DISPATCH SYSTEM FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

• US 20170059336A1
• Filed: 11/18/2015
• Published: 03/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Taipei University Of Technology
• Original Assignee: National Taipei University Of Technology
• Inventors: Huang, Shih-Chia, Jiau, Ming-Kai, Chou, Sheng-Kai
• Granted Patent: US 9,772,197 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/343 Calculating itineraries, i.e. routes leading from a starting point to a series of categorical destinations using a global route restraint, round trips, touristic trips travelling salesman problem G06Q10/04; optimisation of routes G06Q10/047
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/047 Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching

Abstract

A dispatch system for autonomous vehicle is provided. The dispatch system includes a plurality of autonomous vehicles respectively including a communication unit and a control unit. The communication unit obtains a vehicle location information of itself, and communicates with other autonomous vehicles. The control unit obtains a vehicle available information of itself. One of the autonomous vehicles is selected as a dispatch control center for controlling scheduling of all autonomous vehicles. When the dispatch control center receives a transportation request massage, the dispatch control center performs an optimized scheduling assignment and thus generates a scheduling signal. The scheduling signal is transmitted to the other autonomous vehicles by the communication unit, so as to assign one of the autonomous vehicles as a designated vehicle for transportation.

Claims

1. A dispatch system for autonomous vehicles, comprising:

a plurality of autonomous vehicles, automatically dispatched according to at least one transportation request message, wherein each of the autonomous vehicles comprises;

a communication unit, configured to obtain a vehicle location information of itself, and configured to communicate with other autonomous vehicles; and

a control unit, coupled to the communication unit, configured to obtain a vehicle available information of itself, and controlling driving of the autonomous vehicle; and

a dispatch control center, configured to control dispatch of the autonomous vehicles, wherein when the dispatch control center receives the transportation request massage, the dispatch control center performs an optimised scheduling assignment according to the transportation request massage, the vehicle location information and the vehicle available information of the autonomous vehicles, and generates a scheduling signal for transmitting to the autonomous vehicles according to the optimised scheduling assignment, so as to assign one of the autonomous vehicles as a designated dispatch vehicle for transportation.

2. The dispatch system for the autonomous vehicles as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of the autonomous vehicles is dynamically selected as the dispatch control center.

3. The dispatch system for the autonomous vehicles as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dispatch control center is set up in a manner of an independent station.

4. The dispatch system for the autonomous vehicles as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the transportation request messages is sent by a transportation object, and each of the transportation request messages comprises a location information and a time information of the transportation object.

5. The dispatch system for the autonomous vehicles as claimed in claim 4, wherein the control unit of the designated dispatch vehicle selects to use one of a shortest route planning and a fastest route planning to calculate a driving route according to a route setting condition, and controls the designated dispatch vehicle to drive along the driving route.

6. The dispatch system for the autonomous vehicles as claimed in claim 5, wherein the location information comprises a start location and a destination location, and when the designated dispatch vehicle selects to use the shortest route planning to calculate the driving route, the control unit of the designated dispatch vehicle reads a geographic information, and selects a shortest route between the start location and the destination location to serve as the driving route according to the geographic information.

7. The dispatch system for the autonomous vehicles as claimed in claim 6, wherein the location information comprises a start location and a destination location, and when the designated dispatch vehicle selects to use the fastest route planning to calculate the driving route, the control unit of the designated dispatch vehicle reads a geographic information and a traffic flow information, obtains a traffic flow status of each route segment between the start location and the destination location according to the geographic information and the traffic flow information, and calculates a route with less time-consuming between the start location and the destination location to serve as the driving route according to the traffic flow status.

8. The dispatch system for the autonomous vehicles as claimed in claim 6, wherein each of the transportation messages further comprises a setting condition, and when the control unit of the designated dispatch vehicle calculates the driving route, the control unit first determines whether each route segment set as the driving route is complied with the setting condition, and when one of the route segments is not complied with the setting condition, the control unit calculates a substitution route to replace the route segment not complied with the setting condition.

9. The dispatch system for the autonomous vehicles as claimed in claim 4, wherein when the dispatch control center receives the transportation request messages sent by a plurality of the transportation objects, the dispatch control center performs a carpool pairing according to the transportation request messages, so as to transport the paired transportation objects by using a same designated dispatch vehicle.

10. The dispatch system for the autonomous vehicles as claimed in claim 9, wherein the designated dispatch vehicle calculates an optimised transportation route according to start locations and destination locations of the paired transportation objects.

11. The dispatch system for the autonomous vehicles as claimed in claim 7, wherein each of the transportation request messages further comprises an interpersonal network information of each of the transportation objects, and when the dispatch control center performs the carpool pairing, the dispatch control center calculates a social relevance of the transportation objects according to the interpersonal network information of the transportation objects, and pairs the transportation objects according to the social relevance.

12. The dispatch system for the autonomous vehicles as claimed in claim 9, wherein the designated dispatch vehicle estimates a transportation time according to start locations and destination locations of the paired transportation objects, and calculates an optimised transportation sequence according to the transportation time.