JP7734568B2 - Customer Location Awareness System - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a customer location recognition system that accurately detects the location of a customer from a vehicle when the customer and the vehicle meet outdoors as arranged by the customer, such as in a taxi dispatch system.

In conventional taxi dispatch systems, when a customer requested a taxi, they would specify their destination by describing an address or landmark, or by using a GPS (Global Positioning System) positioning system that uses artificial satellites to obtain location information. In recent years, there are apps that allow customers to specify their destination by latitude and longitude by specifying their location on a smartphone map.

Patent Document 1 discloses a method for identifying a customer's location information. Patent Document 1 describes how, to minimize delays in responding to a customer's pickup request, the pickup location specified by the customer is displayed on the screen of the dispatch terminal, and the location information is detected using GPS.

JP 2011-86243 A

"Visible Light Communication Using a General-Purpose Video Camera - Highly Efficient Visible Light Communication Using Virtual Sine Waves" by Hirotatsu Hashizume and Masanori Sugimoto, Journal of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, Vol. 101, No. 1, pp. 44-51, January 2018 (https://app.journal.ieice.org/trial/101_1/k101_1_44/index.html)

In the previous system, destination information (address, landmarks, latitude/longitude) could not determine the exact location of the customer, and in crowded areas, taxi drivers were forced to wait without knowing where the customer was. Furthermore, because taxi drivers could not visually determine whether the customer was a customer, there were times when they were unable to pick up the customer immediately. Furthermore, if the customer's latitude/longitude was entered incorrectly, the GPS could not be detected, or the customer had moved on foot, it became difficult for the two parties to find each other.

The present invention aims to solve the above problems and provide a customer location recognition system that accurately determines the customer's current location and enables the customer to board the vehicle quickly.

To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a dispatch system in which a service provider is equipped with a device that acts as an access point for Wi-Fi (registered trademark), an interconnection between devices using the IEEE 802.11 standard. When a customer is located within a specific distance range, the system communicates with the customer's mobile device, such as a smartphone, and uses IEEE 802.11mc ranging technology to accurately calculate the distance between the service provider and the customer. The system also provides a customer location recognition system that takes advantage of the service provider's movement and measures the distance to the customer every time the service provider moves a certain distance, thereby determining the exact relative positions of the service provider and the customer.

(1) By detecting the exact relative location of the customer and service provider using Wi-Fi or beacons, the service provider can be notified of the location of the desired customer, allowing them to find them quickly.

(2) By displaying images of the customer's surroundings, camera footage, and the distance and direction to the customer on the service provider's navigation screen, it becomes easier to visually determine the passenger's location. This makes it easier to match with the customer.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of an AVM system for dispatching taxis. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a management center in a vehicle dispatch system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the positional relationship between a Wi-Fi communication area of a vehicle and a customer according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of measuring the relative positions between a customer and a service provider via Wi-Fi according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of capturing an optical beacon according to the first embodiment.

The following describes the embodiments of the invention in order, with reference to the drawings. First, we will explain the AVM (Vehicle Movement Monitoring) system for dispatching taxis, which utilizes current wireless mobile communication systems and positioning systems, with reference to the schematic configuration diagram in Figure 1 and the configuration diagram of the management center in Figure 2.

The vehicle dispatch system in Figure 1 includes a management center 101, multiple wireless base stations 102 (102-1, 2, ..., L), multiple mobile stations (vehicles) 104 (104-1, 2, 3, 4, ..., N), a GPS satellite 105, and a vehicle dispatch center 107 having multiple vehicle dispatch terminals 106 (106-1, 2, ..., M).

Each wireless base station 102 has an area (103-1, 2, ..., L) in which it can communicate. For example, the communication area 103-1 of wireless base station 102-1 indicates that mobile stations 104-1 to 104-N located within that communication area can communicate with wireless base station 102-1.
Each mobile station 104 can obtain its own location information (latitude and longitude) by receiving location information from GPS satellites 105. The obtained location information, together with the status information of the mobile station (vehicle) 104, is periodically transmitted to the management center 101 via the wireless base station 102 having the communication area 103 in which the mobile station (vehicle) 104 is located. The management center 101 collects the location information and status information of the mobile stations 104 located within the communication area 103 via each of the multiple wireless base stations 102.
In such an AVM system for dispatching taxis, a customer contacts dispatch center 107 and requests a taxi by informing an operator of their pickup destination, for example, their current location information and the required vehicle information. At dispatch center 107, an operator operates dispatch terminal 106 to transmit the customer information and the required vehicle information to management center 101. Based on the customer's current location information received from dispatch center 107 and the collected location information of mobile station 104, management center 101 searches for the most suitable vehicle and dispatches the vehicle to the customer's current location.

2 shows an example of the configuration of the management center 101. In this example, the management center 101 includes a database server 200, a map server 220, and a vehicle dispatch server 240. Note that the components of the management center 101 do not need to be located in the same place, and may be installed on different networks.
The database server 200 is a server that manages various data related to the operation of the vehicle dispatch system. The database server 200 in this example has an area information management unit 201 that stores and manages area information related to each area, a vehicle information management unit 202 that stores and manages vehicle information related to each vehicle, and a queue management unit 203 that stores and manages queue information related to orders waiting for dispatch (dispatch requests).
The map server 220 has a route search unit 221 that searches for a route from the current location to the destination on a map.
The dispatch server 240 has a candidate search unit 241 that uses various information to search for suitable candidates for dispatch, a dispatch instruction unit 242 that issues dispatch instructions to the candidates determined by the candidate search unit 241, and a queue control unit 243 that controls queues based on queue information from the queue management unit 203 of the database server 200.

Next, a customer location recognition system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
(1) Calculating the passenger's exact location using Wi-Fi location detection technology. A Wi-Fi access point is installed in a service provider's commercial vehicle, such as a taxi, and communicates with the customer's mobile device, such as a smartphone, to accurately calculate the distance between the service provider and the customer using IEEE 802.11mc ranging technology. That is, as shown in Figure 3, when a vehicle 302 approaches a customer 301, the customer 301 enters the vehicle's Wi-Fi communication area 300, and as soon as the connection is established, ranging begins.

i) A device that acts as a Wi-Fi access point is installed in the service provider's vehicle 302.
ii) When the customer 301 arranges for a service, authentication information for the service provider's Wi-Fi access point and arrangement information (arrangement ID, etc.) are sent to the customer's smartphone.
When the vehicle is dispatched to the service provider, the arrangement information is sent to the terminal of the vehicle 302 of the service provider.
iii) When the service provider's vehicle 302 arrives and the customer's 301 terminal enters the Wi-Fi area, it automatically connects using the authentication information and sends the arrangement information to the service provider's terminal.
iv) The service provider's access point calculates the relative position information of the connected customer 301's terminal and the taxi. For example, the distance is x m, in a direction of θ degrees from the front of the service provider. As an example of calculating the position information, the distance between the service provider's access point and the passenger's smartphone is measured using IEEE 802.11mc Wifi Round Trip Time. Even if the antenna is configured with MIMO to calculate the direction, the current positioning accuracy error is 1 to 2 m, so accurate direction cannot be expected. Therefore, by taking advantage of the fact that the vehicle is moving, the customer's location is identified by measuring the position every time it moves a certain distance.
v) An icon showing the position of the customer 301 is superimposed on the image from the camera of the service provider's vehicle 302 based on the relative position information, and displayed on the monitor of the service provider's vehicle 302. Alternatively, a voice message such as "40 degrees to the left and forward, distance 20 m" is given.

Figure 4 shows distance measurement using the customer location recognition system of this embodiment. Customer 301 waits for vehicle 302 at boarding point 401. Vehicle 302 determines the exact location of customer 301 by taking advantage of the fact that the service provider's vehicle 302 is moving in the direction of the point and measuring the distance to the customer every time it moves a certain distance. Alternatively, the location can be determined by giving the antenna a MIMO configuration and directionality.

An icon indicating the location of customer 301 is superimposed on the image from the camera on the service provider's vehicle 302 based on the above relative position information and displayed on the service provider's monitor, making it easier to find the customer at boarding point 401.

(2) Location detection using a penlight-shaped beacon and the service provider's camera. The service provider sends the relative location information to the customer 301 calculated by the service provider to the customer's terminal via the connected Wi-Fi. If the service provider knows the exact direction of its own terminal, it sends the absolute direction instead of the relative direction. If it does not know the exact direction, it does not send the direction, but only the relative distance.
i) Distribute penlight-shaped beacons to customers 301. The beacons can acquire arrangement information by communicating with the mobile terminal of the customer 301, and have the function of encoding the information using the intensity of the light, etc., and transmitting the information.
ii) The location information of the service provider's vehicle 302 is periodically notified to the center, and the center provides the location information of the vehicle 302 to the customer's terminal.
iii) When the service provider's vehicle 302 approaches to a certain extent, the ID used when the vehicle was dispatched is transferred from the smartphone to the beacon.
iv) Once transferred, the beacon starts transmitting a signal.
v) The customer 301 holds the beacon in a place visible from the road.
vi) The camera on the vehicle 302 takes a picture, detects the beacon signal, and detects the direction in real time. (For signal decoding technology, see Non-Patent Document 1, etc.)
vii) An indicator 501 indicating that a beacon signal has been found is superimposed on the camera image at the location where the beacon signal was detected, and a navigation screen 500 is displayed on the monitor of the in-vehicle device.
viii) The beacon may also use the screen of the smartphone itself, and the signal used by the beacon may be not only visible light but also infrared or ultraviolet light.

As shown on the navigation screen 500 in Figure 5, the service provider locates the location of customer 301 by capturing the penlight-shaped beacon carried by customer 301 with the camera of the service provider's vehicle 302. The beacon transmits a signal that identifies customer 301, encoded with the intensity of the light, etc. The camera of the service provider's vehicle 302 detects this light and decodes the intensity signal, thereby identifying where the target passenger, customer 301, is located on the camera. In other words, by notifying the service provider of the location of the target customer, the customer can be found quickly.

(3) The relative position information of the service provider's vehicle 302 is also displayed on the customer's mobile terminal. The relative position information of the customer 301 calculated by the service provider is sent to the customer's terminal via the currently connected Wi-Fi, and the relative position of the service provider's vehicle 302 is displayed on the customer's terminal, making it easier for the customer to find the service provider.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to provide a better understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those having all of the configurations described.

200 database servers
220 Map Server
240 dispatch server
300 Wi-Fi coverage area
301 Customers (passengers)
302 Service provider's vehicle
401 Boarding point

Claims (3)

A device that acts as a Wi-Fi access point is installed in the service provider's vehicle, and communicates with a mobile terminal carried by the customer every time the vehicle moves a certain distance, calculates the distance between the service provider 's vehicle and the customer using Wi-Fi ranging technology, and identifies the customer's relative position to the service provider 's vehicle ;
A signal for identifying the customer is encoded by the intensity of light from a penlight-type beacon carried by the customer and transmitted, and the signal is captured by a camera in the service provider's vehicle, thereby identifying the position where the customer is captured on an image screen.
A customer location recognition system. 2. The customer location recognition system according to claim 1,
Using the relative position, an icon representing the customer is superimposed on an image of the customer's position taken by the camera of the service provider's vehicle , and the image is displayed on a monitor of the service provider.
A customer location recognition system. 3. The customer location recognition system according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The relative position information is sent to the mobile terminal of the customer via Wi-Fi, and the relative position of the vehicle of the service provider is displayed on the mobile terminal of the customer .
A customer location recognition system.