Sensor system

• US 10,167,004 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2016
• Issued: 01/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Worden, Bret, Zhang, Jingjun, Petersen, David
• Primary Examiner(s): BUTLER, RODNEY ALLEN
• Application Number:
  US15/362,866
• Publication Number:
  US 20170174236A1
• Time in Patent Office: 763 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 27/08 of synthetic resin
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 15/20 for control of the vehicle or its driving motor to achieve a desired performance, e.g. speed, torque, programmed variation of speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/26 Rail vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/423 Torque
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0062 On-board target speed calculation or supervision
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0072 On-board train data handling
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 3/16 Continuous control along the route
• CPC Class Codes: C08J 2323/06 Polyethene
• CPC Class Codes: C08J 2491/06 Waxes
• CPC Class Codes: C08J 5/18 Manufacture of films or sheets
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/052 Li-accumulators
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/25 using a mesh network, e.g. a public urban network such as public lighting, bus stops or traffic lights
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/40 using a wireless architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/82 where the sensing device takes the initiative of sending data
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/826 where the data is sent periodically
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility

Abstract

A sensor system senses one or more characteristics of vehicles in a vehicle system with sensors disposed onboard the vehicles and communicate data representative of the one or more characteristics from the sensors to one or more of a controller or a control system of the vehicle system. The data communicated from the sensors onboard the same vehicle can be synchronously communicated with respect to the sensors onboard the same vehicle and asynchronously communicated with respect to the sensors disposed onboard one or more other vehicles in the vehicle system. The systems and methods can direct components disposed onboard a vehicle system to change operations, monitor data output by sensors operatively connected with the components, and determine which of the sensors are operatively connected with which of the components based on the operations of the components that are changed and the data that is output by the sensors.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

sensors configured to be disposed onboard vehicles in a vehicle system and to sense one or more characteristics of the vehicles; and

one or more of a controller or a control system configured to receive data representative of the one or more characteristics from the sensors,

wherein the sensors are configured to synchronously communicate the data from the sensors disposed onboard the same vehicle with respect to the sensors disposed onboard the same vehicle, and

wherein the sensors are configured to asynchronously communicate the data from the sensors disposed onboard different vehicles of the vehicles in the vehicle system.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensors are configured to synchronously communicate the data by the sensors disposed onboard the same vehicle by wirelessly communicating the data at one or more of a common time or during a common time period.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensors are configured to asynchronously communicate the data by the sensors disposed onboard the different vehicles communicating the data at one or more of a different time or during a different time period than the sensors that synchronously communicate the data.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the data that is communicated represents one or more of temperatures of the vehicles or environment, movement in one or more directions, pressure, a fluid level, geographic or other locations, speed, sounds, images, or videos.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensors include one or more of a temperature sensor, a vibration sensor, a pressure sensor, a fluid sensor, a location sensor, a speed sensor, an acoustic sensor, an optic sensor, or an electromagnetic sensor.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more of the controller or the control system is configured to change operations of different components of one or more of the vehicles, and the one or more of the controller or the control system is configured to logically pair the sensors with the different components of the one or more of the vehicles based on whether the data that is communicated from the sensors represents the operations that are changed.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more of the controller or the control system is configured to change the operations of the different components by directing traction motors disposed onboard the same vehicle to generate additional torque at different designated frequencies, wherein the frequency at which the additional torque is generated differs for each of the different traction motors.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more of the controller or the control system is configured to logically pair the sensors by determining whether the data provided by one or more of the sensors represents the additional torque at the frequency designated for a first motor of the traction motors, and associating the sensor with the first motor.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensors disposed onboard the same vehicle are configured to synchronously communicate the data by activating and sensing the one or more characteristics of the same vehicle at the same time, which is a different time than when the sensors onboard different vehicles are configured to activate and sense the one or more characteristics.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensors disposed onboard the same vehicle are configured to activate and sense the one or more characteristics at the same time, and the sensors disposed onboard different vehicles are configured to activate and sense the one or more characteristics at different times.

9. A method comprising:

sensing one or more characteristics of vehicles in a vehicle system with sensors disposed onboard the vehicles;

synchronously communicating data representative of the one or more characteristics from the sensors to one or more of a controller or a control system of the vehicle system, the data synchronously communicated by two or more of the sensors disposed onboard a common vehicle of the vehicles in the vehicle system; and

asynchronously communicating the data representative of the one or more characteristics from the sensors to the one or more of the controller or the control system of the vehicle system, the data asynchronously communicated by two or more of the sensors disposed onboard different vehicles of the vehicle system.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the data is synchronously communicated by the sensors disposed onboard the same vehicle wirelessly communicating the data at one or more of a common time or during a common time period.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the data is asynchronously communicated by the sensors disposed onboard a first vehicle communicating the data at one or more of a different time or during a different time period than the sensors disposed onboard a second vehicle.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the data that is communicated represents one or more of temperatures of the vehicles or environment, movement in one or more directions, pressure, a fluid level, geographic or other locations, speed, sounds, images, or videos.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

changing operations of different components of one or more of the vehicles; and

pairing the sensors with the different components of the one or more of the vehicles based on whether the data that is communicated from the sensors represents the operations that are changed.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein changing the operations of the different components includes directing traction motors disposed onboard the same vehicle to generate additional torques at different designated frequencies, wherein the frequency at which the additional torque is generated differs for each of the different traction motors.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein pairing the sensors includes determining whether the data provided by one or more of the sensors represents the additional torque at the frequency designated for a first motor of the traction motors, and associating the sensor with the first motor.

16. A system comprising:

sensors disposed onboard vehicles of a vehicle system, the sensors configured to measure operations of the vehicle system and to output data representative of the operations that are measured, wherein the sensors disposed onboard a common vehicle of the vehicles are configured to synchronously communicate the data during a common time period that differs from a different time period during which the sensors disposed onboard a different vehicle of the vehicles communicate the data; and

a control system configured to direct components disposed onboard the vehicle system to change the operations and to monitor the data that is output by the sensors,

wherein the control system is configured to determine which of the sensors are operatively connected with which of the components based on the operations of the components that are changed and the data that is output by the sensors.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the sensors disposed onboard different vehicles of the vehicle system asynchronously communicate the data during different time periods.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the control system is configured to direct the components to change the operations by directing traction motors disposed onboard the vehicle system to generate additional torque at different designated frequencies.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the control system is configured to determine which of the sensors are operatively connected with which of the components includes determining which of the sensors provide the data representing the additional torque at the designated frequencies of the traction motors, and the control system is configured to logically pair the sensors with the traction motors based on the data and the designated frequencies.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the control system is configured to direct the sensors disposed onboard a first vehicle of the vehicle system to synchronously communicate the data with the sensors onboard the first vehicle and to asynchronously communicate the data relative to the sensors onboard one or more other vehicles of the vehicle system.