1491results about "Railway signalling and safety" patented technology

An LED signal lamp (100) comprises: a housing (102), at least one LED excitation source (108) operable to emit excitation radiation of a first wavelength range (blue light), at least one phosphor material (114) for converting at least a part of the excitation radiation to radiation of a second wavelength range and a substantially transparent cover (104) provided on the housing opening. In one arrangement the excitation source (LED chip) incorporates the phosphor material. Alternatively, the phosphor can be provided remote to the excitation source such as for example on a transparent substrate which is disposed between the excitation source and transparent cover. In other arrangements, the phosphor is provided on the transparent cover or other optical components as a layer on a surface of the cover or incorporated within the cover/optical component material.

A system and method for inspecting railroad track is disclosed. The disclosed system includes lasers, cameras, and a processor. The lasers are positioned adjacent the track. The laser emits a beam of light across the railroad track, and the camera captures images of the railroad track having the beam of light emitted thereon. The processor formats the images so that they can be analyzed to determine various measurable aspects of the railroad track. The disclosed system can include a GPS receiver or a distance device for determining location data. The measurable aspects that can be determined by the disclosed system include but are not limited to the spacing between crossties, the angle of ties with respect to rail, cracks and defects in surface of ties, missing fastener components, misaligned fastener components, sunken tie plates, raised spikes, rail wear, gage of rail, ballast height relative to ties, size of ballast stones, and break or separation in the rail. The system includes one or more algorithms for determining these measurable aspects of the railroad track.

A system vitally determines a position of a train. The system includes a plurality of diverse sensors, such as tachometers and accelerometers, structured to repetitively sense at least change in position and acceleration of the train, a global positioning system sensor, which is diverse from each of the diverse sensors, structured to repetitively sense position of the train, and a track map including a plurality of track segments which may be occupied by the train. A processor cooperates with the diverse sensors, the global positioning system sensor and the track map. The processor includes a routine structured to provide measurement uncertainty for each of the diverse sensors and the global positioning system sensor. The routine cross-checks measurements for the diverse sensors, and cross-checks the global positioning system sensor against the track map. The routine provides the vitally determined position of the train and the uncertainty of the vitally determined position.

A server apparatus 20 that is connected, through a communication network 11, to a mobile terminal 40 for reproducing a content and to a ticket gate machine 30. The ticket gate machine 30 detects that a user's entrance into a station area or boarding onto a vehicle, identifies at least a boarding zone, and notifies the identified boarding zone to the server apparatus 20. The server apparatus 20 includes a required duration calculating unit 22 which calculates, based on the boarding zone notified by the ticket gate machine 30, a duration for a user traveling by the vehicle, a content selecting unit 23 which determines a content whose reproduction is completed within the calculated duration, and a data transmitting/receiving unit 21 which delivers the determined content to the mobile terminal 40.

A Railroad Surveying and Monitoring System configured on a mobile platform for surveying, monitoring, and analyzing rail position and superstructure and terrain substructure of railroad tracks (20a,b) or other structures. The system employs two or more High Accuracy Differential Global Positioning System devices (110,112), ground penetrating radar devices (116), terrain conductivity instruments (118), optical cameras (124), and data receivers and processors (126), which in turn process, display, and store the data in a usable database. Precise coordinate data generated from a High Accuracy Global Positioning System provides both location data for subsurface sensors and surface sensors and rail position coordinates to monitor track displacements during track inspection in real time.

A railroad track inspection system has multiple track scanning sensors, a data store, and a scan data processor. The scan data processor provides automatic analysis of the track scan data to detect track components within the scan data from a predetermined list of component types according to features identified in said scan data. The track scanning sensors, data store and scan data processor are attached to a common support structure for mounting the system to a railway vehicle in use. An inertia sensor and common master clock are used to make corrections to the output of the track scanning sensors to accommodate dynamic forces in use. The inspection system may be provided in a single housing for mounting to a conventional passenger/freight rail vehicles and may operate automatically in an unattended mode. The location of track components and/or defects may be logged.

The present invention provides a passenger location information system that provides information on the current location of a user during a trip in real time and in a mode suitable for each user. A configuration is provided in which passenger location information, at least including information on the ends (station, stop, etc.) of a transportation line interval in which a portable information terminal is located, is output at a predetermined time on a user terminal 1 such as a mobile phone terminal connectable to a network. In addition, using notification means such as a ringing tone or a vibrator, the user terminal 1 notifies the user, under a condition set by the user in advance, that the user is approaching a destination to prevent the user from riding past a destination due to dozing.

Novel tools and techniques for monitoring railway track geometry. In one aspect, some such tools and techniques can determine a location of a platform along a railway, capture one or more images of the railway, and/or analyze the rail configuration at that point. In another aspect, some solutions might employ photogrammetric techniques to analyze the rail configuration and thereafter store data about the rail configuration, perhaps correlated with the location of the images, in a data store.

A system for inspecting railroad ties in a railroad track includes a light generator, an optical receiver and a processor. The light generator is oriented to project a beam of light across the railroad track while moving along the railroad track in a travel direction. The optical receiver is oriented to receive at least a portion of the beam of light reflected from the railroad track and configured to generate image data representative of a profile of at least a portion of the railroad track. The processor is configured to analyze the image data by applying one or more algorithms configured to find boundaries of a railroad tie and determine one or more condition metrics associated with the railroad tie.

A system for confirming a direction of travel of a vehicle includes a location determining system and a control unit. The location determining system is configured to be coupled to a vehicle that travels in a network of plural route segments having fixed positions. The location determining system also is configured to obtain data representative of a measured heading of the vehicle. The measured heading represents a direction of travel of the vehicle. The control unit is configured to receive a designated route segment that is at least one of selected by operator input or provided by a trip plan that designates operational settings of the vehicle for a trip. The control unit is configured to compare the measured heading of the vehicle with one or more designated headings associated with the route segments to verify whether the vehicle is actually traveling on the designated route segment.

The invention relates to a train loading state high-definition monitoring and overloading detection method. The method comprises the following steps that a high-definition camera set is used for carrying out real-time monitoring, when the arrival of a train is sensed, the system automatically starts a video system, a linear array CCD (charge-coupled device) camera carries out real-time scanning, an overloading object is analyzed and alarmed, a binocular visual three-dimensional measuring camera is triggered to carry out binocular visual analysis on obtained train images, feature extraction, image matching and train limit contour comparison, then the overloading size and overloading class are obtained, meanwhile, an image analysis technique is adopted to intelligently identify the opening and closing of a box card door, the damage of a canvas and the deviation of cargos, and the abnormal conditions are alarmed and are stored into high-definition pictures. The method has the advantage that the train is monitored by the high-definition videos in the real-time way, the linear array CCD camera is combined to carry out scanning and detection, and the train contour is measured by the binocular visual three-dimensional measuring camera in the three-dimensional way, so the three-dimensional coordinates of the overloading object are obtained, the real-time overloading alarming is realized, and the overloading data and overloading class with accuracy reaching millimeter level can be accurately measured.

The invention provides a high speed railway environmental information collection, assessment and early warning device. The device comprises a control module, an environmental parameter information collection module, a storage module, a video image information collection module, an assessment early warning module and a communication module, wherein the control module is respectively connected with the environmental parameter information collection module, the storage module, the video image information collection module, the assessment early warning module and the communication module; the control module as a core module is used for controlling the function realization of other modules; the assessment early warning module is used for processing and analyzing the collected and obtained environmental parameter information and video image information, and sending environment safety assessment information and early warning information by the communication module. The invention provides a high speed railway environmental information collection, assessment and early warning method.

A method and system in which a vehicle carries an on-board positioning system and has access to a database of information pertaining to a plurality of fixed paths. A vector between the position of the fixed path and a position of the vehicle as reported by the positioning system is calculated prior to arriving at a point of divergence (i.e., a point at which a path branches, such as a switch on a railroad track). After passing the path divergence, a second vector is calculated between the position of the vehicle as reported by the positioning system and at least one of the alternate paths, preferably the correct alternate path. The first vector is compared to the second vector, and a determination as to which path the vehicle is on is made based on the comparison.

A system for determining a possible location of a train in a track network including interconnected tracks having wayside devices associated with these tracks. The system includes a positioning system for determining an estimated location area of a train and a track database having track location data. A computer: obtains the determined estimated location area of the train from the positioning system; identifies a plurality of tracks in the estimated location area of the train, based upon the track location data; obtains signal system data for at least one wayside device associated with at least one of the tracks identified within the estimated location area; and determines at least one possible train location on at least one of the identified tracks based at least in part upon the obtained signal system data. A method and apparatus for determining the possible location of a train is also provided.

A locomotive location system and method utilizes inertial measurement inputs, including orthogonal acceleration inputs and turn rate information, in combination with wheel-mounted tachometer information and GPS/DGPS position fixes to provide processed outputs indicative of track occupancy, position, direction of travel, velocity, etc. Various navigation solutions are combined together to provide the desired information outputs using an optimal estimator designed specifically for rail applications and subjected to motion constraints reflecting the physical motion limitations of a locomotive. The system utilizes geo-reconciliation to minimize errors and solutions that identify track occupancy when traveling through a turnout.

Techniques are disclosed for detecting and reporting railroad track anomalies. In one embodiment, a track inspection application is configured to receive images (or other sensor data) depicting a railroad track captured by cameras mounted on a train, compare the captured images with corresponding reference images (or other sensor data) captured from substantially the same locations and vantage points, and detect anomalies in the railroad track represented by differences between the captured images and corresponding reference images. In another embodiment, the inspection application may generate a three-dimensional (3D) model of the railroad track based on depths determined through, e.g., triangulation, and determine the railroad track's geometry from the 3D model. The inspection application may then detect anomalies associated with the track geometry, such as an incorrect distance between track rails or an incorrect overall location of the track, based on differences between the determined track geometry and a stored track geometry.

System and method for self powered wayside railway signaling and sensing. The system includes a power scavenging module and a power utilizing module. The power scavenging module is configured to convert an excitation of a rail into electrical power. The power utilizing module is powered by the electrical power and is configured to detect a predetermined characteristic in relation to the rail, a train moving on the rail or an environment of the railroad and to communicate data in relation to the predetermined characteristic.

The invention provides a foreign matter invading detecting method and a foreign matter invading detecting device. The foreign matter invading detecting method comprises the following steps that infrared images within the monitoring scope are acquired by utilizing an infrared camera and are transmitted to an image collecting and processing system; whether a suspected foreign matter appears in the monitoring scope or not is determined by the image collecting and processing system according to the infrared images; when the suspected foreign matter appears, the laser light source and a visible light camera are focused on the suspected foreign matter within the monitoring scope, and filling light of laser light is conducted on the suspected foreign matter by utilizing the laser light resource; visible light images of the suspected foreign matter are acquired and transmitted to the image collecting and processing system; image registration and image fusion are conducted on the visible light images and images of the suspected foreign matter area in the infrared images by the image collecting and processing system; and information of the suspected foreign matter is provided by utilizing the fused images, and feature extraction and classification are conducted on the suspected foreign matter by utilizing the information of the suspected foreign matter, automatic identification and alarming for the suspected foreign matter are realized, and abundant and complete image information can be acquired in the time of dark light, dark skies and low visibility.

A system and method for determining rail seat abrasion of a rail road track is disclosed. An inspection system comprises lasers, cameras, and processors adapted to determine whether rail seat abrasion is present along the track. The processor employs a mathematics based algorithm which compensates for tilt encountered as the inspection system moves along the track.

The invention provides a train tracking and approaching pre-warning system. The security states of trains running in the same line and the same direction are subjected to real-time efficient calculation and estimation by adopting train locating information and safety pre-warning logic according to the advantages of a plurality of information wireless transmission modes. Thus, reasonable, accurate and efficient safety pre-warning is provided for possibly appearing dangerous situations and the potential safety hazard caused by signal system failure in tracking operation of the train. Train locating is achieved by a differential satellite navigation locating receiver in combination with a wheel speed sensor by the train tracking and approaching pre-warning system; the position information of each train is transmitted by a wireless communication network between the train and the ground; the position information of each train comprises train running kilometer post, speed, direction, line number, timestamp and the like; and a ground train position controller is used for carrying out comprehensive detection and processing on the position information of each train in the obtained prefecture, carrying out position judgment logic calculation and dynamic distance calculation of front and back trains, and transmitting the pre-warning information to the back train through the wireless information transmission network when the distance between the front train and the rear train is smaller than each of different levels of safety pre-warning thresholds.

The invention provides a mixing method of movement authorities during train zone switching. The mixing method comprises mixing of movement authorities of a transfer ZC (Zone Controller) and mixing of movement authorities of a takeover ZC; the movement authority mixing mode is based on a co-administration zone idea, the state of mixed MA (Movement Authority) wayside equipment is determined by combining the MA1 calculated by the transfer ZC and the MA2 calculated by the takeover ZC after the MA mixing destination is determined, so that the state change of the equipment in the co-administration area can be monitored in real time when the transfer ZC and the takeover ZC calculate corresponding mixed MAs, and therefore the response time of a system on equipment fault is prolonged; and the MA of the transfer ZC and the MA of the takeover ZC, which are generated for a train, are consistent, so that the situation that the train is suddenly decelerated, even emergently braked is avoided, and therefore the system safety is ensured.

The invention relates to an automatic train protection system and method based on image identification and multi-perception fusion. The automatic train protection system comprises an image collection unit (1), an image processing unit (2), a multi-perception fusion processing unit (3), an auxiliary perception unit (4) and an early warning result output unit (5), wherein the image collection unit (1), the image processing unit (2), the multi-perception fusion processing unit (3) and the early warning result output unit (5) are connected in sequence; the auxiliary perception unit (4) is connected with the multi-perception fusion processing unit (3). Compared with the prior art, the automatic train protection system and method based on image identification and multi-perception fusion can be adapted to complex conditions appearing in urban mass transit operation lines, the safe protection of a train is automatically realized according to the practical condition of a line, and the operation safety of urban mass transit is greatly improved.

A method for optically examining a route such as a track includes obtaining one or more images of a segment of a track from a camera mounted to a rail vehicle while the rail vehicle is moving along the track and selecting a benchmark visual profile of the segment of the track. The benchmark visual profile represents a designated layout of the track. The method also can include comparing the one or more images of the segment of the track with the benchmark visual profile of the track and identifying one or more differences between the one or more images and the benchmark visual profile as a misaligned segment of the track.

Method for determining structural parameters of a railway track having a sensor array, includes measuring vertical and/or lateral irregularities of the rail with the sensor array along the rail, thereby providing signals corresponding to geometrical irregularities at different distance from the wheel-load. A model is provided describing the rail's deflection shape, which is dependent on structural parameters of the rail and on the loads on the rail. The model is stored in a processor where geometrical irregularities are compared under different load influence for generating a measured deflection shape. At least one theoretical rail deflection shape is generated using the model by varying structural parameters and the load in the model. At least one of theoretical deflection shapes is compared with the measured deflection shape for each point of the rail, and the structural parameters of that theoretical deflection shape which best matches the measured deflection shape are determined.

A system for identifying rail weights applicable to worn railroad rails measured along a railroad track system includes at least one track measurement device for recording at least a portion of a profile shape of the worn rails, and, a data processor running a software implement for accepting recorded data as input data from the at least one track measurement device and for processing the input data against known unworn railroad rail data to facilitate selection and application of the appropriate rail weights equated thereto to the worn railroad rails.

The invention provides a zone controller-based train position memorizing method and checking method. The memorizing method comprises the steps that a zone controller receives a dormancy command given out by an automatic train monitoring system, so that a current train to which the zone controller belongs carries out the dormancy command; whether communication failure occurs between the zone controller and the automatic train monitoring system or not is judged by the zone controller when the current train is dormant, and when communication failure occurs between the zone controller and the automatic train monitoring system, the zone controller carries out movement authority on the current train according to the manual driving mode. The zone controller-based train position memorizing method and checking method can automatically finish train returning to a storage, train delivery from the storage and train stopping and starting through the zone controller, manual intervention is reduced, and the train driving safety is improved at the same time.

The invention discloses a railway foreign body limit-intruding monitoring system based on an intelligent video, comprising an on-site monitoring subsystem (1), an on-board alarm subsystem (2), a data transmission subsystem (3) and a monitoring center subsystem (4). The on-site monitoring subsystem (1) comprises a video camera (11) and a foreign body limit-intruding monitoring terminal (12), wherein the monitoring center subsystem (4) is an information processing center of the system and comprises a monitoring center server end (41) and a monitoring center client end (42), and the on-board alarm subsystem (2) mainly comprises an on-board alarm terminal (21) taking charge of receiving alarm information sent by the on-site monitoring subsystem and sending out alarm prompts to vehicles. The invention has the advantages of intuitive monitoring, great range and strong monitoring capability and is particularly suitable for high-speed railways to lessen the occurrence of safety accidents.

The invention discloses a train satellite positioning and information transmitting system which is suitable for the train positioning and information transmission. The system comprises a positioning subsystem, a map-matching subsystem, a data record subsystem, a communication subsystem and a main processor; wherein the positioning subsystem is used for outputting the positioning coordinates of latitude and longitude. The map-matching subsystem matches the positioning output to a data map. The data record subsystem is used for recording the data in file format in a Secure Digital memory card. The communication subsystem is used for automatically detecting the possibility of three communication signal paths and the switchover of three communication methods. The main processor is used for completing data processing and data switching. The train satellite positioning and information transmitting system is used for positioning and monitoring the train. With satellite communication, satellite integrated positioning and full-line coverage communication system, the invention meets the needs of the communication, command, dispatch, distress handling, supervision and monitoring of low density rail track.

A system and method for providing public transport information is disclosed, which implements a function capable of providing optimal public transport information to a user who uses public transport when transferring. To this end, when a user brings a mobile communication terminal having a transport card function, i.e., a mobile pay phone, into contact with a billing terminal installed in a bus or a subway station, optimal public transport information for transfer including public transport information and current station information with respect to the user, is provided to the user through the mobile pay phone. In this manner, the user can receive various routing information such as shortest time information, lowest fare information and shortest distance information of public transport modes that are available on the way to a destination. As such, the difficulty in using complex public transport transfer services can be alleviated by providing a user with information about an optimal public transport mode that can be conveniently used when the user transfers en route to a destination, thereby maximizing convenience in the use of public transport services.

The invention provides a method for realizing accurate train positioning by a GPS with the aid of a digital railway map. The train positioning method essentially comprises two subalgorithms, namely a GPS integrity monitoring algorithm and a train positioning calculating algorithm. The GPS integrity monitoring algorithm uses the establishment of a local coordinate system based on railways and transforms a WGS-84 coordinate to a new local coordinate system based on railways as well as uses geographic information provided by the digital railway map to establish a redundancy equation and a constraint condition so as to monitor the pseudo-range observed quantity of the GPS; the train positioning calculating algorithm is responsible for establishing a train position calculating model and a speed calculating model and integrating the two models to realize a train positioning calculating function. The train positioning method, provided by the invention, can not only effectively improve the precision and the stability of the train positioning when the GPS is complete, but also provide a train positioning result with comparatively high precision when the GPS is not complete.