VEHICLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE-SHARING SERVICE

• US 20180032920A1
• Filed: 07/25/2017
• Published: 02/01/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2016
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: ITO, Akira
• Application Number:
  US15/658,643
• Publication Number:
  US 20180032920A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06313 Resource planning in a project environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply

Abstract

A vehicle management system for handling vehicle reservations of a vehicle-sharing service includes a reservation request input device, a reservation result transmitter, and a reservation processor. When a new vehicle reservation request is input to the reservation request input device, the reservation processor performs a simple process for a vehicle allocation which allocates a vehicle to the new vehicle reservation request, and the result transmitter transmits a reservation result to a user. When the time duration after the performance of the simple process and before the rental start time for the new vehicle reservation is equal to or greater than a threshold value, the reservation processor performs an optimization process to update the vehicle allocation for the new vehicle reservation request, quickly presenting a reservation result to the user while reducing an operation cost of the vehicle-sharing service.

Claims

1. A vehicle management system for managing a vehicle-sharing service of one or more vehicles at one or more vehicle service stations, the vehicle management system comprising:

a reservation request input configured to receive a vehicle reservation request from an external computing device;

a reservation processor configured to allocate a vehicle to the vehicle reservation request;

a result transmitter configured to transmit a reservation result including a rental start time of the vehicle to the external computing device; and

a cost calculator configured to calculate an operation cost of the vehicle-sharing service, wherein

the reservation processor is further configured to perform either a simple process or the simple process and an optimization process, for a vehicle allocation, wherein

the simple process allocates the vehicle within a first processing time by either omitting a calculation of the operation cost by the cost calculator or simplifying the calculation of the operation cost by the cost calculator, and

the optimization process allocates the vehicle within a second processing time using the cost calculator to calculate the operation cost based on a given condition to minimize the operation cost, and wherein

the first processing time is shorter than the second processing time.

2. The vehicle management system of claim 1, wherein after completing the simple process, when a time remaining before the rental start time is greater than or equal to a threshold value, the reservation processor performs the optimization process for the vehicle allocation.

3. The vehicle management system of claim 1, wherein after completing the simple process, when a time remaining before the rental start time is less than a threshold value, the reservation processor fixes the vehicle to the vehicle reservation request and prohibits changing the vehicle allocated to the vehicle reservation request.

4. The vehicle management system of claim 1, wherein when a subsequent vehicle reservation request is received by the reservation request input, the reservation processor is further configured to update a vehicle allocation to any prior unfixed vehicle reservation requests and the subsequent vehicle reservation request by performing the optimization process.

5. The vehicle management system of claim 1, wherein when a subsequent vehicle reservation request is received by the reservation request input while the reservation processor is performing the optimization process for a vehicle allocation of a prior reservation request, the reservation processor interrupts the optimization process for the prior reservation request.

6. The vehicle management system of claim 1, wherein when a subsequent vehicle reservation request is received by the reservation request input, the reservation processor first performs the simple process for a vehicle allocation to the subsequent vehicle reservation request and fixes the vehicle allocation to the subsequent vehicle reservation request when a time remaining before the rental start time of the vehicle allocated to the subsequent vehicle reservation request is less than a threshold value, and the reservation processor subsequently updates vehicle allocations for any prior unfixed vehicle reservation requests by performing the optimization process for each of the prior unfixed vehicle reservation requests.

7. The vehicle management system of claim 1, wherein the result transmitter is further configured to transmit an updated reservation result with updated vehicle allocation information to the external computing device after the reservation processor performs the optimization process.

8. The vehicle management system of claim 1, wherein the one or more service stations includes a charge facility configured to supply electric power for charging the one or more vehicles from either a solar-generated electric power supply or a grid-supplied electric power supply, and wherein

the costs calculator calculates an operation cost of the vehicle-sharing service by forecasting an amount of electric power supplied by the solar-generated electric power supply at the one or more service stations.

9. The vehicle management system of claim 8, wherein the cost calculator further calculates the operation cost of the vehicle-sharing service including a grid-charge for the electric power from the grid-supplied electric power supply used to charge the one or more vehicles.

10. The vehicle management system of claim 1, wherein the costs calculator calculates the operation cost of the vehicle-sharing service including a vehicle transfer operation cost.