Vehicle allocation system

• US 6,701,300 B1
• Filed: 10/22/1999
• Issued: 03/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Kazuhiro, Yano, Shunji, Uehara, Yuji, Murakami, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafiz, Tariq R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TARAE, CATHERINE MICHELLE
• Application Number:
  US09/422,849
• Time in Patent Office: 1,593 Days
• Field of Search: 705/10, 705/13, 701/117
• US Class Current: 705/7.25
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0205 Location or geographical consideration
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/123 indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles; Managing passenger vehicles circulating according to a fixed timetable, e.g. buses, trains, tramstransmission of navigation instructions to vehicles G08G1/0968

Abstract

In relocating vehicles to a port running short of vehicles from another port, the seriousness of shortage is considered. A first computing section computes the number of expected demands. A second computing section computes the number of expected vehicles. An excess/shortage count computing section computes excess or shortage from the difference between the number of demands and the number of vehicles. An evaluation value computing section computes an evaluation value indicative of the degree of seriousness of vehicle shortage. A vehicle relocation setting section sets relocation by considering the evaluation value, namely the degree of seriousness of vehicle shortage.

Claims

1. A vehicle allocation system comprising:

means for detecting a forecast occurrence ride demand count for each port by adding a forecast ride demand count expected to occur within a scheduled time period to a currently owned ride demand count;

means for detecting a forecast occurrence vehicle count for each port by adding an arrival vehicle count expected to arrive within said scheduled time period to a currently owned vehicle count;

means for computing a vehicle excess or shortage count for each port on the basis of said forecast occurrence ride demand count and said forecast occurrence vehicle count; and

means for computing an evaluation value of the degree of urgency of the number of vehicles on the basis of said forecast occurrence ride demand count relative to said vehicle excess or shortage count;

wherein an excess vehicle is relocated to the port having a lowest evaluation value from another port,

wherein said scheduled time period is a search range or time period which spans a prescheduled number of hours or minutes starting from a current time and in which to search for forecasted starting trips, said scheduled time period being set to be greater than a minimum time required for the excess vehicle to be relocated from said another port to the port having said lowest evaluation value, and being set to be less than a predetermined maximum wait time,

wherein said evaluation value is calculated by subtracting said forecast occurrence demand from said forecast occurrence vehicle count to obtain a first value, and dividing said first value by a root of said forecast occurrence demand count.

2. The vehicle allocation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said evaluation value computing means is adapted to compute an evaluation value every time vehicle relocation is executed.

3. The vehicle allocation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vehicle relocation is executed sequentially on vehicles of ports in the decreasing order of the evaluation values thereof.

4. The vehicle allocation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vehicle relocation is executed sequentially on vehicles of ports in the increasing order of distances therefrom to the port having a smallest evaluation value.

9. The vehicle allocation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said root is a square root.

10. The vehicle allocation system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said evaluation value is calculated by subtracting said forecast occurrence demand from said forecast occurrence vehicle count to obtain a first value, and dividing said first value by a root of said forecast occurrence demand count.

11. The vehicle allocation system as claimed in claim 10, wherein said root is a square root.

12. The vehicle allocation system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said evaluation value is calculated by subtracting said forecast occurrence demand from said forecast occurrence vehicle count to obtain a first value, and dividing said first value by a root of said forecast occurrence demand count.

13. The vehicle allocation system as claimed in claim 12, wherein said root is a square root.

14. The vehicle allocation system as claimed in claim 4, wherein said evaluation value is calculated by subtracting said forecast occurrence demand from said forecast occurrence vehicle count to obtain a first value, and dividing said first value by a root of said forecast occurrence demand count.

15. The vehicle allocation system as claimed in claim 14, wherein said root is a square root.

5. A method using computing means of allocating vehicles, comprising the steps of:

determining a forecast occurrence ride demand count for each of a plurality of delimited areas by adding a forecast ride demand count expected to occur within a scheduled time period to a currently owned ride demand count;

determining a forecast occurrence vehicle count for each of said plurality of delimited areas by adding an arrival vehicle count expected to arrive within the scheduled time period to a currently owned vehicle count;

determining an evaluation value based upon said forecast occurrence ride demand and said forecast occurrence vehicle count for each of said plurality of delimited areas;

arranging said evaluation value for each of said plurality of delimited areas in increasing order;

determining an excess or shortage of vehicles for each of said plurality of delimited areas in the order arranged in said arranging step;

calculating the difference of said forecast occurrence vehicle count and said forecast occurrence ride demand count for each of said plurality of delimited areas;

determining if any of said plurality of delimited areas needs relocation of at least one vehicle based upon a polarity of the difference calculated in said calculating step,

wherein said scheduled time period is a search range or time period which spans a prescheduled number of hours or minutes starting from a current time and in which to search for forecasted starting trips, said scheduled time period being set to be greater than a minimum time required for an excess vehicle to be relocated from another port to a port having a lowest evaluation value, and being set to be less than a predetermined maximum wait time,

wherein the step of determining said evaluation value determines said value by calculating a difference of said forecast occurrence vehicle count and said forecast occurrence demand, and dividing the difference by the root of said forecast demand count,

wherein said determining, arranging and calculating steps use said computing means.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of:

terminating vehicle allocation control if said polarity is positive for each of said plurality of delimited areas; and

relocating at least one vehicle to at least one of said plurality of delimited areas if at least one of said plurality of delimited areas has a negative polarity.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of:

updating said evaluation value once at least one vehicle is relocated by said relocating step.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of relocating, if one of said delimited areas has a negative polarity, relocates a vehicle from a delimited area having an excess of vehicles, and in closest proximity, to said delimited area having negative polarity.

16. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of determining said evaluation value determines said value by calculating a difference of said forecast occurrence vehicle count and said forecast occurrence demand, and dividing the difference by a root of said forecast demand count.