Train Evacuation Control Using Safe Door and Route Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing train control systems fail to identify and instruct specific evacuation routes for passengers during emergencies, and existing systems only notify the ground of accidents without providing evacuation instructions.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle control device equipped with sensor units, an abnormality detecting unit, a door identifying unit, a storage unit, and display units that identify safe doors and evacuation routes, and provide guidance through images and audio signals to passengers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If one crew member operates the train with automated door control using cameras, then labor efficiency is improved and conductor-less operation becomes possible, but the ability to handle emergencies and provide evacuation guidance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The train equips itself with autonomous emergency response capabilities through onboard sensors, abnormality detection units, and automated evacuation route guidance systems. The system independently detects abnormalities, identifies safe doors, determines evacuation routes, and provides guidance to passengers without requiring crew intervention, enabling the train to serve itself during emergencies.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an automated information system as an intermediary between the train's emergency detection capabilities and the passengers. This system includes display units, announcement devices, and mobile terminal communication that mediate the transmission of evacuation information from the train's detection systems to passengers, replacing the traditional role of crew members as intermediaries.
2Device complexity
If existing systems only notify the ground of accidents without providing evacuation instructions, then communication simplicity is maintained, but passenger safety during evacuation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The emergency response system is segmented into multiple functional modules: abnormality detection units distributed throughout the train, door identification systems at each door location, route determination algorithms, and multiple output channels (display units, announcement devices, mobile terminals). This segmentation allows the system to maintain relative simplicity while providing comprehensive evacuation guidance through specialized sub-systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from traditional ground-only notification to a multi-dimensional communication approach by adding onboard display units, announcement devices, and mobile terminal communication. This adds spatial dimensions (inside the train cars) and communication channel dimensions (visual, auditory, digital) to the emergency notification system, enabling immediate passenger guidance without increasing ground system complexity.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the train provides detailed evacuation route guidance with door identification and route images, then passenger evacuation safety is improved, but information processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-stores evacuation route information, door locations, and route images in advance within the train's memory systems. When an abnormality occurs, the system simply retrieves and displays the pre-prepared information corresponding to the detected abnormality location, rather than calculating routes in real-time. This preliminary preparation significantly reduces information processing complexity during actual emergencies.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses visual copies and representations of evacuation routes through images and diagrams displayed on display units and transmitted to mobile terminals. Instead of providing complex verbal instructions or requiring passengers to interpret abstract information, the system creates visual copies of the actual evacuation paths, making the information easier to process and understand while reducing the complexity of information delivery.
Data Source
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AI summary
Included are: a plurality of sensor units that detect an external or internal condition of each vehicle of a train; an abnormality detecting unit that detects abnormality in the train, on the basis of detection outputs from the sensor units; a door identifying unit that identifies, when abnormality of the train is detected, whether each door belongs to an area where passengers in the train can get off safely, on the basis of a detection output of the sensor unit that detects the external condition of the vehicles; a storage unit that stores information on a plurality of evacuation routes in a manner associated with positions along a travelling route of the train; a determining unit that determines, when the train stops due to abnormality in the train, whether there is any evacuation route connected from a specific door, among pieces of wayside information, at the position where the train has stopped; and a plurality of display units that display information including a determination result of the determining unit, in each of the vehicles. When a positive determination result is obtained by the determining unit, the evacuation route connected from the specific door is extracted from the wayside information, and evacuation guidance information including an image of the evacuation route thus extracted and an image of the specific door is output to each of the display units, and each of the display units displays the image of the evacuation route and the image of the specific door, on the basis of the evacuation guidance information.