3D track assessment method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of determining pad thickness, rail seat abrasion, and insulator thickness along a railway track bed using a system for assessing a railway track bed, the method comprising the steps of:
- a. inputting elevation data, rail base edge feature coordinates, detected tie bounding box data, fastener type and location data, and rail type data to a processor wherein significant elevations due to the rail heads for each rail have been removed from the elevation data;
b. identifying all fasteners in a tie bounding box using the processor;
c. extracting tie top, rail base, and insulator measurement points for each fastener in the tie bounding box using the processor;
d. calculating the difference between a rail base elevation and a tie top elevation and adjusting for a rail base thickness to provide a rail seat abrasion measurement using the processor;
e. calculating the difference in elevation between the top of an insulator and the top of the tie to provide an insulator thickness measurement using the processor;
f. flagging the appropriate rail within the tie bounding box if a rail seat abrasion measurement is less than a defined threshold using the processor; and
g. flagging the appropriate rail within the tie bounding box if an insulator thickness measurement is less than a defined threshold using the processor.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A 3D track assessment method is disclosed for identifying and assessing features of a railway track bed based on 3D elevation and intensity data gathered from the railway track bed.
-
Citations
10 Claims
-
1. A method of determining pad thickness, rail seat abrasion, and insulator thickness along a railway track bed using a system for assessing a railway track bed, the method comprising the steps of:
-
a. inputting elevation data, rail base edge feature coordinates, detected tie bounding box data, fastener type and location data, and rail type data to a processor wherein significant elevations due to the rail heads for each rail have been removed from the elevation data; b. identifying all fasteners in a tie bounding box using the processor; c. extracting tie top, rail base, and insulator measurement points for each fastener in the tie bounding box using the processor; d. calculating the difference between a rail base elevation and a tie top elevation and adjusting for a rail base thickness to provide a rail seat abrasion measurement using the processor; e. calculating the difference in elevation between the top of an insulator and the top of the tie to provide an insulator thickness measurement using the processor; f. flagging the appropriate rail within the tie bounding box if a rail seat abrasion measurement is less than a defined threshold using the processor; and g. flagging the appropriate rail within the tie bounding box if an insulator thickness measurement is less than a defined threshold using the processor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
-
-
4. A method of detecting joint bars and rail joints along a railway track bed using a system for assessing a railway track bed, the method comprising the steps of:
-
a. inputting elevation data, longitudinal and transverse elevation map sample resolution data, rail head edge coordinates, rail base edge coordinates, and joint bar models to a processor; b. defining a 3D joint bar search zone; c. detecting joint bar targets as objects in the defined 3D joint bar search zone for the field and gage sides of each rail using the processor; d. determining physical parameters for joint bar targets using the processor; e. analyzing each joint bar target to determine whether it matches any known joint bar models using the processor; and f. determining the type of joint bar if a joint bar target matches a known joint bar model using the processor. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method of detecting wooden crosstie plates along a railway track bed using a system for assessing a railway track bed, the method comprising the steps of:
-
a. inputting elevation data, longitudinal and transverse elevation map sample resolution data, rail base edge feature coordinates, detected tie bounding box data, a 3D feature library containing plate models, 3D hole target maps, and 3D spike target maps to a processor wherein significant elevations due to the rail heads for each rail have been removed from the elevation data; b. identifying a rail fastener search zone using the processor; c. extracting fastener target locations from spike and hole target maps using the processor; d. matching plate models from the 3D feature library containing plate models against the extracted fastener target locations using the processor; e. calculating correlation strengths for matches resulting from the matching step d using the processor; and f. retaining the plate model with the highest calculated correlation strength using the processor.
-
Specification