JP2024165121A - Transportation Management System - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a pickup and drop-off management system which prevents a service user from being falsely determined and accurately detects the service user in a service car to prevent the user from being left unattended.SOLUTION: A service user carries a name tag storing a service user ID. Belongings tags storing belongings IDs are attached to belongings of the user. At a platform of a pickup and drop-off car, an NFC reader and a platform RFID reader are installed. In the pickup and drop-off car, an indoor RFID reader and an in-vehicle terminal are installed. When the service user touches the NFC reader with their name tag and the service user ID is read, the platform RFID reader reads the belongings IDs of the belongings tags of the service user, and stores the belongings IDs as belongings IDs related to the service user ID, in association with each other, in a pickup and drop-off database. When the indoor RFID reader reads the belongings IDs of the belongings tags carried by each service user, the belongings IDs are identified with the service user ID associated therewith, and service users positioned in the pickup and drop-off car are detected.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a transportation management system used to manage transportation when transporting people to and from a vehicle, and in particular to a transportation management system used to manage transportation to and from nursery schools, kindergartens, elementary and junior high schools, and transportation to and from people receiving care.

In recent years, accidents caused by children being left behind in buses when transporting children to and from nursery schools and kindergartens have become a problem, and measures to address this issue are required. Children being left behind in buses are caused by human error, such as not thoroughly checking, so the key to addressing this issue is how to prevent human error. One such measure is a technology that uses ID cards and RFID technology to detect and track the location of children, thereby preventing human error. Such technologies used to manage transport to and from nursery schools, kindergartens, elementary and junior high schools, and those requiring care, are described in Patent Documents 1 to 3.

The "bus end-of-day inspection assist device" described in Patent Document 1 is equipped with a buzzer (13) and a light-emitting diode (14) at the rear of the interior of a bus (shuttle bus) used for shuttle service (paragraph [0001] of the Patent Document), and also has an RFID card reader (6) inside the vehicle (claim 3, paragraph [0014] of the Patent Document). When the engine of the shuttle bus is stopped, the buzzer sounds an alarm, the light-emitting diode blinks, and the RFID card reader goes into a read standby state (paragraph [0014] of the Patent Document). When the driver or passenger touches the RFID card reader with an ID card carried by the driver or passenger, the RFID card reader reads the ID of the ID card, compares it with a pre-registered ID, and if they match, stops the buzzer and turns off the light-emitting diode (paragraph [0015] of the Patent Document). Furthermore, it notifies multiple pre-registered smartphones, etc. (claim 1, paragraph [0001] of the Patent Document). This system prevents human error, such as forgetting to carry out an inspection, by prompting the driver or tour driver to carry out a safety inspection to prevent passengers from being left behind after the shuttle bus engine is shut off.

The "Pick-up and Drop-off Management System" described in Patent Document 2 is
[a] An RFID tag (31) carried by a child and having the child's ID information written therein;
[b] a kindergarten server (2) provided in the kindergarten to which the child belongs;
[c] a reader/writer (12) installed on a shuttle bus that transports children to and from the kindergarten, for reading information from the RF tag;
[d] a bus terminal (11) provided on the shuttle bus, which receives information from the RF tag from the reader/writer, acquires vehicle position information, and communicates with the kindergarten server;
[e] a parent terminal (4) carried by a parent who is coming to pick up a child and which communicates with a kindergarten server or a bus terminal via a network (100);
(See Figure 1 in the literature.)

In this system, first, when child A boards the shuttle bus at the kindergarten, the reader/writer (12) reads the child ID from the RF tag (31) carried by child A. The bus terminal (11) transmits "child boarding information" stating that "child A has boarded the shuttle bus" to the kindergarten server (2). The bus terminal (11) also transmits its own vehicle's position information acquired by GPS to the kindergarten server (2) at predetermined intervals. Based on the shuttle bus's position information, the kindergarten server (2) predicts the arrival time of the shuttle bus at bus stop B where child A will be getting off, and transmits this to the guardian terminal (4). When the shuttle bus arrives at bus stop B and child A gets off the shuttle bus, the reader/writer (12) reads the child ID from the RF tag (31) carried by child A, detects that child A has got off, and transmits the "child disembarking information" to the kindergarten server (2). When handing over child A who has disembarked to parent C who has come to meet him at bus stop B, parent C sends "handover completion information" from the parent terminal (4) to the kindergarten server (2) (paragraphs [0024]-[0028] of the previous document). This allows the kindergarten server (2) to accurately manage the boarding and disembarking of the person being picked up (child A) and notify parent C in advance of the expected arrival time of the shuttle bus at bus stop B, ensuring a reliable handover of child A to parent C.

The "Pick-up and Drop-off Management System" described in Patent Document 3 is a pick-up and drop-off management system that manages the use of school buses for elementary schools.
[a] a pick-up/drop-off confirmation server (40);
[b] IC readers installed on the child terminal, the school, and the shuttle vehicle;
[c] An IC tag attached to the name tag or the like of the child (person being picked up or dropped off) that stores "child information" which is the child's personal information (child's name, address, school name, email address, etc.);
[d] a child terminal (10) which is an information processing device (personal computer, mobile communication terminal, etc.) carried by a child and which transmits and receives various notifications such as scheduled pick-up and drop-off times, and which accepts pick-up and drop-off requests by passing an IC tag attached to the child's name tag, etc., through an IC reader when the child returns home, and transmits the child's "child information" to a pick-up and drop-off confirmation server (40);
[e] a parent terminal (20) which is an information processing device (personal computer, mobile communication terminal, etc.) used by a user (parent of a child) to send and receive various notifications;
[f] a security company terminal (30) which is a report processing device (mobile communication terminal, personal computer, etc.) equipped with a GPS function used by a user (transportation provider);
[g] a school terminal (50) which is a server installed in the elementary school to which the child belongs;
(See Figure 1 in the literature.)

In this system, when Child A returns home, the IC tag attached to his/her name tag is read by an IC reader installed at the school, and the "child information" is sent to the transportation confirmation server (40). When the transportation confirmation server (40) receives the "child information", it automatically numbers a "reception number" and stores it in the "reception number" column of the child personal information DB, and stores the "current transportation status" column as "no". It also automatically creates a "transportation reception" and sends it to the email address of the child terminal (10). Child A checks the "transportation reception" and realizes that the reception has been completed successfully. The transportation confirmation server (40) extracts the "vehicle number" of the transportation provider who owns the security company terminal (30), the target "transportation elementary school", the "reception number", and the "child number", reads the "address" from the school information DB, automatically calculates the "arrival time" to the "transportation elementary school", and automatically creates a "transportation person list delivery" and a "notice of transportation time". Then, a "notice of pick-up and drop-off time" is sent to the email addresses of the security company terminal (30), each child terminal (10), each guardian terminal (20), and the school terminal (50). Child A waits at the school's main gate or the like by the "estimated arrival time" and boards a vehicle with a specified registered "number". When boarding, an IC reader installed in the vehicle reads the IC tag attached to Child A's name tag and transmits a specified signal to the pick-up and drop-off confirmation server 40. When Child A arrives at home, Child A reads the IC tag attached to the name tag with the IC reader of the child terminal (10), and the child terminal (10) reads the IC tag and transmits the "time data" to the pick-up and drop-off confirmation server (40). The pick-up and drop-off confirmation server (40) stores the "time data" in the "home arrival time" column corresponding to the record stored when Child A boarded, automatically creates a "notice of home arrival time", and transmits the created "notice of home arrival time" to the email addresses of the guardian terminal (20) and the school terminal (50). This allows parents and school personnel who have the parent terminal (20) and school terminal (50) to receive the "Home Arrival Time Notification" and know the time when Child A returns home, giving them peace of mind.

Utility Model Registration No. 3240063 JP 2008-204361 A JP 2009-048274 A

The "bus end-of-day inspection assistance device" in Patent Document 1 is merely a system to encourage the driver (or accompanying person) to perform a safety inspection, and no one other than the driver (or accompanying person) performs the inspection. Therefore, it is not a system that performs multiple checks by two or more people, and is considered to have vulnerabilities from the perspective of preventing human error.

On the other hand, the systems in Patent Documents 2 and 3 have two or more parties check the whereabouts of the person being picked up or dropped off, overcoming the vulnerabilities mentioned above. However, the system in Patent Document 3 requires the child being picked up or dropped off to independently carry out various operations (such as reserving a pick-up or drop-off by reading an IC tag at school), and as these operations are cumbersome, it is conceivable that the system will not function adequately if the child neglects to carry out these operations.

On the other hand, in the system of Patent Document 2, the child who is being picked up and dropped off does not need to perform various operations independently, so the above problem does not occur. However, if a child gets into a shuttle bus with a child tag other than his/her own RF tag (hereinafter referred to as "child tag"), the child who is not actually in the shuttle bus will be tracked, and an erroneous email will be sent to the guardian terminal. For example, in a case where a child tag is attached to each child's hat, if a certain child C _k leaves his/her hat B _k behind and another child C _i gets into the shuttle bus with his/her hat B _k in order to return the forgotten hat B _k to the child C _k , the reader/writer mounted on the shuttle bus will detect the RF tag of the forgotten hat B _k , so the child C _k who is not actually in the shuttle bus will be tracked by the reader/writer mounted on the shuttle bus, and an erroneous email will be sent to the guardian terminal of the child C _k who left his/her hat B _k . In addition, the system is incomplete as a system to prevent children from being left behind, because it cannot keep track of children who have forgotten their child tags or whose child tags are broken. Also, in the unlikely event that a child is left behind in the car, there is no way for the child to escape from the car on their own, so the system is incomplete as a system to prevent children from being left behind.

The object of the present invention is to provide a transportation management system that can reliably prevent a person being picked up or dropped off from being mistakenly determined to be in a transportation vehicle when he or she is not actually in the vehicle (prevention of erroneous determination), can reliably prevent a person being picked up or dropped off from being left behind in the vehicle even if the person who has forgotten to take an RF tag gets in the vehicle (prevention of people not carrying RF tags being left behind), and can, in the unlikely event that the person is left behind in the vehicle, enable the person to escape from the vehicle on their own (self-escape of left-behind people).

The first configuration of the transportation management system according to the present invention is a composite wireless tag equipped with an antenna and an integrated circuit for short-range wireless communication and an antenna and an integrated circuit for long-range wireless communication, and includes a name tag in which a recipient ID, which is an identification number of the recipient, is stored;
A transportation management system that manages transportation when a person carrying a belonging tag, which is a wireless tag equipped with an antenna and an integrated circuit for long-distance wireless communication and stores a belonging ID, which is a unique identification number, is transported to a destination facility by a transportation vehicle, said transportation management system comprising:
A transportation management server;
an NFC reader that is installed at the entrance of the shuttle bus and that reads the ID of the person being picked up and dropped off on the name tag by short-range wireless communication when the name tag is brought close to the NFC reader;
An entrance RFID reader that is installed at the entrance of the shuttle vehicle and reads the passenger ID and the belongings ID of the name tag and the belongings tag of the passenger located at the entrance by long-distance wireless communication;
One or more in-vehicle RFID readers are installed on the interior ceiling of the shuttle vehicle, and the RFID readers read the name tag and the belongings tag of the person being shuttled or the belongings ID ...
an in-vehicle terminal that is installed in the shuttle vehicle, that is communicatively connected to the NFC reader, the entrance RFID reader, and the in-vehicle RFID reader, and that is communicatively connected to the shuttle management server via a public communication line;
The shuttle management server or the vehicle-mounted terminal,
A transportation management database in which the recipient ID of the person to be picked up and the name of the person to be picked up and dropped off are stored in association with each other;
a tag identification means for, when the NFC reader reads the recipient ID of the name tag, linking the recipient ID or the belongings ID of the name tag and the belongings tag of the recipient located at the boarding/alighting entrance read by the boarding/alighting entrance RFID reader as a belongings ID related to the recipient ID read by the NFC reader, and storing the linked ID in the boarding/alighting management database;
The vehicle is characterized by having an in-vehicle passenger detection means that uses the in-vehicle RFID reader to read the passenger ID or the belongings ID of the name tag and the belongings tag carried by each passenger located inside the shuttle vehicle, and treats the read belongings ID as being identical to the passenger ID linked to the belongings ID, thereby detecting each passenger located inside the shuttle vehicle.

According to this configuration, the person being picked up or dropped off in the shuttle vehicle is detected by the in-vehicle RFID reader using the wireless tags of the name tag held by the person being picked up and the belongings tag attached to the person being picked up and dropped off, and the person being picked up or dropped off in the shuttle vehicle can be detected as long as all of these wireless tags are not located in the blind spots of the detection range of the in-vehicle RFID reader 7, and the person being picked up or dropped off in the shuttle vehicle can be reliably prevented from being overlooked. In addition, by linking the name tag and the belongings tag when the person being picked up or dropped off gets into the shuttle vehicle, it is only necessary to register in advance in the shuttle management database that only the name tag belongs to the person being picked up and dropped off, and there is no need to register in advance the ownership relationship between each belongings tag and each person being picked up or dropped off. Therefore, the belongings tag can be freely distributed to the guardians of each person being picked up or dropped off without pre-registering the belongings ID in the shuttle management database, and the guardians can freely attach the belongings tag to the belongings of the person being picked up or dropped off, which simplifies the handling of the belongings tag and improves convenience in every way. In addition, the belongings tag is managed by linking it to the name tag when boarding the bus, regardless of the ownership of the belongings tag. This has the advantage of avoiding false positives of the person being picked up or dropped off, even if the person being picked up or dropped off is carrying someone else's belongings.

A second configuration of the shuttle management system according to the present invention is the first configuration, further comprising: a boarding/alighting entrance speaker that is a speaker installed at the boarding/alighting entrance of the shuttle vehicle;
a rental tag borrowing instruction means for outputting, by the entrance speaker, a rental tag borrowing instruction instructing the user to pick up a rental tag provided at the entrance of the shuttle vehicle and touch the NFC reader when the rental ID of the rental tag of the user is read by the entrance RFID reader but the user ID of the user's name tag is not read;
and a borrower identification means for, when the borrower tag ID recorded on the borrower tag is read by the NFC reader after the borrower tag borrowing instruction is output, identifying the borrower who possesses the borrower tag on which the borrower tag ID is recorded, linking the borrower tag ID to the borrower ID of the identified borrower, and storing the linked borrower tag ID in the transfer management database.
the tag identification means, when the rental tag ID recorded on the rental tag is read by the NFC reader after the rental tag borrowing instruction is output, links the belongings ID of the belongings tag of the person being picked up and dropped off located at the boarding/alighting entrance read by the boarding/alighting entrance RFID reader as a belongings ID related to the rental tag ID read by the NFC reader and the person being picked up and dropped off ID related thereto, and stores the linked belongings ID in the pick-up and drop-off management database;
The in-vehicle recipient detection means is characterized in that it uses the in-vehicle RFID reader to read the loaned tag ID or the belongings ID of the loaned tag and the belongings tag carried by each recipient located inside the shuttle vehicle, and detects each recipient located inside the shuttle vehicle by regarding the read loaned tag ID or the belongings ID as being identical to the recipient ID linked to the loaned tag ID or the belongings ID.

According to this configuration, if a person being picked up or dropped off does not have a name tag when boarding, a loan tag is loaned to them at the time of boarding, and a one-to-one relationship between the loan tag and the person being picked up or dropped off is registered in the transportation management database. Even if the person being picked up or dropped off forgets their name tag at home, the location of the person being picked up or dropped off can be detected normally without the person having to go back home to get their name tag.

A third configuration of the shuttle management system according to the present invention is the second configuration, further comprising a boarding/alighting entrance microphone that is a microphone installed at a boarding/alighting entrance of the shuttle vehicle,
When the rental tag ID recorded in the rental tag is read by the NFC reader after the rental tag rental instruction is output, the rental user identification means
a name input instruction is output by the entrance speaker to the entrance microphone to the person to speak his/her name;
When voice is input from the boarding/alighting entrance microphone in response to the name input instruction, the name of the person being picked up or dropped off is identified from the voice, and the person with the identified name is identified as the person being picked up or dropped off who is carrying the loaned tag on which the loaned tag ID is recorded.

According to this configuration, if a loan tag is loaned to a person being picked up or dropped off who does not have a name tag when boarding, the person being picked up or dropped off speaks their name into the entrance/exit microphone, and the loan tag ID and the person being picked up or dropped off are linked through self-identification, ensuring that the person being picked up or dropped off can be detected reliably by the in-vehicle RFID reader.

The fourth configuration of the transportation management system of the present invention is characterized in that, in the second configuration, when the rental tag ID recorded on the rental tag is read by the NFC reader after the rental tag rental instruction is output, the renter identification means identifies the most frequently linked recipient ID among the recipient IDs stored in the transportation management database that have been linked to the belongings ID in the past based on the belongings ID of the belongings tag of the recipient located at the boarding/alighting entrance read by the boarding/alighting entrance RFID reader, and identifies the recipient associated with the identified recipient ID as the recipient who possesses the rental tag on which the rental tag ID is recorded.

With this configuration, the loaned tag ID detected by the NFC reader and the belongings tag ID detected by the entrance RFID reader are linked to the most frequently linked belongings ID in the past, thereby ensuring that the loaned tag ID and belongings ID are linked to the recipient ID of the person being picked up or dropped off, and ensuring that the in-vehicle RFID reader can detect the recipient.

A fifth configuration of the pickup and drop-off management system according to the present invention is the second configuration, wherein the pickup and drop-off management database stores the recipient ID of the recipient and an email address of a guardian terminal held by a guardian of the recipient in association with each other;
The borrower identification means is characterized in that when the person being transported or picked up who is holding the loaned tag is identified, it sends a tag loan confirmation email confirming the loan of the loaned tag to the email address of the guardian terminal linked to the recipient ID of the person being transported or picked up.

This allows the guardian of the person being picked up or dropped off to be notified that the person has borrowed a loan tag, making it possible to more reliably prevent the person from forgetting to return the loan tag.

A sixth configuration of the shuttle management system according to the present invention is the first configuration, further comprising: a boarding/alighting entrance speaker that is a speaker installed at a boarding/alighting entrance of the shuttle vehicle;
The device is characterized by having a name tag touch instruction means that, when the passenger ID or the belongings ID of the name tag or the belongings tag carried by each passenger is read by the boarding/alighting entrance RFID reader, outputs a name tag touch instruction via the boarding/alighting entrance speaker, instructing the passenger to bring the name tag he or she carries close to the NFC reader.

This allows each person being picked up or dropped off to be prompted to bring their name tag close to (touch) the NFC reader, allowing the person being picked up or dropped off to self-identify their recipient ID and belongings ID.

The in-vehicle terminal may also be equipped with a greeting voice output means for retrieving the name of the person corresponding to the person ID from the transportation management database when the person ID is read by the NFC reader in response to the name tag touch instruction, and a bonus voice output means for additionally outputting a bonus voice in addition to the greeting voice, which nudges the person to change his/her behavior so that he/she voluntarily brings the name tag tag close to the NFC reader. For example, the greeting voice and bonus voice may be changed every time the person to be transported brings the name tag tag close to the NFC reader, thereby enabling a nudge that encourages the change in behavior.

A seventh configuration of the transportation management system according to the present invention is the first configuration, further comprising:
an engine stop detection means for detecting a stop of the engine of the shuttle vehicle;
a leaving detection means for detecting a person being picked up or dropped off inside the shuttle vehicle by the in-vehicle person detection means after a predetermined time has elapsed since the engine of the shuttle vehicle was stopped;
a leaving notification means for transmitting a leaving occurrence notification to the transportation management server when the leaving detection means detects a person to be picked up or dropped off, the leaving occurrence notification notifying the transportation management server that a person to be picked up or dropped off has been left behind;
The present invention is characterized by comprising:

As a result, even if a human error occurs, such as failing to check whether a person being picked up or dropped off has been left inside the vehicle after the engine of the shuttle vehicle has been turned off, the fact that a person being picked up or dropped off has been left behind will be automatically detected and a notification will be sent, ensuring that accidents caused by a person being picked up or dropped off being left inside the vehicle are prevented.

An eighth configuration of the transportation management system according to the present invention is the first configuration, further comprising:
an engine stop detection means for detecting a stop of the engine of the shuttle vehicle;
a leaving detection means for detecting a person being picked up or dropped off inside the shuttle vehicle by the in-vehicle person detection means after a predetermined time has elapsed since the engine of the shuttle vehicle was stopped;
The vehicle is characterized by further comprising a horn sounding means for controlling the horn of the shuttle vehicle to sound when a person to be picked up or dropped off is detected by the abandonment detection means.

As a result, if an abandoned person is detected a predetermined time after the shuttle vehicle's engine has been stopped, the shuttle vehicle will sound its horn to alert people around the shuttle vehicle that a person has been left inside the vehicle, encouraging a third party to find the person, preventing accidents caused by human error due to failing to check for an abandoned person.

A ninth aspect of the present invention is a transportation management system according to the first aspect, wherein the vehicle-mounted terminal comprises:
an engine stop detection means for detecting a stop of the engine of the shuttle vehicle;
a leaving detection means for detecting a person being picked up or dropped off inside the shuttle vehicle by the in-vehicle person detection means after a predetermined time has elapsed since the engine of the shuttle vehicle was stopped;
and a door opening means for controlling the opening of the door at the boarding/alighting entrance of the shuttle vehicle when a person to be picked up or dropped off is detected by the abandonment detection means.

As a result, when a person left behind is detected, the entrance door of the shuttle vehicle opens, making it easier for the person left behind inside the vehicle to escape on their own. It also prevents the temperature inside the vehicle from rising excessively during the day, so that even if a person left behind due to human error is left behind inside the vehicle, it can prevent the temperature inside the vehicle from becoming too high and leading to an accident where the person becomes dehydrated.

A tenth configuration of the shuttle management system according to the present invention is the first configuration, wherein the vehicle-mounted terminal includes a current position notification means for measuring a current position of the shuttle vehicle at regular intervals and transmitting the position to the shuttle management server;
When the transportation management server receives a child location delivery request, which is a signal requesting delivery of the current location of a person being picked up or dropped off, from a parent terminal held by the parent of the person being picked up or dropped off,
When the recipient ID of the person being picked up or the belongings ID linked to the recipient ID is read by the in-vehicle RFID reader of the shuttle vehicle,
The present invention is characterized in that it further comprises a location distribution means for distributing the current location of the shuttle vehicle received from the vehicle-mounted terminal to the parent terminal which has transmitted the child location distribution request.

This allows the guardians of each person being picked up or dropped off to check the location of the person being picked up or dropped off at any time during the pick-up or drop-off.

The program for the transportation management system according to the present invention is characterized in that, when loaded into a computer and executed, the computer functions as a management server or an in-vehicle terminal of the transportation management system having any one of the configurations 1 to 10.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a transportation management system that can reliably prevent a person being picked up or dropped off from being erroneously determined to be in a shuttle vehicle when he or she is not actually in the vehicle (prevention of erroneous determination), reliably prevent a person being picked up or dropped off from being left behind in the vehicle even if the person who is picked up or dropped off forgets to take their name tag with them and gets in the vehicle (prevention of people not carrying RF tags being left behind), and in the unlikely event that a person is left behind in the vehicle, enable the person to escape from the vehicle on their own (self-escape of left-behind person).

1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a transportation management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the transportation management system of FIG. 1. 3 is an entity relationship diagram (ER diagram) showing an example of the configuration of the pickup and drop-off management database 21, 30. This is a conceptual diagram of the generation of a relationship between the name tag and the belongings tag when a child carrying a tag boards a bus. This is a conceptual diagram of the generation of a relationship between the name tag and the belongings tag when a child who has forgotten their tag boards a train. This is a flowchart showing the system operation when generating a relationship between the name tag and the belongings tag when a child who has a tag/child who has forgotten their tag boards a bus. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing relationships between tag IDs of wireless tags possessed by children _Ci, which are generated by the process of FIG. 6. 13 is a diagram for explaining the advantage of generating a relationship between a belonging tag and a name tag Tp _i when a child C _i gets into a shuttle bus B. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the pick-up and drop-off management system when transporting children. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of confirming a child's current location from a parent/guardian terminal in the pickup and drop-off management system of the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a child location confirmation screen displayed on a parent/guardian terminal 3. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a transportation management system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the transportation management system of FIG. 12. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the pick-up and drop-off management system according to the second embodiment with respect to preventing a child from being left behind in a vehicle.

The following describes the embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

(1) Overall System Configuration Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a transportation management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 1, the transportation management system of the first embodiment will be described as an example of a transportation management system that manages transportation of children (persons to be picked up and dropped off) C _i (i is a number that distinguishes children) by a transportation vehicle B (a shuttle bus or a shuttle taxi) to a kindergarten (or nursery school) which is a destination facility D, but the scope of application of the present invention is not limited to transportation to and from kindergartens, and can also be applied to, for example, transportation of children by a school bus at an elementary school, transportation of care recipients in a care service, etc. In addition, in this specification, the term "kindergartener" at a kindergarten will be unified as the term "child".

In FIG. 1, the entirety of this transportation management system is managed in a management facility M. Each child C _i attending a kindergarten (or nursery school) that is a transportation destination facility D basically has one name tag Tp. The name tag Tp is a composite wireless tag equipped with an antenna and an integrated circuit for short-distance wireless communication and an antenna and an integrated circuit for long-distance wireless communication, and stores a child ID (person being picked up and dropped off) ID (C _i ) that is an identification number of the child C _i who owns it. This name tag Tp is, for example, placed in a name tag that the child basically wears when going to the kindergarten. In addition, belongings other than the name tag worn by each child C _i (bag, hat, shoes, etc.) are attached with belongings tags Tc. The belongings tags Tc are wireless tags equipped with an antenna and an integrated circuit for long-distance wireless communication, and store a belongings ID that is a unique identification number. One child C _i may have multiple belongings tags Tc. It is also assumed that each child C _i has one or more guardians P _i .

Here, a "name label" refers to a label that records personal information. Normally, it refers to a small card with a name written on it, but here it refers to any label that records information that identifies an individual, regardless of the shape of the card (for example, this includes terminals such as smartphones that record a name, and portable memory devices).

"Belongings" refers to things that a person actually has (wears) in their possessions, that is, personal belongings. Even if something belongs to someone else, if that person actually has it (possesses it), it belongs to that person. Also, a "name tag" is one type of belonging, but in this invention, a name tag is considered a special belonging used for self-identification.

"Radio tag" refers to a small tag attached to an object that has an information medium that can be read without contact, and is a general term for RF tags and NFC tags. "RF tag" refers to an information medium that has a built-in semiconductor memory, holds data written by an induction electromagnetic field or radio waves, and can be read without contact (JIS X 0500:2002), but here it particularly refers to a radio tag used in long-distance wireless communication RFID (described below). "NFC tag" refers to a radio tag used in short-distance wireless communication NFC (described below). "Tag ID" refers to the unique identification number recorded on the radio tag. "Name tag" (identifying tag) refers to a radio tag that records identification information (child ID) that identifies the child, and has the functions of both an RF tag and an NFC tag. "Belonging tag" refers to a radio tag attached to belongings other than a name tag. A belonging tag has identification information (belonging tag ID) recorded on it that identifies it. A "rental tag" is a wireless tag that is rented to a child who has forgotten to bring their name tag in place of a name tag, and like a name tag, it has the functions of both an RF tag and an NFC tag. A belonging tag has identification information (rental tag ID) recorded on it that identifies it.

In this specification, a child who has a name tag Tp is referred to as a "with-tag child," and a child who does not have a name tag Tp (a child who has forgotten to bring his or her name tag Tp) is referred to as a "tag-forgotten child."

In this embodiment, NFC is used for short-distance wireless communication, and RFID is used for long-distance wireless communication. Here, "NFC" (Near Field Communication) refers to non-contact wireless communication at extremely close distances of several centimeters to 10 cm. NFC includes the FeliCa (registered trademark) communication method, ISO/IEC 14443 (MIFARE communication method), and ISO/IEC 18092 (NFC). "RFID" (Radio Frequency IDentifier) is a general term (JIS X 0500:2002) for reading and writing data from a semiconductor memory in a non-contact manner using an induction electromagnetic field or radio waves, and here refers to a device capable of communication over a longer distance than NFC. Currently in Japan, the following frequencies are mainly used for RFID: LF (medium wave) band: 120-130 kHz, HF (short wave) band: 13.56 MHz, UHF (ultra high frequency) band: 900 MHz, and microwave: 2.45 GHz.

For simplicity's sake, in this specification, "near-field wireless communication" will be referred to as "NFC" and "long-field wireless communication" will be referred to as "RFID."

In FIG. 1, the transportation management system of this embodiment includes a transportation management server 1, an in-facility server 2, a parent terminal 3, an in-vehicle terminal 4, a boarding entrance unit 5, a boarding entrance RFID reader 6, an in-vehicle RFID reader 7, and an RFID reader 8 in the transportation destination facility.

The shuttle management server 1 is a system server installed in the management facility M that manages the entire shuttle management system. A computer such as a personal computer or a workstation is used for the system server 1. The in-facility server 2 is a server installed in the shuttle destination facility D. A computer such as a personal computer, a workstation, or a portable computer is used for the in-facility server 2. Note that, although this embodiment shows an example in which the shuttle management server 1 and the in-facility server 2 are installed in separate locations, in the present invention, the shuttle management server 1 and the in-facility server 2 can be configured as a single server and installed together in the shuttle destination facility D or in the management facility M.

The guardian terminal 3 is a terminal device possessed or owned by the guardian P _i of each child C _i . For the guardian terminal 3, a portable terminal device with a communication function such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet, or a notebook computer is used. The in-vehicle terminal 4 is a computer terminal device installed in the shuttle vehicle B. The in-vehicle terminal 4 has built-in or externally attached a clock 4a for measuring time, a GNSS positioning device 4b for locating the current position using a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), and a communication device for communicating with the shuttle management server 1 and the in-facility server 2 via a communication line N such as a mobile phone line.

The boarding entrance unit 5 is a device (unit) installed at the boarding entrance of the shuttle bus B, similar to a bus numbering machine or a boarding IC card reader, and includes an NFC reader 5a, a speaker 5b, and a microphone 5c. The NFC reader 5a is a device that reads information recorded in an NFC tag (such as the child ID ID(C i ) of the name tag Tp) by short-range wireless communication when an NFC tag such as the name tag _Tp of each child C _i is brought close to the NFC reader 5a. The boarding entrance unit 5 is connected to the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 so as to be able to communicate with each other by wire or wirelessly. The boarding entrance unit 5 includes an LED light (not shown) that illuminates the antenna surface of the NFC reader 5a to indicate the location where the NFC tag is to be touched.

The boarding/alighting RFID reader 6 is an RFID reader installed at the boarding/alighting entrance of the shuttle vehicle B. The boarding/alighting RFID reader 6 is a device that reads the child ID ID (C _i ) or belongings ID of the name tag Tp and each belongings tag Tc of the child C _i located at the boarding/alighting entrance by long-distance wireless communication. The reading range of the boarding/alighting RFID reader 6 is limited to the front side of the boarding entrance unit 5 at the boarding/alighting entrance of the shuttle vehicle B. The boarding/alighting RFID reader 6 may be an RFID reader having a ceiling-mounted or floor-mounted (mat-type) transmitting/receiving antenna.
The entrance/exit RFID reader 6 is connected to the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 so as to be able to communicate with each other via wire or wirelessly.

The in-vehicle RFID reader 7 is an RFID reader installed on the ceiling of the shuttle car B, and is a device that reads the child ID ID (C _i ) or belongings ID of each child C _i located inside the shuttle car B by long-distance wireless communication. The in-vehicle RFID reader 7 is connected to the in-vehicle terminal 4 so as to be able to communicate with each other by wire or wirelessly. The in-vehicle RFID reader 7 is an RFID reader equipped with a two-dimensional array antenna. A "two-dimensional array antenna" refers to an antenna in which antenna elements are arranged in a two-dimensional plane and beam steering scanning can be performed by controlling the phase of the signal transmitted and received by each antenna element. This allows the in-vehicle RFID reader 7 to read the IDs recorded on the name tag Tp and belongings tag Tc, and detect the orientation of those wireless tags relative to the antenna (the direction of arrival of the backscattered waves from the wireless tags).

The destination facility RFID reader 8 is one or more RFID readers installed at the gates, entrances, or rooms of the destination facility D, and is a device that reads, by long-distance wireless communication, the child ID ID(C _i ) or belongings ID of the name tag Tp and belongings tag Tc of each child C _i who arrives at or enters the destination facility D. The destination facility RFID reader 8 is connected to the facility server 2 via wired or wireless communication so as to be able to communicate with each other.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the transportation management system of Figure 1. In Figure 2, components corresponding to those in Figure 1 are given the same reference numerals. In Figure 2, the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 includes a transportation management database 21, a tag identification means 22, a vehicle-mounted person detection means 23, a rental tag borrowing instruction means 24, a borrower identification means 25, a name tag touch instruction means 26, a boarding/alighting notification means 27, and a current location notification means 28, in addition to the clock 4a and GNSS positioning device 4b described above. The transportation management server 1 includes a transportation management database 40, a boarding notification means 41, an alighting notification means 42, a location distribution means 43, and a tag rental notification means 44. The functional configuration of the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 and the transportation management server 1 is configured as a functional module by having the computer used as the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 and the transportation management server 1 load and execute a computer program for system management.

The transportation management database 21 and the transportation management database 40 are databases that store and manage information required for transportation management. The transportation management database 40 is a master database, and the transportation management database 21 is a partial clone database of the transportation management database 40. The transportation management database 40 stores and manages data related to transportation management for all children. On the other hand, the transportation management database 21 stores and manages data related to transportation management for children who are picked up and dropped off by the shuttle vehicle B in which the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 is installed. When the data in the transportation management database 21 is updated, the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 transmits the updated transaction to the transportation management server 1 via the communication line N, and the transportation management server 1 updates the transportation management database 40 with the received updated transaction. Conversely, when the data in the transportation management database 21 is updated, the transportation management server 1 transmits the updated transaction to the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 of the shuttle vehicle B related to the updated data via the communication line N, and the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 updates the transportation management database 21 with the received updated transaction. As a result, the transportation management database 21 and the transportation management database 40 are synchronized with each other.

When the child ID ID(C _i ) of the name tag Tp is read by the NFC reader 5a of the boarding entrance unit 5, the tag identification means 22 links the child ID ID(C _i ) or belongings ID ID(E j ) (j is a number that identifies the belongings) of the name tag Tp and belongings tag Tc held by the child C _i located at the boarding entrance and read by the boarding entrance RFID reader 6 to the child ID ID(C _i ) read by the NFC reader 5a as a belongings ID related to the child ID ID(C _i ) and stores it in the pick-up and drop-off management database 21.

The in-vehicle pick-up and drop-off person detection means 23 uses the in-vehicle RFID reader 7 to read the child ID ID(C _i ) or belongings ID ID(E _j ) on the name tag Tp and belongings tag Tc carried by each child C _i located inside the shuttle vehicle B, and detects each child C i located inside the shuttle vehicle B by regarding the read belongings ID ID(E _j ) as being the same as the child ID ID(C _{i )} linked to the belongings ID ID(E _j ).

When the belongings ID ID( _Ej ) of the belongings tag Tc is read by the boarding/alighting RFID reader 6 but the child ID of the name tag tag Tp is not read, the loan tag borrowing instruction means 24 outputs a voice instruction "loan tag borrowing instruction" from the speaker 5b of the boarding/alighting unit 5. Here, the "loan tag borrowing instruction" refers to a voice instruction to take the loan tag Tr provided at the entrance/exit of the shuttle vehicle B and touch it to the NFC reader 5a of the boarding/alighting unit 5. This "loan tag borrowing instruction" is, for example, a voice instruction such as "Take the name tag from the loan name tag holder and touch it to the card reader."

When the loan tag ID recorded on the loan tag Tr is read by the NFC reader 5a after a loan tag loan instruction is output by the loan tag loan instruction means 24, the borrower identification means 25 identifies the child C _i who possesses the loan tag Tr on which the loan tag ID is recorded, links the loan tag ID as a loan tag ID related to the child ID of the identified child C _i , and stores it in the pick-up and drop-off management database 21.

When the entrance RFID reader 6 reads the child ID ID( _Ci ) or belongings ID ID( _Ej ) of the name tag Tp or belongings tag Tc carried by each child _Ci , the name tag touch instruction means 26 outputs a voice instruction "name tag touch instruction" to the child Ci through the speaker 5b of the entrance unit 5. Here, the "name tag touch instruction" refers to a voice instruction instructing the child _Ci to bring the name tag Tp carried by the child Ci close to (touch) the NFC reader 5a. This "name tag touch instruction" is, for example, a voice instruction such as "Touch your name tag to the card reader."

When the child C i with the child ID ID(C _i ) is detected by the in-vehicle person-to-be-transferred-to detection means 23 after the child ID ID(C _i ) of the name tag Tp is read by the NFC reader 5a of the boarding gate unit 5, the boarding/alighting notification means _{27 transmits a "boarding notification" to the transportation management server 1 via the communication line N notifying that the child C i has} boarded the transportation vehicle B. When the child C _i with the child ID ID(C _i ) is no longer detected by the in-vehicle person-to-be-transferred-to detection means 23, the boarding/alighting notification means 27 transmits a "disembarking notification" to the transportation management server 1 via the communication line N notifying that the child C _{i has} disembarked from the transportation vehicle B. When the child C _i possessing the rental tag Tr is identified by the borrower identification means 25, the boarding/alighting notification means 27 transmits a "rental tag lending notification" to the transportation management server 1 via the communication line N notifying that the child C i has borrowed the rental tag Tr.

The current location notification means 28 transmits the location information of the current location of the shuttle vehicle B, which is determined by the GNSS positioning device 4b, to the shuttle management server 1 at regular intervals.

When the boarding notification means 41 receives from the on-board terminal 4 of the shuttle vehicle B a "boarding notification" notifying that a child C _i has boarded the shuttle vehicle B, it searches the pick-up management database 40 for the email address of the guardian P _i of the child C _i and the email address of the in-facility server 2 of the destination facility D of the child C _i , and distributes to each of the searched email addresses a "boarding notification" notifying that the child C _i has boarded the shuttle vehicle B. Also, when the disembarking notification means 42 receives from the on-board terminal 4 of the shuttle vehicle B a "disembarking notification" notifying that a child C _i has disembarked from the shuttle vehicle B, it searches for the email address of the guardian P _i of the child C _i and the email address of the in-facility server 2 of the destination facility D of the child C _i , and distributes to each of the searched email addresses a "disembarking notification" notifying that the child C _i has disembarked from the shuttle vehicle B. In addition, the boarding notification means 41 and the disembarking notification means 42 may, in addition to notifying by email, display on a publicly-available website on the Internet that can be accessed by the guardian _Pi and staff of the destination facility D, that the child _Ci has boarded the shuttle bus B or that the child _Ci has disembarked from the shuttle bus B.

Based on the location information of the current location of shuttle vehicle B transmitted from the onboard terminal 4 of shuttle vehicle B and the "boarding notification" of each child C _i aboard shuttle vehicle B, the location distribution means 43 displays a location display screen showing the current location of each child C _i traveling in shuttle vehicle B on a map image on a homepage published on the Internet that can be accessed by guardians P _i and staff of the shuttle vehicle destination facility D.

When the tag loan notification means 44 receives a "loan tag loan notification" from the vehicle terminal 4 of the shuttle vehicle B notifying that a child C _i has borrowed a loan tag Tr, it searches for the email address of the guardian P _i of the child C _i and the email address of the in-facility server 2 of the facility D to which the child C _i is picked up or dropped off, and delivers a "loan tag loan notification" to each of the searched email addresses notifying that the child C _i has borrowed a loan tag Tr.

(2) Configuration of the Transportation Management Database Fig. 3 is an ER diagram showing an example of the configuration of the transportation management databases 21, 30. Fig. 3 is written in Information Engineering (Crow's Foot) notation. The transportation management databases 21, 30 in this embodiment are configured as relational databases, and include a child table, belongings table, belongings possession table, guardian table, guardian terminal table, transportation record table, transportation vehicle table, vehicle terminal table, tag lending table, and lending tag table.

The child table is a table for managing information about each child C _i . The child table stores and manages the "child ID" which is the identification number of each child C _i (the identification number recorded on the child's name tag Tp), the "name" of the child C _i , the "guardian ID" of the guardian P _i of the child C _i , and information about the "affiliation" of the child C _i (the pick-up/drop-off facility D).

The belongings table is a table that manages information about each child's belongings tag. The belongings table stores and manages information about the "belongings tag ID," which is the identification number of each belonging tag Tc (the identification number recorded on that belonging tag Tc), the "attributes" of the belongings associated with that belonging tag Tc (hat, bag, shoes, etc.), the "owner ID," which is the child ID of the child who owns the belongings associated with that belonging tag Tc (only for those whose owner is identified), and the "owner name" of the owner of the belongings associated with that belonging tag Tc (only for those whose owner is identified).

The guardian table is a table for managing information about the guardians of each child. The guardian table stores and manages information about the "guardian ID" which is the identification number of the guardian P _i of each child C _i , the "name" of the guardian P _i , the "affiliation" of the guardian P _i (e.g. place of employment), and the "contact information" of the guardian P _i in case of an emergency.

The guardian terminal table is a table for managing information on the guardian terminal 3 possessed by the guardian of each child. The guardian terminal table stores and manages information on the "guardian terminal ID" which is the identification number of the guardian terminal 3, the "guardian ID" of the guardian _Pi who possesses that guardian terminal 3, the "terminal address" which is the email address of that guardian terminal 3, the "telephone number" of that guardian terminal 3 (only if there is a telephone number), and the "password" of that guardian terminal 3 (password used when logging in to the pickup and drop-off management server 1 from the guardian terminal 3 or when logging in to a homepage published on the Internet by the pickup and drop-off management server 1).

The on-board terminal table is a table that manages information about the on-board terminal 4 installed in each shuttle vehicle B. The on-board terminal table stores and manages information about the "on-board terminal ID," which is the identification number of the on-board terminal 4, the "terminal address," which is the IP address of the on-board terminal 4, and the "password" that the on-board terminal 4 uses to log in to the shuttle management server 1.

The shuttle vehicle table is a table that manages information about each shuttle vehicle B. The shuttle vehicle table stores and manages information about the "shuttle vehicle ID," which is the identification number of the shuttle vehicle B, the "affiliation" of the shuttle vehicle B (such as destination facility D), the "vehicle number" of the shuttle vehicle B, and the "on-board terminal ID" of the on-board terminal 4 installed in the shuttle vehicle B.

The pick-up/drop-off record table is a table that manages information related to child pick-up/drop-off events. The pick-up/drop-off record table stores and manages information related to the "pick-up/drop-off ID", which is an identification number that identifies the pick-up/drop-off event, the "child ID" of the child who is being picked up/dropped off at the pick-up/drop-off event, the "pick-up car ID" of car B related to the pick-up/drop-off event, the "boarding date and time" which is the date and time when the child boarded car B at the pick-up/drop-off event, the "boarding location" which is the location (longitude and latitude coordinates) where the child boarded car B at the pick-up/drop-off event, the "disembarking date and time" which is the date and time when the child disembarked from car B at the pick-up/drop-off event, the "disembarking location" which is the location (longitude and latitude coordinates) where the child disembarked from car B at the pick-up/drop-off event, and the "movement trajectory file name", which is the file name of the file that records the movement trajectory of car B when it moved at the pick-up/drop-off event.

Here, a "transport event" refers to the series of events that occur from when a child boards a shuttle bus, is transported to the destination facility, and disembarks at the facility.

The possession table is a table that manages information related to the possession relationship of each possession tag Tc. The possession table stores and manages information related to the "possession tag ID" of the possession tag Tc attached to the possession related to the possession relationship, the "owner ID" which is the child ID of the child who possesses the possession related to the possession relationship, the "pick-up/drop-off ID" of the pick-up/drop-off event at which the possession relationship occurred, the "registration date and time ID" which is the date and time at which the possession relationship occurred, and the "registration location" which is the location (longitude and latitude coordinates) at which the possession relationship occurred.

The rental tag table is a table that manages information about the rental tags Tr equipped on each shuttle vehicle B. The rental tag table stores and manages information about the "rental tag ID," which is an identification number recorded on each rental tag Tr.

The tag lending table is a table that manages information regarding the lending relationship of each lending tag Tr. The tag lending table stores and manages information regarding the "lending tag ID" of the lending tag Tr related to the lending relationship, the "borrowed child ID" which is the child ID of the child related to the lending relationship, the "lending time" which is the time when the lending relationship occurred, the "lending position" which is the location (longitude and latitude coordinates) where the lending relationship occurred, and the "return date and time" which is the date and time when the lending relationship was terminated (the lending tag Tr was returned).

(3) Operation of the Transportation Management System The operation of the transportation management system of this embodiment configured as described above will be described below. First, the operation of linking the name tag and the belonging tag in the transportation management system of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "relationship creation") will be described.

(3.1) Creating a relationship between tag IDs for tag-carrying children Fig. 4 is a conceptual diagram of the creation of a relationship between the name tag and belongings tags when a tag-carrying child boards a train. As a prerequisite, a tag-carrying child C _i (where i is a number that identifies the child) has a name tag Tp, and in addition to the name tag, the child's belongings (hat, shoes, bag, etc.) E _j (j=1, 2, ..., Nc is a number that identifies the belongings; Nc is the number of belongings tags the tag-carrying child has) have belongings tags Tc _j attached to them.

First, when a tag-carrying child C _i stands at the boarding/alighting entrance of shuttle vehicle B, boarding/alighting entrance RFID reader 6 installed at the boarding/alighting entrance reads the child ID or belongings tag ID of the name tag Tp and belongings tag {Tc _j } carried by the tag-carrying child by long-distance wireless communication (RFID). The child ID read here is ID(C _i ) and the belongings tag ID is ID(E _j ) (j=1, 2, ..., Nc). Here, the reading range of boarding/alighting entrance RFID reader 6 is limited to the area in front of boarding entrance unit 5 at the boarding/alighting entrance of shuttle vehicle B, so that only the wireless tags of children standing at the boarding/alighting entrance of shuttle vehicle B are read.

When the child ID ID(C _i ) is read and the in-vehicle terminal 4 detects that the tag-carrying child C _i has boarded the vehicle, it blinks the LED light provided on the antenna surface of the NFC reader 5a of the boarding entrance unit 5 and outputs a voice message "name tag touch instruction" from the speaker 5b of the boarding entrance unit 5. The "name tag touch instruction" is a voice message that instructs the tag-carrying child C _i to bring his/her own name tag close to the NFC reader 5a. The "name tag touch instruction" is, for example, a voice message such as "touch your name tag here."

In response to this, the tag-carrying child C _i touches (brings close to) his/her own name tag (name tag Tp) to the NFC reader 5a. This causes the NFC reader 5a to read the child ID ID(C _i ), and the tag-carrying child C _i performs self-identification of the child ID ID(C _i ) and the belongings tag ID {ID(E _j )}. Here, "self-identifying" refers to the person being picked up or dropped off (child) identifying that a certain wireless tag is owned by the person being picked up or dropped off, that is, the person being picked up or dropped off identifying the wireless tag and himself/herself. By performing this self-identification, it is possible to ensure that the child ID ID(C _i ) and the belongings tag ID {ID(E _j )} can be identified with the tag-carrying child C _i .

In addition, when the tag-carrying child C _i touches (closes) his/her name tag (name tag Tp) to the NFC reader 5a in response to the "name tag touch instruction," the in-vehicle terminal 4 searches for the name of the tag-carrying child C _i from the pick-up and drop-off management database 21, and the in-vehicle terminal 4 outputs a greeting voice from the speaker 5b of the boarding unit 5. The greeting voice is, for example, "Good morning, Mr. XX," or "Yay, XX-kun" (where "XX" is the child's name). In addition, following the greeting voice, a bonus voice that entertains the child is additionally output. The bonus voice is, for example, the sound of a chicken crowing such as "cock-a-doodle-doo," the sound of a dog barking such as "woof woof," or a short piece of music. In this way, by outputting the greeting voice or bonus voice in response to the act of the child touching his/her name tag (name tag Tp) to the NFC reader 5a, the child is given a sense of fun and entertainment, and the child is nudged to voluntarily change his/her behavior so that he/she will touch the name tag himself/herself. In addition, the greeting voice and the bonus voice are changed every time the child touches his/her name tag (name tag Tp) to the NFC reader 5a. This further enhances the feeling of playing a game and nudges the child's spontaneous name tag touch. Here, "nudge" refers to encouraging people to spontaneously choose actions that are more desirable for people and society through ingenuity and mechanisms based on knowledge of behavioral science. In this way, by nudging with the greeting voice and the bonus voice, the child is encouraged to proactively touch (close) his/her name tag (name tag Tp) to the NFC reader 5a, and each tag-carrying child C _i is able to more reliably identify himself/herself.

Furthermore, if a tag-carrying child C _i forgets to touch (bring close to) his/her name tag (name tag Tp) to the NFC reader 5a and tries to board the shuttle bus B, a warning buzzer sound can be emitted from the speaker 5b of the boarding entrance unit 5 to ensure that the tag-carrying child C _i can identify himself/herself.

Once self-identification has been performed in this manner, the in-vehicle terminal 4 creates a relation with the child ID ID(C _i ) as the parent ID and each belonging tag ID ID(E _j ) (j=1, 2, ..., Nc) as the child ID, and stores this in the belongings table of the pick-up/drop-off management database 21. After this relation is created, if either the child ID ID(C _i ) or the belongings tag ID ID(E _j ) (j=1, 2, ..., Nc) is detected by the in-vehicle RFID reader 7, it can be assumed that the tag-carrying child C _i has been detected. Furthermore, even if a child's belongings change from day to day, by creating a relation between the child ID and the belongings ID when the child boards the shuttle bus B, it is possible to flexibly respond to changes in the child's belongings.

(3.2) Creating a relationship between tag IDs for a child who has forgotten his/her tag Next, we will explain how to create a relationship for a child who has forgotten his/her tag. Fig. 5 is a conceptual diagram of the creation of a relationship between the name tag and the belongings tag when a child who has forgotten his/her tag gets on the train. As a prerequisite, the child who has forgotten his/her tag has forgotten to bring his/her name tag and does not have a name tag, and the belongings tag _Tcj is attached to the belongings (hat, shoes, bag, etc.) _Ej (j=1, 2, ..., Nc is a number that distinguishes belongings; Nc is the number of belongings tags the tag-carrying child has).

First, when a child C _i who has forgotten his/her tag stands at the entrance of shuttle bus B, entrance RFID reader 6 installed at the entrance reads the belongings tag ID of the belongings tag {Tc _j } carried by the child by long-distance wireless communication (RFID). The belongings tag ID read here is designated as ID(E _j ) (j=1, 2, ..., Nc). Here, the reading range of entrance RFID reader 6 is limited to the area in front of entrance unit 5 at the entrance of shuttle bus B, so that only the wireless tags of children standing at the entrance of shuttle bus B are read.

When the belongings tag ID ID( _Ej ) (j=1, 2, ..., Nc) is read, the in-vehicle terminal 4 detects that a child has boarded the car. Furthermore, at the same time, when the child ID is not read, the in-vehicle terminal 4 determines that the child who has boarded is a "tag-forgotten child." Note that, in order to more reliably detect that a child has boarded, a human presence sensor that detects the presence of a person in front of the boarding entrance unit 5 may be provided in the boarding entrance unit 5, and the fact that a child has boarded may be detected when the belongings tag ID ID( _Ej ) (j=1, 2, ..., Nc) is read and a person is detected by the human presence sensor.

Next, when the boarding of the tag-forgotten child C _i is detected, the in-vehicle terminal 4 blinks the LED light provided on the antenna surface of the NFC reader 5a of the boarding unit 5, and outputs a voice message "rental tag borrowing instructions" from the speaker 5b of the boarding unit 5. Here, the "rental tag borrowing instructions" refers to a voice message instructing the user to take the rental tag Tr provided at the boarding/alighting entrance of the shuttle car B and bring the rental tag Tr close to (touch) the NFC reader 5a of the boarding unit 5. Here, the rental tag Tr is in the form of a rental tag similar to a name tag, and is stored in a container such as a "rental name tag holder" which is a mesh pocket provided at the boarding/alighting entrance of the shuttle car B, as shown in FIG. 5, and a plurality of rental tags are always kept on hand. The "rental tag borrowing instructions" are, for example, a voice message such as "Take the name tag from the rental name tag holder and touch it here."

In response, the tag-forgotten child C _i touches (brings close to) the NFC reader 5 a with the borrowed loan tag Tr. This causes the NFC reader 5 a to read the loan tag ID ID(Tr _k ) (k is the number of the loan tag). When the loan tag ID ID(Tr _k ) is read, the in-vehicle terminal 4 outputs a greeting voice from the speaker 5 b of the boarding entrance unit 5, and then outputs a "name input instruction." Here, the "name input instruction" refers to a voice instruction that instructs the person being picked up or dropped off (child) to speak his or her name into the microphone 5 c of the boarding entrance unit 5. This "name input instruction" is, for example, a voice instruction such as "Tell me your name."

In response, the tag-forgotten child C _i speaks his/her name into the microphone 5 c, for example, saying, "I'm Yamada Taro." The in-vehicle terminal 4 converts the voice input from the microphone 5 c into text, extracts the name of the tag-forgotten child C _i , and collates it with the names of each child registered in the child table of the pick-up/drop-off management database 21 to identify the child ID of the tag-forgotten child C _i .

Here, if the history of linking the belongings tag ID ID( _Ej ) of the tag-forgotten child _Ci previously read by the entrance RFID reader 6 with a child ID is stored in the belongings possession table of the pick-up/drop-off management database 21, the child ID of the tag-forgotten child _Ci may be estimated from the history of the relationship between the belongings tag ID ID( _Ej ) and the child ID linked thereto. Even in this case, in order to ensure that the child ID of the tag-forgotten child _Ci is identified, it is preferable to output a voice command to input a name for confirmation, and identify the child ID of the tag-forgotten child _Ci from the speech input from the tag-forgotten child _Ci in response to the voice command.

Furthermore, when the child ID ID(C _i ) of the tag-forgotten child C _i is identified, this child ID ID(C _i ) is transmitted from the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 to the pick-up and drop-off management server 1, and the pick-up and drop-off management server 1 transmits a confirmation email to the parent terminal 3 of the parent P _i of the tag-forgotten child C _i to the effect that the loan tag Tr has been loaned.

In this way, in the case of the tag-forgotten child C _i , the tag-forgotten child C i performs self-identification of the child ID ID(C _{i )} , belongings tag ID {ID(E j )}, and loaned tag ID ID(Tr _{k ) by touching the loaned tag Tr k that} he or she borrows at the entrance when boarding the shuttle bus B to the NFC reader 5a, and by speaking his or her name into the microphone _5c in response to the "name input instruction." This self-identification ensures that the child ID ID(C _i ), belongings tag ID {ID(E _j )}, and loaned tag ID ID(Tr _k ) can be identified with the tag-forgotten child C _i .

Furthermore, when the child ID of the tag-forgotten child C _i is identified, the in-vehicle terminal 4 outputs a greeting voice (e.g., "Good morning, Mr. XX,""Yay,XX-kun," etc.) and a bonus voice (e.g., "Cock-a-doodle-doo,""Woof-woof," etc.) from the speaker 5b of the boarding unit 5, just as in the case of a tag-carrying child. In this way, by outputting a greeting voice or a bonus voice in response to the child touching the loaned tag Tr to the NFC reader 5a and speaking his or her name, the child is given a sense of enjoyment and entertainment, and is nudged to encourage a spontaneous behavioral change such as the child touching his or her name tag by himself or herself.

Furthermore, if a tag-forgotten child C _i forgets to touch (bring close to) the loaned tag Tr to the NFC reader 5a or forgets to speak his or her name and tries to board the shuttle bus B, a warning buzzer sound can be emitted from the speaker 5b of the boarding entrance unit 5 to ensure that the tag-forgotten child C _i can identify himself or herself.

(3.3) System operation when a child boards the bus Next, we will specifically explain the system operation performed by the transportation management system of this embodiment in relation to the process of generating a relationship between tag IDs for tag-carrying children/tag-forgotten children as described above. Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the system operation when generating a relationship between the name tag and the belongings tag when a tag-carrying child/tag-forgotten child boards the bus.

First, in step S1, when child C _i gets on the boarding gate of shuttle bus B at the pick-up/drop-off boarding point (the point where child C _i always gets on shuttle bus B when going to kindergarten), the tag identification means 22 of the in-vehicle terminal 4 detects the tag ID of the wireless tag carried by child C _i using the boarding gate RFID reader 6. Here, if child C _i is a tag-carrying child, the boarding gate RFID reader 6 detects the tag IDs {ID(C _i ), {ID(E _j )}} of child C _i 's name tag and belongings tag, and if child C _i is a tag-forgotten child, the boarding gate RFID reader 6 detects the tag ID {ID(E _j )} of child C _i 's belongings tag.

Next, in step S2, the tag identification means 22 judges whether or not the tag ID (child ID) ID(C _i ) of the name tag is detected. If it is detected, the process proceeds to the next step S3, and if it is not detected, the process proceeds to step S21 described later.

When the tag ID (child ID) ID(C _i ) is detected (when the child C _i is a tag-carrying child), in step S3, the name tag touch instruction means 26 blinks the LED light provided on the antenna surface of the NFC reader 5a of the boarding gate unit 5 and outputs a voice message "name tag touch instruction" from the speaker 5b of the boarding gate unit 5. Then, it waits for the child C _i to touch (bring close to) the name tag Tp to the NFC reader 5a (step S4). When the child C _i touches the name tag Tp to the NFC reader 5a and the NFC reader 5a detects the tag ID ID(C _i ) of the name tag Tp, the tag identification means 22 searches for the name of the child C _i corresponding to ID(C _i ) from the child table of the pick-up and drop-off management database 21, and generates the greeting voice and bonus voice described above using the searched name, and outputs them from the speaker 5b of the boarding gate unit 5 (step S5). The tag identification means 22 then generates relations using the child ID ID(C _i ) as the parent ID and each belonging tag ID ID(E _j ) (j=1, 2, ..., Nc) as the child ID, stores these in the belongings table of the pick-up/drop-off management database 21 (step S6), and proceeds to the next step S7. Note that in step S6, when storing the relations between the child ID and each belonging tag ID in the belongings table of the pick-up/drop-off management database 21, the date and time (registration date and time) and the place (registration position) (longitude and latitude coordinates measured by the GNSS positioning device 4b at the same time as the relation is generated) are also stored at the same time. In addition, the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 creates a new record in the pick-up/drop-off record table of the pick-up/drop-off management database 21 for the pick-up/drop-off event of the child C _i who has boarded the vehicle, and stores in the created new record the child ID ID(C _i ) of the child C _i , the pick-up/drop-off vehicle ID of the shuttle vehicle B, and the date, time and place that the child C _i boarded the vehicle, and also creates a new "movement trajectory file" for the child C _{i who} has boarded the vehicle and stores the file name of the file in the new record in the pick-up/drop-off record table.

On the other hand, if the tag ID ID(C _i ) is not detected (if the child C _i is a tag-forgotten child), in step S21, the rental tag rental instruction means 24 of the in-vehicle terminal 4 blinks the LED light provided on the antenna surface of the NFC reader 5a of the entrance unit 5 and outputs a voice message "rental tag rental instruction" from the speaker 5b of the entrance unit 5. Then, it waits for the child C _i to touch (bring close) the rental tag Tr _k to the NFC reader 5a (step S22). When the child C _i touches the rental tag Tr _k to the NFC reader 5a and the NFC reader 5a detects the tag ID ID(Tr _k ) of the rental tag Tr _k , the renter identification means 25 of the in-vehicle terminal 4 outputs a greeting voice from the speaker 5b of the entrance unit 5, and then outputs a voice message "name input instruction" (step S23). The renter identification means 25 then waits for the child C _i to speak his/her name through the microphone 5c of the boarding unit 5 (step S24). When the child C _i speaks through the microphone 5c, the renter identification means 25 converts the voice into text using a voice recognition engine, and identifies the name of the child C _i by comparing the converted text with the names of each child registered in the child table of the pick-up/drop-off management database 21 (step S25). If the child C i's name cannot be identified (step S26), the process returns to step S23, and if the child _{C i} 's name can be identified (step S26), the process proceeds to the next step S27.

In step S27, the tag identification means 22 of the in-vehicle terminal 4 generates the greeting voice and bonus voice described above using the name of the identified child C _i , and outputs them from the speaker 5b of the entrance unit 5. Then, the tag identification means 22 generates a relationship with the child ID ID(C _i ) of the identified child C _i as the parent ID and each belonging tag ID ID(E _j ) (j=1, 2, ..., Nc) as the child ID, and stores it in the belongings possession table of the pick-up and drop-off management database 21, and also links the child ID ID(C _i ) to the tag ID ID(Tr _k ) of the loan tag Tr _k , and stores it in the tag loan table of the pick-up and drop-off management database 21 (step S28). In step S28, when the relationship between the child ID and each belonging tag ID is saved in the belongings possession table of the pick-up/drop-off management database 21, the date and time (registration date and time) and the place (registration position) (longitude and latitude coordinates measured by the GNSS positioning device 4b at the same time as the relationship is created) when the relationship was created are also saved at the same time. In step S28, when the relationship linking the child ID of child C _i and the tag ID of loaned tag Tr _k is saved in the tag loan table of the pick-up/drop-off management database 21, the date and time (loan time) and the place (loan position) (longitude and latitude coordinates measured by the GNSS positioning device 4b at the same time as the relationship is created) when the relationship was created are also saved at the same time. In addition, the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 generates a new record (new pick-up/drop-off event record) for the pick-up/drop-off event of the child C _i who has boarded the vehicle in the pick-up/drop-off management database 21, and the child ID ID(C _i ) of child C _i , the shuttle vehicle ID of the shuttle vehicle B, and the date, time and place when child C _i boarded the vehicle are saved in the generated pick-up/drop-off event record, and a new "movement trajectory file" is generated for the child C _i who has boarded the vehicle and the file name is saved in the new record in the pick-up/drop-off record table.

Next, the in-vehicle terminal 4 transmits the child ID ID(C _i ) and the tag ID ID ID(Tr _k ) of the loaned tag Tr _k together with a “loaned tag loan notification” to the pick-up and drop-off management server 1, and the tag loan notification means 44 of the pick-up and drop-off management server 1 transmits a confirmation email to the parent terminal 3 of the parent P _i of the tag-forgotten child C _i to the effect that the loaned tag Tr has been loaned (step S29).Then, the process proceeds to the next step S7.

In step S7, the boarding/alighting notification means 27 of the in-vehicle terminal 4 transmits the updated transaction of the pick-up and drop-off management database 21 updated in step S6 or step S27 to the pick-up and drop-off management server 1, and the pick-up and drop-off management server 1 updates the pick-up and drop-off management database 40 with the transaction transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal 4, thereby synchronizing the pick-up and drop-off management database 40 with the pick-up and drop-off management database 21. In addition, the boarding notification means 41 of the pick-up and drop-off management server 1 transmits a "boarding notification" to the parent terminal 3 of the parent P _i of the child C _i who has boarded the shuttle bus B, notifying that the child C _i has boarded the shuttle bus B.

(3.4) Creation of relations between tag IDs by self-identification and its utility Fig. 7 is a diagram showing relations between tag IDs of wireless tags possessed by child _Ci , which are generated by the process of Fig. 6. Fig. 7(a) is a diagram showing relations between tag IDs of wireless tags in the case of a child who has a tag, and Fig. 7(b) is a diagram showing relations between tag IDs of wireless tags in the case of a child who has left his/her tag behind.

In the case of a child carrying a tag, the child C _i self-identifies himself/herself by touching (bringing close) his/her name tag Tp _i to the NFC reader 5a of the boarding entrance unit 5 at the boarding entrance of the shuttle bus B, and a one-to-many relationship is generated between the name tag Tp _i and the belongings tag Tc _j attached to each belonging E _j (j=1,...,N _c ) carried by the child C _i . That is, each belonging E _j is linked as belonging to the child C _i . In this case, a relationship is generated with the tag ID (child ID) ID(C _i ) recorded in the name tag Tp _i as the parent _ID and the tag ID (belongings ID) ID(E _j ) recorded in the belongings tag Tc _j of the belonging E _j of the child C i as the child ID. Then, when the in-vehicle RFID reader 7 in the shuttle vehicle B or the destination facility RFID reader 8 in the management facility M detects either ID( _Ci ) or ID( _Ej ) (j = 1, ..., _Nc ), the child _Ci is deemed to have been detected.

On the other hand, in the case of a child who forgets his/her tag, the child C _i touches (brings close to) the NFC reader 5a of the boarding entrance unit 5 at the boarding entrance of the shuttle bus _B and self-identifies by speaking his/her name into the microphone 5c of the boarding entrance unit 5, and a one-to-one relationship between the child C _i and the loaned tag Tr _k and a one-to-many relationship between the loaned tag Tr _k (child C _i ) and the belongings tag Tc _j attached to each belonging E _j (j=1,...,N _c ) worn by the child C _i are generated. In other words, the child C _i and the loaned tag Tr _k are linked in a one-to-one correspondence, and each belonging E _j is linked as belonging to the child C _i . In this case, a relationship is generated with the tag ID (child ID) ID( _Ci ) recorded in the name tag _Tpi (or the tag ID ID( _Trk ) recorded in the loaned tag _Trk ) as the parent ID and the tag ID (belonging ID) ID( _Ej ) recorded in the belongings tag _Tcj of the belongings _Ej of child _Ci as the child ID. Then, when the in-vehicle RFID reader 7 in the shuttle vehicle B or the destination facility RFID reader 8 in the management facility M detects either ID(Trk ₎ or ID( _Ej ) (j=1,..., _Nc ), child _Ci is deemed to have been detected.

In this way, by detecting the position of child _Ci in the vehicle using multiple wireless tags, it is possible to prevent missed detection due to the wireless tags being located in the blind spot of the detection range of the in-vehicle RFID reader 7. For example, if the wireless tag of child _Ci is only a name tag attached to the child's name tag, when child _Ci is asleep in the vehicle and the name tag is under child _Ci 's body, the name tag will be located in the blind spot of the detection range of the in-vehicle RFID reader 7 and child _Ci cannot be detected. However, if wireless tags of child _Ci are also attached to the child's belongings such as a hat, bag, or shoes, the position of child _Ci can be detected if the name tag tag or any one of the belongings tags is detected by the in-vehicle RFID reader 7.

In addition, for children who forget their name tags, a loan tag Tr _k is loaned when they board the bus, and a one-to-one relationship between the loan tag Tr _k and child C _i is registered in the pick-up and drop-off management database 21 (and the pick-up and drop-off management database 40). This makes it possible to properly detect the location of child C _i even if child C _i forgets his or her name tag at home, without child C _i having to go back home to get his or her name tag.

In addition, in detecting the location of the child C _i , the parent ID takes precedence over the child ID. That is, the order of priority is (parent ID)>(child ID). Therefore, for example, if the child C _i forgets his/her belongings, a hat, in the shuttle car B and gets off the shuttle car B at the destination facility D, the RFID reader 8 in the destination facility detects the tag ID ID(C _i ) of the name tag Tp _i of the child C _i , and the RFID reader 7 in the vehicle detects the tag ID ID(E _j ) of the belongings tag Tc _j of the child C _i 's belongings (hat). In this case, due to the above priority order, the child C _i 's location is within the destination facility D, so that normal location detection can be performed. At this time, the detection of the tag ID ID(E _j ) in the shuttle car B allows the child C _i to detect that he/she has left his/her belongings E _j inside the shuttle car B.

As for the belongings tag, by creating a relationship with the name tag Tp _i when the child C _i gets into the shuttle bus B, it is sufficient to register in advance in the shuttle management database 21 (and the shuttle management database 40) that only the name tag Tp _i is the property of the child C _i , and there is no need to register in advance the ownership relationship with each child for each belongings tag Tc. Therefore, the belongings tags Tc can be freely distributed to each child's guardian without prior registration of the tag ID, and the guardian can freely attach the belongings tag Tc to the child's belongings, which simplifies the handling of the belongings tag Tc and improves convenience.

In addition, the ownership of the belonging tag Tc is not taken into consideration, which has the advantage of avoiding erroneous detection of the child's location. For example, Fig. 8 shows a case in which a child C _i riding in a shuttle bus B has his/her name tag Tp _i and a belonging tag Tc _j attached to his/her belonging E _j (j = 1, ..., N _c ), and also has a belonging tag Tc _q attached to another child C _q 's belonging E _q as a found item (or lost item). If the owners of the belonging tags Tc _j (j = 1, ..., N _c ) and Tc _q were registered in advance and the location of each child was detected by detecting the tag ID, child C _i and child C _q would be detected, and child C _q who is not riding in the bus would be erroneously detected. On the other hand, in the transportation management system of this embodiment, when a child C _i boards a transportation vehicle B, each of the belongings E _j of the child C _i and the belongings E _q of the child C _q are all linked as belongings of the child C _i by performing self-identification, so that a child C _q who is not boarding the vehicle is not erroneously detected.

In addition, since the ownership of the belongings tag Tc attached to each belonging does not matter, for example, even if child C _i has younger siblings and child C _i transfers his/her belongings (clothes, hats, etc.) to them as hand-me-downs, it is not necessary to re-register the tag ID of the belongings tag Tc of the transferred belongings or to replace the belongings tag Tc, thereby improving convenience.

(3.5) System operation when transporting and disembarking children FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the transportation management system when transporting children. In step S41, the GNSS positioning device 4b of the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 measures and outputs the current position (current longitude and latitude) of the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 (i.e., the shuttle car B) at each time t, and the clock 4a outputs the current time. In step S42, the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 detects the tag ID and position of the wireless tags (name tag Tp, belongings tag Tc, loan tag Tr) in the vehicle using the in-vehicle RFID reader 7. In addition, the position of the wireless tag in the vehicle is also detected by beam steering scanning (scanning while generating maximum directivity according to the direction of the radio wave to be transmitted and received) using the array antenna of the in-vehicle RFID reader 7 by phased array, and the position of the wireless tag is calculated from the installation position and arrival direction of the array antenna. In step S43, the current location notification means 28 of the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 transmits (current location, current time) and the tag ID detected at that time t to the pickup and drop-off management server 1 via the communication line N, and the process proceeds to step S44.

In step S51, when the pick-up and drop-off management server 1 receives the tag ID detected as (current location, current time) from the vehicle-mounted terminal 4, in step S52, it identifies the child C _i riding in the shuttle vehicle B from each received tag ID. Here, the child corresponding to the child ID included in the received tag ID is determined to be a child riding in the shuttle vehicle B. In addition, in the tag lending and borrowing table of the pick-up and drop-off management database 40, among the children corresponding to the child ID linked to the loan tag Tr included in the received tag ID, the child who has not disembarked is determined to be a child riding in the shuttle vehicle B. In addition, in the belongings table of the pick-up and drop-off management database 40, among the children corresponding to the child ID linked to the belongings tag Tc included in the received tag ID, the child who has not disembarked is determined to be a child riding in the shuttle vehicle B. Then, the received information (current location, current time) is added to the "movement trajectory file" for each child C _i identified as riding in the shuttle vehicle B.

In step S44, the child C _i riding in the shuttle bus B is identified from each tag ID detected in step S42. The identification of this child C _i is as explained in step S52. Next, the boarding/alighting notification means 27 of the in-vehicle terminal 4 refers to the pick-up/drop-off record table in the pick-up/drop-off management database 21, and generates a list of child IDs of children currently riding in the shuttle bus B (a riding child list) (in this case, a list is generated by extracting child IDs of records in which the alighting time and alighting location are blank from each pick-up/drop-off event record), and extracts child C _i who is not riding in the shuttle bus B from the child IDs included in the riding child list, and designates this as a "disembarked child" (disembarked child). Next, in step S45, the boarding/alighting notification means 27 determines whether or not any children have gotten off. If any children have gotten off, in step S46, it saves the alighting time (= current time) and alighting location (= current location) for each child in the pick-up/drop-off event record for that child in the pick-up/drop-off record table, and the boarding/alighting notification means 27 sends a list of the child IDs of the children who have gotten off (alighting child list) along with the alighting notification to the pick-up/drop-off management server 1, and returns to step S41.

In step S53, when the shuttle management server 1 receives a disembarking notification and a list of disembarking children from the vehicle-mounted terminal 4, in step S54 it distributes a "disembarking notification" to the parent terminal 3 of the parent P _i of each child C _i included in the list of disembarking children and the in-facility server 2, notifying them that the child C _i has disembarked from the shuttle vehicle B, and also stores the disembarking time (= current time) and disembarking location (= current location) for each disembarking child in the shuttle event record for that child in the shuttle record table.

In this manner, while each child C _i is traveling in shuttle bus B, the movement trajectory of that child C _i is recorded in the "movement trajectory file" for each traveling child C _i . Also, when a child who has boarded shuttle bus B gets off, a "disembarking notice" is delivered to the guardian terminal 3 of the child's guardian and the in-facility server 2. This allows the fact that the child has disembarked to be confirmed by at least multiple people, including the driver (and/or tour conductor) of shuttle bus B, the child's guardian, and staff of destination facility D.

In the flowchart of Fig. 9, in step S44, if any of the children who boarded the shuttle bus B is no longer detected by the in-vehicle RFID reader 7, the child is detected as a "child who has disembarked", but in addition to this method, if any of the children who boarded the shuttle bus _B is detected by the in-facility RFID reader 8 of the destination facility D, the child is detected as a _" child who has disembarked". In this case, when the in-facility RFID reader 8 of the destination facility D detects the tag ID ID( _Ci ) of the name tag _Tp of the child _Ci , the in-facility server 2 transmits a signal to the shuttle management server 1 notifying that the tag ID ID( _Ci ) has been detected, and in response to this, the shuttle management server 1 transmits a signal indicating that the child _Ci has disembarked to the in-vehicle terminal 4, and in response to this, the in-vehicle terminal 4 detects that the child _Ci has disembarked. In this case, even if the tag ID of the child C _i 's belongings tag Tc is detected by the in-vehicle RFID reader 7 of the shuttle vehicle B after it is detected that the child C _i has disembarked, the tag ID ID(C _i ) of the child C _i 's name tag tag Tp has priority over the tag ID of the child C _i 's belongings tag Tc, so the child C _i is considered to be at the shuttle destination facility D and it is determined that the child C _i has left the belongings with the belongings tag Tc attached inside the shuttle vehicle B. In such a case, the in-vehicle terminal 4 of the shuttle vehicle B transmits a "lost property notification" which is a signal indicating that the child C _i has left the belongings with the belongings tag Tc attached inside the shuttle vehicle B to the shuttle management server 1, and the shuttle management server 1, upon receiving the "lost property notification", can be configured to distribute the "lost property notification" to the parent terminal 3 of the parent P _i of the child C _i and/or the in-facility server 2.

Figure 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of checking a child's current location from a parent terminal in the transportation management system of Example 1.

First, in step S61, a "child location delivery request" is input to the parent terminal 3 of the parent P _i by a parent P _i of a child C _i , requesting delivery of the current location of the child C _i , and the parent terminal 3 transmits the "child location delivery request" to the pickup and drop-off management server 1 via the communication line N.

In step S71, the transportation management server 1 receives a "child location delivery request" from the parent terminal 3 of the parent P _i of the child C _i . In step S72, the current location notification means 28 of the transportation management server 1 searches for the child ID of the child C _i from the transportation management database 40. Next, in step S73, if the child C _i is in the transportation vehicle B, the current location notification means 28 obtains a transportation event record for the child ID of the child C _i from the transportation record table of the transportation management database 40, obtains the file name of the movement trajectory file from the "movement trajectory file" column of the transportation event record, and obtains the current location (longitude and latitude coordinates) of the child C _i from the movement trajectory file as the "child location". If the child has disembarked from the transportation vehicle B, the disembarking location of the child C _i is obtained as the "child location" from the transportation record table of the transportation management database 40.

Next, in step S74, the current location notification means 28 obtains a map of the surrounding area centered on the "child location" obtained in step S73 from a map database (not shown), and generates map information by placing a position marker indicating the "child location" on the map. Next, in step S75, the current location notification means 28 distributes the generated map information to the parent terminal 3 of the parent _Pi via the communication line N.

In step S62, the guardian terminal 3 of the guardian P _i receives the map information from the pickup and drop-off management server 1, and in step S63, the guardian terminal 3 displays the received map information on the display 3a. Fig. 11 shows an example of a child position confirmation screen displayed on the guardian terminal 3. In this way, a map of the surroundings of the child C _i is displayed on the display 3a of the guardian terminal 3, and the position of the child C _i is displayed on this map as a position marker 3b. This allows the guardian P _i to confirm where the child C _i is currently located at any time.

(4) System for preventing children from being left behind Fig. 12 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a transportation management system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 13 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the transportation management system in Fig. 12. In Figs. 12 and 13, components similar to those in Figs. 1 and 2 of the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals and will not be described. In addition, with regard to the transportation management system in Figs. 12 and 13, the system operation during boarding, disembarking, and transportation of children is similar to that of the first embodiment, and will not be described. In this embodiment, the configuration and operation of the system related to preventing children from being left behind in the vehicle after the shuttle vehicle B has stopped will be mainly described.

In FIG. 12, the shuttle management system according to Example 2 includes a horn device 9 and a door opening/closing device 10 in addition to the configuration of Example 1. The horn device 9 is a device that sounds the horn and is generally called an "automobile horn." This horn device 9 is a device that is installed as standard on automobiles to alert others to the presence of the vehicle with sound and prevent accidents. The door opening/closing device 10 is a device that opens and closes the door at the entrance to the shuttle vehicle B and is generally called a "vehicle door closing device" that opens and closes the door using a pneumatic cylinder installed on buses, taxis, etc.

In FIG. 13, the shuttle management system according to the second embodiment includes, in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, an engine stop detection means 30, a vehicle abandonment detection means 31, a vehicle abandonment notification means 32, a horn sounding means 33, a door opening means 34, and a vehicle abandonment notification means 45. Here, the engine stop detection means 30, the vehicle abandonment detection means 31, the vehicle abandonment notification means 32, the horn sounding means 33, and the door opening means 34 are provided as functional modules in the vehicle terminal 4 mounted on the shuttle vehicle B, and the vehicle abandonment notification means 45 is provided as a functional module in the shuttle management server 1 installed in the management facility M.

The engine stop detection means 30 detects that the engine of the shuttle vehicle B has been stopped. This can be easily achieved, for example, by detecting the input/output current of the vehicle battery with a current sensor. The abandonment detection means 31 detects a child (person being picked up or dropped off) located inside the shuttle vehicle B using the in-vehicle person being picked up detection means 23 after a predetermined time has elapsed since the engine of the shuttle vehicle B was stopped. When the abandonment detection means 31 detects a child (person being picked up or dropped off) C _i , the abandonment notification means 32 transmits an "abandonment occurrence notification" via the communication line N. Here, the "abandonment occurrence notification" is a signal that notifies the shuttle management server 1 that a child has been abandoned, and is a signal that includes information regarding the child ID of the notified child C _i .

When the abandonment detection means 31 detects a child (person being picked up or dropped off) inside the shuttle vehicle B, the horn sounding means 33 controls the horn device 9 of the shuttle vehicle B to sound the horn. When the abandonment detection means 31 detects a child (person being picked up or dropped off) inside the shuttle vehicle B, the door opening means 34 controls the door opening/closing device 10 of the shuttle vehicle B to open the door to the boarding/alighting entrance.

When the abandonment notification means 45 receives an "abandonment occurrence notification" from the in-vehicle terminal 4, it transmits an "abandonment occurrence alarm" to the guardian terminal 3 of the guardian P _i of the child C _i corresponding to the child ID included in the "abandonment occurrence notification" and to the in-facility server 2 of the destination of the child C _i . Here, the "abandonment occurrence alarm" refers to a notice to notify that an abandonment incident of a child (person being picked up or dropped off) has occurred in the shuttle vehicle B, and to call attention to the occurrence.

The operation of the shuttle management system of this embodiment configured as described above to prevent children from being left behind in the vehicle after shuttle vehicle B has stopped will be described below. Figure 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the shuttle management system of Example 2 to prevent children from being left behind in the vehicle.

First, in step S81, the engine stop detection means 30 of the in-vehicle terminal 4 detects that the engine of the shuttle vehicle B has been stopped. When the engine stop is detected, in step S82, the abandonment detection means 31 starts an internal timer for timing the abandonment detection time Tr. Here, the "abandonment detection time" refers to the time from when the engine is stopped to when detection of a child left inside the shuttle vehicle begins. The abandonment detection time Tr is set to a predetermined time in advance, but if it is too short, detection of a left-behind child will begin before the child has disembarked, resulting in a malfunction, and if it is too long, notification of a left-behind child will be delayed, increasing the burden on the left-behind child, so it should be set to an appropriate time. Normally, the abandonment detection time Tr should be set to around 10 minutes to 1 hour.

Next, in step S83, the leaving detection means 31 waits until the leaving detection time Tr has elapsed, and when the leaving detection time Tr has elapsed, in step S84, the leaving detection means 31 detects a child (person being picked up or dropped off) located inside the shuttle vehicle B using the in-vehicle person being picked up or dropped off detection means 23. Here, as described in Example 1, the in-vehicle pick-up and drop-off detection means 23 uses the in-vehicle RFID reader 7 to read the child ID ID( _{Ci )} (or loaned tag ID ID(Tr _k )) or belongings ID ID(E _j ) of the name tag tag Tp (or loaned tag Tr) and belongings tag Tc held by the left-behind child C i inside the shuttle vehicle B, and detects each child C i located inside the shuttle vehicle B by regarding the read belongings ID ID(E _j ) as the same as the child ID ID( _Ci ) linked to the belongings ID ID(E _j ) (or by regarding the read loaned tag ID ID(Tr _k ) as the same as the child ID ID( _Ci ) linked to the loaned tag ID ID(Tr _{k )} ).

Next, in step S85, the abandonment detection means 31 judges whether or not a child C _i left behind in the shuttle vehicle B has been detected. If a child C _{i has not been detected, the operation for preventing abandonment is terminated, and if a child C i} has been detected, the process proceeds to the next step S84.

If an abandoned child C _i is detected, in step S86, the abandonment notification means 32 of the in-vehicle terminal 4 transmits a "abandonment occurrence notification" to the shuttle management server 1. Next, in step S87, the horn sounding means 33 of the in-vehicle terminal 4 causes the horn device 9 of the shuttle vehicle B to repeatedly sound the horn of the shuttle vehicle B to notify people around the shuttle vehicle B that the child has been abandoned. Next, in step S88, the door opening means 34 of the in-vehicle terminal 4 causes the door opening/closing device 10 of the shuttle vehicle B to open the door of the entrance/exit of the shuttle vehicle B, making it easier for the abandoned child C _i left inside the vehicle to escape outside the vehicle by himself, and the operation related to the prevention of abandonment is completed.

Meanwhile, in the pick-up and drop-off management server 1 of the management facility M, when the "notice of leaving" transmitted from the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 is received in step S91, the terminal address of the guardian terminal 3 of the guardian P i of the left-behind child C _i is obtained in step S92 from the child table, guardian table, and guardian terminal table of the pick-up and drop-off management database 40 based on the child ID ID(C _{i )} of the left-behind child C _i contained in the "notice of leaving". Then, in step S92, an "abandonment alarm" is transmitted to the guardian terminal 3 of the guardian P _i of the left-behind child C _i and to the in-facility server 2 of the pick-up and drop-off destination of the child C _i .

As described above, in the shuttle management system of this embodiment, if any of the wireless tags (name tag Tp (or loaned tag Tr) and belongings tag Tc) carried by one child is detected by the in-vehicle RFID reader 7 after a certain time (abandonment detection time) has elapsed since the engine of the shuttle vehicle B was stopped, the abandoned child _Ci left inside the shuttle vehicle B can be detected. Therefore, as long as all of these wireless tags are not in the blind spots of the reception range of the in-vehicle RFID reader 7, the abandoned child _Ci can be detected reliably. Furthermore, when _{the abandoned child Ci is} detected, the shuttle vehicle B's horn is repeatedly sounded to notify people around the shuttle vehicle B that the child has been left behind, which encourages a third party to find the abandoned child _Ci and prevents accidents caused by human error due to failure to check for an abandoned child. In addition, when an abandoned child C _i is detected, the entrance door of the shuttle car B is opened, so that the abandoned child C _i left inside the car can easily escape by himself, and the temperature inside the car during the daytime is prevented from rising excessively, and the occurrence of an accident due to human error caused by failure to check the abandoned child can be prevented. Furthermore, when an abandoned child C _i is detected, a notice of the child being left behind or a warning of the child being left behind is sent or distributed to the shuttle management server 1, the facility server 2, and the guardian terminal 3, so that multiple people can monitor the child being left behind in the car due to failure to check the child being left behind, and the occurrence of a human error caused by multiple monitoring can be prevented. In addition, since the notice of the child being left behind or the warning of the child being left behind is sent or distributed to multiple people, the occurrence of the child being left behind or the failure to check can be immediately discovered by the relevant parties, and a strong incentive is provided to the driver or tour escort of the shuttle car B to be careful not to forget to check to prevent the child being left behind.

1 Transportation management server 2 Facility server 3 Parent terminal 4 Vehicle terminal 4a Clock 4b GNSS positioning device 5 Boarding entrance unit 5a NFC reader 5b Speaker 5c Microphone 6 Boarding entrance RFID reader 7 In-vehicle RFID reader 8 RFID reader in destination facility 9 Horn device 10 Door opening/closing device 21 Transportation management database 22 Tag identification means 23 In-vehicle transportation recipient detection means 24 Loaned tag borrowing instruction means 25 Borrower identification means 26 Name tag touch instruction means 27 Boarding/alighting notification means 28 Current location notification means 30 Engine stop detection means 31 Abandonment detection means 32 Abandonment notification means 33 Horn sounding means 34 Door opening means 40 Transportation management database 41 Boarding notification means 42 Abandonment notification means 43 Location distribution means 44 Tag rental notification means 45 Abandonment notification means B Transportation vehicle D Pick-up and drop-off facility M Management facility N Communication line

Claims (11)

A name tag that is a composite wireless tag equipped with an antenna and an integrated circuit for short-distance wireless communication and an antenna and an integrated circuit for long-distance wireless communication, and stores a recipient ID that is an identification number of the recipient;
A transportation management system that manages transportation when a person carrying a belonging tag, which is a wireless tag equipped with an antenna and an integrated circuit for long-distance wireless communication and stores a belonging ID, which is a unique identification number, is transported to a destination facility by a transportation vehicle, said transportation management system comprising:
A transportation management server;
an NFC reader that is installed at the entrance of the shuttle bus and that reads the ID of the person being picked up and dropped off on the name tag by short-range wireless communication when the name tag is brought close to the NFC reader;
An entrance RFID reader that is installed at the entrance of the shuttle vehicle and reads the passenger ID and the belongings ID of the name tag and the belongings tag of the passenger located at the entrance by long-distance wireless communication;
One or more in-vehicle RFID readers are installed on the interior ceiling of the shuttle vehicle, and the RFID readers read the name tag and the belongings tag of the person being shuttled or the belongings ID ...
an in-vehicle terminal that is installed in the shuttle vehicle, that is communicatively connected to the NFC reader, the entrance RFID reader, and the in-vehicle RFID reader, and that is communicatively connected to the shuttle management server via a public communication line;
The shuttle management server or the vehicle-mounted terminal,
A transportation management database in which the recipient ID of the person to be picked up and the name of the person to be picked up and dropped off are stored in association with each other;
a tag identification means for, when the NFC reader reads the recipient ID of the name tag, linking the recipient ID or the belongings ID of the name tag and the belongings tag of the recipient located at the boarding/alighting entrance read by the boarding/alighting entrance RFID reader as a belongings ID related to the recipient ID read by the NFC reader, and storing the linked ID in the boarding/alighting management database;
an in-vehicle passenger detection means for detecting each passenger located inside the shuttle vehicle by reading the passenger ID or the belongings ID of the name tag and the belongings tag carried by each passenger located inside the shuttle vehicle using the in-vehicle RFID reader, and regarding the belongings ID that has been read as being the same as the passenger ID linked to the belongings ID;
A transportation management system comprising: A boarding/alighting entrance speaker which is a speaker installed at the boarding/alighting entrance of the shuttle vehicle;
a rental tag borrowing instruction means for outputting, by the entrance speaker, a rental tag borrowing instruction instructing the user to pick up a rental tag provided at the entrance of the shuttle vehicle and touch the NFC reader when the rental ID of the rental tag of the user is read by the entrance RFID reader but the user ID of the user's name tag is not read;
and a borrower identification means for, when the borrower tag ID recorded on the borrower tag is read by the NFC reader after the borrower tag borrowing instruction is output, identifying the borrower who possesses the borrower tag on which the borrower tag ID is recorded, linking the borrower tag ID to the borrower ID of the identified borrower, and storing the linked borrower tag ID in the transfer management database.
the tag identification means, when the rental tag ID recorded on the rental tag is read by the NFC reader after the rental tag borrowing instruction is output, links the belongings ID of the belongings tag of the person being picked up and dropped off located at the boarding/alighting entrance read by the boarding/alighting entrance RFID reader as a belongings ID related to the rental tag ID read by the NFC reader and the person being picked up and dropped off ID related thereto, and stores the linked belongings ID in the pick-up and drop-off management database;
The shuttle management system of claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle passenger detection means uses the in-vehicle RFID reader to read the loaned tag ID or the belongings ID of the loaned tag and the belongings tag carried by each passenger located inside the shuttle vehicle, and detects each passenger located inside the shuttle vehicle by regarding the read loaned tag ID or the belongings ID as being identical to the passenger ID linked to the loaned tag ID or the belongings ID. A boarding/alighting entrance microphone is provided at the boarding/alighting entrance of the shuttle vehicle,
When the rental tag ID recorded in the rental tag is read by the NFC reader after the rental tag rental instruction is output, the rental user identification means
a name input instruction is output by the entrance speaker to the entrance microphone to the person to speak his/her name;
The transportation management system described in claim 2, characterized in that when voice is input from the boarding/alighting microphone in response to the name input instruction, the name of the person being picked up or dropped off is identified from the voice, and the person with the identified name is identified as the person being picked up or dropped off who is carrying the loaned tag on which the loaned tag ID is recorded. The pick-up and drop-off management system according to claim 2, characterized in that, when the rental tag ID recorded on the rental tag is read by the NFC reader after the rental tag rental instruction is output, the borrower identification means identifies the recipient ID stored in the pick-up and drop-off management database that has been linked to the belongings ID in the past the most frequently based on the belongings ID of the belongings tag of the recipient located at the boarding/alighting entrance read by the boarding/alighting entrance RFID reader, and identifies the recipient associated with the identified recipient ID as the recipient who possesses the rental tag on which the rental tag ID is recorded. The pickup and drop-off management database stores the pickup recipient ID of the pickup recipient and an email address of a guardian terminal held by a guardian of the pickup recipient in association with each other,
The shuttle management system described in claim 2, characterized in that when the borrower identification means identifies the person being shuttled who is carrying the rental tag, it sends a tag rental confirmation email confirming the rental of the rental tag to the email address of the parent terminal linked to the recipient ID of the person being shuttled. A boarding/alighting entrance speaker which is a speaker installed at the boarding/alighting entrance of the shuttle vehicle;
a name tag touch instruction means for outputting, by the entrance speaker, a name tag touch instruction to the person to be picked up or dropped off to bring the name tag he or she is carrying close to the NFC reader when the person to be picked up or dropped off ID or the belongings ID of the name tag tag or the belongings tag carried by the person to be picked up or dropped off is read by the entrance RFID reader;
2. The transportation management system according to claim 1, further comprising: The vehicle-mounted terminal includes:
an engine stop detection means for detecting a stop of the engine of the shuttle vehicle;
a leaving detection means for detecting a person being picked up or dropped off inside the shuttle vehicle by the in-vehicle person detection means after a predetermined time has elapsed since the engine of the shuttle vehicle was stopped;
a leaving notification means for transmitting a leaving occurrence notification to the transportation management server when the leaving detection means detects a person to be picked up or dropped off, the leaving occurrence notification notifying the transportation management server that a person to be picked up or dropped off has been left behind;
2. The transportation management system according to claim 1, further comprising: The vehicle-mounted terminal includes:
an engine stop detection means for detecting a stop of the engine of the shuttle vehicle;
a leaving detection means for detecting a person being picked up or dropped off inside the shuttle vehicle by the in-vehicle person detection means after a predetermined time has elapsed since the engine of the shuttle vehicle was stopped;
a horn sounding means for controlling the shuttle vehicle to sound a horn when the abandoned person is detected by the abandoned person detection means;
2. The transportation management system according to claim 1, further comprising: The vehicle-mounted terminal includes:
an engine stop detection means for detecting a stop of the engine of the shuttle vehicle;
a leaving detection means for detecting a person being picked up or dropped off inside the shuttle vehicle by the in-vehicle person detection means after a predetermined time has elapsed since the engine of the shuttle vehicle was stopped;
a door opening means for controlling the opening of a door at the entrance of the shuttle vehicle when the leaving detection means detects a person to be picked up or dropped off;
2. The transportation management system according to claim 1, further comprising: the vehicle-mounted terminal includes a current position notification means for determining the current position of the shuttle vehicle at regular intervals and transmitting the position to the shuttle management server;
When the transportation management server receives a child location delivery request, which is a signal requesting delivery of the current location of a person being picked up or dropped off, from a parent terminal held by the parent of the person being picked up or dropped off,
When the recipient ID of the person being picked up or the belongings ID linked to the recipient ID is read by the in-vehicle RFID reader of the shuttle vehicle,
2. The shuttle management system according to claim 1, further comprising a location distribution means for distributing the current location of the shuttle vehicle received from the vehicle-mounted terminal to the parent terminal that has sent the child location distribution request. A program that, when loaded into a computer and executed, causes the computer to function as a management server or an in-vehicle terminal of the transportation management system according to any one of claims 1 to 10.