Railway Route Setting via Distributed Actuating Intelligence
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of setting routes in railway systems, especially across multiple control areas, leads to operational complications and safety concerns during equipment conversion or commissioning, due to the need for numerous rules and potential deadlocks or conflicts between interlocking devices and actuating elements.
Innovation Solution
A method where interlocking devices determine the required control elements and functional orders, but the actuating elements themselves decide on the necessary measures, allowing for more orders to be executed and route settings, with feedback and conflict resolution handled by the actuating elements, enabling greater flexibility and simplified operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the interlocking device determines all control measures for route setting, then the control logic is centralized and easy to manage, but the system complexity increases and fewer orders can be executed due to lack of local intelligence
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the route setting function by dividing the interlocking device into a control unit that determines functional orders and actuating elements that independently determine adjustment measures. This segmentation distributes intelligence from the centralized control unit to the decentralized actuating elements, reducing overall system complexity while increasing route setting efficiency through parallel processing of multiple orders.
Solution Approach 2:
The actuating elements perform self-service by autonomously determining the adjustment measures required to implement the functional orders received from the interlocking device. This self-determination capability eliminates the need for the centralized control unit to calculate all adjustment details, thereby reducing control logic complexity while enabling faster execution of multiple simultaneous route setting orders.
2Reliability
If the system uses the locking principle with pre-defined routes, then route safety is ensured through mutual exclusion checks, but the number of possible routes is limited and operation becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamics by transitioning from static pre-defined routes to dynamic route calculation. The actuating elements can autonomously determine adjustment measures for various route configurations, enabling the system to adaptively calculate and execute multiple different routes while maintaining safety through the functional order determination process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of route definition from fixed pre-programmed paths to dynamically determined functional orders. This parameter change allows the same actuating elements to implement multiple different routes by receiving different functional orders, thereby increasing route flexibility while maintaining safety through the ordered control process.
3Area of stationary object
If multiple interlocking devices control the same control elements, then control coverage is expanded, but deadlocks and conflicts occur between devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism where actuating elements serve as mediators between multiple interlocking devices. Instead of interlocking devices directly conflicting over control elements, they both communicate functional orders to the actuating element, which autonomously determines adjustment measures and resolves potential conflicts through its intelligent processing capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback through the actuating elements that receive functional orders from multiple interlocking devices and autonomously determine appropriate adjustment measures. This feedback loop allows the actuating element to consider its current state and the requirements of different devices, resolving conflicts and preventing deadlocks while maintaining expanded control coverage.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for setting at least one route for a railway installation that has at least one signal box device (S1, S2) and a multiplicity of track-side control elements (2) connected to the signal box device. The method involves the signal box device (S1, S2) ascertaining at least one control element (2) required for the route from the multiplicity of control elements and ascertaining at least one functional job to be performed by the ascertained control element to set the route and informing the control element about the ascertained job, and involves the control element ascertaining at least one control measure to be performed by the control element to perform the job.