An automatic rail vehicle protection system

Abstract

The invention is a system for automatically protecting a rail vehicle running on a rail line. The system has sensors on the rail vehicle for identifying rail traffic signals and their colour aspects on the rail line, a router within the rail vehicle for receiving data from each sensor, a processor within the rail vehicle for processing data from the router and a computer for controlling the brakes of the vehicle linked to the processor. The system also has a file on the processor comprising data about the rail lines, a display connected to the processor for presenting data to the driver about the vehicle running on the rail line. The system is characterized in that it has a receiver for a global navigation satellite system for sensing position of the rail vehicle on the rail, and an inertial navigation system for sensing the position of the rail vehicle on the rail line based on movements of the rail vehicle on a known rail line, which dispenses with need for radio placed along the track to determine the position of the rail vehicle.

Description

AN AUTOMATIC RAIL VEHICLE PROTECTION SYSTEMTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to the railway industry and more particularly to a system for automatically stopping rail vehicles (such as trains and trams) from passing a rail traffic signal displaying a stop aspect.BACKGROUND

[0002] Most rail vehicles are designed to be operated by humans. A problem with humans is that can be easily distracted and forget or misread track information, which can create a situation referred to as Toss of situational awareness’.

[0003] A vehicle driver should control their vehicle in accordance with the rail traffic signals. A rail traffic signal displaying a caution aspect may indicate to the vehicle driver that the next rail traffic signal is displaying a stop aspect, and the driver must immediately take actions to prepare to stop the vehicle before the next rail traffic signal.

[0004] Loss of situational awareness can result in the vehicle driver forgetting the previous rail traffic signal aspect and therefore misses the need to slow the vehicle to prepare to stop at the next rail traffic signal. Rail vehicles are very heavy and therefore take a long time to stop. If the previous rail traffic signal was displaying a caution aspect, a loss of situation awareness will likely result in the vehicle driver having insufficient time to brake the vehicle to stop before the next rail traffic signal displaying a stop aspect.

[0005] These problems may be solved by putting radio transmitters into each rail traffic signal on a rail line. However, there may be many hundreds of rail traffic signals across a local network of rail lines, let alone a national network comprising thousands of rail traffic signals. Moreover, a radio receiver would also have to be installed in each rail vehicle to receive the transmitted signal aspect. An alternative approach is to install a mechanical ‘train stop’ at each rail traffic signal (and modify each rail vehicle with a mechanical arm to be compatible with the trip stop) which trips the train’s brakes if the train passes the traffic signal while it is displaying a stop aspect. It is very expensive to adopt either approach on large rail networks.

[0006] To travel across a national train network, there may be many different rail network operators. For example, to travel from Brisbane to Perth in Australia, a train would be required to travel across several independently managed rail networks. Each rail network has its owntechnical standards and interoperability requirements which may result in requiring the train to be fitted with multiple radio receivers or train stops to achieve track-train interoperability across the entire rail route. In practise, because most railway train paths comprise a number of independently managed rail networks this approach has proven too technically complex and expensive, and trains continue to rely solely on the train driver to comply with rail traffic signal aspects.

[0007] US202101 14634 A 1 discloses a signal aspect enforcement method for a rail vehicle with an unknown position, which was invented by Alon Green and Walter Kinio (and currently assigned to Ground Transportation Systems Canada Inc). Claim 1covers: a signal aspect enforcement method for a rail vehicle with an unknown position comprising: receiving speed measurements from a speed measuring device by an on-board controller; determining using the received speed measurements if rail vehicle speed is less than a predetermined line-of-sight threshold speed; receiving grade measurements from a grade measuring device by the on-board controller and determining the grade of rail; determining the worst-case braking distance of the rail vehicle using the rail vehicle speed and grade of the rail; receiving image data including a first signal aspect from a camera system and beacon / radio data including a second signal aspect from a beacon / radio system by the on-board controller; determining if the first signal aspect matches the second signal aspect; and determining route of rail vehicle and speed limit of rail vehicle by the on-board controller based on the first signal aspect.

[0008] The method of US202101.14634A1 is completely dependent on the use of radio beacons installed beside the track to transmit information to a receiver on the train to enable the train to determine its location on the track. The other independent claims 8 and 15 also have radio beacons as an essential feature of these claims. The inventors of US20210114634A1 were on the wrong track. The problem with the prior art method is that it necessitates tens or hundreds of millions of dollars for the installation and through- life maintenance of additional beacon infrastructure along the track.

[0009] The object of the invention is to provide a means for rail vehicles to independently (of the rail track) and automatically identify and respond to rail traffic signal aspects without the need for installing a transmitter (or mechanical train stop) on each rail traffic signal and a receiver (or train stop) in each rail vehicle.

[0010] Another object of the invention is to have a smart train and dumb track, rather than a smart train and a smart track (which costs a significant amount of additional money). This objectis not anticipated in the prior art.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] According to the present invention there is provided a system for automatically protecting a rail vehicle running on a rail line, the system comprising:(a) sensors on the rail vehicle for identifying rail traffic signals and their colour aspects on the rail line;(b) a router within the rail vehicle for receiving data from each sensor;(c) a processor within the rail vehicle for processing data from the router;(d) a computer for controlling the brakes of the vehicle linked to the processor;(e) a file on the processor comprising data about the rail lines;(f) a display connected to the processor for presenting data to the driver about the vehicle running on the rail line;(g) a receiver for a global navigation satellite system for sensing the position of the rail vehicle on the rail line to calculate distances to known traffic signals; and(h) an inertial navigation system for sensing the position of the rail vehicle on the rail line based on movements of the rail vehicle on a known rail line.(i) software running on the processor programmed to: i. correlate data from the sensors with data from the file; ii. identify rail traffic signals; iii. identify the location and direction of travel of the rail vehicle relative to the rail traffic signals; iv. interpret the colour aspects of the rail traffic signals; v. communicate with the driver via a display monitor about the rail traffic signals; and vi. send a message to the computer to apply the brakes of the vehicle when required.

[0012] The inertial navigation system, in combination with the other features of the invention, provides a mechanism for determining the position of the rail vehicle on the rail line with high confidence, so that an external beacon system on the track is not required. In this way, the system of the present invention embodies a smart train, dumb track system, to avoid the cost of smart upgrades to a dumb rail network at great expense (as in the aforementioned prior art). The present system therefore has a substantial advantage over the prior art.

[0013] The system preferably includes a radar for sensing rail vehicle speed and acceleration.

[0014] The sensors preferably include a visual sensor for sensing the colour of the traffic signal aspects on the rail line. The sensors also preferably include an infra-red sensor for sensing the location of the traffic signals, particularly at night and in poor weather conditions.

[0015] The sensors may include a receiver for global navigation satellite system for sensing position and speed of the rail vehicle on the rail line relative to known rail traffic signals. The sensors may include an inertial navigation system for sensing the position, speed and direction of travel of the rail vehicle on the rail line based on movements of the rail vehicle on a known rail line. The sensors may include a radar sensor for sensing the rail vehicle speed and acceleration.

[0016] Any of the features described herein can be combined in any combination with any one or more of the other features described herein within the scope of the invention.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] Embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the following drawings, in which:

[0018] Figure 1 is depiction of a train using the automatic protection system of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 2 is a front view of a sensor array used in the train protection system of figure 1.

[0020] Figure 3 is an illustration of a processor determining the position of the rail vehicle via various sensor inputs independently of any input from sensors located along the track such as a beacon.

[0021] Figure 4 is a view of the cab of the train of figure 1 showing the driver display monitor used in the train protection system of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 5 is an illustration of footage from the sensors in the array of figure 2 shown on the screen in figure 3.

[0023] Figure 6 is an illustration of the driver display monitor of figure 3 showing the recommended speed profile for the position of the train on the track.

[0024] Figure 7 is an illustration of the driver display monitor of figure 3 showing a warning message to the driver that the train is travelling too fast.

[0025] Figure 8 is an illustration of the driver display monitor of figure 3 showing a warningmessage to the driver that the brakes of the train will be applied because the train is travelling too fast considering an upcoming stop sign.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Figure 1 shows an automatic rail vehicle protection system 10. The system 10 uses a sensor array 12 on the front of a locomotive 14 running on a rail line 15.

[0027] Figure 2 shows the sensor array 12, which has three visual cameras 16, 18 and 20, an infrared camera 22, a radar sensor 24, two global navigation satellite system receivers 26 and 28 (which sense the position of the locomotive 14 on the rail line), and an inertial navigation sensor 29 which senses the location, direction and speed of the rail vehicle.

[0028] The sensor array 12 is connected to a processor 30 which is installed in the equipment rack of the locomotive 14. The processor 30 uses data from the sensor array 12 to calculate the distance to known rail traffic signals 42. The locomotive 14 also has a computer 32 which controls the braking systems of the locomotive 14. The processor 30 runs a software application that interfaces with the computer 32.

[0029] Data from the sensor array 12 is transmitted through a router 34 (namely, a power-over- ethernet switch) to the processor 30 that is in the cab 40 of the locomotive 14 (see figure 3).

[0030] The processor 30 has a file comprising data about the rail lines 43. The data includes the configuration of the track, rail centreline, the position of each rail traffic signals 42 on the track 44 and details of other objects adjacent to the track. Each time the locomotive 14 operates along the track network, the file is updated and improved using the collected data, so that the file comprising the data on the processor 30 becomes progressively more enhanced, accurate and effective. The software running on the processor 30 provides a form of artificial intelligence for the locomotive 14.

[0031] Determining the position of the locomotive 12 on the rail line is critical to the effective independent operation of a rail network system. The prior art corrects and uses machine learning vision systems in combination with radio beacons as an independent means of verifying the location of locomotives. However, radio beacons need to be positioned all along every rail track, which is very expensive.

[0032] The present invention uses a combination of object recognition from the sensor array 12 (including visual, infra-red and radar sensors), global navigation satellite system receivers 26 and28, the inertial navigation sensor 29 and the signals and other objects contained in the data file 43 to determine the geospatial location of the rail vehicle with a high degree of confidence, and then translate this geospatial reference position to a specific location on the railway track through cross reference to the data file.

[0033] An inertial navigation sensor is an instrument that uses a computer processor and motion sensors (accelerometer and gyroscopes typically found in an IMU) to calculate the position, the orientation, direction, and speed of movement) of a moving object using “dead reckoning,” i.e., without the need for external references. “Dead reckoning” is an old maritime term used to describe navigating (itself a maritime term) by using known initial position, the vehicle's velocity vector (speed and direction), and how long that velocity has been maintained, to determine the vehicle's new position.

[0034] The data file has records of the inertial pattern for each train on each rail line, which is updated and improved by the processor 30 on each run of the track.

[0035] As shown in Figure 3, a circle 31 shows the position of the locomotive 14 as determined by the inertial navigation sensor 29. A circle 33 shows the position of the locomotive 14 as determined by the global navigation satellite system receivers 26 and 28. There is a variance between the circles 31 and 33, which is typical of these different technologies. However the combined use of inertial navigation sensor 29, two global navigation satellite system receivers 26 and 28, and the processor 30 with the rail data file 43 provides very high confidence of the train’s location.

[0036] It is dangerous to rely solely on the global navigation satellite system receivers 26 and 28 as the only means of determining the location of the locomotive as there are times when these systems are unreliable. Global navigation satellite systems cannot be accessed in tunnels (such as tunnel 35 in figures 1 and 3) and when the train is travelling underground. These circumstances can occur frequently on rail lines and hence the prior art uses expensive beacon systems.

[0037] Figure 4 shows a display monitor 36 for a driver 38 in a cab 40 of the locomotive 14. The software running on the processor 30 is also programmed to correlate traffic signal location data from the data file so that the processor 30 knows the position of the train relative to the approaching traffic signals 42.

[0038] Referring to figure 5, the rail traffic signals 42 may be lit up in different colours designating green for go, yellow for caution and red for stop, for example. The visual cameras16, 18 and 20 can sense the colour of the rail traffic signals 42 during the day and the infra-red camera 22 can sense the location of the rail traffic signals 42 at night and during poor weather conditions. The rail traffic signal colours are interpreted by the software on the processor 30. The key features from the footage from the sensor array 12 (shown in figure 4) such as the distance to the approaching rail traffic signal and the colour of the rail traffic signal may be displayed on the screen 44 shown in figure 4.

[0039] Figure 6 shows a speed profile 46 on the display monitor 36 (see figure 3) which calculates the distance to the upcoming rail traffic signal 42 (see figure 4) determined using data from the sensor array 14 (see figure 2). Figure 7 shows a warning message 48 presented by the software on the processor to the driver 38 that the locomotive 14 is travelling over the recommended speed for that point in the track. Figure 8 shows the warning message 50 that the brakes will be automatically applied (using the software on the processor 30 which transmits data to the computer 32 that controls the brakes).

[0040] The invention thereby provides a means for rail vehicles to automatically respond to the colour aspect displayed by rail traffic signals without the need for installing a transmitter on each rail traffic signal and a receiver in each rail vehicle, or through the use of train stops (as in prior art train protection systems).

[0041] In the present specification and claims (if any), the word ‘comprising’ and its derivatives including ‘comprises’ and ‘comprise’ include each of the stated integers but does not exclude the inclusion of one or more further integers.

[0042] Reference throughout this specification to ‘one embodiment’ or ‘an embodiment’ means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearance of the phrases ‘in one embodiment’ or ‘in an embodiment’ in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more combinations.

[0043] In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific to structural or methodical features. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to specific features shown or described since the means herein described comprises preferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the proper scope of the appended claims (if any)appropriately interpreted by those skilled in the art.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A system for automatically protecting a rail vehicle running on a rail line, the system comprising:(a) Sensors on the rail vehicle for identifying rail traffic signals and their colour aspects on the rail line;(b) a router within the rail vehicle for receiving data from each sensor;(c) a processor within the rail vehicle for processing data from the router;(d) a computer for controlling the brakes of the vehicle linked to the processor;(e) a file on the processor comprising data about the rail lines;(f) a display connected to the processor for presenting data to the driver about the vehicle running on the rail line;(g) a receiver for a global navigation satellite system for sensing position of the rail vehicle on the rail line;(h) an inertial navigation system for sensing the position of the rail vehicle on the rail line based on movements of the rail vehicle on a known rail line; and(i) software running on the processor programmed to: i. correlate data from the sensors with data from the file; ii. identify rail traffic signals; iii. identify the location and direction of travel of the rail vehicle relative to the rail signals; iv. interpret the colour aspects of the rail traffic signals; v. communicate with the driver via a display monitor about the rail traffic signals; and vi. send a message to the computer to apply the brakes of the vehicle when required.

2. The system of claim 1, further including a radar for sensing rail vehicle speed and acceleration.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is a visual sensor for sensing the colour of the rail traffic signals on the rail line.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is an infra-red sensor for sensing the location of the traffic signals on the rail line.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensors include a radar sensor for sensing the distance between the rail vehicle and the rail traffic signals.

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