personally owned vehicle  100  and the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  whose traveling routes overlap at least partially in the same time period of the day from the first database  321  and the second database  322 . 
     The matching unit  350  may generate a traveling route based on the place of departure, the place of destination, the estimated arrival time, and the like and thereafter perform matching of the personally owned vehicle  100  with the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 . Note that as described above, the traveling route may be registered in advance in the storage unit  320  as the operation schedule  3212  and the operation schedule  3222 . 
     The output unit  360  outputs the matching result of matching performed by the matching unit  350  to the terminal  400 . The output unit  360  may output the matching result to the personally owned vehicle  100  or the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 . The matching result includes, for example, the vehicle ID  3211  and the vehicle ID  3221  of the personally owned vehicle  100  and the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 , respectively, that are matched with each other and the towing route on which the personally owned vehicle  100  tows the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 . The towing route may include an overlapping region where the traveling route based on the operation schedule  3212  and the traveling route based on the operation schedule  3222  overlap. Note that the output unit  360  may determine the towing route by taking into account where to start the towing and where to end the towing (e.g., the shoulder of a road). 
     Next, a vehicle management method according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to  FIG.  3   .  FIG.  3    is a flowchart showing a flow of a vehicle management method according to the first embodiment. First, the communication unit  310  of the server  300  receives, from the terminal  400  of the owner A of the personally owned vehicle  100 , information including indication of intent of the owner A that he/she wants (i.e., intends) to perform towing of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  (Step S 101 ). The received information includes the vehicle ID  3211  and the operation schedule  3212  of the personally owned vehicle  100 . Then, the first registration unit  330  of the server  300  registers the received information in the first database  321  (Step S 102 ). 
     Next, the registration unit  340  of the server  300  registers the operation schedule  3222  of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  in corresponding relationship with the vehicle ID  3221  in the second database  322  (Step S 103 ). As described above, the server  300  may generate the operation schedule  3222  by itself or acquire it from an external source. 
     Next, the matching unit  350  of the server  300  performs matching of the personally owned vehicle  100  with the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  (Step S 104 ). When the matching is successful, the matching unit  350  of the server  300  determines the towing route on which the personally owned vehicle  100  tows the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200 . 
     Next, the output unit  360  of the server  300  outputs the vehicle ID  3221  of the matched transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  and the towing route to the terminal  400  as the matching result (Step S 105 ). Then, the personally owned vehicle  100  travels to the starting point of the towing route. The owner of the personally owned vehicle  100  may drive the personally owned vehicle  100  by confirming the display of the terminal  400 , or the personally owned vehicle  100  may move autonomously. Further, the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  moves autonomously up to the starting point of the towing route. 
     After the personally owned vehicle  100  and the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  arrive at the starting point of the towing route, the personally owned vehicle  100  sends a coupling application for coupling with the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  (Step S 106 ). The coupling application may be sent in accordance with the input made to the terminal  400  or may be automatically sent by the personally owned vehicle  100 . The coupling application may include the vehicle ID  3211  of the personally owned vehicle  100 . 
     Next, the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  determines whether or not the personally owned vehicle  100  that has sent the coupling application is the matched vehicle (Step S 107 ). Note that the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  may determine the vehicle type of the personally owned vehicle  100  that has sent the coupling application. When the determination result is true (Yes in Step S 107 ), the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  performs control for unlocking the coupling mechanism (Step S 108 ). On the other hand, when the determination result is false (No in Step S 107 ), the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  does not perform control for unlocking the coupling mechanism and the processing ends. 
     When the personally owned vehicle  100  and the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  are coupled, the personally owned vehicle  100  changes the traveling control so that an impact on the package  10  to be transported by the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  is reduced and tows the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  to the end point of the towing route (Step S 109 ). At the end point of the towing route, the personally owned vehicle  100  and the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle  200  are uncoupled from each other. 
     According to the vehicle management system according to the first embodiment, matching of the personally owned vehicle with the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle is performed, and the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle can be towed by the personally owned vehicle. Therefore, according to the vehicle management system according to the first embodiment, since it is possible to increase the speed of transportation by the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle and to suppress consumption of electricity and fuel, the operational efficiency of the transportation work-purpose autonomous traveling vehicle can be enhanced. 
     Note that in the embodiments described above, while the present disclosure has been described as a hardware configuration, it is not to be limited thereto. It is also possible to implement each processing by causing a CPU to execute a computer program. 
     In the aforementioned examples, the program includes instructions (or software codes) that, when loaded into a computer, cause the computer to perform one or more of the functions described in the aforementioned embodiments. The program may be stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium or a tangible storage medium. By way of example, and not a limitation, non-transitory computer readable media or tangible storage media can include a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory, a solid-state drive (SSD) or other types of memory technologies, a CD-ROM, a digital versatile disc (DVD), a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc or other types of optical disc storage, and magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other types of magnetic storage devices. The program may be transmitted on a transitory computer readable medium or a communication medium. By way of example, and not a limitation, transitory computer readable media or communication media can include electrical, optical, acoustical, or other forms of propagated signals. 
     The present disclosure is not limited to the aforementioned embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present disclosure. 
     From the disclosure thus described, it will be obvious that the embodiments of the disclosure may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the disclosure, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended for inclusion within the scope of the following claims.