System and method for fault tolerant roadway worker safety system

• US 10,106,079 B2
• Filed: 09/24/2015
• Issued: 10/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Miller Felpax Corporation
• Original Assignee: Miller Felpax
• Inventors: Denny, Joseph M., Naseer, Muhammad Mohsin
• Primary Examiner(s): Lim, Steven
• Assistant Examiner(s): Adnan, Muhammad
• Application Number:
  US14/864,185
• Publication Number:
  US 20170088046A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,125 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 7/00 Arrangement or adaptation of portable emergency signal devices on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/00 Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/06 for warning men working on the route
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/70 Details of trackside communication
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 29/24 Means for warning road traffic that a gate is closed or closing, or that rail traffic is approaching, e.g. for visible or audible warning
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 29/28 electrically operated
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 29/30 Supervision, e.g. monitoring arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: E01F 9/30 Arrangements interacting with transmitters or receivers otherwise than by visible means, e.g. using radar reflectors or radio transmitters E01F11/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E01F 9/654 in the form of three-dimensional bodies, e.g. cones; capable of assuming three-dimensional form, e.g. by inflation or erection to form a geometric body
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

A system for reliable detection of an approaching train and warning the roadway workers in proximity of the track is described. The system comprises at least one train detector cone (TDC) deployed along a side of an active railroad track and one or more personnel warning cones (PWC) placed near the work site, the cones configured in a wireless mesh network to provide redundant communication links. Detection of a train by the train detector cone is transmitted to the personnel warning cones which provide audible and visual warnings to nearby roadway workers. The system also includes a remote server for centralized tracking and monitoring of the train detector cones and personnel warning cones.

Claims

1. A system for detecting an approaching train on an active railroad track or an adjacent track and providing an alert to roadway workers near a section of one or more of the active railroad track or the adjacent track over a secure wireless network, the system comprising:

at least one train detector cone operable to detect the approaching train and transmit an alert signal in response, wherein said at least one train detector cone comprises a sensor unit comprising a plurality of simultaneously active sensors for detecting an oncoming train; and

at least one personnel warning cone operable to receive said alert signal and generate one or more of an audible alert warning or a visual alert warning in response to said alert signal,

wherein said at least one train detector cone transmits a tilt alert signal to said at least one personnel warning cone upon detection of a change in orientation of said at least one train detector cone, the tilt alert signal communicating a call for corrective action,

wherein one or more of said at least one train detector cone or said at least one personnel warning cone are configured to perform a first routing algorithm to discover a first communications path between each of said at least one train detector cone and each of said at least one personnel warning cone, and

wherein said at least one train detector cone is further configured to identify a subset of said at least one personnel warning cone that are one or more of malfunctioning or not functioning and to discover, based on the identified subset, a second communications path between each of said at least one train detector cone and each of said at least one personnel warning cone.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a remote server in communication with said at least one train detector cone, said remote server operable to receive and store data from said at least one train detector cone and to display at least a portion of said data on a user interface.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said at least one train detector cone transmits status information to said remote server, said status information comprising one or more of GPS coordinates of said at least one train detector cone, GPS coordinates of said at least one personnel warning cone, or said data from said at least one train detector cone.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said status information further includes one or more of a battery status of said train detector cone or a battery status of said at least one personnel warning cone.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein said status information further includes one or more of an orientation of said at least one train detector cone or an orientation of said at least one personnel warning cone.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein said remote server comprises a web server with internet cloud connectivity and non-volatile memory storage.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said remote server presents on a display a location of said at least one train detector cone and a location of said at least one personnel warning cone overlaid on a digital map application running in a web browser.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one personal wearable device, said personal wearable device operable to receive said alert signal and generate one or more of a personal audible alert warning, a personal visual alert warning, or a personal tactile alert warning in response.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said personal wearable device further comprises a low power radio transceiver and a Bluetooth transceiver.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein said personal wearable device further comprises a display operable to present graphical and text images to a user.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one train detector cone is configured to:

receive a plurality of sets of train detection signals from said plurality of simultaneously active sensors, each of said plurality of sets of train detection signals corresponding to a respective sensor of said plurality of simultaneously active sensors;

filter each of said plurality of sets of train detection signals;

apply a plurality of signal adjustments to each of said plurality of sets of train detection signals; and

process each of said plurality of sets of train detection signals to determine whether a first train is approaching.

12. The system of claim 1,

wherein said plurality of simultaneously active sensors comprise at least a first sensor of a first sensor type and a second sensor of a second sensor type selected from a grouping of sensor types comprising:

a) a laser range finder sensor, b) an active infrared sensor, c) a frequency modulated continuous wave radar sensor, d) a digital camera, and a e) an inertial measurement unit sensor, wherein the second sensor type is distinct from the first sensor type.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a cellular telephone modem operable to transmit data to a remote server.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein said at least one train detector cone further comprises a GPS receiver operable to provide position coordinates to a first microprocessor.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising a warning device operable to provide one or more of said audible alert warning or said visual alert warning.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising analog signal conditioning circuitry operable to filter noise from said plurality of simultaneously active sensors.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein said at least one train detector cone further comprises a radio transceiver comprising a frequency hopping ISM band spread spectrum radio.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein said at least one train detector cone further comprises a microprocessor that is further operable to execute logic to generate one or more train presence alerts based on an input of said plurality of simultaneously active sensors.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein said train detector cone further comprises:

a low power radio transceiver operable to transmit one or more of said alert signal or said tilt alert signal; and

a microprocessor operable to monitor data received from at least one of said plurality of simultaneously active sensors and to execute instructions directing an operation of said at least one train detector cone.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein said secure wireless network is any one of:

a point to point network;

a point to multipoint network;

a tree network; and

a mesh network.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein said at least one personnel warning cone comprises:

a low power radio transceiver for receiving alert signals from other cones and transmitting acknowledgments in response;

a warning device operable to generate one or more of audible warnings or visual warnings; and

a microprocessor operable to monitor data received by said low power radio transceiver and to execute instructions directing an operation of said at least one personnel warning cone.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein said at least one personnel warning cone further comprises a GPS receiver operable to provide position coordinates to said microprocessor.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein said at least one personnel warning cone generates audible and/or visual alarms upon receipt of one or more of said alert signal or said tilt alert signal from said at least one train detector cone.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein said at least one personnel warning cone generates audible and/or visual alarms upon detection of a change in an orientation of said at least one personnel warning cone.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein said at least one personnel warning cone propagates signals received from said at least one train detector cone to at least one personal wearable device.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein said at least one train detector cone and said at least one personnel warning cone are configured to be placed along one or more sides of the active railroad track in an upright position with vertical orientation.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein said at least one train detector cone is configured to perform a first networking algorithm comprising:

transmitting at least one heart-beat message to said at least one personnel warning cone;

waiting for an acknowledgement signal from said at least one personnel warning cone;

processing the acknowledgement signal from said at least one personnel warning cone;

define a sub-network between said at least one train detector cone and said at least one personnel warning cone; and

use said sub-network for communication between said at least one train detector cone and said at least one personnel warning cone.

28. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one train detector cone is configured to:

receive a plurality of sets of train detection signals from said plurality of simultaneously active sensors, each of said plurality of sets of train detection signals corresponding to a respective sensor of said plurality of simultaneously active sensors;

process each of said plurality of sets of train detection signals to identify one or more false alarms; and

process each of said plurality of sets of train detection signals and said one or more false alarms to determine whether a first train is approaching.

29. A method of forming a self-healing wireless network of at least one train detector cone and a plurality of personnel warning cones for alerting one or more roadway workers of an approaching train, the method comprising:

powering up said at least one train detector cone and said plurality of personnel warning cones;

executing a routing algorithm to discover one or more cones in a vicinity of said at least one train detector cone and said plurality of personnel warning cones;

transmitting network join requests to the one or more cones;

accepting said network join requests and transmitting responsive network join acknowledgments;

transmitting via said at least one train detector cone a tilt alert signal upon detection of a change in orientation of said at least one train detector cone, the tilt alert signal communicating a call for corrective action; and

acknowledging receipt of said tilt alert signal via one or more of said plurality of personnel warning cones, wherein said at least one train detector cone is operable to detect an oncoming train and transmit an alert signal in response and at least one personnel warning cone is operable to receive said alert signal and generate one or more of an audible alert warning or a visual alert warning in response to said alert signal.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

transmitting network heart-beat request signals and transmitting network heart-beat acknowledgments upon receiving said network heart-beat request signals.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein communication between said at least one train detector cone and said plurality of personnel warning cones takes place wirelessly in an ISM band.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein said self-healing wireless network is a wireless mesh network.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein said routing algorithm is an ad hoc on-demand distance vector routing algorithm.

34. The method of claim 29, wherein said self-healing wireless network is operable to discover new routes in an event any of said plurality of personnel warning cones is powered down.