Rail Vehicle Range Display for Battery-Limited Route Accessibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electrically powered rail vehicles with onboard traction batteries face challenges in ensuring energy-efficient route completion and timely arrival when traveling sections without overhead lines or power rails, due to limited battery capacity and varying energy consumption.
Innovation Solution
A rail vehicle equipped with a range determination device that calculates expected energy consumption for different driving styles, comparing it with stored energy, and an optical output system using graphic symbols akin to traffic lights to inform the driver about route destination accessibility, allowing for energy-efficient or time-efficient control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If the driver operates the rail vehicle with a time-efficient driving style to adhere to the timetable, then the arrival time at the route destination is improved, but the energy consumption increases and may exceed the stored battery capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the driving style recommendations based on real-time battery state of charge. When battery charge is sufficient, the system allows time-efficient driving; when charge is low, it recommends energy-efficient driving. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making the driving style flexible rather than fixed, allowing the system to optimize between time and energy based on current energy availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The range determination device continuously monitors the actual state of charge and compares it with the expected energy consumption for different driving styles. Based on this feedback, the system provides real-time recommendations to the driver about whether to maintain time-efficient or switch to energy-efficient driving. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables the driver to make informed decisions that balance timetable compliance with energy conservation.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the driver adopts an energy-efficient driving style to conserve battery capacity, then the energy consumption is reduced, but the arrival time at the route destination may be delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the driving style recommendations based on real-time battery state of charge. When battery charge is sufficient, the system allows time-efficient driving; when charge is low, it recommends energy-efficient driving. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making the driving style flexible rather than fixed, allowing the system to optimize between time and energy based on current energy availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The range determination device continuously monitors the actual state of charge and compares it with the expected energy consumption for different driving styles. Based on this feedback, the system provides real-time recommendations to the driver about whether to maintain time-efficient or switch to energy-efficient driving. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables the driver to make informed decisions that balance timetable compliance with energy conservation.
3Quantity of substance
If the battery capacity is increased to ensure sufficient energy for the entire route section, then the energy availability is improved, but the vehicle weight and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculations of the expected energy consumption for different driving styles before the journey begins and during operation. Based on these preliminary assessments, the driver can plan whether to use time-efficient or energy-efficient driving to ensure arrival with sufficient charge. This advance planning eliminates the need for oversized batteries, as the system optimizes energy usage based on actual route requirements rather than worst-case scenarios.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operating parameters of the rail vehicle by adjusting the driving style (acceleration, speed, braking patterns) to optimize energy consumption. By varying these operational parameters rather than increasing battery capacity, the system ensures sufficient energy availability without adding weight. The state of charge serves as a dynamic parameter that guides parameter adjustments in real-time.
4Loss of information
If the system provides detailed energy consumption information to the driver, then the driver's awareness of energy status is improved, but the complexity of the information processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the most critical information needed for decision-making: the expected energy consumption for time-efficient and energy-efficient driving styles, and the current state of charge. Rather than presenting all possible energy parameters and calculations, the system isolates and displays only the essential data that directly influences the driver's decision about which driving style to use. This extraction of key information reduces cognitive load while maintaining effective energy management.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides differentiated information quality based on the specific operational context. The display shows simplified, easily interpretable comparisons between time-efficient and energy-efficient consumption patterns when the driver needs quick decisions, while maintaining access to more detailed data when needed. This local adaptation of information detail ensures clarity without sacrificing necessary precision.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates, among other things, to a rail vehicle (10) which has: at least one electrical energy storage device (30) for supplying at least one traction device with electrical energy, operating elements for controlling the traction device by a driver (40), and at least one optical output device (22) which, by displaying a limited number of graphic symbols, provides the driver (40) with an up-to-date status of the accessibility of a route destination with the electrical energy stored in the energy storage device (30).