RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

专利摘要:
Computer readable systems, methods, apparatus, and media enable the allocation of vehicle resources to future vehicle requirements. In some embodiments, the allocation of a vehicle resource to a vehicle need may be based on an iterative analysis of candidate vehicle resources using one or more of: a vehicle resource adequacy candidate to satisfy the vehicle need, a journey time from a vehicle position to a starting position, and / or a departure time of the vehicle need.
公开号:FR3033439A1
申请号:FR1651499
申请日:2016-02-24
公开日:2016-09-09
发明作者:Larry Scicluna；Andrey GLASCHENKO
申请人:Addison Lee Ltd；
IPC主号:

专利说明:

[0001] FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the management of vehicle resources with respect to vehicle needs, and in particular relates to the analysis of the adequacy of dynamic sets of resources. vehicles for future vehicle needs. Prior State of the Invention In the field of the management of a fleet of vehicles (eg delivery trucks, rental vehicles with driver, taxis), in the past a human operator, called a controller, allocated the vehicles and drivers to bookings. The controller communicated with the fleet vehicle drivers on the voice channels (typically only one shared voice channel) of a radio system that allowed the controller and the drivers to converse. The controller determined the locations of the drivers by asking them to verbally indicate their position. The controller could also ask the drivers to indicate when they thought they would drop off their passengers and be available again to fulfill a reservation. The details of this reservation were generally communicated verbally by the controller to the drivers via the radio system. Such manual management systems remain widespread. Some third parties allow the automatic allocation of instant bookings but not for advance bookings or other types of future vehicle requirements. The techniques used in the automatic allocation of instant bookings are generally not applicable to automatic allocation in the case of future needs of vehicles. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a management system of FIG. a plurality of vehicle resources according to various aspects of the present invention; Figure 2a is an example of representation of a geographical region with the positions of a plurality of vehicle resources and positions to be served, in accordance with various aspects of the present invention; Figure 2b is an exemplary representation of the geographic region of Figure 2a showing the positions of the plurality of vehicle resources and positions to be serviced subsequently in accordance with various aspects of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process of a vehicle resource allocation system of a dynamically determined set of candidate vehicles, in accordance with various aspects of the present invention; Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating the calculation of a score of a vehicle resource with respect to a vehicle request; Fig. 5a is a block diagram of a rental car rental service management system according to various aspects of the present invention; Figure 5b is a block diagram of a rental vehicle rental vehicle management system in accordance with various aspects of the present invention; Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating the overall operation of a rental car rental allocation system to a reservation; and Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating the components of a server according to various embodiments of the present invention.
[0002] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION In a few words, various embodiments of the present invention allow for the allocation of vehicles and other types of vehicle resources to vehicle demands and other types of vehicle requirements. a way which allows the efficient management of a fleet of vehicles while minimizing the distance traveled by the vehicles to meet the demands of vehicles.
[0003] Advantageously, one or more embodiments of the present invention provide the above advantages while relatively little requesting the resources of the computing system that realizes the allocation.
[0004] In accordance with some embodiments, a fleet of candidate vehicles is identified (eg in a whole fleet of vehicles) in a relatively low-computation manner. In accordance with one or more embodiments, the suitability of the candidate vehicles for a given vehicle application can be evaluated.
[0005] In one or more embodiments, the most suitable vehicle for an anticipated vehicle request (eg requesting that a vehicle be later at a specified position) is identified and allocated to meet the anticipated vehicle demand. . In accordance with some embodiments, the vehicle is allocated only when it is determined that the vehicle is to be allocated, so as to satisfy a time requirement associated with the anticipated vehicle request. In one embodiment, a specific vehicle can not be allocated to an advance vehicle request until it is determined (eg, by a vehicle resource allocation server) that a specific vehicle must be allocated at this time 20 so that it can reach a first requested position associated with the anticipated vehicle request at a certain time. A first requested position can be called in this presentation 'starting position' even if this position is the only position requested.
[0006] In one example, a specific police vehicle can not be allocated automatically to meet a programmed need for a police vehicle to be at a requested position (eg, a junction undergoing work, in order to traffic control) until a vehicle resource allocation system has determined when a vehicle needs to be allocated to arrive at the specific position in time (eg in accordance with time programmed). The determination of the moment at which the vehicle is to be allocated may be based, according to certain embodiments, on: an iterative and / or real-time control of the statuses and / or positions of the available vehicle fleet, and / or one or more several time factors (eg current time, start time of application, travel times of candidate vehicles). In another example, a rental vehicle allocation system with driver can not allocate a particular vehicle of a rental fleet with driver to satisfy a customer's advance reservation until the system determines automatically, depending on the fleet of vehicles then available which may be able to satisfy the reservation (eg those which are at an appropriate distance 10 from the requested collection position) and one or more of the chronological and / or other factors ( as described with respect to various embodiments in this disclosure), a vehicle must be allocated in order to arrive in time at the requested collection position to fulfill the reservation.
[0007] According to some embodiments, as advance processing is performed only for the most suitable candidate vehicle, the relatively computationally intensive process of determining the durations of road trips is performed relatively few times.
[0008] In some embodiments, prior to the actual allocation (e.g., prior to an allocation time automatically determined by an allocation system), each candidate vehicle may be re-evaluated to determine if a different vehicle is now the vehicle of choice. more suitable, and / or the composition of the set of candidate vehicles to be analyzed can be re-evaluated according to various factors.
[0009] According to some embodiments, to meet vehicle resource demands, the vehicle resource allocation system assigns the vehicles to particular positions (eg destinations or targets requested), so that not only vehicles in a fleet can be allocated efficiently (eg the most suitable vehicle is allocated to a request), but the allocation process itself can be configured to perform a 3033439 allocation for one hour optimized. In addition, in some embodiments, these benefits are achieved automatically. The inventors have realized that the automatic allocation of future vehicle needs is a very different process from the manual process previously used for bookings, and that it presents many challenges. Improved allocation can have positive effects in several areas including processing, memory and other computing and communication resources required. Reassessing and allocating the most suitable vehicle relatively late allows for better use of the vehicles and other fleet resources. Other effects may be a better use of the vehicle fleet and a reduction in the distances traveled to satisfy customer reservations. Advance requests (eg scheduled deliveries, advance rental vehicle reservations with driver) can also be more efficiently met. This also helps to minimize the distances traveled by fleet vehicles, reduce fuel costs, improve vehicle usage, reduce wear and reduce driver fatigue. Greater customer satisfaction and the well-being and happiness of drivers are other benefits.
[0010] A vehicle resource allocation system, in accordance with some embodiments, allocates vehicles at one or more particular positions, such as in response to a received vehicle resource request on a communication network, and / or in response another indication of a need (or potential need) for a vehicle resource at a particular position. Requests for vehicle resources may include any number of particular positions, such as in the case of a vehicle to carry goods and / or people of a first position (eg a pickup position). at a second position (eg a stow position), or to traverse a particular road with several specific positions (eg points of interest or patrol waypoints).
[0011] Various types of vehicle resources may be managed in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. In one example, public and / or private service providers (eg police, medical service providers, security, gas / electricity / water companies, delivery service providers) may have to allocate vehicles ( eg police cars, delivery vehicles) at specific positions. In another example, a vehicle resource allocation system of a rental vehicle-driver service can allocate vehicles (eg, taxis) to collect and drop off travelers.
[0012] Vehicle resources may include, by way of example and without limitation, land vehicles (eg, cars, trucks, taxis, construction equipment, etc.), watercraft (eg, boats, ships, etc.), aircraft (eg aircraft, helicopters, aerial drones, etc.), and / spacecraft. Although some examples of vehicles disclosed herein are described as having drivers, it will be readily understood that the vehicles that can be allocated in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention may be inhabited or autonomous (unmanned), may be operated by an operator human in the vehicle and / or can be maneuvered remotely by a human operator and / or computer.
[0013] In accordance with some embodiments, a vehicle resource allocation controller device for allocating vehicle resources is adapted to execute a vehicle resource allocation module for dynamically allocating vehicle resources (e.g. in response to requests from vehicles) by performing one or more of the methods described in this disclosure. In some embodiments, the vehicle resource allocation controller device may determine the respective positions associated with each of a plurality of vehicle resources. For example, the associated position may include a current location of a vehicle (eg, determined by receiving geoposition information on the position of a vehicle resource device associated with the vehicle resource). In another example, the associated position may include a destination to which a vehicle is currently heading (or at which it is expected to arrive at a particular future time) such as a requested position in a previous vehicle application. In some embodiments, the vehicle resource allocation controller device may be in communication with a plurality of vehicle resource devices (eg, which are in vehicle resources or are in communication with those and / or with a plurality of requesting devices (eg for use by the applicants to carry out their vehicle requests).
[0014] In accordance with some embodiments, the network vehicle resource allocation systems and apparatuses provide one or more of the following: a plurality of vehicle resource devices (e.g., each vehicle resource device being associated to a respective vehicle resource of a plurality of vehicle resources); a plurality of requesting devices (eg each calling device being associated with a respective one of the vehicle resources); a vehicle resource allocation controller device; a database of priority positions ('hot spots'); A vehicle resource allocation module; a vehicle resource database; a position control module of the vehicle resources; a priority position module for managing the information relating to and / or defining the hot spots; A map and / or position database; and / or at least one positioning service (e.g., global positioning service (GPS), Wi-Fi network positioning service In accordance with some embodiments, the systems, methods, apparatus, and media computer-readable means for allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle requirement: 3033439 -8 calculate a score for each candidate vehicle resource in a fleet of candidate vehicle resources, according to a request calculating a journey time from a vehicle position associated with at least one candidate vehicle resource (e.g., current position, intended destination) to a starting position associated with a vehicle request; repeating (eg periodically, according to a program, and / or at a predetermined time) the calculation of the score and the travel time of the candidate vehicle resource, until determine that a specific vehicle resource should be allocated to the vehicle request; and after determining that a vehicle-specific vehicle resource should be allocated, allocating a vehicle resource from the candidate vehicle resource park to the vehicle request (eg, allocate the vehicle resource with the highest score of the most recently calculated scores). In accordance with some embodiments, the computer readable systems, methods, apparatus and media for allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle need can: form a fleet of candidate vehicle resources that can possibly satisfy a request for a vehicle; calculating a respective score for each candidate vehicle resource in the candidate vehicle resource park, based on the vehicle demand; for one or more of the candidate vehicle resources in the fleet of candidate vehicle resources, calculating a respective journey time from a respective vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource to a starting position associated with the request for vehicle; automatically determining that it is time to allocate a vehicle resource to the vehicle demand, based on the respective scores calculated for the candidate vehicle resources of the candidate vehicle fleet and the respective one or more journey times calculated ; and after determining that it is time to allocate a vehicle resource to the vehicle demand, allocate a vehicle resource of the candidate vehicle resource park to the vehicle request.
[0015] According to some embodiments, the computer readable systems, methods, apparatus and media for allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle need can: determine that a current time has a predetermined relationship with a departure time associated with a first request for a vehicle; 10 forming a fleet of candidate vehicle resources that may eventually satisfy the first vehicle request; for each candidate vehicle resource in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a respective first score indicative of the adequacy of the candidate vehicle resource to satisfy the first vehicle request; For one or more of the candidate vehicle resources in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a respective first journey time from a respective first vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource to a starting position associated with the first request for a vehicle; For each candidate vehicle resource in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a second respective score indicating the adequacy of the candidate vehicle resource to satisfy the first vehicle request; for one or more of the candidate vehicle resources in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a respective second journey time from a respective second vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource to the starting position associated with the first request for a vehicle; determine that a vehicle resource should be allocated to the first vehicle request, using both: 1) the respective second scores calculated for the candidate vehicle resources of the candidate vehicle fleet, and 2) the one or more calculated second travel times; After determining that a vehicle resource is to be allocated to the first vehicle request, allocate to the first vehicle request a vehicle resource of the candidate vehicle resource park based on the respective second respective vehicle score. the vehicle resource.
[0016] In accordance with some embodiments, the computer readable systems, methods, apparatus and media for allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle need enable: a) storage (eg, by a device); 10 resource allocation controller), a plurality of vehicle requirements in the form of several vehicle requests, each vehicle request including at least one respective departure time and a respective starting position; b) for a first vehicle request of the several vehicle requests, automatically determine that a current time has a predetermined relationship with the time of departure of the first vehicle request; c) in response to the determination in step b), forming a fleet of candidate vehicle resources that may eventually satisfy the first vehicle request; d) for each candidate vehicle resource in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a respective score that indicates the suitability of the candidate vehicle resource to satisfy the first vehicle request; e) for one or more of the candidate vehicle resources in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a respective journey time to the starting position included in the first vehicle request; F) determining whether or not to allocate a vehicle resource to the first vehicle request, using both: 1) the respective scores calculated for the candidate vehicle resources of the candidate vehicle resource park, and 2) the one or more calculated respective travel times; G) perform steps d), e) and f) at least twice for the first vehicle request until it is determined in step f) that a 3033439 resource is to be allocated; vehicle at the first request for a vehicle; and h) determining in step f) that a vehicle resource should be allocated to the first vehicle request, allocating to the first vehicle request a vehicle resource of the candidate vehicle resource park in the first vehicle request. function of the respective scores calculated at the last execution of step d). In one or more embodiments, the allocation of a vehicle resource may include allocating the vehicle resource determined to have received the highest calculated score.
[0017] According to some embodiments, calculation of a travel time may be performed for some of the candidate vehicles in a fleet of candidate vehicles but not all.
[0018] In one or more embodiments, the formation of a fleet of candidate vehicle resources may be performed two or more times (eg until it is determined that a resource should be allocated). vehicle specific to a vehicle request). For example, the fleet of candidate vehicles may be re-evaluated and modified for later analysis (eg for scoring and / or travel times). In some embodiments, calculating a travel time from the first position may include calculating a travel time from a current position of the vehicle to a collection position included in the first vehicle request, or may include calculating a journey time from a customer reservation location that the vehicle is currently satisfying to the starting position of the first vehicle request (eg, a pickup position). a different customer reservation to which no vehicle has yet been allocated).
[0019] In some embodiments, calculating a travel time may include, for a given vehicle resource, a choice among the following calculations (eg, as a function of a status of the vehicle resource). vehicle): 1) calculating a journey time from the position associated with the vehicle resource by calculating a journey time from a current position of the vehicle to the starting position of the vehicle request (e.g. a starting position 5 included in the vehicle request), and 2) calculating a travel time from the position associated with the vehicle resource by calculating a travel time from a destination (eg a journey waypoint). patrol, a taxi stater position) that the vehicle is currently satisfying to the starting position of the first vehicle request. In some embodiments, determining that a current time has a predetermined relationship with the departure time of a vehicle request may include determining that the current time is at least approximately a predetermined time before the time. the starting date of the first vehicle request (eg, between 15 and 40 minutes before the departure time of the first reservation). The predetermined time may depend, for example, on the starting position of the vehicle request.
[0020] According to some embodiments, forming a fleet of several candidate vehicles that may eventually satisfy a vehicle request may include rejecting vehicles from a fleet having an inconsistent status as a vehicle potentially able to meet vehicle demand. .
[0021] In some embodiments, the formation of a fleet of several candidate vehicles that may possibly satisfy a vehicle request may include selecting a predetermined number of candidate vehicles that are geographically closest to the starting position associated with the vehicle. vehicle request.
[0022] In some embodiments, the formation of a fleet of several candidate vehicles that may possibly satisfy a vehicle request may include calculating a direct distance between the fleet vehicles and a starting position associated with the vehicle. the vehicle request.
[0023] In some embodiments, the formation of a fleet of several candidate vehicles that may eventually satisfy a vehicle request may include selecting a predetermined number of candidate vehicles that are geographically closest to a required position included in the application. vehicle request in terms of the direct distance between the candidate vehicles of the fleet and the required position included in the vehicle application. In a non-limiting example, the predetermined number may be between 10 and 100. In some embodiments, calculating a score indicative of the suitability of a vehicle to satisfy a vehicle request may include the calculation of sub- 15 scores for each of several factors and the execution of a mathematical operation on the sub-scores. In one or more embodiments, the formation of a fleet of several candidate vehicles that may eventually satisfy a vehicle request may include calculating a direct distance between fleet vehicles and a starting position associated with the demand. in which the calculation of a journey time from a respective position associated with each candidate vehicle to the starting position may include the use of a map database.
[0024] In some embodiments, calculating a travel time from a position associated with a vehicle resource to a starting position of the vehicle request may include the use of a map database.
[0025] In one or more embodiments, calculating a travel time from a position associated with a vehicle resource to a starting position of the vehicle request may include the use of historical data. or current traffic delays on one or more routes between a current position of the vehicle and the starting position.
[0026] In some embodiments, calculating a travel time from a position associated with a vehicle resource to a starting position of the vehicle request may include the use of historical or current data on travel delays. traffic or average speeds on one or more routes between the position associated with the vehicle resource and a starting position of the vehicle request, in order to calculate the fastest route between the position associated with a vehicle resource and a vehicle starting position of the vehicle request. In one or more embodiments, the determination of whether to allocate a specific vehicle to a vehicle request may include determining that a calculated journey time from a position associated with a vehicle resource to a vehicle starting position of the vehicle request for a vehicle determined to have a better score than the scores of the other vehicles in the candidate vehicle fleet satisfies whether or not a predetermined relationship in terms of time remaining between the current time and the time of departure of the vehicle request.
[0027] In some embodiments, the determination of whether to allocate a vehicle to a vehicle request may include determining that the sum of an allocation buffer value and a calculated travel time from a position associated with a vehicle resource to a starting position of the vehicle request for a vehicle determined to have a better score than the scores of the other vehicles in the candidate vehicle fleet whether or not a predetermined relationship in terms of time remaining between the current time and the time of departure of the vehicle application.
[0028] According to some embodiments, the operations of allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle need may include: performing steps of calculating scores, calculating travel times, and determining whether or not to grant a vehicle application at least twice for the vehicle application until it is determined that a vehicle should be allocated on demand; then the vehicle demand allowance of the vehicle determined to have received the highest score at the last score calculation. In accordance with some embodiments, the computer readable systems, methods, apparatus and media for allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle need allow: a) storing a plurality of vehicle requirements in the form of multiple vehicles; customer reservations, each customer reservation having at least one departure time and a collection position; b) with respect to a first customer reservation, automatically determining that a current time has a predetermined relationship with the departure time of the first reservation; c) in response to the determination, the formation of a fleet of several candidate vehicles that may possibly satisfy the customer reservation, the fleet of candidate vehicles may comprise less than the number of vehicles available to satisfy the reservation; d) for each vehicle in the fleet of candidate vehicles, calculate a score indicating the suitability of the vehicle to satisfy the reservation; e) for one or more of the vehicles in the fleet of candidate vehicles, calculating a journey time from a first position to the collection position included in the first reservation; (f) using both (1) calculated scores for vehicles in the candidate fleet, and (2) one or more calculated journey times, to determine whether or not to allocate a vehicle to the first Reservation; (g) perform steps (d), (e) and (f) at least twice for the first reservation until it is determined in step (f) that a vehicle should be allocated to the first reservation; and h) after g), allocate to the first reservation the vehicle determined to have received the highest score or one of the highest scores at the last execution of step d). The invention also provides an apparatus for allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle need, the apparatus comprising means configured to: a) store a plurality of vehicle requirements in the form of multiple customer reservations, each reservation of customer with at least one departure time and one collection position; b) with respect to a first customer reservation, automatically determining that a current time has a predetermined relationship with the departure time of the first reservation; c) in response to the determination, the formation of a fleet of several candidate vehicles that may possibly satisfy the customer reservation, the fleet of candidate vehicles may comprise less than the number of vehicles available to satisfy the reservation; 20 d) for each vehicle in the fleet of candidate vehicles, calculate a score indicating the suitability of the vehicle to satisfy the reservation; e) for one or more of the vehicles in the fleet of candidate vehicles, calculating a journey time from a first position to the collection position included in the first reservation; F) using both: 1) the scores calculated for vehicles in the candidate vehicle fleet, and 2) the calculated one or more journey times, to determine whether or not to allocate the first reservation; g) perform steps d), e) and f) at least twice for the first reservation until it is determined in step f) that a vehicle should be allocated to the first reservation ; and 3033439 -17- h) after g), allocate to the first reservation the vehicle determined to have received the highest score or one of the best scores at the last execution of step d).
[0029] The means configured to execute step h) may comprise means configured to allocate to the first reservation the vehicle determined to have received the highest score at the last execution of step d). The apparatus may include means configured to perform step e) for some of the vehicles in the fleet of vehicles formed in step c) but not all. The means configured to calculate a travel time from the first position may include means configured to calculate a journey time from a current position of the vehicle to the collection position included in the first reservation. The means configured to calculate a travel time from the first position may include means configured to calculate a journey time from a deposit position of a customer reservation that the vehicle currently satisfies to the collection position. included in the first booking. The apparatus may include means configured to choose between: 1) calculating a travel time from the first position by calculating a journey time from a current position of the vehicle to the collection position included in the first reservation, and 2) calculating a travel time from the first position by calculating a journey time from a deposit position of a customer reservation that the vehicle is currently satisfying to the collection position included in the first reservation, depending on a vehicle status.
[0030] The means configured to determine that a current time has a predetermined relationship with the departure time of the first reservation may include a means configured to determine that the current time is at least approximately a predetermined time before the first time. departure time of the first reservation, for example is between 15 and 40 minutes before the departure time of the first reservation. The predetermined time may depend on the collection position of the first reservation. The means configured to form a fleet of several candidate vehicles that may eventually satisfy the first reservation may include means configured to reject fleet vehicles that have an inconsistent status as a vehicle potentially able to satisfy the reservation. The means configured to form a fleet of several candidate vehicles that may possibly satisfy the first reservation may include means configured to select a predetermined number of candidate vehicles that are geographically closest to the collection location included in the first reservation. The means configured to form a fleet of several candidate vehicles that may possibly satisfy the first reservation may comprise a means configured for calculating a direct distance between the vehicles of the fleet and the collection position included in the first reservation. The means configured to form a fleet of several candidate vehicles that may possibly satisfy the first reservation may comprise means configured to select a predetermined number of candidate vehicles that are geographically closest to the collection location included in the first reservation in terms of direct distance between the candidate vehicles of the fleet and the collection position 25 included in the first reservation. The predetermined number may be between 10 and 100. The means configured to perform step g) may comprise means configured to perform steps c), d), e) and f) at least twice for the first reservation. until it is determined in step f) that a vehicle should be allocated to the first reservation. The means configured to calculate a score indicating the suitability of the vehicle to satisfy the reservation may include means configured to calculate sub-scores for each of several factors and perform a mathematical operation on the sub-scores. The means configured to form a fleet of several candidate vehicles that may possibly satisfy the first reservation may comprise a means configured to calculate a direct distance between the fleet vehicles and the collection position included in the first reservation and the means configured to calculate a journey time from the first position to the collection location included in the first reservation may include means configured to use a map database.
[0031] The means configured to calculate a travel time from the first position to the collection position included in the first reservation may include means configured to use a map database. The means configured to calculate a travel time from the first position 20 to the collection position included in the first reservation may include means configured to use historical or current traffic delay data on one or more routes between the current position of the vehicle and the collection position included in the first booking.
[0032] The means configured to calculate a travel time from the first position to the collection position included in the first reservation may comprise means configured to use historical or current traffic delay data or average speeds on one or several routes between the first position and the collection position included in the first reservation to calculate the fastest route between the first position and the collection position included in the first reservation. The means configured to determine that a vehicle is to be allocated to the first reservation may include means configured to determine that a calculated travel time from the first position to the collection position included in the first location. the first reservation for a vehicle determined in step d) to have a better score than other vehicles in the fleet of candidate vehicles satisfies or not a predetermined relationship in terms of time remaining between the current time and the time of departure of the first reservation.
[0033] The means configured to determine that a vehicle should be allocated to the first reservation may include means configured to determine that the sum of an allocation buffer value and a computed path duration from the first position. to the collection position included in the first reservation for a vehicle determined in step d) as having a better score than other vehicles in the vehicle fleet candidates satisfies or not a predetermined relationship in terms of time remaining between the current time and the departure time of the first reservation. An apparatus, in accordance with some embodiments, may comprise means configured to: g) perform steps d), e) and f) at least twice for the first reservation until determined at least once. step f) that a vehicle should be allocated to the first reservation; and h) after g), allocate to the first reservation the vehicle determined to have received the highest score at the last execution of step d). In accordance with some embodiments, the systems, methods, apparatus and computer readable media for allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle need enable the identification of candidate vehicles that have the potential to satisfy a particular need. vehicle request, 3033439 - 21 - assign a score to the Y candidate vehicles as to their suitability to satisfy the vehicle demand, choose Z of Y candidate vehicles based on their scores, the value of Z being lower than the value of Y, 5 calculate the journey times of the Z vehicles (eg, but not for all Y vehicles), use the calculated road trip time for at least one vehicle to determine whether or not to allocate the vehicle, and repeating the scoring and calculation steps until it is determined that the vehicle should be allocated. According to some embodiments, the identification of candidate vehicles that have the potential to satisfy a vehicle request can be performed in response to detecting that a current time is a predetermined time before a start time of the request. of vehicle. In accordance with some embodiments, computer readable systems, methods, apparatuses and media for allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle need allow: calculating road travel times for one or more of vehicles each associated with a position that satisfies a predetermined criterion with respect to a starting position of a vehicle request (eg, a waiting area assigned to a rescue vehicle, a collection position for a rental vehicle reservation) with driver), use the calculated road trip time for at least one vehicle to determine whether or not to allocate the vehicle, and repeat the calculation and use steps until it is determined that it is appropriate to allocate a vehicle to the reservation.
[0034] In accordance with some embodiments, the computer readable systems, methods, apparatus and media for allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle need enable: identification of candidate vehicles which have the potential to meet the future vehicle need, to score the Y candidate vehicles as to their suitability to meet future vehicle need, to choose Z of Y candidate vehicles based on their scores, the value of Z being less than the value of Y, calculate road travel times of the Z vehicles but not all the Y vehicles, repeat the score assignment and calculation steps at least once then allocate a vehicle to meet the future vehicle need. Another aspect of the invention provides an apparatus for allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle need, the apparatus comprising means for: responding to the detection that a current time is a predetermined time before a departure time of a customer reservation that constitutes the future need for a vehicle by identifying Y candidate vehicles that have the potential to satisfy the reservation, to give a score to the Y candidate vehicles as to their suitability to satisfy the reservation, to choose Z of the Y candidate vehicles according to their scores, the value of Z being less than the value of Y, calculating the road travel times of the Z vehicles but not all the Y vehicles, using the calculated road trip time for at least one vehicle to determine whether or not to allocate the vehicle, and repeat the scoring and calculation steps until it is determined to allocate the vehicle.
[0035] Another aspect of the invention provides an apparatus comprising means for: calculating the road travel times of one or more of the Z associated vehicles each at a position which satisfies a predetermined criterion with respect to a collection position of a rental car with driver reservation, use the calculated road trip time for at least one vehicle to determine whether or not to allocate the vehicle, and repeat the steps of calculation and use until that it is determined that it is appropriate to allocate a vehicle to the reservation. Another aspect of the invention provides an apparatus for allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle need, the apparatus comprising means for: identifying candidate vehicles that have the potential to meet the future need for a vehicle; score Y vehicles candidates as to their suitability to satisfy the reservation, choose Z Y vehicles candidates based on their scores, the value of Z 15 is lower than the value of Y, calculate the journey times of road Z vehicles but not of all Y vehicles, repeat the scoring and calculation steps at least once then allocate a vehicle to meet the vehicle need.
[0036] Other aspects of the invention provide corresponding apparatus, computer programs and computer readable media for performing any of the methods of the present disclosure. Some embodiments include computer programs including machine-readable instructions which, when executed by a computer apparatus, cause the computer to perform any or all of the described methods of allocating a vehicle resource to a future need for a vehicle. Some embodiments include a computer-readable, non-transitory storage medium having computer-readable code stored thereon (eg, computer software instructions) which, when executed by a computer apparatus, provides the computer apparatus performing any or all of the described methods of allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle requirement. Some embodiments include an apparatus having at least one processor and at least one memory on which computer readable code is stored which, at its execution, controls the at least one processor to allocate a vehicle resource to a future need. vehicle by performing the steps of one or more of the described methods. Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary management system of a plurality of vehicle resources according to various aspects of the present invention. As illustrated in Figure 1, an exemplary system 10 includes a number of interconnected components, described below. The system 10 includes a central vehicle resource allocation system 12. The system includes one or more server computers that execute system software for smooth operation of the system 10. In accordance with some embodiments, the central system Vehicle resource allocation system 12 may include one or more vehicle resource allocation controller devices. One or more of the represented components of the system 10 may be in communication with at least one other component by means of one or more communication networks, such as the example of a communication network 13.
[0037] The key functions of the system 10 include the allocation of vehicle resources from a plurality of vehicle resources (eg, first responder vehicles, public or private security vehicles, military vehicles, rental vehicles with drivers) to minus a particular position required (eg a reservation for the collection and deposit of a passenger). As discussed in more detail with respect to system example 100 (Figure 5a and Figure 5b), other functions may include vehicle and driver management, account management, and / or record keeping.
[0038] The request function may be fulfilled, in some embodiments, by using one or more requesting devices 20a-c in communication with one or more request servers 21 (eg, a request web server). , an application server, and / or a call center terminal) in communication with the central system 12.
[0039] The allocation function is mainly performed by a vehicle resource allocation module 15, with information from other parts of the system 10. In some embodiments, the priority position module 19 executes one or more the determination of information relating to hot spots and other priority positions (eg by requesting a priority position database 16), the definition of hot spots dynamically and / or in response to a user input ( eg, Hotspot definition information received via a user interface), and the provision of one or more user interfaces for receiving, transmitting and managing information relating to hot spots (e.g. attraction distances, periodicity information). In some embodiments, a control of vehicle resource positions (eg, vehicle position control, associated vehicle resource devices, and / or drivers) is provided primarily by a control module of the vehicle resources (eg vehicle position control, associated vehicle resource devices, and / or drivers). positions of the vehicle resources 17, with reference, where appropriate, to the vehicle resource database 14, the vehicle resource devices 22a-c, and / or one or more positioning services 24, as well as to other components of the system 100.
[0040] The system 10 may include one or more database functions, such as a vehicle resource database 14, a priority position database 16, and a position database 18. The database vehicle resources 14 includes information on the resources of 30 vehicles managed by the system 10. The priority position database 16 includes information on the sensitive points identified in the system 10, and 3033439 - 26 - may include information on extended priority areas associated with hot spots, attraction distances, and / or other types of parameters associated with defined hot spots. Location database 18 may include maps and / or other types of information describing the locations at which vehicle resources may be allocated (eg, street addresses, GPS coordinates, points of interest, etc.). .). Some of the additional or different types of databases that may be suitable for some desired embodiments are further described with respect to Figure 5a and Figure 5b.
[0041] The system 10 may further comprise one or more types of positioning services 24, such as GPS systems and / or other types of device positioning services that can be used to determine the positions of any of the positioning devices. applicants 20a-c and / or vehicle resource devices 22a-c. Each of the vehicle resource devices 22a-c may be associated with a respective vehicle resource. A vehicle resource device may consist of a mobile computing device, a smart phone, a GPS component and / or a communications device configured to determine a position of a vehicle resource and / or transmit to the vehicle resource device information on the races and destinations allocated (eg, to transmit a destination assigned to the driver of a vehicle). Figure 2a is an exemplary representation 200 of an exemplary geographic region including a plurality of vehicle and position resources to be served, in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. The exemplary representation 200 of FIG. 2a illustrates various types of vehicle resource information of a vehicle resource allocation system and the vehicle requests supported by the resource allocation system of FIG. vehicles at a particular point in time (eg at the beginning of a process of allocating a vehicle to a particular vehicle application). Figure 2b, described hereinafter, illustrates an example of vehicle resource information and vehicle requests at a later point in time (eg, later on in an allocation process). 'vehicle on demand vehicle). In other words, Figure 2a illustrates a first example of a mobile object state managed by a vehicle resource allocation system during an allocation process, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 2b illustrates a second state example of these moving objects later during this allocation process. The representation example 200 includes a start position 201 which is associated with an example of a vehicle request. The vehicle application can be, for example, a request to send a vehicle (eg a maintenance vehicle for gas / electricity / water, a police car, an ambulance or other medical transport vehicle). , a taxi), from a fleet of potentially available vehicles, to the starting position 201. Other examples of vehicle applications are described in this disclosure, and other types contemplated by the aspects of the present invention. will be easily understood by the skilled person having taken knowledge of it. The starting position 201, as disclosed with respect to various examples in this disclosure, may be any requested position of a vehicle or other mobile resource, including, but not limited to, the goods position. or a passenger to collect, the requested position of a safety or police vehicle (eg to provide security at a major event at the requested position, or in response to a reported incident requiring action police at the requested position), or the position requested for an autonomous ground or air reconnaissance vehicle (unmanned). The starting position 201 may be the only rental position associated with a vehicle request, or it may be one of a plurality of requested positions associated with a vehicle request. For example, a delivery request may include both a goods collection position and a deposit position. In another example, a vehicle patrol request may include a sequence of different positions or patrol waypoints that the vehicle must travel to perform the requested patrol. The respective current vehicle positions 221a, 222a, 223a and 224a of a plurality of vehicle resources 221, 222, 223 and 224 are also shown in the representation example 200. As discussed herein, In disclosure, the vehicle resources 221, 222, 223 and 224 may be a fleet (or part of a fleet) of vehicles that are potentially available and may be allocated to the starting position 201 in response to the vehicle request. corresponding.
[0042] As discussed with respect to various embodiments of the present disclosure, one or more vehicle resources may presently satisfy a vehicle request to which a vehicle has been previously allocated (other than the request associated with the starting position 201). . In the exemplary representation, the vehicle resource 221 shown at the current vehicle position 221a presently satisfies a request that will take it to the position 211, and the vehicle resource 222 shown at the current vehicle position 222a presently satisfies a The vehicle resource 223 shown at the current vehicle position 223a and the vehicle resource 224 shown at the current vehicle position 224a, in the example, do not currently satisfy requests for the present vehicle position 223a. vehicles. As discussed in more detail with respect to the exemplary allocation process 300 of FIG. 3, it may be useful in allocating vehicle resources in accordance with certain embodiments to determine the distance which a vehicle resource will have to travel from one position to another, as from its current position to a starting position (eg start position 201), and / or from its current assigned destination to a requested starting position of a vehicle request that has not yet been satisfied. Such a distance may be useful, for example, in calculating a respective score of a vehicle resource (e.g., a distance score as further described hereinafter). As also described in more detail with respect to the exemplary allocation process 300 of FIG. 3, it may be useful, in the allocation of vehicle resources according to some embodiments, to determine the time that a vehicle resource is expected to take to get from one position to another, such as from its current position to a requested position (eg, starting position 201), and / or its current assigned destination at a requested starting position of a vehicle request that has not yet been satisfied. This determined time is also referred to herein as the 'travel time' disclosure of a given vehicle resource. Travel time may be useful, in some embodiments, to determine whether or not to allocate a specific vehicle to a vehicle request. In the representation example 200, the measure 231a may represent a distance measure (e.g., expressed in miles or kilometers), a distance score, and / or a ride duration (e.g., expressed in minutes ) from the current vehicle position 221a of the vehicle resource 221 to its current destination 211. The measure 241 represents a distance measurement, a distance score, and / or a travel time from the destination 211 to Therefore, in the allocation of a vehicle resource to the starting position 201, an allocation process may use the information relating to the vehicle resource 221, comprising the measure 231a and / or the measure 241, to determine whether the vehicle resource 221 may or may not be allocated to the starting position 201, to determine that the vehicle resource 221 is the best candidate vehicle to allocate to the starting position 201, and / or for detainees when a specific vehicle must be allocated to the vehicle request for the starting position 201. Similarly, the measurement 232a may represent a distance measurement, a distance score, and / or a journey time from the current vehicle position 222a of the vehicle resource 222 to its current destination 212, and the measure 242 may represent a distance measurement, a distance score, and / or a journey time from the destination 212 to starting position 201. Vehicle resources 223 and 224, in accordance with the illustrated example, have no current destinations (i.e. they are currently free and can be allocated to vehicle requests). Measurement 233a may represent distance measurement, distance score, and / or travel time from current vehicle position 223a of vehicle resource 223 to start position 201. Similarly, measurement 234a may represent a distance measurement, a distance score, and / or a travel time from the current vehicle position 224a of the vehicle resource 224 to the start position 201.
[0043] In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, one or more functions of a process of allocating a vehicle resource to a future vehicle need may be repeated (eg periodically and / or after a calendar), for example, until it is determined that it is time to allocate a vehicle to the vehicle demand. As disclosed below with respect to Figure 3, an allocation process according to some embodiments may perform vehicle candidate identification and / or score calculation functions of such vehicles for a given vehicle application. more than once (eg every minute, every ten minutes). In this way the requests can be fulfilled very effectively. Referring now to Figure 2b, the exemplary representation 200 has been modified to illustrate information on the status of an example of a moving object system at a time later than that of the state of the system shown in FIG. 2a. For example, the representation 200 in Figure 2b may represent information that has been updated after the initial execution of an allocation process to allocate a vehicle resource to the starting position 201. If a vehicle resource had Based on the state of the system in Figure 2a, the vehicle resource allocated to the starting position 201 would have been different from that allocated according to the subsequent state of the system illustrated in Figure 2b. In accordance with the exemplary information illustrated in Figure 2b, the vehicle resource 221 has completed its previous request (eg by going to the previously assigned destination 211) and is now free to current vehicle position 221b. Measurement 231b now represents a distance, a distance score, and / or a travel time relative to the current vehicle position 221b and the starting position 201. Furthermore, in accordance with the example of updated information shown in FIG. In Figure 2b, the vehicle resource 222 is now at the current vehicle position 222b, which is closer to its current destination 212, as indicated by the reduced measurement 232b (relative to the measurement 232a). The vehicle resource 223, now at the current vehicle position 223b, is now further away from the starting position 201, as indicated by the reduced measurement 233b (relative to the measure 233a). Further, in accordance with the example of updated information shown in Figure 2b, the vehicle resource 224 has moved in the time between the time of the state shown in Figure 2a and the time of day. the state shown in Figure 2b, to the current vehicle position 224b, and a vehicle request to destination 214 has been assigned. Based on various time factors (eg, the current time and departure time of the vehicle request for the starting position 201 and / or the time between any additional repetitions in the analysis of allocation), the vehicle resource 224 can still be considered to meet the vehicle demand at the starting position 201. Accordingly, the measure 234b and the measure 244 may be useful in determining whether or not to allocate the vehicle resource 224 to this vehicle request. In some embodiments, a representation of a geographic region such as that illustrated in Figure 2a and Figure 2b may be represented in one or more user interfaces (eg, a map displayed to view the 3033439 -32 - vehicle positions, positions associated with vehicle requests, and / or applicants' positions) for using and / or administering a vehicle resource allocation system.
[0044] As set forth in the present disclosure, various embodiments of the present invention make it possible to allocate vehicle resources for future vehicle needs. FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary allocation process 300 that can be executed, for example, by the vehicle resource allocation module 15 and / or the race allocation module 105 (hereinafter described with reference to FIG. an example of a rental car rental service with driver). With respect to Figure 3, the process begins at step 301.
[0045] In step 302, a vehicle request is entered into a vehicle resource allocation system. An example of a vehicle request entry is described in the context example of a chauffeur-driven rental vehicle reservation service with respect to step 602 of Figure 6. The vehicle request (e.g. a maintenance vehicle application, a request for an autonomous or unmanned aerial or land-based drone 20) constitutes a vehicle need. In one embodiment, vehicles in a fleet of vehicles (eg, police vehicles, military vehicles, merchant ships, taxis) are vehicle resources that can be allocated to a vehicle demand vehicle requirement ( eg, a request by a user of a calling party device, a request by an administrator of a vehicle resource allocation system). In step 303, the example process includes calculating a value of one hour X of the vehicle request. The value of X indicates a time before a start time, associated with the vehicle request, at which the allocation process is to be started. The value of X can be determined based on one or more factors, as described below. Advantageously, the value of X may depend, in some embodiments, on a starting position associated with the vehicle request (eg a collection position of a reservation).
[0046] The value of X may depend, in one or more embodiments, on a priority associated with the vehicle request. In one embodiment, the priority may be a function of a status or priority associated with a requestor. In another exemplary embodiment, the priority may depend on the nature of the reservation, either at (relatively high priority) or in cash (relatively low priority). In another exemplary embodiment, the value of X may depend on the identity of an account under which the vehicle request was made, the accounts of large customers having a higher priority compared to the accounts of less relative customers. important.
[0047] According to some embodiments the value of X may depend on an area in which the starting position is located (eg the starting position 201 of Figure 2a). A relatively low value of X may be used, for example, for areas in which there is usually a high concentration of fleet vehicles, an intermediate value of X may be used for areas in which an average concentration is usually found. fleet, and a high value of X may be used for areas in which there is usually a low concentration of fleet vehicles.
[0048] By way of example, in London, a value of X = 15 is considered appropriate for the collection locations of reservations in the central areas, for example the areas having a postal code starting with SE1, SE11, SE17, SW1, SW4. , SW8, WC1, WC2, EC1, EC2, EC4, N1, W1, E1, E2 etc. A value of X = 20 is considered appropriate for the intermediate zones, for example the zones having a postal code starting with SW6, SES, N6 etc. A value of X = 30 is considered appropriate for the collection locations in the outer areas, for example, areas having a postal code starting with SE6, SW20, TW10, HA9, and so on. A value of X = 60 is considered appropriate for collection locations in outer areas on the outskirts of London, for example areas with a postal code starting with RH3, SG13, KT1S. The value of X can be as large as 300 for collection positions that are remote from London. The value of X may vary for different areas depending on the priority of the reservation. For example, in London a value of X = 25 is considered appropriate for low priority reservations (set in cash) with collection positions in areas having a postal code starting with SE21, SE26, SW16 and SW13 but a value X = 30 is considered appropriate for high priority bookings (in use) in the same areas. Alternatively or additionally, the value of X could be fixed, or could be dynamically adjusted by an operator and / or controller of an allocation system (eg system 10, system 100). In some embodiments, a fixed or set value may be independent of the starting position and / or an associated priority. In one example, a fixed or set value of X may be between 10 and 30 minutes and for example the value of X may be 20. In this case, the allocation process begins 20 minutes before the scheduled start time. (eg the expected arrival of a transport vehicle, one hour of collection). With a relatively low value of X, the process begins to allocate a specific vehicle to a vehicle request only relatively soon before the departure time of the vehicle request. This means that less processing is needed if there are multiple vehicles that can meet a vehicle demand while allowing the best vehicle to meet the demand.
[0049] As in some embodiments a small value of X is applied in areas which typically have a high concentration of vehicles, this advantageously allows to start the allocation when more than one vehicle is able to meet the demand. vehicle, and therefore offers more options to allocate the best vehicle on demand.
[0050] With a relatively high value of X, the process begins to allocate a specific vehicle to a vehicle request relatively long before the departure time of the vehicle request. This gives more time to identify a vehicle that can meet the demand without arriving late for the request and is particularly useful if the vehicle has a considerable distance to travel to the requested position (e.g. relatively small vehicles). As in some embodiments a relatively high value of X is applied in areas which typically have a low density / concentration of vehicles, this advantageously makes it possible to start the allocation of vehicles at a time when several vehicles are in operation. able to meet the demand and therefore offers more options to allocate the best vehicle to demand. This is also advantageous for large customers who can be prioritized.
[0051] In step 304, the process waits until X minutes before the start time of the vehicle request. The allocation process is initiated at an appropriate time before the start time (eg, on the correct date).
[0052] In step 305, the allocation process example identifies the vehicles Y that are closest to the starting position of the vehicle request (eg the collection position of a customer). The value of Y can be any number desired for a particular implementation. In one example, Y can be between 10 and 100, and can be for example 40.
[0053] In some embodiments, the nearest determined vehicles are those having the shortest distance as the crow flies between their current position (e.g., their last reported position, when the vehicle positions can be reported periodically, as every 30 seconds) and the requested starting position. The distance can be calculated, for example, as the straight line distance between the latitude and longitude coordinates of the vehicle position and the starting position corresponding to the vehicle demand. In some embodiments, the process may make it possible to select, at step 305, all vehicles having an active status, e.g. ex. 'available' back to 10 'house', 'AB', 'deposit in 5' or 'deposit in 10'. Vehicles with an inactive status, p. ex. 'end of shift', 'allocated' (on request), 'out of service', 'unavailable', or 'rest' (the driver pauses) are not taken into account in the selection. The result is a fleet of candidate vehicles for the vehicle application. The number of candidate vehicles is typically much less than the number of vehicles in the fleet that have any of the relevant statuses. The use of the bird's-eye distances at step 305 makes it possible to select, according to some embodiments, an appropriate number of vehicles that can be allocated to the race but without the treatment required to calculate routes and distances. for each vehicle. In terms of the required calculations, the calculation of the distances as the crow flies is non-intensive compared to the formulation of the road distances. In step 306, a score for the vehicle / demand combination is calculated for each vehicle in the fleet of candidate vehicles, i.e. the vehicles that were identified in step 305. In some embodiments, a score may be calculated, as described with respect to the example method 400 of Figure 4. The result is a numerical value that indicates the suitability of the vehicle for the application. In other words, the result is a metric of the fit of the vehicle for the demand. In step 307, the process may comprise calculating a number Z of vehicles for which travel times must be calculated. This can be done in any convenient way.
[0054] In some embodiments, an allocation module calculates the value of Z as the number of vehicles whose score calculated in step 306 falls below a threshold value (if a low score is better) or exceeds a threshold value (if a higher score is better). The threshold may be an absolute value, for example 100. As a variant, the threshold may be linked to the score of the vehicle with the highest rating.
[0055] When a low score is better, the threshold can be calculated as a multiple of the highest rated vehicle score and when a high score is better the threshold can be calculated as a fraction of the highest rated vehicle score. For example, if the multiple is 3 and the best-rated vehicle has a score of 20, the threshold is set to 60. Alternatively, the threshold may be set to a predetermined distance from the best-rated vehicle. For example, if the predetermined distance is 40 and the best rated vehicle has a score of 20, the threshold is set to 60. The value of Z is capped at a maximum percentage (for example 25%) of the value of Y. In some other embodiments, step 307 involves looking up a parameter value that is stored in the system. The parameter value can be set manually or automatically, and can be any value suitable for a desired implementation. In one example, the value can be 1. Advantageously, it can be set between 3 and 10.
[0056] In still other embodiments, the value of Z can be set as a predetermined percentage of the value of Y. For example, the value of Z can be set to 0, 1 time, 0, 2 times or 0, 3 times the value of Y. Regardless of how it is calculated, the value of Z is less than the value of Y. As a result, road distances are not calculated for all Y vehicles that have been determined. as being closest to the starting position in step 305. In step 308, a travel time for each of the best-rated Z vehicles is calculated. The top rated Z vehicles are the vehicles whose scores are better than those of the other vehicles that were scored at step 306. The duration of a vehicle's journey is the journey time from an associated vehicle position ( eg its current position) to the starting position associated with the request. For example, the travel time for vehicle resource example 223 in Figure 2a is the travel time from vehicle position 223a to home position 201.
[0057] The travel time for each of the best-rated vehicles Z can be calculated in step 308 by an allocation module (eg a vehicle resource allocation module 15, a race allowance module). 105) or alternatively may be calculated by the central vehicle resource allocation system 12 and / or the central system 101. The travel time is calculated by predicting the travel times of a small number of routes. the most direct between vehicle position and starting position (eg the destination of a police car, collection address), and choosing the shortest travel time. If a route can be determined to be the best route, the journey time of that route is then used as the travel time between the vehicle position and the starting position. Alternatively, the path with the lowest hourly cost can be identified and used to determine the travel time. In certain embodiments, the combination of a vehicle position with a vehicle, to determine a journey time, may be the intended final destination of a request presently satisfied (or to be satisfied) by the vehicle, rather than the current position of the vehicle. For example, for vehicles that currently meet a previously allocated reservation (eg, which have the status '5-in-deposit', '10-deposit' or 'PAB'), the journey time is calculated from 30 destination or the final position of the presently served application rather than from the current position of the vehicle. According to some embodiments, the prediction of the travel times can use real or estimated averages of transit period durations of the path segments (eg stored in the location database 18 and / or map and position database 109) added together to produce a travel time of the required path. In the simplest embodiments, the transit times of the segments are estimated from known speed limits (maximum speeds allowed) and from intersection counts (number of traffic lights, non-priority intersections, etc.) in segments. In other embodiments, historical averages may be stored in one or more databases (e.g., position database 18, map and position database 109, or a database of historical data 132) and are used for calculation of the travel times.
[0058] In the most sophisticated embodiments, the historical averages for different hours of the day and different days of the week (Monday to Friday as opposed to Saturdays or Sundays) are solicited in a data store or received and used. in calculating travel times. More sophisticated embodiments typically require the collection, processing and storage of a larger amount of data (e.g., in the position database 18, in the map database and in the map database). positions 109). However, they provide more accurate travel time calculations, especially taking into account aspects such as peak weekday rush hour traffic conditions, traffic volume and traffic flow. Regardless of how it is executed, calculating a journey time is a relatively greedy step in computing resources in part because it requires the identification of the best route or routes between two positions. In some embodiments, calculating a trip time at step 308 may include calculating a delay score for each of the best Z vehicles. The calculation of a delay score may include determining the delay a vehicle would have if it were allocated to the vehicle resource at the present time, and assigning a corresponding delay score. . In some embodiments, the calculation of a delay score takes into account the calculated travel time and the time remaining before the departure time of the request. This may or may not take into account an allocation buffer, which is described below. In one or more embodiments, if any of the vehicles obtains a non-zero delay score, this is taken into account in the overall score of the vehicles and may change the vehicle that will be best rated for the request. An example of a process for determining a delay score is described with reference to FIG. 4.
[0059] In one or more embodiments, in step 309, an allocation buffer value (also referred to as a "delay time") is calculated for the best-rated vehicle. The allocation buffer provides a margin or range of vehicle arrival time at the starting position at the departure time. The value of the allocation buffer can be calculated in any convenient way. The allocation buffer value calculated in step 309 may for example be calculated using a predetermined margin or a predetermined multiplier. A larger allocation buffer value can be calculated for requests for higher priority vehicles, for example requests for rescue or police vehicles, or for reservations from large customers. In one example, the allocation buffer value may be calculated as the calculated travel time multiplied by a predetermined factor, which may have a value between 0, 2 and 0, 5 and more preferably between 0, 3 and 0, 4. Alternatively, the allocation buffer may be independent of the time remaining until the departure time or the calculated journey time. It can be a fixed value, for example a value between 1 and 3 minutes. Or the value can be calculated as the sum of a number of values that are determined according to the area, eg. ex. a value (which can vary according to the time of day and the day of the week) is allocated to each zone and the allocation buffer is the sum of the values of the zones that the vehicle would have to cross for to get to the starting position. In some embodiments, the allocation buffer value may include an element derived from the status of the vehicle. For example, an additional amount may be added to vehicles that currently satisfy another request (eg having the status 'deposit in 5' (for example 5 minutes longer), 'deposit in 10' (10 minutes) and the AB '(remaining time estimated until the vehicle reaches its deposit position).
[0060] According to some embodiments in step 310, the process allows the journey time for the best rated vehicle to be evaluated, in particular to evaluate whether or not the vehicle should proceed to the starting position. in order to get there at the departure time. This evaluation involves, in one embodiment, the following calculation: Optimal time of start-up = requested departure time - (journey time + allocation buffer) where: 20 optimal time to start is the time where the vehicle should start its journey to the starting position, departure time is the departure time of the vehicle request (eg one hour of collection of a reservation), journey time is the value calculated journey time for the highest rated vehicle at step 308, and allocation buffer is the allocation buffer value calculated for the highest rated vehicle in step 309. The time difference between current time and the optimal start time is then calculated and the result is compared to a threshold. The result of comparing the threshold value is used in the next step to determine whether it is time or not to allocate the vehicle to the reservation. The use of an allocation buffer value in the calculation increases the odds that on average the vehicles arrive to meet the demands in time while minimizing the risks that the vehicles arrive too early and thus constitute an unused resource for that they are waiting for the departure time. In step 311, it is determined whether or not the current time is the time at which a vehicle is to be allocated to the vehicle request. The threshold mentioned above with respect to step 310 may for example be 1 (1 minute) or zero. If it is calculated in step 311 that the time difference between the current time and the optimal start time is below the threshold, the determination made is positive. This indicates that the vehicle must start now (or within one minute) to get to the starting position in order to arrive there in time (the allocation buffer value being taken into account). Upon detection at step 311 that it is time to allocate a vehicle on demand, the highest rated vehicle is allocated on demand at step 312 and the process ends at step 313.
[0061] If it is detected at 311 that it is not time to allocate the vehicle, the process proceeds to step 314 where it is determined that there is or is not a significantly better rated vehicle and in that if the vehicle moves away from the starting position. A "much better rated vehicle" is a vehicle whose score is considerably better than the next highest rated vehicle score (eg, by a given passing value or by a multiple / fraction thereof). Determining whether the vehicle is moving away from the starting position compares the road distance between the vehicle and the starting position to a previously calculated road distance, or compares the calculated travel time with the last calculated travel time. Upon the determination that the best-rated vehicle is moving away from the starting position, the process undertakes to allocate the best-rated vehicle on demand at step 312. In one or more embodiments , step 310 may depend on other conditions present, for example concerning the time remaining until the departure time of the vehicle request and the duration of the journey to the starting position.
[0062] 5 In the evaluation at step 310 of the best-rated vehicle, it is the vehicle that best suits the demand for the vehicle that will be allocated to the application, even if that vehicle is not the vehicle found closest to the requested starting position or with the shortest route to the starting position.
[0063] 10 This makes it possible to optimize the allocation of vehicles in a fleet to the demands of vehicles, and this in an intelligent manner. For example, the vehicle resource 224 may be the most noted vehicle for the example of request for the starting position 201 described with respect to Figure 2b, even though the vehicle resource 224 currently has a destination, and the resource of Vehicle 221 currently has the shortest route to the starting position. In some embodiments, this also changes the manner in which vehicles are selected to meet vehicle demands by simply adjusting a cost scoring process (eg, the scoring process example 400 of FIG. 4), and does not require adjusting the allocation process.
[0064] In one or more embodiments, after step 314, in step 315 the process includes waiting until X-A minutes before the start time. The value of A can be initialized, for example, to 1 when the process has started at step 301, so that at the first execution of step 315 the process waits until X-1 minutes before the process. departure time of the reservation. Once this time has been reached, the value of A is incremented in step 316 and the process returns to step 305, where the Y vehicles closest to the starting position are identified. An effect of steps 315 and 316, and the return to step 305, is that the nearest vehicles are identified and logged once per minute (or after another desired or predetermined time increment), until a vehicle is allocated. At the next execution of step 305, the vehicles whose status is no longer relevant (eg whose status is not AB ',' available, 'deposit in 5' or 'deposit in 10' can not be identified as candidate vehicles and can not be scored at step 306. At the next execution of step 306 with respect to a given request, many identical vehicles may be noted. however, they may receive a score different from that assigned to their last rating, for example, the same vehicle resources illustrated in Figure 2a and 2b may receive at the time shown in Figure 2b a score different from the one they had. received at the time shown in Figure 2. In some cases, vehicles will be rated lower (will have a higher score), for example if they have moved away from the starting position by a considerable distance (eg when the vehicle resource 223 is t away from the starting position 201 as shown in Figure 2a and Figure 2b). In other cases, vehicles will be rated better (will have a lower score), for example if their status has changed from a previously allocated status (eg 'deposit in 5') to a status indicating current availability ( eg 'available). In one example, the status of vehicle resource 221 has changed between the times shown in Figure 2a and Figure 2b from a previously allocated status (assigned to destination 211) to an available status for the example of demand for the starting position 201. Moreover, the waiting times will necessarily be longer and the wait time score (which is negative) can reduce the total score of many vehicles. As a result, at the next execution of step 307, different vehicles may appear in the best Z vehicles and a different vehicle may be the best rated vehicle. In this case, the journey time to the starting position must be calculated for a different vehicle to be able to determine in step 311 whether it is time or not to allocate the vehicle on demand.
[0065] If step 307 identifies that different vehicles make up the fleet of the best Z vehicles, or if Z has a different value, the computation of the journey times is carried out at 3033439 - 45 - new for the Z vehicles at step 308 If the journey time of the highest rated vehicle has already been calculated for the same position or at a very similar position of any of the Z highest rated vehicles (which occurs when the vehicle is stationary or has not substantially moved), step 307 may, in some embodiments, use the previously calculated travel time rather than recalculate it. In one embodiment, the travel time of a vehicle can be deduced from a travel time calculated now or very recently for a different vehicle if the positions of the vehicles agree considerably.
[0066] Step 306 determines whether or not a different vehicle is the best rated vehicle, at the next execution of step 311 it is determined whether or not it is time to allocate the vehicle to the vehicle. request, depending on the duration of the journey to the starting position and the time remaining until the time of departure of the request, etc. Since step 311 is necessarily executed after a previous execution thereof (1 minute later in this example), at the very last execution of step 311 it can be determined that it is time to Allocate the vehicle even if the best-rated vehicle has not moved, especially when time has passed and the vehicle must start to arrive at the starting position on time. Once it is determined that it is time to allocate the vehicle, the highest rated vehicle is allocated to the reservation at step 312. This is so whether or not it is predicted that vehicle will arrive at the starting position at or before the start time. The vehicle that is allocated to the reservation at step 312 will be, by virtue of the rating operation (at 306), the vehicle that best suits the request. The circumstances may be such that the vehicle will be allocated at a time causing it to arrive late at the starting position. This could happen for example if the best vehicle changes from an unavailable status (eg 'rest' or 'end of shift') to an available status (eg 'available') later in the allocation process. or in case of serious shortage of vehicles near the starting position of the request. However, because of the inclusion of the allocation buffer, the vehicle can not arrive late. According to some embodiments, the configuration of a vehicle resource allocation module for allocating a vehicle to a vehicle request at the last minute (even though the request may be a future request for an entry vehicle much earlier), or 'just in time', increases the flexibility of fleet vehicle resource allocation. It also helps to reduce the total miles traveled by fleet vehicles to meet the demands that are received by a vehicle resource allocation system (eg System 10, the Central Vehicle Resource System). 10, the system 100). Without the dynamic and flexible allocation made possible by the technical improvements of the dynamic asset management system of vehicles and other moving objects, as described above and in this disclosure, the vehicles would be allocated to requests for less optimal way that would result in a greater overall distance traveled by fleet vehicles. Less mileage means reduced fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, less vehicle wear, less chance of accidents, less driver fatigue, and generally lower costs. In accordance with some embodiments, the use of the bird's eye (direct) distance calculation in selecting the candidate vehicles while using the calculated journey times in determining the best vehicle in the candidate vehicle fleet minimizes the use of system resources while allowing efficient allocation since relatively few calculations of travel times are required.
[0067] It will be understood from the foregoing that steps 305 to 311 may be repeated until a vehicle is allocated on demand. The number of repetitions of the steps depends, for example, on the initial value of X, which dictates how long before the start time of the reservation the allocation process 300 of Figure 3 begins and how many minutes before the start of the reservation. departure time the vehicle is 30 allocated on request. 3033439 - 47 - For applications in areas with relatively large numbers of vehicles and where travel times to potential departure locations may be short (eg for downtown bookings), Vehicles may be allocated to requests only a few minutes, for example 2, 3 or 4 minutes, before departure times. For applications in other locations, which may have only relatively few vehicles and low vehicle densities, vehicles may be assigned to applications considerably longer before the application start time, for example 12 15 or 18 minutes before the departure time. For requests with starting positions where no vehicle exists, and where a vehicle will have to travel after traveling a long distance, the vehicles can be assigned to the requests for a very long time, potentially several hours, before the departure time. . In some embodiments, by selecting corresponding values of 15 X for different areas, the allocation process 300 of Figure 3 will be implemented for approximately the same time period for the entire fleet at any given time. . In busy periods or during periods when the number of active vehicles is relatively high, vehicles may be allocated to requests closer to the start times of applications and the allocation process may therefore take longer. For fleets of vehicles with relatively low vehicle densities, given the geographical area covered, in some implementations a higher X value may be appropriate. Advantageously, the value of X, which indicates the number of minutes before the departure time at which the allocation process begins, can be set by a system administrator. The value of X can be set by the zone administrator. A global parameter can also be applied, according to which the value of X will be modified for all the zones by a quantity or a given factor.
[0068] In some embodiments, scores of vehicles in pre-allocation processes for other requests are taken into account when allocating a vehicle to a request. In particular, before allocating the highest rated vehicle to a request, the process (e.g., as performed by an allocation module) determines how the vehicle ranks in other requests for a request. which vehicles are rated but have not yet been allocated. If a vehicle is the highest rated vehicle for a first request but is the vehicle rated best for a second request by a large margin, this vehicle can be allocated to the second request even if at present the vehicle could be allocated to the first request in order to arrive at the starting position in time to satisfy that request. This can be accomplished by allocating the vehicle to the second request or applying a penalty score to the vehicle for the first request so that it ceases to be the highest rated vehicle for that first request. An exemplary method 400 of scoring a vehicle for a vehicle request, such as booking a rental vehicle with driver, is now described with reference to FIG. 4. The process 400 of FIG. 4 can be executed. for example, by the vehicle resource allocation module 15 and / or the race allocation module 105. Although the method example 400 of FIG. 4 describes a plurality of various types of sub-scores and a total or composite score, it is contemplated that the notation of a vehicle for a vehicle application may include determining a score based on one or more of the described types of sub-scores, and in any combination , as will be appropriate for a desired implementation of an allocation process. For example, a scoring process for use in allocating a vehicle to future vehicle demand (as described with respect to FIG. 3) may include computing one or more: a score distance, a service capability score, and / or a delay score. As a result, although various examples of the types of sub-scores and corresponding compound scores are discussed with respect to Figure 4 (some of which are particularly applicable to the context of rental vehicle and / or chauffeured vehicle reservations), Understand that sub-scores and total scores may be calculated for other types of vehicle resources (3033439 -49- and / or autonomous or unmanned) and other types of vehicle requests. The process starts at step 401. In a few words, the different scores are calculated at steps 402 to 408, and the scores are summed at step 409. It will of course be understood that the sample scores can be computed in In any order, not all the scores described need necessarily be calculated, and the scores can be calculated in whole or in part in parallel. In step 402, a distance score is calculated. The distance score makes it possible to take into account the distance between a vehicle and the starting position of a vehicle request (eg the position of collecting a reservation) when assigning a score to the vehicle. vehicle for the request. The distance score is calculated as the distance between the current vehicle position and the starting position (eg delivery address, traffic control position, passenger collection address). This distance is expressed in miles but can be calculated in kilometers, or any desired distance measurement. The distance is calculated as the distance the vehicle will have to travel to reach the starting position, taking into account the road configuration, one - way directions, etc. It is called road distance. The shortest route from the vehicle to the starting position is used as the distance, even though it is not the fastest route. The road and its road distance are calculated, for example, using information from the vehicle resource database 14, the position database 18, and / or the historical database 132. Preferably, the last recorded position of the vehicle is used in the calculation of the distance score.
[0069] An administrator or other manager of an allocation system (eg, the system 10, the central vehicle resource allocation system 12, the central system 101, the system 100) can apply a parameter such that that the distance score is always zero, in which case the distance between the vehicle and the starting position is not taken into account in the calculation of the score. In step 403, a service compatibility score is calculated. The service compatibility score calculation takes into account the car type preference or other vehicle resource type preference that has been specified in a request, relative to the type of vehicle that is currently noted. If the type of vehicle presently noted is identical to that specified in the request, or is consistent with this type, then the service compatibility score is zero. The service compatibility score is a positive value if there is a discrepancy between the service type of the request and the type of vehicle currently being rated. In the case of a request specifying a VIP or large vehicle, and if the currently noted vehicle 10 is a standard vehicle, a penalty of 500, for example, may be applied as the service compatibility score. A penalty helps to ensure that a specific type (eg a VIP vehicle) will be provided to satisfy a request if it is available, but in the absence of an available vehicle, a different type of vehicle (eg. eg a standard car) can be provided.
[0070] In another example, in the case of a reservation specifying a standard four-seater vehicle, a penalty score of 50 points may be applied to a seven-seater vehicle. This helps to ensure that the reservation is served by an appropriate car, but also helps to avoid the unnecessary exit of a large vehicle from the available fleet of vehicles. In another example, in the case of a reservation of a standard car while the vehicle type is a VIP car, a penalty score of 100 may be applied. As with the situation described with respect to the larger vehicle, this helps to ensure that the reservation is satisfied without unnecessarily leaving VIP vehicles from the available fleet. At step 404, a non-occupancy score is calculated. The non-occupancy time score allows for consideration of the use of the vehicle (and / or a corresponding driver) in the vehicle rating with respect to the vehicle demand. In one example, the non-occupancy time score is calculated as the product of -1 and the duration (in minutes or other desired unit of time measurement) since the completion of the last allocated request. to the vehicle (eg, or combination car / driver) and per minute of non-occupancy. The cost per minute of non-occupancy is in fact a weighting factor. The weighting factor can be set by an administrator of a vehicle resource allocation system. For a vehicle currently satisfying a request (eg a taxi with status `PAB ') the non-occupancy time score is preferably zero.
[0071] The inclusion of a non-occupancy time score in the method 400 assists in ensuring load balancing of the vehicles, and (where appropriate) load balancing of the drivers. Vehicle load balancing helps to standardize the wear of different fleet vehicles per unit of time. Load balancing of the drivers is useful because it prevents drivers from running too many consecutive races with insufficient rest between races, and also helps to reduce the possibility that drivers wait too long between races. Driver load balancing, using the non-occupancy time score in the cost evaluation operation, helps to avoid driver fatigue and thus improve safety.
[0072] In step 405, a home return score is calculated (e.g., when a driver is associated with a vehicle resource). In one example, if the status of a driver is 'back home', a score is calculated. If the driver has any other status, the return home score is then zero.
[0073] 25 If the driver's status is 'return home', the home return score is calculated as the product of -1 and the number of miles saved and a distance criterion. The saved miles component of the score gives a measure of home reconciliation which the driver would benefit from if he fulfilled the demand. The saved miles component is calculated as the current distance to the home (which is the road distance between the current position of the vehicle and the driver's home address) minus the distance between the starting position or other subsequent position requested in an application (eg a deposit address) and the home address (which is the road distance between the last position of the application and the driver's home address). The distance criterion provides weighting and can be set by a system administrator. The inclusion of the return home score has the effect of increasing the probability that a race will be allocated to a driver returning home (eg for lunch or at the end of his / her shift) if the race is going to lead the driver. driver to a position that brings him closer to his home. The size of the score depends on the distance that would be saved, so that a score is obtained if the last requested position is relatively closer to the address of the driver's home. At step 406, a deposition score of 5/10 (also referred to as an 'availability time' score) is calculated for vehicles or drivers whose status indicates that the vehicle is currently satisfying a vehicle request but will be available relatively soon. for the allocation to a new application (eg a status 'deposit in 5' or 'deposit in 10', the deposit score 5/10 has a positive value.) For vehicles or drivers who do not have a such status, ie for vehicles which are not currently satisfying a request, the availability time score is zero.The status of the vehicle may be adjusted by a driver, in accordance with certain embodiments, by means of his In particular, when the driver device 110 calculates, for example, that there is less than 10 minutes of travel to a deposition address, the heater device 110 or the vehicle resource device 22a. r 110 gives the driver the option to adopt the status 'deposit in 10'. If the driver chooses this option on the driver device 110 (when the vehicle is stationary), the status 'deposit in 10' is activated. Likewise, when the driver device 110 detects that there is less than five minutes of travel to the deposition position, the driver device 110 provides the driver with the option of selecting the deposition status. . 3033439 - 53 - If the driver of the vehicle has a status 'deposit in 5', a score of 20 points for example is calculated. If the driver has the status 'deposit in 10', a score of 30 points for example is calculated. Other score values may be considered appropriate for other types of status and expected availability times.
[0074] 5 Calculating an availability time score allows consideration to be made for the allocation of vehicles that have an ongoing request (eg, PAB status) to another request. However, a penalty is applied to them that they are less favored than vehicles that are currently empty. This provides protection against the late arrival of the vehicle for the application if, for example, it incurs an unexpected delay in the previous journey. At step 407, if the vehicle status indicates that the vehicle is currently satisfying a reservation or other type of vehicle request (eg, the vehicle has an associated status of AB ', deposit in 5' or 'deposit in 10'), a risk score is calculated. In a nutshell, the inclusion of the risk score makes it possible to consider new vehicles that are not currently available for a request, while taking into account the risk that they will not be able to meet the new demand. vehicle request.
[0075] In some embodiments, the risk score can be calculated according to the following formula: Risk score = penalty AB AB + risk penalty ABP * risk 25 where risk = home risk + (1 - home risk) * end risk post where - home risk = basic home risk / 100; - basic home risk = 30 o 0, if distance to home> 6; o 50, if 3 <distance to home <6; 3033439 -54- o 1000 if distance to home <3; - end-of-post risk = end-of-service risk / 100; and where: 5 End position risk = current time - driver start time Thus, the end position risk is a measure of the length of time since the driver began his shift. This value increases, giving rise to a higher value of the risk score, as the duration of the job increases. The value of the basic home risk parameter varies depending on the distance to the driver's home from the final position of the presently satisfied request (eg, a deposit position). It is graduated so that it can only take a predetermined number of values, in this case 3. If the distance to the driver's home is low, the value of the basic home risk is relatively high, and vice versa.
[0076] In some embodiments, the value of the end-of-shift risk parameter can be derived from a look-up table enclosing the graduation bands. For example, the look-up table can take the following form: Duration Risk of basic laying 0-2 20 2-3 25 3-4 30 4-5 40 5-6 50 6-7 60 7-10 80> 10 90 According to this non-limiting example of a look-up table, a post duration of 2.6 hours gives a base job end risk value of 25, and a post length of 4.6 hours gives a value of end-of-base risk of 40.
[0077] 5 In general terms, the risk score is a function of the distance between the final position of the request currently satisfied and the address of the driver's home. It is also a function of the time elapsed since the driver of the vehicle began his shift. The risk score is a measure of the probability that the driver will complete his job and return home after he has finished meeting the current demand. In step 408, a late arrival score is calculated. In a nutshell, the inclusion of the late arrival score introduces a penalty for vehicles that are calculated as likely to arrive late at the starting position. The late arrival score is calculated using the following formula: Late arrival score = late arrival * Late arrival weighting factor 20 When the late arrival parameter value is the number of minutes after the departure time of the vehicle request to which the vehicle is expected to arrive at the collection position and the late arrival weighting factor is a configurable parameter which weights the contribution of the late arrival to the overall score of the vehicle / demand combination . In general terms, the late arrival score is a function of the anticipated delay of a vehicle if it were allocated to a request at the present time.
[0078] As discussed in more detail with respect to process example 300 of FIG. 3, the delay score may not be calculated for each vehicle. Instead, in accordance with some embodiments, the delay score may be calculated for only a relatively small number of vehicles. In step 409, the scores calculated in steps 402 to 408 are summed to produce a total score of the vehicle / demand combination (or driver / vehicle / demand combination, if desired). This score may be used, as described with respect to various embodiments in the present disclosure, in one or more allocation processes (eg, method 300 shown in Figure 3).
[0079] As noted above, various types of vehicle resource allocation systems can enable the dynamic allocation of different types of vehicles (eg, police and security vehicle resources, remotely operated aircraft) to hours based on various time factors, including travel times. Figures 5a, 5b and 6 and their description below present various additional details of vehicle resource management, using an example of non-limiting context of a rental vehicle service with driver. In accordance with some embodiments as further described below with respect to Figure 5a, Figure 5b and Figure 6, the vehicles in a fleet of rental vehicles with driver may constitute vehicle resources capable of being allocated to a need. a vehicle constituted by a requested reservation (eg having an associated customer collection position and an associated deposit position). Figure 5a is a block diagram of a rental-driver service management system with driver in accordance with various aspects of the present invention. The system 100 has a number of interconnected components, which will now be described. The system 100 includes in its core a central system 101. This includes one or more server computers that execute software ensuring smooth operation of the system 100. The key functions of the system 100 are the reservations, the allocation of a rental vehicle with driver to a reservation, management of vehicles and drivers, account management and record keeping.
[0080] The reservation function is provided primarily by a reservation web server 102, a reservation application server 103 and call center terminals 104A and 104B, all of which are coupled to the central system 101.
[0081] The allocation function is provided primarily by a race allocation module 105, with information from other parts of the system 100. The system includes database functions. In particular, an operational database 130 stores data which relates to the overall operation of the system 100. A driver network database 131 stores data relating to the drivers and vehicles that are managed by the system 100. Finally , a historical database 132 stores the data of the operational database 130 that has been archived. An archive of the data of the operational database 130 in the historical database 132 is performed periodically and only the data no longer having any general operational use are archived. The vehicle and driver management function is provided mainly by a driver position control module 106 and a driver server 107, with reference to the driver network database 131 as well as other components. The account management function is provided primarily by an account management module 117, using the account information stored in the operational database 130 as well as by other components of the system 100. 3033439 - The operational database 130 stores the data of each open account with the operator of the system 100. Each account is identified by an account number stored in the operational database 130. The account information stored in the database is stored in the database. operational database 130 may also include an account title, such as the name of a company, and the coordinates s of company contact. The account information stored in the operational database 130 stores the credit card information and / or other payment information so that the payment can be withdrawn from the cardholder's account if authorization is given. A password and / or PIN (personal identification number) is associated with each account and stored with the account information in the operational database 130. In addition, a list of persons authorized to make reservations on the account can be memorized, as well as optionally the profiles of authorized persons.
[0082] The account information stored in the operational database 130 may also include the name of a contact and the telephone number of a contact person in the event of problems with the account. The account information stored in the operational database 130 includes information about the billing preferences, such as the frequency of the bills, the date the bill is to be sent, the monthly / weekly credit limit, and the billing information. each reservation to be included on the invoice. The account information stored in the operational database 130 may indicate that an account is active or has been suspended. An account may be held in suspense by a financial control department, preventing further bookings being made to the account. Historical expense data on the account can also be stored in the operational database 130, or in the historical database 132.
[0083] The record keeping function is provided primarily by the historical database 132, although the operational database 130 and the driver network database 131 also provide a certain recordkeeping function. . In a nutshell, a fleet of rental vehicles with driver is managed by the system 100. Each vehicle is recorded respectively in the driver network database 131, which will now be described. The driver network database 131 stores information about each vehicle in the fleet. The registration number (license plate number) of each vehicle is stored in the network database 10 drivers 131. This can be used to identify each vehicle. Alternatively or additionally, a unique unique identifier of the registration number may be assigned to each vehicle as the primary identification means in the driver network database 131.
[0084] Each service is defined according to its type of vehicle, capacity and other characteristics. In some embodiments, these types are "Up to 4 passengers", "Up to 7 passengers", "Electric vehicle", "VIP" and "Up to 4 passengers with luggage". The driver network database 131 stores the type of each vehicle and can also store a corresponding number or short string of characters to represent each type. Any special equipment such as a baby seat or the ability to accept a wheelchair is also identified in the driver network database 131. The driver network database 131 indicates the current driver to which the car is assigned, although the driver / vehicle allowance changes from time to time.
[0085] The driver network database 131 stores the make and model and optionally the color of each vehicle. The driver network database 131 also indicates the current status of the vehicle. In some embodiments, the status is selected from "park drivers", meaning that the car is used by a driver, "Free Park", meaning that the car is currently unused and can be allocated to a driver and "workshop" which means that the car is 3033439 - 60 - under revision or under repair. The driver network database 131 also stores the Public Carriage Office license number of each vehicle and the date of lapse of this license and the dates of lapse of road tax, vehicle insurance. and technical control, if any. Examples of other data that can be stored are the vehicle purchase date, purchase price, date of manufacture, vehicle supplier, warranty information and date of last inspection / maintenance. Historical data for each vehicle may also be stored in the driver network database 131, such as a record of previous registration numbers and a record of previous drivers assigned to the vehicle. Revision history and accident or repair information can also be stored.
[0086] The rental fleet with driver is used by a group of drivers, each of which is registered in the driver network database 131. The driver network database 131 stores information about each of the drivers registered in the operator. The driver information includes personal data such as name, contact information (phone number, home address), date of birth, closest relative, and driver account data. . Driver status information may be stored to indicate that a driver is active or inactive, whether a vehicle has been allocated to the driver or not.
[0087] Each driver may also receive an individual and unique identifier as a means of identification. Call signs may also be used to designate the drivers and are stored in the driver network database 131, although the call signs may be changed and reassigned between the drivers as long as the same call sign is It is not used by two drivers at the same time. 3033439 - 61 - The account data of a driver includes an account number. Other information may include information on the driver's road insurance, his length of service in the fleet, his parking fines, historical information on his salary, his leave, his travel log, information on his collections. races, driver's license number, social security number, taxi driver's permit (such as the Public Cardage Office permit), banking information (account number, agency code, etc.). Various information such as information on possible allergies, smoker / non-smoker etc. can also be stored in the driver network data base 131. Information concerning the equipment of a driver such as a serial number of a driver device 110 assigned to the driver, and the mobile phone number of the driver driver can also be registered. Statistical information such as the date of the last race or historical income data can be recorded in the driver network database 131 or in the historical database 132. Information regarding payments to drivers and collected from of these can be stored in the database of network drivers 131. Payments to the driver include his salary. The driver's disbursements may be, for example, car wash fees, insurance premiums, taxi driver's license renewal premium, vehicle repair costs, car rental fees. To help maintain this information, a purchase book number and a contract number for each driver can be stored.
[0088] Each driver has an associated driver device 110, three of which are shown at 110A, 110B and 110C in Figure 5a and Figure 5b. The driver devices 110 are portable electronic devices with wireless communication capabilities. The driver devices 110 may take any form but typically are smart phones or personal digital assistants or the like. The driver devices include a display and one or more information input devices such as a keyboard, a voice control module or a touch screen or any combination thereof.
[0089] The driver devices 110 are connected to a driver server 107 via a radio network 111, which may for example be a mobile telephone network (cellular telephony). In this case, the driver devices 110 are subscribed to the mobile telephone network so as to be able to send digital data to the driver server 107 and receive it therefrom. In addition, the driver devices 110 and the driver device server 107 may exchange messages by other means, in particular SMS messages (short message service) and optionally also MMS messages (multimedia message service).
[0090] Alternatively, the radio network 111 may be a dedicated radio network, for example a private mobile telephone network or a private radio network of another type. The driver devices 110 and the driver server server 107 may exchange data on any suitable communications link, e.g., the data channel of a cellular telephone network such as a GSM, EDGE, GPRS network. , UMTS, HsxPA or LTE. The driver devices 110 are configured to signal their locations to the driver network database 131 at regular intervals, for example every 30 seconds. The driver devices 110 include GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers, which calculate the positions of the driver devices 110 under the control of the software applications executed on these driver devices 110. Alternatively, they may include another module or device positioning system for calculating the positions of the driver devices 110 with an appropriate level of accuracy and resolution. 3033439 - 63 - A customer can book a rental car with driver in three different ways. First, he can make his reservation by telephone to a call center operator. In this case, the customer calls the call center and is put in contact with an agent who controls one of the computer terminals 104A and 104B of the call center. The call center agent then proceeds to the booking of the rental vehicle with driver in the terminal 104A, 104B in accordance with customer needs. The needs of the client are obtained verbally during the telephone conversation between the client and the agent.
[0091] According to the second option, the customer can book a rental vehicle with driver via a browser application on a computing device 113, three examples of which are shown in 113A, 113B and 113C in Figure 5a and Figure 3a. 513. Each of the computing devices 113 is connected to the reservation web server 102 by a network 114, which may be for example the Internet or another public or private network. The reservation web server 102 has a web server functionality that causes the browser of the terminal 113 to display appropriate web pages. The customer's requirements for the rental car rental reservation are obtained by the reservation web server. 102 which sends to the computer terminal 113 pages to be filled with the customer information. The client provides this information by free text input using drop-down lists, radio buttons, and so on. Some information may be pre-filled in the pages provided by the reservation web server 102.
[0092] A reservation through the reservation web server 102 may require the customer to connect to a web portal in order to make his reservation. This connection may require the entry of a user name and password or a PIN number. The control of a web session by the reservation web server 102, for example by using cookies provided to the computer terminals 113, may determine that the reservation made is valid by establishing that the client was connected to the reservation web server at the time where the reservation was made. The last way a customer can book a rental car with driver is through a dedicated software application that is installed and run on a portable communication device 112, three of which are shown in 112A, 112B, and 5B. 112C in Figures 5a and 5b. Portable communication devices 112 may be of any suitable form, but typically feature smart phones, feature phones, computer tablets or personal digital assistants or the like. The communication devices 112 are coupled to the reservation application server 103 by a radio network 111, which may be the same as the radio network 111 described above with respect to the driver devices 110 and the driver devices 107. The application is configured to provide a user interface that allows the customer to give the software application the information required to proceed with the reservation of the rental vehicle with driver. For example, the software application, at its execution, may result in the display of interactive pages that allow the customer to select or enter the required information. The software application is also configured to communicate reservation information that has been provided by the client to the reservation application server 103. If based on the information provided by the client, it is determined that the application server reservation 103 requires further information, the software application executed in the mobile device 112 is configured to provide an interactive display to the client so that the client can provide this information, after which the software application provides them to the server. reservation application 103. Prior to making a reservation, the customer may need to connect to the software application on the mobile device 112. The connection to the software application may require the entry of a username and a password. password or PIN number. Alternatively, the user name may be entered during the establishment of the application and need not be entered later in the execution of this software application. If it is not necessary to enter a username, the user can log on to the software application simply by entering his password or PIN. The information relating to the reservation of a rental vehicle with driver 5 obtained during the booking process is as follows: - Customer information. The customer information can be the customer's name or an identifier that uniquely identifies the customer in the operational database 130. 10 - The type of service. This indicates the category of vehicles. For example, the type of service may indicate a vehicle of a standard four-seater type, or a standard seven-seater vehicle. The service may alternatively indicate a VIP vehicle, or an environmental protection vehicle (electric or hybrid) (also called green vehicle). 15 - The type of trip. The type of trip can be one way, or can be a round trip. The path may alternatively be a path having multiple collection positions or multiple deposit positions or multiple collection positions and multiple deposit positions. The type of route may alternatively indicate that it is a collection at an airport or a depot at an airport. - The collection address. This is the address to which the customer must be collected at the beginning of the journey. The address is a natural language address. The address is selected from the plurality of addresses stored in a database. The addresses may be stored in the operational database 130 or in the historical database 132, or may be provided by an external address database service, for example geo.me or qas.co.uk. Each address is associated with position coordinates expressed in latitude and longitude. Multiple databases can be used (hierarchically) for address lookup. The collection address may be selected by the customer in any convenient manner, depending on whether the customer uses the software application on his mobile device, uses the reservation web service, or uses an agent in his mobile device. a call center. If the trip type is a collection type at an airport, the collection address indicates the airport and terminal and optionally the flight number. 5 - The deposit address. The deposit address is also selected from multiple addresses stored in the database and is selected by the customer in any convenient manner. If the trip type is a depot at an airport, the collection address indicates the airport and terminal and optionally the flight number. 10 - The date and time of collection. These indicate the time and date on which the customer wishes to start the journey. Alternatively, the date and time may indicate DQP (as soon as possible), if the customer wishes the rental vehicle with driver as quickly as possible.
[0093] 15 Other optional information may appear on the reservation, such as: - A Customer reference. This may be for example a free text or a text selected in a drop-down menu. If a reference is provided, this information may be included in an accounting statement of a trip at a later date. 20 - Additional comments. Namely, a free text that brings potentially relevant information, and that can be communicated to the driver once the reservation has been allocated. The system 100 includes a path cost calculation module 122. The path cost module 122 executes a software code that determines the price of a requested path during the reservation process and prior to the allocation of the vehicle. The calculation of the cost of the trip is performed at the time of booking and the result is returned to the customer who makes the reservation. The resulting cost of the trip is provided before the customer confirms the reservation.
[0094] The path cost calculator 122 calculates the base cost of the route in various ways. The module 122 can set a fixed price for certain journeys. These are agreed in advance with a particular account holder for journeys between predetermined points. The path cost calculation module 122 verifies that the reserved trip and the customer meet the parameters of a fixed fare. If the conditions are not met, another pricing method is used. The cost calculation module of the path 122 may use a rate per zone if a fixed rate is not used. When each point of the trip is in a defined zone, the zone rate can be used. If neither the fixed rate nor the zone rate is used, or if the conditions for their application are not satisfied, the path cost calculation module 122 may use a tariff method from A to B (AB ). Process A-B can specify the number of units between points A and B. A price unit that depends on the type of vehicle etc. is then used to calculate the tariff. If there is no AB data for a particular trip, the direct flight distance (ie the length of a straight line between the collection position and the deposit position) is used to calculate the base cost of the trip. This method can use map references or alternatively rely on GPS data, i.e. the latitude and longitude of the collection and deposit points. The path cost calculation module 122 can recover all the map information and positions required to make these calculations from the historical database 132. The historical database 132 can store a detailed geospatial model of a particular region, such as a city. Alternatively, or in addition to the methods described above, the path cost calculation module 122 may use the true road distance of the path, which is calculated using the historical database road map 132 and an algorithm. route planning. Different rates can be used for different parts of the same trip. For example, a first fare per mile can be used for the first 10 miles of a trip and a second fare per mile can be used for the rest of the trip. The historical database 132 may also store information regarding speed limits and historical traffic data. This information can also be used by the path cost calculator 122 to calculate an estimated path time. The estimated travel time can then form the basis of the cost calculation. Other criteria used by the journey cost calculation module 122 when calculating the price are the type of vehicle (VIP, green, 7 seats etc.) including any special equipment available to the vehicle, the payment method and the date and time of the trip. The journey cost module 122 can also apply a fixed "collection fee" for each trip.
[0095] The journey cost calculating module 122 may also determine the portion of the charge billed to the customer that is returned to the driver. This can be a simple percentage of the total run or a more complex calculation depending on one or more factors such as route length, distance, waiting time and number of passengers.
[0096] Various examples of vehicle resource allocation to vehicle requirements, including anticipated vehicle requirements and other future vehicle requirements, are described in this divotment. In accordance with the context example of a rental car rental service with driver, the allocation function 20 allocates a vehicle and a driver to a reservation. The allocation function is described in some detail below. In a nutshell, a vehicle and a driver are allocated to the reservation, and to the associated customer, taking into account a number of factors including the collection position specified in the reservation, the deposit position specified in the reservation, the type of service specified in the reservation, the date and time specified in the reservation, the geographical distribution of the vehicles that are managed by the system 100, the demand for the vehicles that are managed by the system 100 and the information concerning the drivers.
[0097] The allocation function is automatic insofar as it does not require any manual intervention once the reservation has been made. Once a race has been allocated to a particular driver and a particular vehicle, it is recorded in the operational database 130 with an indication that the trip has not yet been made.
[0098] 5 The vehicle and driver management function ensures a certain number of checks of a vehicle in terms of distance traveled etc. and mechanical maintenance required at regular intervals. It also verifies that drivers' documentation regarding rental vehicle licenses, insurance etc. are in order. In addition, this function maintains an archive of the hours worked and the 10 races carried out, as well as any other relevant information. The Account Management function is used to manage customer account information with the System 100 Operator. This covers the maintenance and management of information such as authorized users, credit limits, terms and conditions. billing, etc. The record keeping function stores various information that is created or found by the system 100. This information includes information on the reservations not yet satisfied which are included in the operational database 130. Rather than the basic functions. data are provided by a small number of databases, in the embodiments above the operational database 130, the driver network database 131, as well as the historical data base 132 (as shown in FIG. in Figure 5a), the functions can be distributed among a larger number of databases, as shown in the system 100 of Figure 5b. The reference numbers in Figure 5a are retained for identical elements, which elements are not described again to avoid repetition.
[0099] In the system of Figure 5b, an account database 119 is configured to store the data of each account held with the system operator 100. The record keeping function is provided primarily by a route database 108 and a map and position database 109, as well as other system components 100. Each vehicle is respectively recorded in a vehicle database 121 Each driver is included in a driver database 120. The collection and deposit addresses are selected from one of the plurality of addresses stored in an address database 115. has been allocated to a particular driver and a particular vehicle, it is recorded in the data base of the journeys 108 made with an indication that the journey has not yet been made. An example of a sequence of steps that can be executed by a system (eg system 100) during the execution of a reservation example is now described with reference to FIG. relatively simple race comprising a collection position, a deposit position, no driver reallocation and no variation of the journey. Figure 6 also does not cover the cost and billing of the trip.
[0100] The process begins at step 601. In step 602, the system 100 accepts a reservation. Other ways of accepting a reservation or other type of vehicle request are described above with respect to Figure 1, Figure 5a and Figure 5b.
[0101] In step 603, the reservation is confirmed to the customer, for example by e-mail. The message sent to the customer by the system 100 includes a reservation reference number and some or all of the reservation information, including the collection and deposit locations, the date and time of collection, etc.
[0102] In step 604, the system 100 saves the reservation until it is time to begin the allocation. For a DQP race, the allocation can start immediately. Otherwise, the allocation may start at a fixed time before the collection date and time specified in the reservation information, as described in more detail below.
[0103] In step 605, the system allocates a driver and a vehicle to the race. Some examples of vehicle allocation are dealt with in Figure 3 and Figure 4. When the vehicle is allocated, the status of the vehicle and driver changes from 'available' to 'allocated'. This prevents the vehicle / driver from being allocated to a different race as long as the status does not change to a proper status. In step 606, the system 100 sends a message to the client with the details of the allocated vehicle. The message includes text such as 'your vehicle is on the road'. The message also indicates the race number, which may be the same as the number of the reservation. The message also indicates the identity of the vehicle, so that it can be easily identified by the customer. The identity of the vehicle may be indicated for example by the license plate or license plate on the vehicle. It may also indicate the make and model of the vehicle and / or its color. In addition, the message includes information enabling the customer 20 to contact the driver who has been allocated to the race. For example, it may include the driver's mobile phone number. Having the driver's mobile phone number allows the customer to call the driver before he picks it up in case he has any comments or clarification. In addition, the message includes a hyperlink to a web page on which the vehicle position is shown on a map. This allows the customer to check where the vehicle is at any time between the allocation of the vehicle to the race and the collection of the customer by the vehicle. In step 607, the system 100 sends a message to the driver informing him about the run. The message contains various pieces of information including the client's name. This allows the driver to confirm the customer's identity when he encounters it at the collection position. The message also includes the collection position and the deposit position. The collection position and the deposit position may be provided in the message so that it can be retrieved by the driver device 110 and placed automatically in a navigation application that is present on the driver device 110. This allows the driver at the collection position to start a route guidance after it has entered the collection position on the driver device 110. In the same way, after the customer has been collected at the collection position, the driver Device 110 may be instructed to begin guidance to the deposition position after appropriate input to driver device 110. System 100 may include a route planning module configured to execute a route planning algorithm. The route planning module may request the map and position database 109 to calculate a route. The route planning module may also request historic traffic data in the historical database 132 and / or instant traffic information to be able to more accurately predict the fastest route. Once a driver has indicated that he has collected the customer, the route planning module can communicate the recommended route to the driver via the driver device 110. The route guidance may be in the form of a driver. navigation instructions. Having a centralized route planning and guidance system prevents the driver from having to provide his own navigation system and update it.
[0104] In step 608, the system 100 receives from the driver a message PAB (passenger on board). This message is transmitted by the driver device 110 in response to the indication by the driver that he has collected the customer at the collection position. The driver may opt to indicate the PAB status once the driver device 110 determines that the vehicle has arrived at the collection position, or is within a predetermined radius (e.g., 50 m) of the position of the vehicle. collection and is at a standstill. However, the sending of the message by the driver device 110 is not automatic. In this step, the status of the vehicle / driver changes from "allocated" to "PAB". After receiving the driver's PAB message, the system 100 at step 609 records that the client has been collected. Then at step 610, the system 100 receives a message from the driver. This message is sent by the device 110 after the driver indicates to the driver device 110 that he has dropped the customer to the drop position. The driver may opt to indicate that he has dropped the customer when the driver device 110 determines that the vehicle has reached the deposit position or is in a predetermined radius (eg, 50 m) from the deposit position. and is at a standstill. However, the sending of the deposit message by the driver device 110 is not automatic. After receiving the deposit message sent by the driver device 110 in step 611, the system 100 completes the path registration in the operational database 130 (the record was created during the reservation process) . The recording of the path stored in the operational database 130 includes the following information: the collection address and the deposit address, also the date and time of the collection and, if different, the date and the time of booking. The record also includes the date and time of deposit, as detected by the system 100 in response to the receipt of the deposit message sent by the driver at step 610. The record also includes the cost of the journey in terms of financial value. The recording also includes the distance traveled, which is not the direct flight distance between the collection and deposit positions but the road distance traveled by the vehicle. The recording also includes the duration of the trip, in minutes and seconds. The registration also includes the type of vehicle that indicates the type of vehicle that is traveling.
[0105] The registration also includes the reservation information relating to the trip, which may include information on the identity of the customer who made the reservation, the time at which the reservation was made, the mode of reservation, execution of the reservation (eg web server, application or call center) and any other relevant information regarding the booking.
[0106] Next, in step 612 the driver and the vehicle are reallocated to the available driver group. This is achieved by changing the status of the vehicle / driver from "PAB" to "available". If necessary, in step 613, a receipt message of the journey traveled is sent to the client.
[0107] Finally, the process ends at step 614. In some embodiments, the vehicle resources are autonomous vehicles, also referred to as self-driving vehicles or self-driving cars. When the system 100 comprises autonomous vehicles, each driver device 110 is replaced by an onboard control system, which may be called an autonomous mode controller. The autonomous mode controller controls the speed and direction of the autonomous vehicle and maintains an accurate record of the position and orientation of the autonomous vehicle (unmanned). Autonomous driving sensors may include any number of devices configured to generate signals that assist in maneuvering the vehicle when operating in a standalone (driverless) mode. The autonomous vehicle may include a number of cameras and other sensors, including UDAR and / or radar sensors, which pass the vehicle environment information to the autonomous mode controller. This information includes the position, constitution, orientation and speed of nearby objects, including other vehicles. Autonomous driving sensors help the vehicle "see" the road and its surroundings and / or negotiate various obstacles when operating in stand-alone mode. The autonomous mode controller may communicate with the central system 101 via the radio network 111 according to any suitable protocol. 3033439 - 75 - The stand-alone mode controller can be configured to control one or more subsystems when the vehicle is operating in stand-alone mode. Examples of subsystems controllable by the autonomous mode controller may be a braking subsystem, a suspension subsystem, a steering subsystem, and a transmission subsystem. The autonomous mode controller can control any one or more of these subsystems by sending signals to control units associated with these subsystems. The autonomous mode controller can control the subsystems based, at least in part, on signals generated by the autonomous driving sensors.
[0108] As an element of the autonomous mode controller, autonomous vehicles may be provided with an on-board route planning module. When the autonomous vehicle receives information representing departure and arrival positions of a road, the on-board route planning module requests the map and position database 109 and possibly traffic data in the base station. historical data 132 and / or instantaneous traffic information to calculate the best route. The autonomous vehicle may also receive information representing one or more waypoints to which it must travel between the starting and ending positions, or a number of waypoints or positions to which it can travel in any what order. The route planning module can then calculate the most efficient route to travel to each of the positions. Alternatively, the autonomous vehicle may not have an on-board route planning module but rather receive route information, ie. information specifying one or more routes, or navigation instructions sent by the central system 101. The autonomous mode controller of each autonomous vehicle may also be preprogrammed to cause the autonomous vehicle to travel to a particular position and wait for it. when the vehicle has no starting and ending positions or specific waypoints to go to. Alternatively, when the autonomous vehicle does not undertake a specific path (ie when it is inactive), the autonomous mode controller can cause the autonomous vehicle to remain on one of a number of circuits or predetermined routes. The particular predetermined circuit or route chosen by the autonomous mode controller may depend on the position of the vehicle when it becomes inactive. As discussed with respect to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a vehicle resource allocation system (e.g., the system 10, the system 100) may include one or more servers. Regardless of the number of servers in a system of a particular embodiment, each server preferably has a number of features which will now be described with reference to Figure 7. Figure 7 shows a single server 700. If a system (eg system 10, system 100) comprises multiple servers, multiple versions of server 700 of Figure 7 may be connected together. Each server 700 comprises a processor 712. The processor 712 is connected to a volatile memory such as a RAM 713 by a bus 718. The bus 718 also connects the processor 112 and the RAM 713 to a non-volatile memory, such that A ROM 714. A communications interface 715 is coupled to the bus 718, and thus also to the processor 712 and the memories 713, 714. The interface 715 is connected to a communications network (eg a radio network). ) in any convenient way, for example via the Internet or a local network. Within the ROM 714 is stored a software application 717 which includes a program code which causes the server to perform the functions incumbent on it. An operating system (OS) 720 is also stored in the ROM 714. A rendering device such as a display 719 may be provided with the server 700. An input device such as a keyboard 721 may be provided with the server 700. Administrators and other users can thus perform configuration, control and updating operations as appropriate. The server 700 can take any form. In general terms, the server 700 includes processing circuits 712, having one or more processors, and a storage device 714, 713, including one or more memory units. The storage device 714, 713 stores computer program instructions which, when loaded into the processing circuits 712, control the operation of the server 700.
[0109] The term 'memory' used in this specification refers primarily to a memory comprising both non-volatile memory and volatile memory unless otherwise indicated in context, although the term may also cover one or more volatile memories only, a or more non-volatile memories, or one or more volatile memories and one or more non-volatile memories. RAM, DRAM, SDRAM, etc. are examples of volatile memory. ROM, PROM, EEPROM, Flash memory, optical memory, magnetic memory, etc., are examples of nonvolatile memory.
[0110] Any reference to a "computer readable storage medium", "computer program product", "tangibly implemented computer program" etc., or to a "processor" or "processing circuit" etc. It should be understood as encompassing not only computers with different architectures such as single-processor / multiprocessor architectures and serial / parallel architectures, but also specialized circuits such as FPGA FPGAs, chip-specific circuits, and more. ASIC application, signal processing devices and other devices. Any reference to programs, instructions, codes etc. Computer hardware should be understood as referring to software of a programmable processor firmware such as the programmable contents of a hardware device as processor instructions or configured parameters or as a configuration of a fixed device 3033439 - 78 - , a gate array, a programmable logic device, etc. It will be appreciated that the above embodiments are not intended to be limiting and that other variations and modifications will be within the skill of the art and are intended to be encompassed by the claims unless expressly excluded. by the language of the claims in the consideration of equivalents. Some of these other possibilities and modifications are now described below.
[0111] In what has been explained above, the calculation of the cost of the journey is performed at the time of a reservation and the result is returned to the customer requesting the reservation. The calculation of the cost may alternatively be made before the reservation (for example on the basis of an agreed rate), once the reservation has been satisfied, or later.
[0112] In addition, the rating of a vehicle in terms of cost for a reservation can be made in any convenient manner. In addition, the cost rating can be performed once and the best allocated vehicle can be allocated at that time, rather than performing the cost rating only when it is decided to allocate a vehicle.
[0113] Instead of selecting vehicles from the fleet of candidate vehicles based solely on bird's eye distance, vehicles can be selected based on the area they are currently located in. For example, with respect to a collection location in a certain area, all vehicles currently in the same area or an area adjacent to that area may be selected for inclusion in the candidate fleet. If the area information is stored in the map and position database 109 (or other database) as part of the current vehicle position information, the use of the area information in the vehicle selection 30 Candidates may be particularly infrequent in calculations. The use of the zones also makes it possible to take into account delimitations (such as rivers) between geographically close regions in the classification of adjacent or non-adjacent zones. Instead of calculating the allocation buffer value only for the best-rated vehicle, the allocation buffer value can be calculated for the 2, 3 or 4 best-rated vehicles. This may increase the number of allocation buffer values to be executed but increases the likelihood that the allocated vehicle will arrive at the collection position before the departure time of the reservation or at the departure time of the reservation.
[0114] Instead of waiting a predetermined number of minutes before the start time of the reservation to begin the allocation, the number of minutes may for example be a function of the number of bookings having departure times in a certain period of time. number of vehicles 'available' in the fleet and / or the density of 15 vehicles 'available' in the area of the collection position. In addition, the disclosure of this application must be understood to include any unpublished features or any unpublished combination of features explicitly or implicitly disclosed herein or in any generalization thereof and during a prosecution of this application or any request derived from it, new claims may be formulated to cover such features and / or combination of such features.

权利要求:
Claims (36)
[0001]
CLAIMS: 1. A system for allocating networked vehicle resources to vehicle requirements, the system comprising: a plurality of requesting devices; a plurality of vehicle resources, each vehicle resource being associated with a respective vehicle position; and a vehicle resource allocation controller device comprising: at least one processor in communication with the plurality of requesting devices and with the plurality of vehicle resources, and a computer readable medium in communication with the at least one processor the vehicle resource allocation controller device, the computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: a) store a plurality of vehicle requirements issued by the plurality of requesting devices in the form of several vehicle requests, each vehicle request comprising at least a respective departure time and a respective starting position; b) for a first vehicle request of the several requests for 20 vehicles, automatically determining that a current time has a predetermined relationship with the time of departure of the first vehicle request; c) in response to the determination in step b), forming a fleet of candidate vehicle resources that may eventually satisfy the first vehicle request; D) for each candidate vehicle resource in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a respective score that indicates the suitability of the candidate vehicle resource to satisfy the first vehicle request; e) for one or more of the candidate vehicle resources in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a respective vehicle position travel time associated with the candidate vehicle resource at the departure position included in the first vehicle application; f) determining whether or not to allocate a vehicle resource to the first vehicle request, using both: 1) the respective scores calculated for the candidate vehicle resources of the candidate vehicle resource park, and
[0002]
2) the one or more calculated respective travel times; (g) perform steps (d), (e) and (f) at least twice for the first vehicle application until it is determined in step (f) that a vehicle resource should be allocated to the first vehicle application; and 10 h) determining in step f) that a vehicle resource should be allocated to the first vehicle request, allocating to the first vehicle request a vehicle resource of the candidate vehicle resource park in the first vehicle request. function of the respective scores calculated at the last execution of step d). The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions for execution by the at least one processor further causes the at least one processor to: receive, for each candidate vehicle resource from the candidate resource pool, an indication the respective vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource, wherein the respective vehicle position comprises a respective current position of the candidate vehicle resource.
[0003]
The system of claim 2, wherein receiving the indication of the respective vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource comprises: receiving an indication of the respective current position of the vehicle resource.
[0004]
The system of claim 2 or claim 3, wherein receiving the indication of the respective vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource comprises: receiving an indication of the respective current position from a desired vehicle location; Positioning service in communication with the candidate vehicle resource.
[0005]
The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein the first vehicle request comprises a request for a first responder vehicle.
[0006]
The system of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first vehicle request includes a customer reservation of a rental vehicle with a driver, and wherein the starting position is a collection position of the rental vehicle. customer reservation.
[0007]
The system of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first vehicle request includes a request to send a vehicle to a search position. 15
[0008]
The system of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first vehicle request includes a request for an autonomous vehicle.
[0009]
The system of any preceding claim, wherein the instructions for execution by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to perform an allocation to the first vehicle request of a vehicle resource. in step h): determining a vehicle resource having the respective best score calculated at the last execution of step d); and allocating the vehicle resource having the respective best score to the first vehicle request.
[0010]
A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein instructions to execute them by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to execute step e) for less than all of the vehicle resources. candidates in the candidate vehicle resource park formed in step c). 3033439 - 83 -
[0011]
A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the respective vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource comprises a current position of the candidate vehicle resource.
[0012]
The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein the respective vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource comprises a client reservation deposit position that the candidate vehicle resource currently satisfies. 10
[0013]
System according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the instructions for their execution by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to: choose, depending on a status of a candidate vehicle resource between: 1) calculating a respective travel time for the candidate vehicle resource from the vehicle position of the candidate vehicle resource by calculating a travel time from a current position of the candidate vehicle resource to the starting position included in the first vehicle request, and 2) calculating a respective travel time for the candidate vehicle resource from the vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource by calculating a travel time from a deposit position of a customer reservation that the candidate vehicle resource currently satisfies to the starting position included in the first request for a vehicle. 25
[0014]
The system of any of the preceding claims, wherein the instructions for execution by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to determine that a current time has a predetermined relationship with the departure time. of the first vehicle request by: determining that the current time is at least approximately a predetermined time before the departure time of the first vehicle request. 3033439 - 84 -
[0015]
15. System according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the instructions for their execution by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to form a fleet of several candidate vehicle resources that can possibly satisfy the first request. of a vehicle by: rejecting one or more vehicles in a fleet that have a status indicating that the vehicle in the fleet is potentially unable to meet the vehicle demand. 10
[0016]
16. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the instructions for their execution by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to form a fleet of several candidate vehicle resources that can possibly satisfy the first request for vehicle by: selecting a predetermined number of candidate vehicle resources that are geographically closest to the starting position included in the first vehicle request.
[0017]
17. The system of claim 16, wherein the instructions for execution by the at least one processor further cause the at least one processor to calculate a respective direct distance between each vehicle of a fleet and the starting position. included in the first vehicle application.
[0018]
The system of claim 17, wherein selecting a predetermined number of candidate vehicle resources that are geographically closest to the starting position included in the first vehicle request includes: selecting a predetermined number of candidate vehicle resources that are geographically closest to the starting position included in the first vehicle request according to the respective direct distances between each vehicle in the fleet and the starting position included in the first vehicle request. 3033439 85 -
[0019]
The system of any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the predetermined number is between 10 and 100.
[0020]
20. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the instructions for their execution by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to perform step g) by: performing steps c), d) , e) and f) at least twice for the first vehicle request until it is determined in step f) that a vehicle resource should be allocated to the first vehicle request.
[0021]
21. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the instructions for their execution by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to calculate a respective score which indicates the adequacy of the candidate vehicle resource. to satisfy the vehicle demand by: calculating sub-scores for each of several factors and performing a mathematical operation on the sub-scores.
[0022]
22. System according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the instructions for their execution by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to form a park of several candidate vehicle resources that may possibly satisfy the first request. of a vehicle by: calculating a respective direct distance between each vehicle of a fleet and the starting position included in the first vehicle request and calculating a respective journey time for each vehicle in the fleet from the respective vehicle position of each fleet vehicle to the starting position included in the first vehicle request using a map database. 30
[0023]
A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the instructions for their execution by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to calculate a respective travel time from the associated vehicle position. to the respective candidate vehicle resource to the starting position included in the first vehicle request using historical or current traffic delay data on one or more routes between a respective current position of the candidate vehicle resource and the starting position included in the first vehicle request.
[0024]
A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the instructions for execution by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to determine whether or not to allocate a vehicle resource to the first vehicle request by: determining that a respective score calculated for a candidate vehicle resource in step d) is better than respective scores calculated for other candidate vehicle resources in the candidate vehicle resource park ; determining for the candidate vehicle resource a sum of an allocation buffer value and the respective calculated journey time from the vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource to the starting position included in the first vehicle application; and determining that the sum of the allocation buffer value and the respective calculated journey duration satisfies or not a predetermined relationship in terms of time remaining between the current time and the departure time of the first vehicle request. 25
[0025]
A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein instructions to execute them by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to allocate to the first vehicle request a vehicle resource of the resource park of the candidate vehicles based on the respective scores calculated at the last execution of step d) by: allocating to the first vehicle request the vehicle resource of the candidate vehicle fleet determined to have received the highest score respective to the last execution of step d).
[0026]
Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the candidate vehicle resource park comprises less than a total number of vehicle resources available to satisfy the reservation.
[0027]
27. A method of enabling a vehicle resource allocation controller device to allocate network vehicle resources to vehicle requirements, the method comprising: a) storing, by a resource allocation controller device, vehicles, of several vehicle requirements issued by a plurality of requesting devices in the form of several vehicle requests, each vehicle request including at least a respective departure time and a respective starting position, wherein the allocation controller device vehicle resources are in communication with: the plurality of requesting devices, and a plurality of vehicle resources, each vehicle resource being associated with a respective vehicle position; b) for a first vehicle request of the several vehicle requests, the automatic determination, by the vehicle resource allocation controller device, that a current time has a predetermined relationship with the departure time of the first request for vehicle; C) in response to the determination in step b), the formation, by the vehicle resource allocation controller device, of a fleet of candidate vehicle resources that may possibly satisfy the first vehicle request; d) for each candidate vehicle resource in the resource park of 30 candidate vehicles, the calculation by the vehicle resource allocation controller device of a respective score which indicates the adequacy of the vehicle resource 3033439 - 88 - candidate to satisfy the first vehicle application; e) for one or more of the candidate vehicle resources in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating, by the vehicle resource allocation controller device, a respective journey time of the vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource at the starting position included in the first vehicle request; f) determining, by the vehicle resource allocator controller, whether or not to allocate a vehicle resource to the first vehicle request, using both: 1) calculated respective scores for the candidate vehicle resources of the candidate vehicle resource park, and 2) the one or more calculated respective journey times; g) executing, by the vehicle resource allocation controller device, steps d), e) and f) at least twice for the first vehicle request until it is determined step f) that a vehicle resource should be allocated to the first vehicle request; and h) determining in step f) that a vehicle resource should be allocated to the first vehicle request, the allocation by the vehicle resource allocation controller device to the first request. of a vehicle resource of the candidate vehicle resource park based on respective scores calculated at the last execution of step d).
[0028]
28. A vehicle network resource allocation apparatus for vehicle needs, the apparatus comprising: a processor in communication with: a plurality of requesting devices, and a plurality of vehicle resources, each vehicle resource being associated with a respective vehicle position; a computer readable medium in communication with the processor, the computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to: a) store a plurality of vehicle requirements from the plurality of devices in the form of several vehicle applications, each vehicle application comprising at least a respective departure time and a respective starting position; B) for a first vehicle request of the several vehicle requests, automatically determining that a current time has a predetermined relationship with the departure time of the first vehicle request; c) in response to the determination in step b), forming a fleet of candidate vehicle resources that may eventually satisfy the first vehicle request; d) for each candidate vehicle resource in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a respective score that indicates the suitability of the candidate vehicle resource to satisfy the first vehicle request; e) for one or more of the candidate vehicle resources in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a respective journey time from the vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource to the starting position included in the first vehicle application; f) determining whether or not to allocate a vehicle resource to the first vehicle request, using both: 1) the respective scores calculated for the candidate vehicle resources of the candidate vehicle resource park, and 2) the one or more calculated respective travel times; g) perform steps d), e) and f) at least twice for the first vehicle request until it is determined in step f) that a vehicle resource should be allocated the first request for a vehicle; and h) determining in step f) that a vehicle resource should be allocated to the first vehicle request, allocating to the first vehicle request a vehicle resource of the candidate vehicle resource park in use. respective scores calculated at the last execution of step d). 30
[0029]
A network vehicle resource allocation apparatus for vehicle purposes, the apparatus comprising: a processor; and a computer readable medium in communication with the processor, the computer readable medium storing instructions which upon execution by the processor cause the processor to determine that a current time has a predetermined relationship with an associated start time. a first request for a vehicle; forming a fleet of candidate vehicle resources that may eventually satisfy the first vehicle request; For each candidate vehicle resource in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a respective first score which indicates the adequacy of the candidate vehicle resource to satisfy the first vehicle request; for one or more of the candidate vehicle resources in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a respective first journey time from a respective first vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource to a starting position associated with the first request for a vehicle; for each candidate vehicle resource in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a respective second score which indicates the adequacy of the candidate vehicle resource to satisfy the first vehicle request; for one or more of the candidate vehicle resources in the candidate vehicle resource park, calculating a respective second journey time from a respective second vehicle position associated with the candidate vehicle resource to the starting position associated with the first vehicle application; Determining whether or not to allocate a vehicle resource to the first vehicle request, using both: 1) the respective second scores calculated for the candidate vehicle resources of the candidate vehicle resource park, and 2) the one or more calculated second travel times; 30 after determining that a vehicle resource should be allocated to the first vehicle request, allocating to the first vehicle request a vehicle resource of the candidate vehicle resource park according to the respective second score of the vehicle resource.
[0030]
Apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the second respective score of the allocated vehicle resource is the respective best second score calculated for the fleet of candidate vehicle resources.
[0031]
Apparatus according to claim 29 or claim 30, the computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, further causes the processor to: store a plurality of vehicle requests, including the first vehicle request, each vehicle application of the several requests for vehicles comprising at least a respective departure time and a respective starting position. 15
[0032]
Apparatus according to any one of claims 29 to 31, the computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, further causes the processor to: before determining that it is necessary to allocate a resource of vehicle to the first vehicle request, determine that it is not necessary to allocate a vehicle resource to the first vehicle request, using both: 1) the respective first scores calculated for the vehicle resources; candidate vehicles from the candidate vehicle resource park, and 2) the first one or more respective calculated journey times. 25
[0033]
Apparatus according to any one of claims 29 to 32, the computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, further causes the processor to: before calculating the respective second scores and before calculating the one or a plurality of respective second travel times, determining that it is not necessary to allocate a vehicle resource to the first vehicle request, using at the same time: 1) the respective first scores calculated for the candidate vehicle resources of the candidate vehicle resource park, and 2) the first one or more calculated first journey times; And wherein the calculation of the respective second scores and the calculation of one or more second respective travel times are performed after determining that it is not necessary to allocate a vehicle resource to the first vehicle request. 10
[0034]
Apparatus according to any one of claims 29 to 33, the computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to calculate the respective first score which indicates the adequacy of the candidate vehicle resource. to satisfy the first vehicle request 15 by: calculating sub-scores for each of several factors and performing a mathematical operation on the sub-scores.
[0035]
Apparatus according to claim 34, wherein a calculated sub score comprises a risk score.
[0036]
Apparatus according to claim 34, wherein a calculated subscore includes a delay score.

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法律状态:
2017-02-17| PLFP| Fee payment|Year of fee payment: 2 |

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2018-02-23| PLFP| Fee payment|Year of fee payment: 3 |

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2020-02-19| PLFP| Fee payment|Year of fee payment: 5 |

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2021-01-08| PLSC| Publication of the preliminary search report|Effective date: 20210108 |

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2021-02-24| PLFP| Fee payment|Year of fee payment: 6 |

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2022-02-16| PLFP| Fee payment|Year of fee payment: 7 |

优先权:

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申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题

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GB1503082.8A|GB2535718A|2015-02-24|2015-02-24|Resource management|

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