Railway Gap Filler Control Using Multi-Plane Wave Detection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for controlling the deployment of gap fillers in railway vehicles are prone to detection errors due to objects or users on the platform, leading to unreliable operation.
Innovation Solution
A control device using a wave emitter and receiver to emit and detect waves in multiple vertical planes, processing images to define detection information, and employing shape recognition to accurately determine the presence and position of the platform, ensuring reliable gap management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If contactless sensors are used to detect the platform, then the deployment control can be automated, but detection errors occur when objects or users are on the platform
Solution Approach 1:
The detection zone is divided into multiple vertical planes (at least two), and the platform detection is segmented into multiple profile extractions from different planes. This segmentation allows the system to distinguish between the platform structure and transient objects by comparing profiles across planes, thereby maintaining automated control while improving detection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from single-plane detection to multi-plane detection by adding a vertical dimension to the detection architecture. By extracting platform profiles from multiple vertical planes and comparing them, the system can identify the consistent platform structure across dimensions while filtering out transient objects that appear in only one plane, thus improving reliability without reducing automation.
2Reliability
If multiple detection planes are used to improve detection accuracy, then the reliability of platform identification increases, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the detection data from multiple vertical planes by extracting and comparing platform profiles from each plane. This merging process integrates information across planes to identify the consistent platform structure, improving reliability while managing complexity through systematic data integration rather than treating each plane independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates multiple copies of the detection process across different vertical planes, with each plane generating a platform profile copy. By comparing these profile copies, the system can identify the true platform structure that appears consistently across all copies, thereby improving reliability without requiring fundamentally new detection mechanisms, only replicated detection processes.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution significantly reduces detection errors and ensures the gap filler is deployed correctly, improving the reliability of the device by accurately identifying the platform and maintaining the gap in a safe position.
Implementation Method 1
a wave receiver, arranged to receive, in each detection plane, waves emitted by the wave emitter and reflected by the contours of objects present in this detection plane
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The gap filler control device (20) is intended to equip a door (10) of a railway vehicle (5), and includes means for detecting (30) a platform (55), and means (35) for controlling the deployment of the gap filler (15). The detection means (30) comprise: - a wave emitter (40), suitable for emitting waves in at least two detection planes of a detection zone (51) and passing through the wave emitter (40), - a wave receiver (45), arranged to receive, in each detection plane, waves emitted by the wave emitter (40) and reflected by contours of objects (26, 55, 70) present in that detection plane, and - a processing unit (53), suitable for defining, for each detection plane, at least one acquired image corresponding to the contours which have reflected the waves received by the receiver (45).