Adaptive vehicle control system
First Claim
1. A vehicle system, comprising:
- one or more processors configured to determine one or more permissible regions of a trip where the vehicle system is permitted for automatic control, the one or more permissible regions of the trip determined based on one or more of parameters of a route, a trend of operating parameters of the vehicle system, or a first trip plan that designates one or more operational settings of the vehicle system at one or more different locations, one or more different times, or one or more different distances along a route;
wherein the one or more processors also are configured to actuate an alarm and alert an operator of the vehicle system, and further to control transition of the vehicle system between manual control and the automatic control in the one or more permissible regions by one or more of automatically switching between the manual control and the automatic control or modifying one or more conditions on which the transition occurs, based on at least one of;
the operator'"'"'s response to the alarm or the operator'"'"'s lack of response to the alarm,wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine an expected manual control trip plan that designates the one or more operational settings of the vehicle system at the one or more different locations, different times, or different distances along the route to cause the vehicle system to travel at an upper speed limit of the route to be traveled by the vehicle system,wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a reduced fuel consumption plan that designates the operational settings of the vehicle system at the one or more different locations, different times, or different distances along the route to cause the vehicle system to consume less fuel than the expected manual control trip plan; and
wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the one or more permissible regions by identifying where a speed difference of the vehicle system between traveling according to the expected manual control trip plan and traveling according to the reduced fuel consumption plan is reduced relative to the route.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle system having processors configured to determine permissible regions of a trip where the vehicle system is permitted for automatic control. The permissible regions of the trip are determined based on one or more of parameters of a route, a trend of operating parameters of the vehicle system, or a trip plan that designates one or more operational settings of the vehicle system at different locations, different times, or different distances along a route. The processors also are configured to control transition of the vehicle system between manual control and the automatic control in the permissible regions by alerting an operator of the vehicle system, automatically switching between the manual control and the automatic control, or modifying conditions on which the transition occur.
14 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A vehicle system, comprising:
-
one or more processors configured to determine one or more permissible regions of a trip where the vehicle system is permitted for automatic control, the one or more permissible regions of the trip determined based on one or more of parameters of a route, a trend of operating parameters of the vehicle system, or a first trip plan that designates one or more operational settings of the vehicle system at one or more different locations, one or more different times, or one or more different distances along a route; wherein the one or more processors also are configured to actuate an alarm and alert an operator of the vehicle system, and further to control transition of the vehicle system between manual control and the automatic control in the one or more permissible regions by one or more of automatically switching between the manual control and the automatic control or modifying one or more conditions on which the transition occurs, based on at least one of;
the operator'"'"'s response to the alarm or the operator'"'"'s lack of response to the alarm,wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine an expected manual control trip plan that designates the one or more operational settings of the vehicle system at the one or more different locations, different times, or different distances along the route to cause the vehicle system to travel at an upper speed limit of the route to be traveled by the vehicle system, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a reduced fuel consumption plan that designates the operational settings of the vehicle system at the one or more different locations, different times, or different distances along the route to cause the vehicle system to consume less fuel than the expected manual control trip plan; and wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the one or more permissible regions by identifying where a speed difference of the vehicle system between traveling according to the expected manual control trip plan and traveling according to the reduced fuel consumption plan is reduced relative to the route. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method of comprising:
-
determining trip plans including an automatic control trip plan and an expected manual control trip plan based on one or more parameters of a vehicle system, the expected manual control trip plan designating an operational setting of the vehicle system at one or more different locations, different times, or different distances along one or more routes to cause the vehicle system to travel at an upper speed limit of the one or more routes to be traveled by the vehicle system; determining a region of a trip where a difference between the fuel consumed by manual control of the vehicle system and fuel consumed by automatic control of the vehicle system is reduced based on the one or more parameters of the vehicle system, wherein the region is determined by determining a reduced fuel consumption plan that designates the operational setting of the vehicle system at the one or more different locations, different times, or different distances along the one or more routes to cause the vehicle system to consume less fuel than the expected manual control trip plan; and responsive to the one or more of the parameters or the region of the trip that are determined, actuating an alarm to alert an operator of the vehicle system and switching control of the vehicle system from automatic control to manual control. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A vehicle control system comprising:
-
one or more processors configured to determine operating parameters of a vehicle system and to designate one or more permissible regions for either automatic control or manual control of the vehicle system, wherein the one or more processors also are configured to determine an expected manual control trip plan that designates an operational setting of the vehicle system at one or more different locations, different times, or different distances along one or more routes to cause the vehicle system to travel at an upper speed limit of the one or more routes to be traveled by the vehicle system, wherein the one or more processors also are configured to determine a reduced fuel consumption plan that designates the operational setting of the vehicle system at the one or more different locations, different times, or different distances along the one or more routes to cause the vehicle system to consume less fuel than the expected manual control trip plan, wherein the one or more processors are configured to identify where a speed difference of the vehicle system between traveling according to the expected manual control trip plan and traveling according to the reduced fuel consumption plan is reduced relative to the route; wherein the one or more processors also are configured to actuate an alarm to alert an operator of the vehicle system and switch control of the vehicle system from automatic control to manual control based on the operating parameters that are determined, wherein the one or more processors also are configured to switch control of the vehicle system from automatic control to manual control responsive to the identification of the speed difference, and wherein the one or more processors also are configured to determine route parameters and to switch control of the vehicle system from automatic control to manual control based on the route parameters. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
-
Specification