Rail vehicle positioning system

Abstract

The present invention relates to a positioning system for rail vehicles, which includes a plurality of first positioning devices, a plurality of second positioning devices, a first identifier, and a second identifier. The positioning accuracy of the first positioning device is lower than that of the second positioning device. The plurality of first positioning devices are arranged at intervals along the track, and the plurality of second positioning devices are arranged at intervals along the track. One first positioning device and one second positioning device form a group. With the vehicle running direction as a reference, the second positioning device in the same group is located in front of the first positioning device. Both the first identifier and the second identifier are installed on the vehicle. The first identifier is used to identify the current first positioning device when the vehicle travels to it, and the second identifier is used to identify the current second positioning device when the vehicle travels to it. The present invention performs preliminary positioning through the first positioning device and then precise positioning through the second positioning device, so as to improve the positioning accuracy.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of rail vehicle control, and particularly relates to a rail vehicle positioning system. Background Art

[0002] With the popularization of automobiles, the urban traffic is under increasing pressure and the accidents are gradually increasing. Since the ground traffic is difficult to bear and the underground traffic is expensive and space - limited, the aerial rail transit has emerged as the times require.

[0003] During the development of unmanned rail vehicle driving, the collection, processing and control of various information are required, especially the higher the real - time performance and accuracy are, the better. For example, for the position information of the vehicle, only when the vehicle runs to the specified position and then controls the vehicle to perform corresponding operations (such as parking, merging tracks, splitting tracks, etc.) can the precise operation control of the vehicle be realized. At present, the position collection can be achieved through GPS, etc., but the real - time performance and accuracy are difficult to guarantee. Therefore, how to achieve precise positioning is a technical problem to be solved urgently at present. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to improve the deficiency of low positioning accuracy in the prior art and provide a rail vehicle positioning system to improve the positioning accuracy.

[0005] In order to achieve the above - mentioned invention purpose, the embodiments of the present invention provide the following technical solutions:

[0006] A rail vehicle positioning system includes a plurality of first positioning devices, a plurality of second positioning devices, a first identifier, and a second identifier. The positioning accuracy of the first positioning device is lower than that of the second positioning device. The plurality of first positioning devices are arranged at intervals along the track, and the plurality of second positioning devices are arranged at intervals along the track. And one first positioning device and one second positioning device form a group. Taking the vehicle running direction as a reference, the second positioning device in the same group is located in front of the first positioning device. The first identifier and the second identifier are both installed on the vehicle. The first identifier is used to identify the current first positioning device when the vehicle travels to it, and the second identifier is used to identify the current second positioning device when the vehicle travels to it.

[0007] In the above - mentioned rail vehicle positioning system, when the first identifier identifies the first positioning device, a rough preliminary positioning is achieved; since the positioning accuracy of the second positioning device is higher than that of the first positioning device, when the second identifier identifies the second positioning device, a further refined positioning is achieved. Therefore, the positioning accuracy can be improved.

[0008] In one embodiment, the first positioning device is an RFID tag and the first identifier is an RFID reader. Since RFID tag technology is mature and has a low cost, using an RFID tag to achieve preliminary positioning can not only achieve preliminary positioning, but also reduce costs, and the positioning accuracy is relatively high, reaching the meter level.

[0009] In one embodiment, the second positioning device is a light emitter and the second identifier is a light receiver. The light emitter and the light receiver form a photoelectric cell pair. The lateral action distance of the photoelectric cell pair is at the centimeter level and the response time is at the millisecond level. Therefore, using the photoelectric cell pair for secondary positioning can greatly improve the positioning accuracy.

[0010] The above-mentioned rail vehicle positioning system further includes a vehicle operation control device, which is respectively signal-connected to the reader and the light receiver.

[0011] Based on the above two-stage positioning, the vehicle operation control device makes preparations during the first-stage positioning. Once the second-stage positioning is triggered, it outputs a control signal to perform corresponding actions. Therefore, actions such as precise parking, merging, and splitting of tracks can be achieved, ensuring the accurate and safe operation of the vehicle.

[0012] Compared with the prior art, the present invention can accurately determine the position, and then implement corresponding operations when the vehicle is at a position with high-precision requirements, which also meets the future needs of the development of driverless vehicles. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the embodiments. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of the present invention, and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0014] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of the rail vehicle positioning system provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] Description of the Marks in the Figures

[0016] Track 1, RFID tag 2, light emitter 3, light receiver 4, RFID reader 5, vehicle 6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0017] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. The components of the embodiments of the present invention described and illustrated herein can be arranged and designed in various different configurations. Therefore, the detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but merely represents selected embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0018] Please refer to Figure 1 , in the rail vehicle positioning system provided in this embodiment, it includes several RFID tags 2, several light emitters 3, one RFID reader 5, and one light receiver 4. Figure 1 Only two RFID tags 2 and one light emitter 3 are shown in the figure for illustration.

[0019] Several RFID tags 2 are arranged at intervals along the track 1, and several light emitters 3 are also arranged at intervals along the track 1. After the RFID tags 2 and the light emitters 3 are arranged on the track 1, the positions of each RFID tag 2 and light emitter 3 are determined and are known quantities, which can be marked on the map. The several RFID tags 2 and several light emitters 3 can be evenly arranged or unevenly arranged along the track. One RFID tag 2 and one light emitter 3 form a group. Taking the running direction of the vehicle 6 (shown by the arrow in the figure) as a reference, the light emitter 3 in the same group is located in front of the RFID tag 2.

[0020] Both the RFID reader 5 and the light receiver 4 are installed on the vehicle 6. The RFID reader 5 is used to read the information of the current RFID tag 2 when the vehicle 6 travels to the current RFID tag 2, and the light receiver 4 is used to receive the light emitted by the current light emitter 3 when the vehicle 6 travels to the current light emitter 3.

[0021] The positioning accuracy of the RFID tag 2 is at the meter level. The light emitter 3 and the light receiver 4 form a photoelectric pair tube. The positioning accuracy of the photoelectric pair tube is at the centimeter level, and the response time is at the millisecond level. When the vehicle 6 travels to the sensing range of the current RFID tag 2, the RFID reader 5 can read the information (such as the ID number) of the RFID tag 2, and then the current position of the vehicle 6 can be preliminarily determined. When the vehicle 6 continues to travel and the light receiver 4 receives the light emitted by the light emitter 3, since the positioning accuracy of the photoelectric pair tube is at the centimeter level, the current position of the vehicle 6 can be determined to the centimeter level, realizing precise positioning.

[0022] The purpose of setting the light emitter 3 is to further improve the positioning accuracy within the positioning range of the RFID tag. Therefore, generally, within the same group, the distance between the RFID tag 2 and the light emitter 3 can be set to the sensing distance of the RFID tag used, slightly larger, or slightly smaller.

[0023] If the vehicle operation control device is respectively signal-connected to the card reader and the light receiver 4, then the vehicle operation control device starts to monitor the light receiver 4 when the card reader reads the information of the RFID tag 2, and outputs a control signal when the light receiver 4 receives the light emitted by the light emitter 3, controlling to perform corresponding operations such as parking, so as to achieve precise parking of the vehicle 6. The vehicle operation control device refers to the device that controls the operation of the vehicle 6, which can receive signals and output different control signals under different triggering conditions, such as controlling parking and controlling track splitting. It exists in current rail vehicles and can also be located in the dispatching center. Therefore, the structure thereof is not described in detail in this embodiment.

[0024] Generally, in order to avoid mutual interference, the interval distance between two adjacent RFID tags 2 is greater than its positioning accuracy, which can also save the tag cost. If it is inevitable that the distance between two RFID tags 2 is relatively close, for example, when setting the RFID tags 2 on two tracks 1 respectively during track splitting, since each RFID tag 2 has an independent ID number, it is possible to determine whether the RFID tag 2 is the one that should be on the current driving path by the ID number when the information of the RFID tag 2 is read. If not, it is ignored. If so, it starts to monitor whether the light receiver 4 receives light, so as to ensure the reliability of vehicle control.

[0025] It is easy to understand that in the positioning system of the rail vehicle 6 provided in this embodiment, the RFID tag 2 and the optoelectronic pair tube are only taken as an example of a preferred implementation manner. The core idea of the positioning system of the rail vehicle 6 provided in this embodiment is that through the setting of two-level positioning devices with different positioning accuracies, preliminary rough positioning is first realized and then precise positioning is realized, so as to achieve precise and effective control of the vehicle 6.

[0026] Therefore, it should be understood that the present invention provides a rail vehicle positioning system, including a plurality of first positioning devices, a plurality of second positioning devices, a first identifier, and a second identifier. The positioning accuracy of the first positioning device is lower than that of the second positioning device. The plurality of first positioning devices are arranged at intervals along the track, and the plurality of second positioning devices are arranged at intervals along the track. One first positioning device and one second positioning device form a group. With the vehicle running direction as a reference, the second positioning device in the same group is located in front of the first positioning device. Both the first identifier and the second identifier are installed on the vehicle. The first identifier is used to identify the current first positioning device when the vehicle travels to it, and the second identifier is used to identify the current second positioning device when the vehicle travels to it.

[0027] It should be noted that like reference numerals and letters denote like items in the following figures. Therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it does not need to be further defined and explained in subsequent figures.

[0028] In the description of the present invention, the terms "first", "second", etc. are only used for distinguishing descriptions and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0029] The above is only the specific implementation manner of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention can easily think of changes or substitutions, which should all be covered by the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An on-vehicle positioning and control system, characterized in that It includes a number of first positioning devices, a number of second positioning devices, a first identifier, a second identifier and a vehicle operation control device. The positioning accuracy of the first positioning device is lower than that of the second positioning device. The number of first positioning devices are arranged at intervals along the track, and the number of second positioning devices are arranged at intervals along the track. And one first positioning device and one second positioning device form a group. With the vehicle running direction as a reference, the second positioning device in the same group is located in front of the first positioning device. Both the first identifier and the second identifier are installed on the vehicle. The first identifier is used to identify the current first positioning device when the vehicle travels to it, and the second identifier is used to identify the current second positioning device when the vehicle travels to it; The first positioning device is an RFID tag, and the first identifier is an RFID reader; the second positioning device is a light emitter, and the second identifier is a light receiver; the vehicle operation control device is respectively connected to the reader and the light receiver in signal; The vehicle operation control device is used to receive signals and output different control signals under different trigger conditions to control the vehicle operation; the vehicle operation control device starts to monitor the light receiver when the reader reads the information of the RFID tag, and outputs a control signal when the light receiver receives the light emitted by the light emitter to control the execution of corresponding operations.

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