Railway Facility Management Using Kilometer Post Referencing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current GIS systems face challenges in efficiently managing railway and road facilities by linking facility information with coordinate data, requiring significant costs and efforts, especially when separation between infrastructure ownership and operation occurs, and existing systems struggle to associate railway facility information with digitalized rail plans.
Innovation Solution
A facility management system utilizing a GIS database with electronic map data, a facility register database that links facility names, kilometer posts, and attribute information, and an attribute search section that uses kilometer post information to facilitate the retrieval of attribute data without assigning coordinate data, allowing for efficient management of numerous facilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If coordinate data is assigned to each railway facility to link it with map information in a GIS system, then the facility can be accurately located and managed on the map, but the cost and effort required becomes enormous due to the vast number of facilities across large areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces kilometer post information as an intermediary element between the facility and the map coordinate system. Instead of directly assigning complex coordinate data to each facility, the system uses kilometer posts (which are already established along railway lines) as reference points. Facilities are located by specifying their distance from the nearest kilometer post, simplifying the data structure while maintaining location accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter representation from absolute coordinate values (X, Y coordinates) to relative distance measurements from kilometer posts. This parameter transformation simplifies the data required for location identification, reducing the complexity of data entry and management while preserving the ability to accurately locate facilities on the map.
2Loss of information
If a document file system is used to manage detailed information of numerous railway facilities, then comprehensive attribute information can be stored, but linking each facility with map coordinate data requires enormous costs and efforts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses kilometer post information as a mediator to connect the document file system containing facility attributes with the GIS map system. By referencing facilities through their kilometer post location rather than direct coordinate mapping, the system efficiently links comprehensive facility information with spatial data without requiring time-consuming coordinate assignment for each facility.
3Adaptability or versatility
If separation between railway infrastructure ownership and operation occurs, then different organizations can independently manage assets, but linking facility information managed by asset management systems with digitalized rail plans becomes more complex requiring much cost and labor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal location referencing system using kilometer posts that can be applied across different organizational structures. Whether facilities are managed by infrastructure owners or operators, the same kilometer post-based location system applies, enabling seamless integration of asset management data with digital rail plans regardless of organizational boundaries.
Data Source
AI summary
A facility management system has a facility GIS database configured with electronic map data and facility management GIS data containing data for identifying a location and a form of a facility located along a railway or a road, a facility register database configured to manage a name of a rail or a road, a kilometer post and attribute information in association with one another, and a kilometer post information management section configured to manage coordinate data of the facility on the general map and the kilometer post in association with each other. When searching for attribute information from the facility register database, the kilometer post information management section is referred to obtain kilometer post information by using the coordinate data of the facility and the attribute information of the facility is searched from the facility register database by using the kilometer post information.