Railroad car location, speed, and heading detection system and methods with self-powered wireless sensor nodes
First Claim
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1. A system for detecting location, speed and heading information of a moving railroad car or string of railroad cars in a railroad switchyard, the system comprising:
- a first plurality of processor-based sensor node devices arranged in spaced relation to one another to establish a first predefined protected area corresponding to an intersection of a connector track and a first classification track in a railroad switchyard;
a second plurality of processor-based sensor node devices arranged in spaced relation to one another to establish a second predefined protected area corresponding to an intersection of the connector track and a second classification track in the railroad switchyard;
each of the plurality of processor-based sensor node devices including at least one detection element configured to sense at least one of the location, speed and heading of the railroad car or string of railroad cars moving within the first or second predefined protected areas;
at least one concentrator node device in communication with each of the plurality of processor-based sensor node devices when the moving object is within the predefined protected area; and
a master processor device in communication with the at least one concentrator node device and a railroad yard control system.
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Abstract
A railroad car location, speed and heading sensor system including at least one self-powered, tie-mounted sensor node that is applicable universally to different railroad settings without using track circuits, inductive loops, radar systems, and wheel counters and associated disadvantages. Reliable and relatively low cost deterministic and redundant car presence detection is realized when multiple sensor nodes are arranged in a network, which may be a wireless mesh network, that is not affected by environmental conditions.
13 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A system for detecting location, speed and heading information of a moving railroad car or string of railroad cars in a railroad switchyard, the system comprising:
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a first plurality of processor-based sensor node devices arranged in spaced relation to one another to establish a first predefined protected area corresponding to an intersection of a connector track and a first classification track in a railroad switchyard; a second plurality of processor-based sensor node devices arranged in spaced relation to one another to establish a second predefined protected area corresponding to an intersection of the connector track and a second classification track in the railroad switchyard; each of the plurality of processor-based sensor node devices including at least one detection element configured to sense at least one of the location, speed and heading of the railroad car or string of railroad cars moving within the first or second predefined protected areas; at least one concentrator node device in communication with each of the plurality of processor-based sensor node devices when the moving object is within the predefined protected area; and a master processor device in communication with the at least one concentrator node device and a railroad yard control system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification