CN116703537A - Transfer support system and transfer support method - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a transfer support system and a transfer support method, which facilitate reservation of a taxi for transfer while the vehicle is traveling and support a user for smooth transfer of the vehicle. The device is provided with: a calculation unit (35) for calculating a distance that can be traveled by a user (U) using the vehicle (3) and that can be traveled by the remaining amount of current energy for traveling; a search unit (24) for searching for a rental vehicle or a rental vehicle supply station (6) located at an accessible position within a range of a travelable distance; an extraction unit (25) that extracts a candidate vehicle from among the retrieved rental vehicles or from among the rental vehicles that can be reserved at the supply station, based on a predetermined selected condition when the vehicle parameter relating to the distance to be travelled becomes the predetermined condition; a proposal unit (37) that outputs a proposal for a reservation of use of the extracted candidate vehicle to a user (U); a reservation unit (26) makes a reservation for use of one rental vehicle selected by a user (U) from among the candidate vehicles.

Description

Transfer support system and transfer support method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a transfer support system and a transfer support method for supporting transfer of a vehicle.

Background

Patent document 1 describes a mobile object arrangement device for arranging mobile objects in response to an arrangement request from a user terminal. In the apparatus, upon receiving an unreachable signal that cannot reach a destination with a scheduling moving body scheduled according to a scheduling request, a high-evaluation moving body having the same or more evaluation as the scheduling moving body is reported to a user terminal as a candidate for a substitute moving body or is scheduled as a substitute moving body.

Patent document 2 describes a rechargeable vehicle route search device. In this apparatus, a movement plan of the rechargeable car including the supply devices used in the route is created. Further, the supply device includes a vehicle-changing supply device that changes a traveling rechargeable car to another rechargeable car or a charging device that supplies electric power to the traveling rechargeable car.

Patent document 3 describes an information processing apparatus capable of appropriately determining a movement means of a user. The device is provided with: an acquisition unit that acquires 1 st position information of the 1 st terminal and 2 nd position information of the 2 nd terminal used by the user, the 1 st position information satisfying predetermined conditions related to the determination of the moving means; and a determination unit that determines synchronization between the movement of the 1 st terminal and the movement of the user based on the 1 st position information and the 2 nd position information.

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1: japanese patent application laid-open No. 2021-92882

Patent document 2: japanese patent application laid-open No. 2015-94705

Patent document 3: japanese patent application laid-open No. 2019-207501

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

When an electric vehicle equipped with a secondary battery (hereinafter referred to as a battery) is used for traveling, when the charge amount of the battery decreases, the vehicle needs to stop at a power supply facility halfway and take a corresponding time to charge the battery. Therefore, the user may choose to quickly move to the destination by using the alternative vehicle instead of charging the battery of the electric vehicle in use. In this case, it is necessary to make contact for reservation of use of the vehicle to a supply station of a rental vehicle such as a vehicle dealer or a vehicle rental company.

However, it is difficult to make a contact with a use reservation while the vehicle is driving due to a safety problem or the like. In addition, for example, it is difficult to stop the vehicle for use reservation even when traveling on an expressway, and when the vehicle arrives at a parking area and the use reservation is made, there is a possibility that the desired rental vehicle is already reserved by another person. In particular, when the vehicle continues to run at a low speed due to congestion or the like on a highway, a large number of batteries of electric vehicles may be in a state of reduced charge, and thus, there is a risk that the number of persons who seek for a rental vehicle increases, and it may be very difficult to secure a desired rental vehicle.

The purpose of the present invention is to facilitate reservation of a substitute vehicle for transfer while a vehicle is traveling, thereby assisting smooth transfer of the vehicle.

Means for solving the problems

One aspect of the present invention is a transfer support system, including: a calculation unit that calculates a distance that can be traveled by a user using a vehicle that is driven by the user and that can be traveled by a remaining amount of current traveling energy; a search unit that searches for a rental vehicle or a supply station of the rental vehicle located at a reachable position within the range of the travelable distance; an extraction unit that extracts a candidate vehicle from among the retrieved rental vehicles or from among rental vehicles that can be reserved at the providing station, based on a predetermined selected condition when a vehicle parameter related to the travelable distance becomes a predetermined condition; a proposal section that outputs a proposal for the extracted reservation of use of the candidate vehicle to the user; and a reservation unit that makes a reservation for use of the rental vehicle selected by the user from among the candidate vehicles.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the reservation unit performs temporary reservation for each of the candidate vehicles when the extraction unit extracts the candidate vehicles.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the reservation unit cancels the temporary reservation for the candidate vehicle when a predetermined cancellation condition including: a predetermined time elapses from the notification of the temporary reservation; the distance between the candidate vehicle and the usage vehicle for which the temporary reservation is made is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance; or the usage vehicle moves away from the candidate vehicle for which the temporary reservation is made in a period of time equal to or longer than a predetermined time.

According to another aspect of the present invention, when a setting related to a transit point is included in a predetermined travel path set in the use vehicle, the extracting unit extracts the rental vehicle located within a predetermined distance from the transit point among the rental vehicles retrieved by the retrieving unit as the candidate vehicle in preference to other rental vehicles.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the extracting unit extracts a predetermined number of the rental vehicles as the candidate vehicles based on the selected condition.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the extracting section estimates a vehicle size suitable for a transfer vehicle according to a destination, a number of passengers, and/or a load amount of the usage vehicle, and includes the rental vehicle having the estimated vehicle size in the candidate vehicle.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the extracting portion extracts, as the candidate vehicles, the rental vehicle having the estimated vehicle size, the rental vehicle having a size larger than the estimated vehicle size, and the rental vehicle having a size smaller than the estimated vehicle size.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the proposal unit outputs the proposal when a remaining amount of the energy for traveling, which is the vehicle parameter related to the distance to be traveled, is smaller than a predetermined amount.

Another aspect of the present invention is a transfer support method executed by a computer of a transfer support system that supports transfer of a vehicle, wherein the transfer support method includes: calculating a distance that can be travelled by a user using the vehicle and depending on the current remaining amount of energy for travelling; retrieving a rental vehicle or a supply station of the rental vehicle located in a reachable position within the range of the travelable distance; extracting a candidate vehicle from among the retrieved rental vehicles or from among rental vehicles that can be reserved at the providing station, based on a predetermined selected condition when the vehicle parameter related to the travelable distance becomes a predetermined condition; outputting to the user an offer for the extracted reservation of use of the candidate vehicle; and making a reservation for use of one of the rental vehicles selected by the user from the candidate vehicles.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily secure a substitute vehicle for transfer while the vehicle is traveling, thereby assisting the user in smooth transfer of the vehicle.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a transfer support system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the transfer support server.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration in which an auxiliary device provided in a vehicle is used.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing steps of a process in the transfer assist system.

Description of the reference numerals

1: a transfer assist system; 2: a transfer auxiliary server; 3: using a vehicle; 4: a battery; 5: an auxiliary device; 6. 6a, 6b: providing a station; 7. 7a, 7b: a reservation processing device; 8: a communication network; 20: a 1 st processor; 21: a 1 st memory; 22: a 1 st communication device; 23: an information acquisition unit; 24: a search unit; 25: an extraction unit; 26: a reservation section; 27: a rental vehicle database; 28: auxiliary program 1; 30: a 2 nd processor; 31: a 2 nd memory; 32: a 2 nd communication device; 33: a condition acquisition unit; 34: a path guide unit; 35: a calculation unit; 36: an information transmitting unit; 37: a proposal section; 38: a selection acquisition unit; 39: auxiliary program 2; 40: a touch panel; 41: a GPS receiver; 42: a charge remaining amount sensor; 43: a speaker; 44: a microphone; u: and (5) a user.

Detailed Description

Embodiment(s)

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a transfer support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The transfer support system 1 includes a transfer support server 2 and an support device 5 provided in a vehicle 3 serving as a vehicle in which a user U is currently driving. The transfer support system 1 supports a user U driving the use vehicle 3 for use reservation of a rental vehicle for transfer. In the present embodiment, the vehicle 3 is an electric vehicle that travels by supplying power from the battery 4 as a secondary battery.

The transfer support server 2, the support device 5 provided in the vehicle 3, and the reservation processing devices 7a and 7b provided in the plurality of supply stations 6a and 6b for providing the rental vehicle are communicably connected via the communication network 8. The reservation processing devices 7a and 7b are, for example, computers, and perform processing of reserving use and/or temporarily reserving use of the rental vehicles stored in the corresponding supply stations 6a and 6 b. Hereinafter, the providing stations 6a and 6b are also collectively referred to as providing stations 6, and the reservation processing devices 7a and 7b are also collectively referred to as reservation processing devices 7. In addition, the number of the providing stations 6 is not limited to 2, and may be 3 or more.

The transfer support server 2 searches for a supply station of the rental vehicle suitable for the transfer of the user U according to the expected condition of the user U for the rental vehicle at an appropriate timing based on the remaining amount of charge of the battery 4 using the vehicle 3, and presents candidates of the rental vehicle to the user U.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the transfer support server 2. The transfer support server 2 has a 1 st processor 20, a 1 st memory 21, and a 1 st communication device 22. The 1 st memory 21 is constituted by, for example, a volatile and/or nonvolatile semiconductor memory and/or a hard disk device.

The 1 st communication device 22 is a transceiver for the transfer support server 2 to communicate with the support device 5 using the vehicle 3 and the reservation processing device 7 of the providing station 6 via the communication network 8.

The 1 st processor 20 is a computer including, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit: central processing unit). The 1 st processor 20 may be configured to have a ROM (Read Only Memory) in which a program is written, a RAM (Random Access Memory: random access Memory) for temporarily storing data, and the like. The 1 st processor 20 includes an information acquisition unit 23, a search unit 24, an extraction unit 25, and a reservation unit 26 as functional elements or functional units.

These functional elements of the 1 st processor 20 are realized by, for example, the 1 st processor 20 as a computer executing the 1 st auxiliary program 28 stored in the 1 st memory 21. The 1 st auxiliary program 28 may be stored in advance in any storage medium readable by a computer. Alternatively, all or part of the above-described functional elements included in the 1 st processor 20 may be configured by hardware including one or more electronic circuit components.

The information acquisition unit 23 communicates with, for example, the reservation processing device 7 provided in the providing station 6 that provides the rental vehicle, and acquires information on the rental vehicle that can be currently rented. The information acquisition unit 23 stores rental-vehicle information obtained by associating the positions of the providing stations 6 with information on rentable rental vehicles, in the rental-vehicle database 27 stored in the 1 st memory 21. The information on the rental vehicles may include, for example, the vehicle size, riding comfort, maximum load, load bed capacity, distance travelled, driving system (all-wheel drive, FF, FR, etc.), and the type of tire to be mounted, etc. of each rental vehicle.

The information acquisition unit 23 acquires vehicle information of the usage vehicle 3 from the auxiliary device 5 of the usage vehicle 3. The vehicle information using the vehicle 3 may include a current position using the vehicle 3, a destination, a predetermined travel path, the number of passengers, the amount of loaded goods, a current charge remaining amount of the battery 4, and a distance that can be traveled by the charge remaining amount using the vehicle 3.

When the travelable distance of the usage vehicle 3 acquired by the information acquisition unit 23 is smaller than the predetermined distance, the search unit 24 refers to the rental vehicle information of the rental vehicle database 27, and searches the rental vehicle supply station 6 located at the position where the usage vehicle 3 can reach within the above travelable distance.

The extracting unit 25 extracts a candidate vehicle from among the rental vehicles that can be reserved at the providing station 6 retrieved by the retrieving unit 24, based on a predetermined selection condition. The selected condition may be a desired condition for the rental vehicle by the user U transmitted from a condition acquisition unit 33 provided in the auxiliary device 5 using the vehicle 3, which will be described later. The extraction unit 25 transmits the extracted information of the candidate vehicle to the assist device 5 using the vehicle 3. As described later, the extracted information of the candidate vehicle is output in the usage vehicle 3 as a proposal for the usage reservation to the user U. This makes it possible to easily secure a rental vehicle as a substitute vehicle for transfer while traveling using the vehicle 3, thereby assisting the user U in smooth transfer of the vehicle.

When extracting a candidate vehicle, the extracting unit 25 refers to the vehicle information of the vehicle 3 acquired by the information acquiring unit 23, and determines whether or not the predetermined travel path set in the vehicle 3 includes a setting related to the transit point. Then, when the route of travel includes the transit point, the extraction unit 25 extracts a rental vehicle of a supply station closest to the transit point (for example, located in a range of a predetermined distance) among the supply stations retrieved by the retrieval unit 24 (i.e., a rental vehicle located at the closest supply station) as the candidate vehicle in preference to the rental vehicles of other supply stations. In this way, since the rental vehicle for transfer can be allocated in the vicinity of the transit point where the vehicle 3 is used, the user U can smoothly transfer to the rental vehicle in the middle of the predetermined travel route.

Specifically, the extraction unit 25 extracts a predetermined number (for example, 3) of rental vehicles as candidate vehicles based on the selected conditions. This makes it easier for the user U to select and judge the plurality of options as compared with the case where a plurality of candidate vehicles are presented.

Instead of or in addition to the above, the extraction unit 25 may estimate a vehicle size suitable for the transfer vehicle based on the current destination, the number of passengers, and/or the amount of load using the vehicle 3 with reference to the vehicle information of the vehicle 3, and include a rental vehicle having the estimated vehicle size in the candidate vehicle. The extraction unit 25 may include a rental vehicle equipped with tires for snow lanes or a rental vehicle of an all-wheel drive system in the candidate vehicle in a case where the road surface is likely to slip in bad weather (e.g., snowfall) or the road surface depending on weather or road surface conditions. Accordingly, since a rental vehicle having a size suitable for transfer from the usage vehicle 3 is automatically extracted and the extracted rental vehicle is presented as a candidate vehicle, convenience for the user U is improved.

The extraction unit 25 may extract, as the candidate vehicle, a rental vehicle having a size larger than the estimated vehicle size and a rental vehicle having a size smaller than the estimated vehicle size, in addition to the rental vehicle having the estimated vehicle size. In this way, since the option of 3 candidate vehicles having different vehicle sizes is presented, the user U can easily select a rental vehicle having a size corresponding to the number of passengers and the load of the load using the vehicle 3.

The reservation unit 26 acquires information on one rental vehicle selected by the user U from the candidate vehicles from the assist device 5, and makes a reservation for use of the rental vehicle. Specifically, the reservation unit 26 refers to the rental vehicle database 27, and transmits a request for a use reservation to the reservation processing device 7 of the providing station 6 that provides the selected one rental vehicle, thereby making the use reservation. After processing the request sent according to the prior art, the use reservation is established. Thereby, the reservation of use of the rental vehicle is performed according to the selection of the user U.

When the providing station 6 receives a temporary reservation for a rental vehicle, the reservation unit 26 can make a temporary reservation for a rental vehicle included in the candidate vehicle when the extraction unit 25 extracts the candidate vehicle. Here, the temporary reservation is, for example, a temporary reservation before the use reservation, and the providing station 6 can accept no temporary reservation and use reservation from another person for the specified rental vehicle for a predetermined period of time with respect to the temporary reservation commitment. Specifically, the reservation unit 26 transmits a notification of the temporary reservation to the reservation processing device 7 of the corresponding providing station 6 for each of the rental vehicles included in the candidate vehicles, for example. The reservation processing device 7 performs temporary reservation of the corresponding rental vehicle based on notification of the temporary reservation according to the related art. This can prevent the rental vehicle, which is a candidate vehicle that meets the desired condition of the user U, from being rented to another person, and thus the user U can ensure that the desired rental vehicle is transferred.

In this case, the reservation unit 26 cancels the temporary reservation for the rental vehicle when a predetermined release condition is satisfied after the temporary reservation for the rental vehicle is made. Specifically, the reservation unit 26 notifies the reservation processing device 7 of the corresponding providing station 6 of the release of the temporary reservation. The release condition may be, for example: a predetermined time elapses from the notification of the temporary reservation; the distance between the providing station 6 storing the candidate vehicle with temporary reservation and the vehicle 3 to be used is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance; or the vehicle 3 is used to move in a direction away from the supply station 6 where the candidate vehicle temporarily reserved is stored for a period of time equal to or longer than a predetermined time. In this way, when the possibility that the user U does not transfer to any rental vehicle as a candidate vehicle is high, the temporary reservation can be released without continuing the temporary reservation for a long time, and the convenience of other people is not impaired.

Next, a configuration using the auxiliary device 5 provided in the vehicle 3 will be described. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the auxiliary device 5.

The auxiliary device 5 has a 2 nd processor 30, a 2 nd memory 31 and a 2 nd communication device 32. The 2 nd memory 31 is constituted by, for example, a volatile and/or nonvolatile semiconductor memory and/or a hard disk device. The 2 nd communication device 32 is a transceiver for the auxiliary device 5 to communicate with other devices such as the transfer support server 2 via the communication network 8.

The 2 nd processor 30 is, for example, a computer having a CPU. The 2 nd processor 30 may be configured to have a ROM in which a program is written, a RAM for temporarily storing data, or the like. The 2 nd processor 30 includes a condition acquisition unit 33, a route guidance unit 34, a calculation unit 35, an information transmission unit 36, a proposal unit 37, and a selection acquisition unit 38 as functional elements or functional units.

These functional elements of the 2 nd processor 30 are realized by, for example, the 2 nd processor 30 as a computer executing the 2 nd auxiliary program 39 stored in the 2 nd memory 31. The 2 nd auxiliary program 39 may be stored in advance in any storage medium readable by a computer. Alternatively, all or part of the above-described functional elements included in the 2 nd processor 30 may be configured by hardware including one or more electronic circuit components.

The condition acquisition unit 33 acquires a desired condition of the user U regarding the rental vehicle as the substitute vehicle to which the user U is transferred from the usage vehicle 3, and transmits the desired condition to the transfer support server 2. The extraction unit 25 of the transfer support server 2 that receives the above-described desired condition uses the above-described desired condition as a selected condition when extracting the candidate vehicle. The condition acquisition unit 33 acquires the desired condition from the user U before the user U starts driving the vehicle 3, and transmits the acquired desired condition to the transfer support server 2. Specifically, the condition acquisition unit 33 may display, for example, options related to predetermined items including a vehicle type, a vehicle size, a driver, a load bed capacity, or a distance to be travelled on the touch panel 40, and acquire the desired condition according to a touch operation by the user U.

The route guidance unit 34 is a navigation function unit that operates according to the related art, searches for a route to a destination designated by the user U, and guides the route using the route designated by the user U as a predetermined travel route. The setting related to the transit point designated by the user U can be included in the predetermined travel path.

The route guidance unit 34 obtains position information by using the GPS receiver 41 provided in the vehicle 3, and thereby determines the current position of the vehicle 3. The route guidance unit 34 can calculate so-called power efficiency (travel distance per power consumption amount) based on the remaining charge amount obtained from the remaining charge amount sensor 42 provided in the usage vehicle 3 and the actual travel distance of the usage vehicle 3.

The calculating unit 35 calculates a distance that can be traveled, i.e., a distance that can be traveled, from the current charge remaining amount of the battery 4 using the vehicle 3. The current charge remaining amount is obtained from, for example, a charge remaining amount sensor 42 provided in the vehicle 3. The travelable distance can be calculated from the power efficiency calculated by the route guidance unit 34, for example. In addition, the calculation unit 35 may adjust the calculated power efficiency based on the fluctuation information of the predetermined travel path of the vehicle 3, and calculate the travelable distance based on the adjusted power efficiency.

The information transmitting unit 36 transmits the vehicle information using the vehicle 3 to the transfer support server 2. As described above, the vehicle information using the vehicle 3 may include the current position, the destination, the predetermined travel route, the number of passengers, the amount of load, the current charge remaining amount of the battery 4, and the distance that can be traveled by the charge remaining amount using the vehicle 3. Here, the number of passengers and the amount of load can be detected by a seat sensor provided in a seat using the vehicle 3 and a load sensor (not shown) provided in a load bed, respectively, in accordance with the conventional technique.

The proposal unit 37 receives the information of the candidate vehicles extracted by the extraction unit 25 of the transfer support server 2, and outputs the proposal of the use reservation on these candidate vehicles to the user U together with the received information. The output of the proposal can be made by displaying information on the touch panel 40 and/or voice guidance by the speaker 43. Thereby, the user U can obtain the information of the candidate vehicle without impairing the concentration of the driving operations using the vehicle 3, and select the rental vehicle for transfer.

The proposal section 37 can output the proposal described above when, for example, the remaining charge amount of the battery 4 is smaller than a predetermined amount. Thus, the user U can accept the proposal of the candidate vehicle meeting the desired condition at an appropriate timing at which the transfer to the rental vehicle is required.

The selection obtaining unit 38 obtains a designation of one rental vehicle selected by the user U from among the candidate vehicles, with respect to the output of the proposal made by the proposal unit 37. For example, for the display of information on the touch panel 40 regarding the candidate vehicle and/or the output of a proposal made in the form of voice guidance regarding the above-described information on the candidate vehicle through the speaker 43, the user U may make the above-described selection or specification of one rental vehicle by an instruction based on a touch operation made to the touch panel 40 or a voice instruction via the microphone 44. The selection acquisition unit 38 acquires a command and/or a voice command based on the touch operation according to the related art. The selection obtaining unit 38 transmits the designation of the one rental vehicle selected by the user to the transfer support server 2.

Next, the steps of the process in the transfer support system 1 will be described. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing steps of the process in the transfer support system 1. The present process starts at the start of travel using the vehicle 3. Before the start of traveling, the information transmitting unit 36 of the vehicle 3 transmits the vehicle information of the vehicle 3 to the transfer support server 2, and the information acquiring unit 23 of the transfer support server 2 receives the information. Before the start of the traveling, the condition acquiring unit 33 of the vehicle 3 acquires a desired condition for the rental vehicle by the user U and transmits the desired condition to the transfer support server 2, and the extracting unit 25 of the transfer support server 2 receives the desired condition.

When the process is started, first, the calculation unit 35 of the assist device 5 provided in the vehicle 3, which the user U starts traveling as the driver, starts calculating the distance that can be traveled by the current charge remaining amount of the battery 4 (S100). The calculation unit 35 calculates the travelable distance at predetermined time intervals, for example, and transmits the travelable distance to the transfer support server 2 via the information transmission unit 36.

The search unit 24 of the transfer support server 2 determines whether or not the travelable distance is smaller than a predetermined distance (S102). When the distance to be travelled is equal to or greater than the predetermined distance (no in S102), the routine returns to step S102, and the process is repeated, waiting for the distance to be travelled to be smaller than the predetermined distance.

On the other hand, when the travelable distance is smaller than the predetermined distance (yes in S102), the search unit 24 refers to the rental-vehicle database 27 and searches the available rental-vehicle supply station 6 within the travelable distance (S104). Next, the extraction unit 25 of the transfer support server 2 extracts a vehicle candidate as a rental vehicle that can be reserved at the supply station 6 retrieved by the retrieval unit 24, using the desired condition of the user U as a preset selected condition (S106). The extraction unit 25 transmits the extracted information of the candidate vehicle to the assist device 5 using the vehicle 3. The information of the above-described candidate vehicle is received using the assist device 5 of the vehicle 3.

The reservation unit 26 of the transfer support server 2 transmits the temporary reservation for each of the rental vehicles included in the candidate vehicles extracted by the extraction unit 25 to the reservation processing device 7 of the corresponding supply station 6 (S108).

Next, the proposal section 37 of the use vehicle 3 outputs a proposal of the use reservation including the received information of the candidate vehicle to the user U (S110). Subsequently, the selection acquiring unit 38 determines whether or not the user U has selected one rental vehicle from the candidate vehicles (S112). When the user U does not select a rental vehicle (no in S112), the reservation unit 26 determines whether or not a predetermined release condition is satisfied (S114).

When the predetermined release condition is satisfied (yes in S114), the reservation unit 26 notifies the reservation processing device 7 of the corresponding supply station 6 of release of the temporary reservation for the rental vehicle (S116), and ends the present process. When the present process ends, the reservation unit 26 notifies the auxiliary device 5 using the vehicle 3 of the end of the process. Thereby, the proposal section 37 of the auxiliary device 5 eliminates the proposal of the use reservation displayed on the touch panel 40.

On the other hand, when the predetermined release condition is not satisfied (no in S114), the routine returns to step S112 and the process is repeated. Further, steps S112 and S114 can be independently performed in the assist device 5 and the transfer assist server 2, respectively.

On the other hand, in step S112, when the user U selects one of the candidate vehicles (S112, yes), the selection acquiring unit 38 transmits the acquired designation of the one of the taxi vehicles to the transfer support server 2. The reservation unit 26 of the transfer support server 2 receives the designation of one of the rental vehicles, transmits a request for reservation of use of the rental vehicle to the reservation processing device 7 of the corresponding providing station 6 (S118), and ends the present process. When this processing ends, the reservation unit 26 notifies the auxiliary device 5 of the usage vehicle 3 of completion of the usage reservation of the specified rental vehicle. The proposal section 37 of the auxiliary device 5 can display the completion of the reservation of use on the touch panel 40.

Other embodiments

In the above-described embodiment, the desired condition for the rental vehicle by the user U is acquired by the condition acquisition unit 33 of the use vehicle 3, but the desired condition may be acquired by a portable terminal held by the user U and transmitted to the transfer support server 2. In this case, the desired condition is also obtained before the user U starts traveling by driving the vehicle 3.

In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle 3 is an electric vehicle that travels by supplying power from the battery 4, but may be any vehicle that travels using one or more types of any energy for traveling. For example, the vehicle 3 may be a fuel vehicle that travels with energy obtained from fossil fuel such as gasoline, hydrogen fuel, or the like as energy for traveling. In this case, the calculation portion 35 can calculate the travelable distance based on the remaining amount of the energy for traveling currently held by the use vehicle 3 and the energy use efficiency (for example, fuel efficiency or the like), instead of calculating the travelable distance based on the charged remaining amount of the battery 4.

In addition, as vehicle information of the use vehicle 3, the information acquisition unit 23 can acquire information (for example, information of the amount of fuel currently held) on the remaining amount of the running energy currently held by the use vehicle 3 instead of the current remaining charge amount of the battery 4. The proposal unit 37 can output a proposal for the use reservation to the user U when the remaining amount of the current traveling energy of the vehicle 3 is smaller than a predetermined amount (for example, the remaining amount of the current traveling fuel is smaller than a predetermined amount).

In the above-described embodiment, when the travelable distance of the usage vehicle 3 acquired by the information acquisition unit 23 is smaller than the predetermined distance, the search unit 24 searches for the providing station located at the position where the usage vehicle 3 can reach within the range of the travelable distance, but may search for the providing station located within the range of the travelable distance at any timing (for example, at a predetermined time interval).

In the above-described embodiment, the proposal unit 37 makes a proposal when the remaining amount of charge of the battery 4 using the vehicle 3 is smaller than a predetermined amount, but may make a proposal when the vehicle parameter related to the distance to be travelled becomes a predetermined condition. Here, the "vehicle parameter related to the travelable distance" refers to a parameter related to the travel operation using the vehicle 3, which affects the value of the travelable distance. The vehicle parameter may be, for example, a remaining amount of charge or remaining amount of energy for running, electric power efficiency, fuel efficiency, or the like of the battery 4 of the vehicle 3, in addition to the travelable distance itself.

In the above-described embodiment, the reservation unit 26 makes a temporary reservation and/or a use reservation for a rental vehicle via the rental vehicle supply station 6, but in the case where the rental vehicle itself has a communication function, the temporary reservation and/or the use reservation may be made by directly transmitting a request for the temporary reservation and/or the use reservation to the rental vehicle. In this case, the information acquisition unit 23 can acquire the location of the rentable vehicle and access information for communicating with the rentable vehicle, and store the information in the rentable vehicle database 27. When the travelable distance of the usage vehicle 3 acquired by the information acquisition unit 23 is smaller than the predetermined distance, the search unit 24 can search for the rental vehicle located at the position reachable by the usage vehicle 3 within the travelable distance by referring to the rental vehicle information of the rental vehicle database 27. The extraction unit 25 can extract a candidate vehicle from the rental vehicles retrieved by the retrieval unit 24 based on a predetermined selection condition. When the route of travel to which the vehicle 3 is to be used includes a transit point, the extraction unit 25 can extract a rental vehicle located at a position closest to the transit point (for example, within a predetermined distance) among the rental vehicles retrieved by the retrieval unit 24 as the candidate vehicle in preference to other rental vehicles.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and may be implemented in various modes within a range not departing from the gist thereof.

[ Structure supported by the above embodiment ]

The above-described embodiment supports the following structure.

(configuration 1) a transfer support system, wherein the transfer support system comprises: a calculation unit that calculates a distance that can be traveled by a user using a vehicle that is driven by the user and that can be traveled by a remaining amount of current traveling energy; a search unit that searches for a rental vehicle or a supply station of the rental vehicle located at a reachable position within the range of the travelable distance; an extraction unit that extracts a candidate vehicle from among the retrieved rental vehicles or from among rental vehicles that can be reserved at the providing station, based on a predetermined selected condition when a vehicle parameter related to the travelable distance becomes a predetermined condition; a proposal section that outputs a proposal for the extracted reservation of use of the candidate vehicle to the user; and a reservation unit that makes a reservation for use of the rental vehicle selected by the user from among the candidate vehicles.

According to the transfer support system of the configuration 1, it is possible to easily secure a rental vehicle as a substitute vehicle for transfer while the vehicle is in use, thereby supporting a user to perform smooth transfer of the vehicle.

(structure 2) the transfer support system of structure 1, wherein the reservation section makes a temporary reservation for each of the candidate vehicles when the extraction section extracts the candidate vehicles.

According to the transfer support system of the configuration 2, since it is possible to prevent the rental vehicle, which is a candidate vehicle that meets the user's desired condition, from being rented to another person, the user can ensure that the desired rental vehicle is transferred.

(structure 3) the transfer support system of structure 2, wherein the reservation section cancels the temporary reservation for the candidate vehicle when a predetermined release condition including: a predetermined time elapses from the notification of the temporary reservation; the distance between the candidate vehicle and the usage vehicle for which the temporary reservation is made is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance; or the usage vehicle moves away from the candidate vehicle for which the temporary reservation is made in a period of time equal to or longer than a predetermined time.

According to the transfer support system of the configuration 3, when there is a high possibility that the user does not transfer to any rental vehicle as a candidate vehicle, the temporary reservation can be released without the need to continue the temporary reservation for a long time, so that the convenience of other people is not impaired.

(structure 4) the transfer support system according to any one of structures 1 to 3, wherein, when a setting related to a transit point is included in a predetermined travel path set in the use vehicle, the extracting unit extracts, as the candidate vehicle, the rental vehicle located within a predetermined distance from the transit point among the rental vehicles retrieved by the retrieving unit, in preference to the other rental vehicles.

According to the transfer support system of the configuration 4, since the rental vehicle for transfer can be allocated in the vicinity of the transit point of the use vehicle, the user can smoothly transfer to the rental vehicle in the middle of the predetermined travel path.

(structure 5) the transfer support system of any one of structures 1 to 4, wherein the extraction unit extracts a prescribed number of the rental vehicles as the candidate vehicles based on the selected condition.

According to the transfer support system of the configuration 5, the user's selection judgment becomes easier than in the case where a plurality of options are presented as candidate vehicles.

(structure 6) the transfer assist system of structure 5, wherein the extracting portion estimates a vehicle size suitable for a transfer vehicle according to a destination, a number of passengers, and/or a load amount of the use vehicle, and includes the rental vehicle having the estimated vehicle size in the candidate vehicle.

According to the transfer support system of the configuration 6, since a rental vehicle having a size suitable for transfer from the use vehicle is automatically extracted and presented as a candidate vehicle, convenience for the user is improved.

(structure 7) the transfer support system of structure 6, wherein the extraction portion extracts, as the candidate vehicle, the rental vehicle having the estimated vehicle size, the rental vehicle having a size larger than the estimated vehicle size, and the rental vehicle having a size smaller than the estimated vehicle size.

According to the transfer support system of the configuration 7, since the options of 3 candidate vehicles having different vehicle sizes are presented, it is easy for the user to select a rental vehicle having a size corresponding to the number of passengers and the load of the load to be used.

(structure 8) the transfer support system of any one of structures 1 to 7, wherein the proposal section performs the output of the proposal when a remaining amount of the traveling energy, which is the vehicle parameter related to the travelable distance, is smaller than a prescribed amount.

According to the transfer support system of structure 8, the user can accept the proposal of the candidate vehicle meeting the desired condition at an appropriate timing when transfer to the rental vehicle is required.

(structure 9) a transfer support method executed by a computer of a transfer support system that supports transfer of a vehicle, wherein the transfer support method includes the steps of: calculating a distance that can be travelled by a user using the vehicle and depending on the current remaining amount of energy for travelling; retrieving a rental vehicle or a supply station of the rental vehicle located in a reachable position within the range of the travelable distance; extracting a candidate vehicle from among the retrieved rental vehicles or from among rental vehicles that can be reserved at the providing station, based on a predetermined selected condition when the vehicle parameter related to the travelable distance becomes a predetermined condition; outputting to the user an offer for the extracted reservation of use of the candidate vehicle; and making a reservation for use of one of the rental vehicles selected by the user from the candidate vehicles.

According to the transfer support method of the configuration 9, it is possible to easily secure a rental vehicle as a substitute vehicle for transfer while the vehicle is in use, thereby supporting a user to perform smooth transfer of the vehicle.

Claims (9)

1. A transfer assist system, wherein,

the transfer support system includes:

a calculation unit that calculates a distance that can be traveled by a user using a vehicle that is driven by the user and that can be traveled by a remaining amount of current traveling energy;

a search unit that searches for a rental vehicle or a supply station of the rental vehicle located at a reachable position within the range of the travelable distance;

an extraction unit that extracts a candidate vehicle from among the retrieved rental vehicles or from among rental vehicles that can be reserved at the providing station, based on a predetermined selected condition when a vehicle parameter related to the travelable distance becomes a predetermined condition;

a proposal section that outputs a proposal for the extracted reservation of use of the candidate vehicle to the user; and

and a reservation unit that makes a reservation for use of the one rental vehicle selected by the user from among the candidate vehicles.

2. The transfer assist system according to claim 1, wherein,

when the extraction unit extracts the candidate vehicles, the reservation unit makes temporary reservations for the respective candidate vehicles.

3. The transfer assist system according to claim 2, wherein,

the reservation unit cancels the temporary reservation for the candidate vehicle when a predetermined cancellation condition including: a predetermined time elapses from the notification of the temporary reservation; the distance between the candidate vehicle and the usage vehicle for which the temporary reservation is made is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance; or the usage vehicle moves away from the candidate vehicle for which the temporary reservation is made in a period of time equal to or longer than a predetermined time.

4. The transfer assist system according to claim 1, wherein,

when a setting related to a transit point is included in a predetermined travel path set in the use vehicle, the extracting unit extracts the rental vehicle located within a predetermined distance from the transit point among the rental vehicles retrieved by the retrieving unit as the candidate vehicle in preference to the other rental vehicles.

5. The transfer assist system according to claim 1, wherein,

the extraction unit extracts a predetermined number of rental vehicles as the candidate vehicles based on the selected condition.

6. The transfer assist system according to claim 5, wherein,

the extracting portion estimates a vehicle size suitable for a transfer vehicle according to a destination, a number of passengers, and/or a load amount of the usage vehicle, and includes the rental vehicle having the estimated vehicle size in the candidate vehicle.

7. The transfer assist system according to claim 6, wherein,

the extraction portion extracts, as the candidate vehicle, the rental vehicle having the estimated vehicle size, the rental vehicle having a size larger than the estimated vehicle size, and the rental vehicle having a size smaller than the estimated vehicle size.

8. The transfer assist system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein,

the proposal unit outputs the proposal when the remaining amount of the energy for running, which is the vehicle parameter related to the distance to be travelled, is smaller than a predetermined amount.

9. A transfer assist method executed by a computer of a transfer assist system that assists transfer of a vehicle, wherein,

the transfer auxiliary method comprises the following steps:

calculating a distance that can be travelled by a user using the vehicle and depending on the current remaining amount of energy for travelling;

retrieving a rental vehicle or a supply station of the rental vehicle located in a reachable position within the range of the travelable distance;

extracting a candidate vehicle from among the retrieved rental vehicles or from among rental vehicles that can be reserved at the providing station, based on a predetermined selected condition when the vehicle parameter related to the travelable distance becomes a predetermined condition;

outputting to the user an offer for the extracted reservation of use of the candidate vehicle; and

a reservation of use of one of the rental vehicles selected by the user from the candidate vehicles is made.