Vehicle Coupling Verification Using Tractive Effort Thresholds
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for verifying the coupling of vehicles in a vehicle system, especially in autonomous systems, are prone to human error and require expensive visual equipment, failing to ensure proper coupling between vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A controller that determines coupling integrity by monitoring tractive effort and energy consumption, using input characteristics to set thresholds and adjust operations based on real-time sensor data, eliminating the need for human verification and expensive sensors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If visual inspection technologies are mounted on vehicles to determine initial coupling, then coupling verification capability is improved, but system cost and maintenance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces visual inspection technologies (optical/mechanical systems) with a tractive effort monitoring system that uses force measurements to detect coupling status. The controller monitors tractive effort values and compares them against expected ranges to determine whether vehicles are properly coupled, eliminating the need for expensive visual equipment while maintaining reliable detection capability.
2Device complexity
If operators use manual verification methods to check coupling integrity, then system complexity is reduced, but human error increases leading to unreliable coupling verification
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-verification by automatically monitoring its own tractive effort measurements and comparing them against pre-determined expected ranges. The controller independently determines coupling status without requiring external visual inspection or human judgment, enabling autonomous vehicles to verify their own coupling integrity reliably while maintaining simple system architecture.
3Productivity
If autonomous vehicles operate without drivers for verification, then operational efficiency is improved, but the ability to perform sensory verification of coupling is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the human operator's sensory verification capabilities (touch and sight) with an automated tractive effort monitoring system. The controller continuously measures force requirements and compares them against expected ranges for properly coupled vehicles, providing reliable coupling verification that enables autonomous operation without sacrificing detection accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
A system that includes a controller that may receive one or more input characteristics related to upcoming movement of a group of vehicles, the one or more input characteristics indicative of an amount of energy needed to move the group of the vehicles along a segment of a route. The controller may also calculate a threshold range of tractive effort needed to move the group of the vehicles along the segment of the route based on the one or more characteristics and to monitor the tractive effort expended by a propulsion-generating vehicle of the vehicles in the group to move one or more of the vehicles in the group, and determine whether the vehicles in the group are coupled with each other or whether two or more of the vehicles are not coupled with each other based on the tractive effort that is monitored and the threshold range.