Method for locating a rail vehicle in a track network

Abstract

The present invention is based on the object of providing a method for locating a rail vehicle in a track network, with which a high localization accuracy can be achieved while at the same time low vehicle-side energy consumption and maintenance effort.The object is achieved according to the present invention by a method for locating a rail vehicle in a track network, which method comprises the following method steps: a) transmitting a first locating signal by a device installed on the rail vehicle and / or on the track side for locating the rail vehicle; b) receiving and evaluating this locating signal to make a first preliminary determination of the location of the rail vehicle; c) receiving and evaluating train protection data and / or train sequence data that can be associated with the rail vehicle with the aid of the location according to the first preliminary determination to determine a definitive location of the rail vehicle.Through this clever combination of the first location signal and the data for train protection and / or train sequence already available in railway operations, the location of a rail vehicle can be determined in a comparatively economical manner in terms of energy and maintenance.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for locating a rail vehicle in a track network.

[0002] In rail transport, it is of interest to logistics and operational scheduling, as well as maintenance, to know the location of individual rail vehicles (locomotives, railcars, wagons, freight cars, etc.) and their mileage. In general, many technical applications today, such as vehicle localization, use localization solutions with satellite-based systems (GPS). These systems are highly accurate when the GPS signal is sufficiently strong. Alternatively or additionally, systems can be used that have local readers available within the rail network and detect passing wagons equipped with a corresponding transponder, such as RFID tags and RFID readers.

[0003] However, as soon as a localization system is to be used on individual rail vehicles in the railway environment, the following technical problems usually arise: i) An accuracy of at least one meter should be achieved, which is particularly desirable in a depot, for example, due to the short distance between the tracks. ii) In particular, individual railway wagons (e.g. freight wagons) often do not have their own power supply, which is why the vehicle-based systems used must be operated under low-power conditions and equipped with batteries and / or solar cells, for example. The operating time of such solutions is generally limited and entails considerable maintenance effort (e.g. for battery replacement, etc.). Vehicle-based RFID tags are therefore particularly susceptible to the disadvantages mentioned above. iii) The frequency of location report updates influences the operating time of the tracking devices on the railway wagons. Greater accuracy due to a higher transmission rate generally comes at the expense of the operating time.iv) Since the railway vehicles are in motion, there are areas where positioning accuracy must be high (e.g. in a depot with many individual tracks) or, conversely, where it may also be inaccurate (e.g. on a long stretch of track between two stations). Accordingly, the positioning data would need to be updated more frequently in the depot than on the track. v) Due to the traction power systems (overhead lines, masts), interference with and shadowing of vehicle-based GPS receivers or similar radio-based positioning systems can occur. Such shadowing can also occur in GPS receivers of other rail vehicles due to the vehicles themselves. vi) In tunnels and in topologically difficult areas (mountainous routes with sharp partial cuttings, etc.), for example, the signals from the GPS satellites cannot be received at all.vii) Detection systems with local trackside reading units are complex, as the reading units must be wired and, in the case of branched track topologies, a large number of reading units must be placed.

[0004] The problem therefore does not lie fundamentally in the possibility of achieving sufficient accuracy with existing systems, but rather in the fact that the environmental and operating conditions limit the use of the systems (lack of power supply and thus limited operating time and maintenance effort for battery replacement, complete failure of satellite reception due to the environment, immense number of trackside reading units required to cover an entire railway network, etc.).

[0005] Currently, various approaches are being used to overcome these disadvantages: Using additional terrestrial transmitters, a reference location is determined. However, this can also lead to additional power consumption, for example, on the on-board GPS receiver of the rail vehicle, which shortens the service life of such a unit. Infrequent transmission of the current location naturally leads to a reduction in energy consumption, but also to correspondingly less frequent updates when the rail vehicle is moving. More frequent transmission of the current location, in turn, leads to increased maintenance effort due to the more frequent battery changes.

[0006] Basically, this need exists on the part of the railway operators in the area of logistics, but also in the area of scheduling and maintenance of rail vehicles.

[0007] The present invention is therefore based on the object of providing a method for locating a rail vehicle in a track network, with which a high localization accuracy can be achieved while at the same time low vehicle-side energy consumption and maintenance effort.

[0008] The object is achieved according to the present invention by a method for locating a rail vehicle in a track network, which comprises the following method steps: a) Transmission of a first location signal by a device installed on the rail vehicle and / or on the trackside for locating the rail vehicle; b) Receiving and evaluating this location signal to make a first preliminary determination of the location of the rail vehicle; c) Receiving and evaluating train protection data and / or train sequence data associated with the rail vehicle with the aid of the location according to the first preliminary determination to determine a definitive location of the rail vehicle.

[0009] Through this clever combination of the positioning signal, e.g. the satellite positioning signal, and the data for train protection and / or train sequence already available in railway operations, the location of a rail vehicle can be determined in a comparatively economical manner in terms of energy and maintenance.

[0010] A GPS device can be used as a device installed on the rail vehicle to locate the rail vehicle and / or a camera with downstream software for recognizing features to identify the rail vehicle and / or an RFID reader unit can be used as a device installed on the trackside.

[0011] With regard to the data already available in railway operations, it is particularly useful if the train protection data and / or the train sequence data contain one or more of the following information: (i) history of data relating to the initial preliminary location determination and / or the definitive location, with the current status preferably automatically added to the future history; (ii) length of individual rolling stock, among othersalso of the locomotive; iii) last calculated speed, in particular determined from the delta of the location data and from this approximately the distance travelled by the rail vehicle; iv) the topology of the track network; v) length of individual track sections, where a train length and a track length and its occupancy are dependent; vi) position of switches for determining possible routes of the rail vehicle; vii) sequence of the wagons in the last unambiguous assignment, which preferably also forms part of the aforementioned history, as well as a movement of rail vehicles which have previously been combined with the wagon / locomotive to be determined; and viii) occupancy of the tracks based on messages from a safety system for the track network.

[0012] In a further advantageous embodiment of the present invention, it can be provided that the determination of the definitive location of the rail vehicle is carried out with the aid of artificial intelligence, wherein a learning system is preferably formed with the verification of a definitive location determined with the artificial intelligence.

[0013] In an advantageous development of the present invention, it can be provided that the transmission of a first location signal by the device for locating the rail vehicle installed on the rail vehicle occurs periodically. Thus, the receipt of this first location signal in an evaluation unit can repeatedly be regarded as a trigger to determine a new first provisional location of the rail vehicle and to update this location information according to the further train protection data and / or train sequence data that can be associated with the rail vehicle in order to then determine a definitive location of the rail vehicle. It should be noted here that location in this context does not mean that the rail vehicle must be stationary, but can also be a dynamic, current location of the rail vehicle that only exists at a specific point in time and continues to move.

[0014] To ensure particularly economical use of the rail vehicle location system installed on the rail vehicle, it can be provided that the transmission period is carried out more frequently in areas with a high track and / or junction density than in areas with a lower track and / or junction density. For example, the rate of spatial change in the rail vehicle's location recorded by the GPS device can be used for this purpose; for example, a comparatively rapid change is interpreted as a journey on the track where location signals do not need to be transmitted as frequently. Accordingly, a comparatively slow change with interspersed stops can be classified as a journey in the station or shunting area, where location signals are then transmitted more frequently.

[0015] Further advantageous embodiments of the present invention can be found in the remaining subclaims.

[0016] Advantageous embodiments of the present invention are explained in more detail below. According to the present invention, localization accuracy is increased by linking various pieces of information that are generally already available during rail operations. A GPS receiver system on a railway carriage or a fixed trackside device for transmitting position data or for detecting a vehicle-mounted transponder, or simply a video unit with image processing for determining the vehicle passing the video unit (any combination of the aforementioned components is also possible) is the basic unit and is used within the meaning of the present invention to determine a preliminary first value for the location. A trackside evaluation unit thus receives / determines the localization data of the individual carriage at defined intervals.

[0017] The increase in localization accuracy is now achieved by linking available railway data. This data is extremely useful in the railway system because the unity of trains must follow a logical structure. This means, for example, that the order of the carriages within a train cannot simply be changed, but can only be done in the context of the existing track layout, for example by detaching a carriage and moving this detached carriage to another track using a locomotive, while the remaining carriages of the train remain on the original track. Since a corresponding route must be set for this movement of the carriage, by resolving this route and observing the movement of the locomotive, it is possible to deduce with certainty where the railway carriage that previously belonged to the train but has now been detaching and moved is currently located.

[0018] The trackside evaluation logic thus uses additional relevant information to establish a link between, for example, the announced GPS position and the subsequent movements of the railway vehicle, which can be traced using a range of other railway-related information.

[0019] For example, the following railway information can be viewed individually or linked in any sub-combination: a) history, where the current state automatically becomes part of the future history; b) the length of the individual carriages and the locomotive, where, for example, if the locomotive stops in front of a stop signal or a beacon, the exact location of a certain carriage can be determined based on the known sequence of the carriages; c) last calculated speed, e.g. obtained from the delta of the last known location data, and from this the approximate distance traveled by the rail vehicle / rail wagon track topology; d) length of the track, where the train length and the track length as well as its occupancy are dependent accordingly e) position of the switches, because this makes it possible to only use the possible routes of the trains for determining the location; if, for example, a switch for a certain train journey is in a diverting position, the train cannot have traveled straight over this switch;f) as already mentioned above, the order of the wagons in the last clear assignment also plays an important role in determining the position (this can also already be included in the data on the previous history mentioned above; g) the movement of the vehicles which were previously combined with the wagon / locomotive to be determined, whereby the data on the occupancy of the tracks based on the messages from the safety system (clearance devices such as axle counting systems, track circuits, etc.) are very suitable here. ;

[0020] Since a train formation (e.g., a freight train) always consists of at least one locomotive (a vehicle with a power supply and drive unit) and one or more wagons, this train formation is located on one or more track sections and has a defined wagon sequence at time x. The interlocking system detects the occupancy of the track (assuming the track has a track-vacancy indicator) and knows the location of the nearest points. A change in the composition of the train can only occur by moving it along the track layout / topology and only according to the laws of train composition (e.g., a locomotive can move the wagons on the track).

[0021] The evaluation unit thus appropriately links the relevant available information and thus defines the definitive location and sequence of the individual wagons. Especially when determining which of the available railway data should also be used for the extended location determination of the wagons, the use of artificial intelligence can be useful for developing these evaluations, thus creating a learning system. This appears to be very helpful here because the topology of the railway network is subject to only slow change processes (adjustments / conversions). Likewise, the composition of train constituents is not highly dynamic over time, but remains relatively stable throughout the day.

[0022] Thus, the disadvantages of the known solutions are accepted as input for the considerations of the invention described above. The inaccuracies of the known solutions are not resolved by using even more technology on the localization system side (e.g., GPS, RFID reader, GPS receiver on the carriage), but rather by linking the information already available on the track side, including the train control data and / or train sequence data that can be associated with the rail vehicle. Existing localization systems, such as GPS receivers and video cameras, can be integrated into this system and method. Using these links, the accuracy of the resulting localization can be increased. By incorporating various existing localization systems / information (GPS, RFID, etc.),) A universally applicable localization solution is created using the software / logic solution described here as an example. The focus is not on the accuracy of the individual localization systems, but rather on linking all available data to create a resulting localization information related to a customizable rail vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for locating a rail vehicle in a track network, comprising the following method steps: a) transmitting a first location signal by a device installed on the rail vehicle and / or on the track side for locating the rail vehicle; b) receiving and evaluating this location signal to make a first preliminary determination of the location of the rail vehicle; c) receiving and evaluating train protection data and / or train sequence data associated with the rail vehicle with the aid of the location according to the first preliminary determination to determine a definitive location of the rail vehicle.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in thatA GPS device can be used as a device installed on the rail vehicle to locate the rail vehicle and / or a camera with downstream software for recognizing features to identify the rail vehicle and / or an RFID reading unit can be used as a device installed on the trackside.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in thatthe train control data and / or the train sequence data include one or more of the following information: (i) history of the data relating to the first provisional location determination and / or the definitive location, with the current status preferably being automatically added to the future history; (ii) length of the individual rolling stock, among othersalso of the locomotive; iii) last calculated speed, in particular determined from the delta of the location data and from this approximately the distance travelled by the rail vehicle; iv) the topology of the track network; v) length of individual track sections, where a train length and a track length and its occupancy are dependent; vi) position of switches for determining possible routes of the rail vehicle; vii) sequence of the wagons in the last unambiguous assignment, which preferably also forms part of the aforementioned history, as well as a movement of rail vehicles which have previously been combined with the wagon / locomotive to be determined; and viii) occupancy of the tracks based on messages from a safety system for the track network.

4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in thatthe determination of the definitive location of the rail vehicle is carried out with the aid of artificial intelligence, whereby a learning system is preferably trained with the verification of a definitive location determined with the aid of artificial intelligence.

5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the transmission of a first locating signal by the device installed on the rail vehicle for locating the rail vehicle occurs periodically.

6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that the transmission period is carried out more frequently in areas with a high route and / or branching density than in areas with a lower route and / or branching density.

Images