Patent ID: 12208040

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment related to a boarding and alighting support method will be described with reference toFIGS.1to3B. Here, a fixed-route bus is taken as an example of public transportation. The target persons of the boarding and alighting support method are persons who need the support of others to use public transportation, such as, for example, persons with intellectual disabilities, patients with (relatively mild) dementia, and children. The target person of the boarding and alighting support method is appropriately referred to as a “person requiring support”. The “child” may be, for example, a person of an age to which a child fare, an infant fare, etc. are applied.

In the embodiment described below, it is assumed that the person requiring support is accompanied by an attendant such as a protector or a guardian up to the bus stop where the person requiring support gets on the bus. In addition, it is assumed that a person who picks up the person requiring support (for example, a protector, a guardian, etc.) is waiting at the bus stop where the person requiring support gets off the bus.

A support system1to which the boarding and alighting support method according to the embodiment is applied will be described with reference toFIG.1. InFIG.1, the support system1includes a bus10, bus stops20,30, and terminal devices40,50. The bus10, the bus stops20,30, and the terminal devices40,50can communicate with each other via a wide area network60such as the Internet. It should be noted that a server that mediates communication between the bus10, the bus stops20,30, and the terminal devices40,50may be provided.

The bus10may be an autonomous driving vehicle that does not require a driver's operation (or does not require a driver), or may be a vehicle that is steered by the driver. The bus10includes a wide area communication unit11, a control unit12, a storage unit13, a vehicle exterior display unit14, a vehicle interior display unit15, and a speaker16.

The wide area communication unit11communicates via the wide area network60(the same applies to wide area communication units21,31,41, and51described later). The vehicle exterior display unit14is a display unit that allows the display contents to be visually recognized from the outside of the bus10. That is, the screen of the vehicle exterior display unit14faces the outside of the bus10. The vehicle interior display unit15is a display unit on which the occupants inside the bus10can visually recognize the display contents. That is, the screen of the vehicle interior display unit15faces the interior of the bus10.

The control unit12controls the wide area communication unit11, the vehicle exterior display unit14, the vehicle interior display unit15, and the speaker16. The storage unit13may store, for example, information received via the wide area communication unit11and information used for control by the control unit12(for example, a computer program or the like). The operation of the control unit12will be described later.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the bus stop20is a bus stop where the person requiring support gets on the bus10, and the bus stop30is a bus stop where the person requiring support gets off the bus10. The bus stop20includes the wide area communication unit21and a short-range communication unit22. Similarly, the bus stop30includes the wide area communication unit31and a short-range communication unit32.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the terminal device40is a terminal device carried by the person requiring support, and the terminal device50is a terminal device carried by the protector of the person requiring support. For example, smartphones, tablet terminals and the like can be applied to the terminal devices40,50. It is assumed that the application for using the support system1is installed in the terminal devices40,50.

The terminal device40includes the wide area communication unit41, a short-range communication unit42, an input unit43, and a position information acquisition unit44. Similarly, the terminal device50includes the wide area communication unit51, a short-range communication unit52, an input unit53, and a position information acquisition unit54. For example, a touch panel, a keyboard, or the like can be applied to the input units43,53. The position information acquisition units44,54acquire position information related to the terminal devices40,50by using, for example, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) or the like.

The short-range communication units22,32,42, and52are communication units compliant with communication standards such as infrared communication, Bluetooth (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and near-field communication (NFC). Various existing modes can be applied to the wide area communication units11,21,31,41, and51, the vehicle exterior display unit14, the vehicle interior display unit15, the speaker16, and the short-range communication units22,32,42, and52, and therefore the details thereof will be omitted.

Next, the movement of the person requiring support in the support system1will be described. The protector of the person requiring support operates the input unit53or the input unit43of the terminal device50(that is, the terminal device carried by the protector) or the terminal device40(that is, the terminal device carried by the person requiring support), to enter, for example, the bus stop where the person requiring support gets on (here, the bus stop20), the bus that the person requiring support gets on (here, the bus10), and the bus stop where the person requiring support gets off (here, the bus stop30).

It should be noted that the input of the bus that the person requiring support gets on may be performed by inputting or selecting the departure time of the bus at the bus stop where the person requiring support gets on. The bus stop where the person requiring support gets on, the bus that the person requiring support gets on, and the bus stop where the person requiring support gets off, which are input above, are hereinafter appropriately referred to as “transportation use information”.

The protector operates the terminal device50or the terminal device40to instruct the transmission of the transportation use information and at least one of a first image that is an image of the person requiring support and a second image which is an image of the protector. The transportation use information and the at least one of the first image and the second image are transmitted to the bus10via the wide area communication unit51or the wide area communication unit41and the wide area network60. The bus10stores the transportation use information and the at least one of the first image and the second image in the storage unit13.

When the protector operates the terminal device50to input the transportation use information, the input transportation use information may also be transmitted to the terminal device40carried by the person requiring support. When the support system1includes, for example, a server that receives the transportation use information from each of the plurality of terminal devices including the terminal devices40,50and distributes the transportation use information to the plurality of buses including the bus10, the transportation use information input by the protector through the operation of the terminal device50may be shared with the terminal device40via the server. Sharing of the transportation use information may be performed, for example, by associating the transportation use information with user identification information.

Subsequently, for example, accompanied by the protector, the person requiring support heads for the bus stop20where the person requiring support will get on the bus10. At this time, the position information acquisition unit44of the terminal device40acquires the position information indicating the current position of the terminal device40. Similarly, the position information acquisition unit54of the terminal device50acquires the position information indicating the current position of the terminal device50.

Based on the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit44, the terminal device40communicates with the bus stop20via the short-range communication unit42when the position of the terminal device40falls within a range that allows short-range communication with the bus stop20. The bus stop20notifies the bus10via the wide area communication unit21and the wide area network60that the person requiring support has arrived at the bus stop20, provided that the short-range communication unit22has communicated with the terminal device40.

Upon receiving the notification that the person requiring support has arrived at the bus stop20, the control unit12of the bus10causes the vehicle exterior display unit14to display at least one of the first image and the second image stored in the storage unit13when the bus10arrives at the bus stop20(or at a predetermined time prior to the arrival of the bus10at the bus stop20). For example, the person requiring support uses at least one of the first image (that is, the image of himself/herself) and the second image (that is, the image of the protector) displayed on the vehicle exterior display unit14of the bus10as a guide to get on the bus10.

The control unit12of the bus10specifies the bus stop where the person requiring support gets off (here, the bus stop30), based on the transportation use information stored in the storage unit13. When the bus10arrives at the bus stop30(or at a predetermined time prior to the arrival of the bus10at the bus stop30), the control unit12causes the vehicle interior display unit15to display at least one of the first image and the second image stored in the storage unit13. At this time, the control unit12may output a voice from the speaker16to prompt the person requiring support to get off. For example, when the transportation use information includes the name of the person requiring support, the control unit12may prompt the person requiring support to get off by outputting a voice reading the name of the person requiring support from the speaker16.

In the present embodiment, a person who picks up the person requiring support is waiting at the bus stop30. When the bus10arrives at the bus stop30, the control unit12of the bus10may cause the vehicle exterior display unit14to display at least one of the first image and the second image. With this configuration, the person who picks up the person requiring support can relatively easily specify the bus that the person requiring support is on.

Based on the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit44, the terminal device40may communicate with the bus stop30via the short-range communication unit42when the position of the terminal device40falls within a range that allows short-range communication with the bus stop30(that is, when the bus10arrives at the bus stop30). The bus stop30may notify, via the wide area communication unit31and the wide area network60, the terminal device50carried by the protector that the person requiring support has arrived at the bus stop30, provided that the short-range communication unit32has communicated with the terminal device40.

Next, the operation of the control unit12of the bus10in the support system1will be described with reference to the flowchart ofFIG.2. InFIG.2, the control unit12stores the transportation use information transmitted from the terminal device40or the terminal device50and the at least one of the first image and the second image in the storage unit13(step S101). Subsequently, the control unit12determines whether a support target person (that is, the person requiring support) has arrived at the boarding place (for example, the bus stop20) (step S102).

When it is determined in the process of step S102that the support target person has not arrived at the boarding place (step S102: No), the control unit12determines whether the predetermined time has elapsed (step S103). The “predetermined time” may be, for example, the estimated time of arrival when the bus10arrives at the boarding place of the support target person.

When it is determined in the process of step S103that the predetermined time has elapsed (step S103: Yes), the operation shown inFIG.2is terminated. When it is determined in the process of step S103that the predetermined time has not elapsed (step S103: No), the process of step S102is performed again.

When it is determined in the process of step S102that the support target person has arrived at the boarding place (step S102: Yes), the control unit12causes the vehicle exterior display unit14to display at least one of the first image and the second image, for example, when the bus10arrives at the boarding place (step S104).

Next, the control unit12determines whether the bus10has arrived at the disembarkation place (for example, the bus stop30) of the support target person (step S105). When it is determined in the process of step S105that the bus10has not arrived at the disembarkation place of the support target person (step S105: No), the process of step S105is performed again. That is, the process is in a standby state until the bus10arrives at the disembarkation place of the support target person.

When it is determined in the process of step S105that the bus10has arrived at the disembarkation place of the support target person (step S105: Yes), the control unit12causes the vehicle interior display unit15to display at least one of the first image and the second image (step S106). At this time, the control unit12may output a voice from the speaker16to prompt the support target person to get off.

For example, when the bus10is a bus having only one entrance/exit as shown inFIG.3A, the vehicle interior display unit15may be disposed near the entrance/exit of the bus10as shown inFIG.3A. For example, when the bus10is a bus in which an entrance and an exit are separately provided as shown inFIG.3B, the bus10may include a plurality of displays15a,15b, and15cas the vehicle interior display unit15.

In this case, the control unit12may cause the display15ato display at least one of the first image and the second image when the support target person is present at the position P1. The control unit12may cause the display15bto display at least one of the first image and the second image when the support target person is present at the position P2. The control unit12may cause the display15cto display at least one of the first image and the second image when the support target person is present at the position P3. With this configuration, the support target person (that is, the person requiring support) can be guided to the exit of the bus10.

The position of the support target person in the inside of the bus10may be specified from, for example, an image of a camera that captures an image of the inside of the bus10. A seat on which the support target person sits may be prepared in the bus10. With this configuration, the actual appearance of the support target person can be recognized from the image of the camera, so that the position of the support target person in the inside of the bus10can be relatively easily specified from the image of the camera. In this case, after the support target person seated in the prepared seat wears the seat belt, the control unit12may lock the seat belt so that the seat belt is not released until the bus10arrives at the disembarkation place of the support target person.

Further, the control unit12of the bus10may communicate with the terminal device40carried by the support target person to cause the terminal device40to emit a voice prompting the support target person to get off when the bus10arrives at the bus stop where the support target person gets off. Similarly, when the bus10stops at a bus stop different from the bus stop where the support target person should get off, the control unit12may cause the terminal device40to emit a voice notifying that the bus stop is not the disembarkation place, for example.

Technical Effect

Persons with intellectual disabilities and patients with dementia may, for example, get on a vehicle different from the vehicle they planned to get on or forget their destination. In addition, it is often difficult for persons with intellectual disabilities and patients with dementia to convey that they are in trouble to people they meet for the first time. The same things can happen to children.

In the support system1, when the bus10arrives at the bus stop20where the person requiring support such as a person with intellectual disabilities gets on, at least one of the first image (that is, an image of the person requiring support) and the second image (that is, an image of the protector) is displayed on the vehicle exterior display unit14of the bus10. It can be expected that the person requiring support will feel familiar and secure with the image of the person requiring support himself/herself and the image of the protector. Therefore, by displaying at least one of the first image and the second image on the vehicle exterior display unit14, the person requiring support can be guided to the bus10that he/she should get on. In the support system1, when the bus10that the person requiring support is on arrives at the bus stop30where the person requiring support gets off, at least one of the first image and the second image is displayed on the vehicle interior display unit15of the bus10. This makes it possible for the person requiring support to be aware of the bus stop where he/she should get off.

Therefore, according to the support system1, it is possible to support the boarding and alighting of a person requiring support such as person with intellectual disabilities. In addition, since the person requiring support can use public transportation such as the bus10independently, the burden of attendance by a protector or the like can be reduced. The support system1can be applied not only to a fixed-route bus but also to other public transportation such as railways.

Various modes of the disclosure derived from the embodiment described above will be described below.

A boarding and alighting support method according to an aspect of the disclosure is a boarding and alighting support method for supporting a person requiring support who requires support of another person to get on a vehicle or get off a vehicle, and includes: a storing step of storing at least one of a first image that is an image of the person requiring support and a second image that is an image of a protector of the person requiring support; a first display step in which the vehicle that the person requiring support is planned to get on displays the at least one of the first image and the second image; and a second display step in which the vehicle displays the at least one of the first image and the second image when the person requiring support is planned to get off the vehicle. In the above-described embodiment, the “bus10” corresponds to an example of a “vehicle”.

Here, the person requiring support may include at least one of a child, a patient with dementia, and a person with intellectual disabilities.

In the boarding and alighting support method, the vehicle may include a first display device that is visually recognizable from an outside of the vehicle and a second display device that is visually recognizable by an occupant inside the vehicle, the vehicle may display the at least one of the first image and the second image on the first display device in the first display step, and the vehicle may display the at least one of the first image and the second image on the second display device in the second display step. In the above-described embodiment, the “vehicle exterior display unit14” corresponds to an example of the “first display device”, and the “vehicle interior display unit15” and the “displays15a,15b, and15c” correspond to an example of the “second display device”.

In this mode, the vehicle may include a plurality of displays as the second display device, and the vehicle may determine, among the displays, a display that displays the at least one of the first image and the second image to guide the person requiring support to an exit of the vehicle in the second display step.

The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified within the scope of claims and within the scope not contrary to the gist or idea of the disclosure that can be read from the entire specification, and a boarding and alighting support method including such modifications is also included in the technical scope of the present disclosure.