Onboard Vehicle Controller for Conditional Movement Authority Enforcement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle control systems, such as positive train control (PTC) systems, fail to enforce movement authorities with conditions effectively, leading to potential human errors and inefficiencies in rail operations, as they do not ensure that conditions are fulfilled before allowing vehicles to enter designated route segments.
Innovation Solution
A control system where onboard vehicle controllers communicate with each other to determine if conditions for movement authorities are met, allowing vehicles to enter route segments only when these conditions are satisfied, thereby reducing human intervention and increasing operational efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If verbal procedures are used between crew and dispatcher to manage conditional movement authorities, then the system can tolerate issuance of movement authorities with conditions, but the system cannot enforce fulfillment of conditions automatically
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual verbal communication system between crew and dispatcher with an automated electronic monitoring system. The vehicle controller automatically receives movement authorities with conditions, monitors the specified conditions through communications with other vehicle controllers or trackside equipment, and autonomously determines when conditions are satisfied, eliminating reliance on human verbal procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle controller performs self-monitoring of condition fulfillment by automatically receiving status information from other vehicle controllers or trackside equipment and independently determining whether conditions are satisfied. This self-service capability allows the system to enforce conditions without requiring continuous human intervention or verification.
2Reliability
If dispatching systems implement authority stacking to monitor and queue movement authorities with conditions, then condition enforcement is improved, but system complexity and communication requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the condition monitoring and enforcement functionality from the central dispatching system and places it directly in the vehicle controller. This distribution of functionality eliminates the need for complex dispatching system queue management while maintaining reliable condition enforcement at the vehicle level.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the condition enforcement responsibility into separate modular functions: the vehicle controller receives movement authorities, monitors conditions through dedicated communications with other vehicle controllers or trackside equipment, and independently determines condition fulfillment. This segmentation simplifies the overall system architecture by distributing functions across multiple independent components.
3Productivity
If dynamic block operation is used to allocate route blocks to vehicle systems, then route utilization is improved, but robust communications between onboard and off-board computers are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the communication architecture by enabling direct peer-to-peer communications between vehicle controllers for condition monitoring, rather than requiring all communications to route through the off-board back-office computer. This reduces the communication burden on the central system while maintaining dynamic block operation capabilities.
4Loss of information
If the on-board segment prompts the crew to press a key to indicate arrival, then the system can track vehicle position, but human error increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual key-press indication system with automated electronic position reporting. The vehicle controller automatically determines vehicle position through electronic communications with other vehicle controllers or trackside equipment and autonomously determines when arrival conditions are met, eliminating human error associated with manual key presses.
Data Source
AI summary
A control system includes a first vehicle controller configured to be disposed onboard a first vehicle system moving along route segments and to receive a conditional movement authority that has a condition to be met before the first vehicle system can travel into a designated route segment of the route segments. The first vehicle controller is configured to communicate with a separate, second vehicle system to determine a state of the second vehicle system. The first vehicle controller is configured to determine whether the state of the second vehicle system satisfies the condition of the conditional movement authority. The first vehicle controller also is configured to permit movement of the first vehicle system into the designated route segment responsive to determining that the state of the second vehicle system satisfies the condition of the conditional movement authority.