IP Library Granted Patent US 11,052,780
Granted Patent B2
US 11,052,780 · App. 16/112,869 · Granted Jul 6, 2021

Vehicle dispatching system and vehicle dispatching method

Inventors: Koji Taguchi (Sagamihara, JP); Makoto Morita (Mishima, JP)
Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
B60L53/36B60L53/14G05D1/0217G05D1/0291G06Q10/0631G06Q50/30
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,052,780
App. No.
16/112,869
Granted
Jul 6, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

The vehicle dispatching system accepts a dispatch request from a user, selects an autonomous vehicle matching with the dispatch request from among a plurality of autonomous vehicles, and dispatches a selected autonomous vehicle to the user. The plurality of autonomous vehicles include a plurality of battery-mounted vehicles having an in-vehicle battery capable of being charged externally as an energy source. Each of the plurality of battery-mounted vehicles performs charging at a charging station when a charging level of the in-vehicle battery decreases. The vehicle dispatching system comprises a management server including a processor for executing programs stored in memory, the management server programmed to act as a charging planning unit that changes an upper limit charging level of the in-vehicle battery when charging at the charging station according to a time slot.

Claims (33)

1. A vehicle dispatching system comprising:

a processor and a memory programmed to:

accept a dispatch request from a plurality of users;

select an autonomous vehicle matching with the dispatch request from among a plurality of autonomous vehicles,

wherein the plurality of autonomous vehicles include a plurality of battery-mounted vehicles having an in-vehicle battery capable of being charged externally as an energy source, and

wherein the plurality of battery-mounted vehicles include (i) electric vehicles having the in-vehicle battery as an only energy source and (ii) plug-in hybrid vehicles having the in-vehicle battery and an energy source other than the in-vehicle battery,

wherein each of the plurality of battery-mounted vehicles performs charging at a charging station when a charging level of the in-vehicle battery decreases;

lower an upper limit charging level of the in-vehicle battery of the battery-mounted vehicles when charging at the charging station in a time slot that is predicted to have a large proportion of short-distance users;

raise the upper limit charging level of the in-vehicle battery of the battery-mounted vehicles when charging at the charging station in a time slot that is predicted to have a large proportion of long-distance users,

dispatch an electric vehicle preferentially to a short-distance user, and dispatch a plug-in hybrid vehicle to a long-distance user, in the time slot that is predicted to have a large proportion of short-distance users, when ride distance information is included in the dispatch request.

2. The vehicle dispatching system according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor dispatches an electric vehicle in the time slot that is predicted to have a large proportion of short-distance users, when the ride distance information is not included in the dispatch request.

3. A vehicle dispatching system comprising:

a processor and a memory programmed to:

accept a dispatch request from a plurality of users;

select an autonomous vehicle matching with the dispatch request from among a plurality of autonomous vehicles,

wherein the plurality of autonomous vehicles include a plurality of battery-mounted vehicles having an in-vehicle battery capable of being charged externally as an energy source, and

wherein the plurality of battery-mounted vehicles include (i) electric vehicles having the in-vehicle battery as an only energy source and (ii) plug-in hybrid vehicles having the in-vehicle battery and an energy source other than the in-vehicle battery,

wherein each of the plurality of battery-mounted vehicles performs charging at a charging station when a charging level of the in-vehicle battery decreases;

lower an upper limit charging level of the in-vehicle battery of the battery-mounted vehicles when charging at the charging station in a time slot that is predicted to have a large proportion of short-distance users;

raise the upper limit charging level of the in-vehicle battery of the battery-mounted vehicles when charging at the charging station in a time slot that is predicted to have a large proportion of long-distance users; and

dispatch an electric vehicle charged with a low upper limit charging level preferentially to a short-distance user, and

dispatch an electric vehicle charged with a high upper limit charging level or a plug-in hybrid vehicle to a long-distance user, in the time slot that is predicted to have a large proportion of short-distance users, when ride distance information is included in the dispatch request.

4. The vehicle dispatching system according to claim 2 ,

wherein the processor dispatches an electric vehicle charged with a high upper limit charging level preferentially to a long-distance user when a ride distance of the user is shorter than a travelable distance by the in-vehicle battery, and dispatches a plug-in hybrid vehicle to the long-distance user when the ride distance of the user is longer than the travelable distance by the in-vehicle battery.

5. The vehicle dispatching system according to claim 3 ,

wherein the processor dispatches an electric vehicle charged with a low upper limit charging level in the time slot that is predicted to have a large proportion of short-distance users, when the ride distance information is not included in the dispatch request.

6. A vehicle dispatching method that accepts a dispatch request from a user, selects an autonomous vehicle matching with the dispatch request from among a plurality of autonomous vehicles, and dispatches a selected autonomous vehicle to the user, the vehicle dispatching method comprising:

preparing, as a part of the plurality of autonomous vehicles, a plurality of battery-mounted vehicles having an in-vehicle battery capable of being charged externally as an energy source, wherein the plurality of battery-mounted vehicles include (i) electric vehicles having the in-vehicle battery as an only energy source and (ii) plug-in hybrid vehicles having the in-vehicle battery and an energy source other than the in-vehicle battery;

performing charging with respect to each of the plurality of battery-mounted vehicles at a charging station when a charging level of the in-vehicle battery decreases;

lowering an upper limit charging level of the in-vehicle battery of the battery-mounted vehicles when charging at the charging station in a time slot that is predicted to have a large proportion of short-distance users;

raising the upper charging level of the in-vehicle battery of the battery-mounted vehicles when charging at the charging station in a time slot that is predicted to have a large proportion of long-distance users

dispatching an electric vehicle preferentially to a short-distance user, and dispatching a plug-in hybrid vehicle to a long-distance user, in the time slot that is predicted to have a large proportion of short-distance users, when ride distance information is included in the dispatch request.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 27, 2018
From: TAGUCHI, KOJI; MORITA, MAKOTO
To: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Reel/Frame 046709/0238 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP JP2017-208400 · Oct 27, 2017 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20190126766A1 · May 2, 2019
Cited By (5)
US 12,306,015 US 12,311,964 US 12,427,992 US 12,572,159 US 12,700,266