Vehicle control system, travel management device, resource management device, vehicle control method, and program

A resource management device disposed outside of a vehicle to run along a track including a plurality of block sections including branching block sections and non-branching block sections, comprising:

• receiving from a travel management device installed in an onboard signaling device mounted on the vehicle a reservation request to indicate reserved block sections existing ahead of the vehicle to run along the track according to track information for associating each of the plurality of block sections with a corresponding identification, wherein when the reservation request includes a branching block section, the branching block section indicates whether a branch is positioned in either a normal position or a reverse position;
• recording the reserved block sections indicated by the reservation request with a reservation management table, wherein the reservation management table is configured to record an association between an identification of the vehicle and an identification of the reserved block section as well as a management state for each block section and a branched state for each branching block section, and wherein the reservation management table is configured to change the management state of the reserved block section from a non-reserved state to a reserved state when the reserved block section indicated by the reservation request is not reserved by another vehicle at a time of receiving the reservation request;
• and
• transmitting reservation-completion information to the onboard signaling device, causing the onboard signaling device to limit speed of the vehicle not to exceed a limit speed pattern for the reserved block sections of the vehicle calculated based on the reservation-completion information.

A travel control method for controlling a vehicle to run along a track including a plurality of block sections including branching block sections and non-branching block sections via communication between a travel management device interlocked with an onboard signaling device mounted on the vehicle and configured to carry out travel control over the vehicle and a resource management device disposed outside of the vehicle, comprising:

• transmitting by the travel management device a reservation request to indicate reserved block sections existing ahead of the vehicle to run along the track according to track information for associating each of the plurality of block sections with a corresponding identification, wherein when the reservation request includes a branching block section, the branching block section indicates whether a branch is positioned in either a normal position or a reverse position;
• and
• recording by the resource management device the reserved block section indicated by the reservation request with a reservation management table, which is configured to record an association between an identification of the vehicle and an identification of the reserved block section as well as a management state for each block section and a branched state for each branching block section, wherein the reservation management table is configured to change the management state of the reserved block section from a non-reserved state to a reserved state when the reserved block section indicated by the reservation request is not reserved by another vehicle at a time of receiving the reservation request;
• and
• transmitting reservation-completion information to the onboard signaling device, causing the onboard signaling device to calculate a limit speed pattern for the reserved block sections reserved by the vehicle according to the reservation-completion information and to limit speed of the vehicle not to exceed the limit speed pattern.

A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program for causing a computer of a resource management device disposed outside of a vehicle to communicate with a travel management device interlocked with an onboard signaling device mounted on the vehicle and configured to carry out travel control over the vehicle and configured to manage the vehicle to run along a track including a plurality of block sections including branching block sections and non-branching block sections and to transmit a reservation request to indicate reserved block sections existing ahead of the vehicle to run along the track, wherein when the reservation request includes a branching block section, the branching block section indicates whether a branch is positioned in either a normal position or a reverse position, implementing:

• a resource management procedure to record the reserved block section indicated by the reservation request with a reservation management table which is configured to record an association between an identification of the vehicle and an identification of the reserved block section as well as a management state for each block section and a branched state for each branching block section, wherein the reservation management table is configured to change the management state of the reserved block section from a non-reserved state to a reserved state when the reserved block section indicated by the reservation request is not reserved by another vehicle at a time of receiving the reservation request, transmitting reservation-completion information to the onboard signaling device and causing the onboard signaling device to calculate a limit speed pattern of the vehicle to run in a range of reserved block sections according to the reservation-completion information.