Consist manager for managing two or more locomotives of a consist

• US 20060138285A1
• Filed: 01/06/2006
• Published: 06/29/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Kumar, Ajith Kuttannair, Cooper, Charles E., Oleski, Todd S., Natalo, James A., Sheridan, Christopher L., Shaffer, Glenn R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,618,011 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 246/167.R
• CPC Class Codes: B61C 17/12 Control gear; Arrangements for controlling locomotives from remote points in the train or when operating in multiple units control from points outside the train B61L3/00; fluid-actuated telemotors, servomotors F15B; control devices in general G05
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0027 Radio-based, e.g. using GSM-R
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0036 Conductor-based, e.g. using CAN-Bus, train-line or optical fibres
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0054 Train integrity supervision, e.g. end-of-train [EOT] devices
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0058 On-board optimisation of vehicle or vehicle train operation
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0072 On-board train data handling
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0081 On-board diagnosis or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/009 On-board display devices
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 2205/04 Satellite based navigation systems, e.g. global positioning system [GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/021 Measuring and recording of train speed
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/025 Absolute localisation, e.g. providing geodetic coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/028 Determination of vehicle position and orientation within a train consist, e.g. serialisation
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 3/006 On-board optimisation of vehicle or vehicle train operation track-side optimisation of operation B61L27/16
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 30/00 Transportation of goods or passengers via railways, e.g. energy recovery or reducing air resistance

Abstract

A consist manager for controlling a consist having a lead locomotive and at least one trailing locomotive. A graphical user interface displays a lead locomotive image and at least one trailing locomotive imagers. The graphical user interfaces allows a user to selectively identify train characteristics of each of the first and second locomotives. The consist manager receives a control command and determines a first power operating mode of the first locomotive and a second power operating mode of the second locomotive as a function of the control command and the identified train characteristics. The consist manager controls the first locomotive according to the first power operating mode and controls the second locomotive according to the second operating mode.

Claims

1. A system for controlling a consist of at least first and second locomotives each having discrete operating modes, said first and second locomotives being configured for receiving control signals via a communication link, said system comprising:

a locomotive control for indicating a desired power operating mode;

a first controller electrically coupled to the first locomotive and a second controller electrically coupled to the first locomotive and the second locomotive, wherein the first and second controllers receive information corresponding to a brake designation of the first and second locomotives, respectively, and wherein one of the first and second controllers is identified as a lead controller as a function of the received brake designations, and wherein the identified lead controller is responsive to the desired power operating mode as indicated by the locomotive control for determining a mode of operation of the first locomotive according to a first power operating mode and for determining a mode of operation of the second locomotive according to a second power operating mode, wherein, in at least one mode of operation of the system, the first power operating mode is different as compared to the second power operating mode;

wherein said lead controller is coupled to the communication link for providing information corresponding to the first power operating mode to the first locomotive and for providing information corresponding to the second power operating mode to the second locomotive; and

wherein the lead controller determines that the power operating modes of the first and second locomotives are selected as a function of a fuel consumption rate of at least one of the first and second locomotives.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the lead controller is located on a lead locomotive, and wherein the first locomotive is the lead locomotive and the second locomotive is a trailing locomotive when the first locomotive has an electronic air brake designation enabled, and wherein the second locomotive is the lead locomotive and the first locomotive is the trailing locomotive when the second locomotive has an electronic air brake designation enabled.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein a plurality of sensors each sense an operating parameter of each locomotive in the consist and generate an output signal representative of the sensed operating parameter, said sensed operating parameters including a fuel level, a fuel flow rate, a power usage amount, a traction effort amount, and a wheel slip amount, and wherein the lead controller is in electrical communication with each of the plurality of sensors via the communication link to receive the generated output signals to determine the fuel consumption rate of at least one of the first and second locomotives.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein a first fuel sensor senses a fuel level of the first locomotive and a second fuel sensor senses a fuel level of the second locomotive, and wherein the lead controller is in electrical communication with the first and second fuel sensors via the communication link to determine the fuel consumption rate of at least one of the first and second locomotives, and wherein the lead controller modifies the power operating mode of first and/or second locomotives in response to changes in the fuel consumption rate of at least one of the first and second locomotives.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the power operating mode of the first and second locomotives is selected as a function of the fuel consumption rate and a power consumption rate of at least one of the first and second locomotives.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein a first power sensor senses electrical power usage of the first locomotive and a second power sensor senses electrical power usage of the second locomotive, and wherein the lead controller is in electrical communication with the first and second power sensors via the communication link to determine the power consumption rate of at least one of the first and second locomotives.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the power consumption rate is determined by sensing the electrical power usage in horsepower per hour for each of the first and second locomotives over a period of time.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein power consumption rate is determined by sensing electrical power usage in kilowatt-hours for each of the first and second locomotives over a period of time.

9. The system of claim 1 further comprising a speed sensor for sensing a speed of the consist, and wherein the lead controller receives the sensed speed via the communication link and is enabled for providing the first power operating mode to the first locomotive and the second power operating mode to the second locomotive when the sensed speed is greater than a threshold speed value, and wherein the lead controller is disabled for providing the first power operating mode to the first locomotive and second power operating mode to the second locomotive when the sensed speed is less than the threshold speed value.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the lead controller is disabled from providing the first power operating mode to the first locomotive and second power operating mode to the second locomotive during one or more of the following conditions:

a wheel slip condition is detected;

a friction modifying agent is being applied to rails of a track on which the consist is traveling; and

a locomotive decoupling is detected.

11. One or more computer-readable media having computer executable components executed by a computing device for use with a consist of first and second locomotives each having a graphical display, said computer-readable media comprising:

a graphical user interface (GUI) component for displaying a menu of train characteristics and first and second images corresponding to the first and second locomotives, respectively;

an input component receiving user input for associating a user-selected one of the train characteristics to a user-selected one of the images, wherein the GUI component displays the user-selected image and the user-selected train characteristic via the graphical display;

a storage component responsive to user input for creating a locomotive/characteristics file that includes user-selected train characteristics for each locomotive in the consist, and wherein said storage component stores the locomotive/characteristics file in a memory.

12. The computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the GUI component displays a first menu displaying a plurality of train models and is responsive to a user-selected one of the plurality of the train models for displaying a menu of horsepower ratings corresponding to the user-selected train model, and wherein the input component associates a user-selected one of the horsepower rating and the user-selected train model to the user-selected one of the images, and wherein the GUI component displays the user-selected image, the user-selected train model, and the user-selected horsepower rating via the graphical display.

13. The computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the first and second locomotives each have discrete power operating modes and are each configured for receiving control signals via a communication link, said control signals including a desired power operating mode of the consist received from a master controller, and wherein a first processing module is associated with the first locomotive and a second processing module is associated with the second locomotive, and wherein the first and second processing modules receive the user-selected train characteristics corresponding to the first and second locomotives via the storage component, and wherein one of the first and second processing modules is identified as a lead processing module as a function of the received characteristics, and wherein the identified lead processing module is responsive to the desired power operating mode as indicated by the locomotive control for determining a mode of operation of the first locomotive according to a first power operating mode and for determining a mode of operation of the second locomotive according to a second power operating mode, wherein, in at least one mode of operation of the system, the first power operating mode is different as compared to the second power operating mode, and wherein said lead processing module provides information corresponding to the first power operating mode to the first locomotive and provides information corresponding to the second power operating mode to the second locomotive.

14. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the first and second processing modules receive information corresponding to a brake designation of the first and second locomotives, respectively via the communication link, and wherein the lead processing module is identified as a function of the received brake designation.

15. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the first image corresponds to a lead locomotive and the second image corresponds to a trailing locomotive, and wherein the lead locomotive operates at the first power operating mode, and wherein the trail locomotive operates at the second power operating mode.

16. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the first and second processing modules receive information corresponding to a fuel level of the first locomotive and a fuel level of the second locomotive, and wherein the lead processing module determines a fuel consumption rate of at least one of the first and second locomotives, and wherein the lead controller determines that the power operating modes of the first and second locomotives are selected as a function of the determined fuel consumption rate of at least one of the first and second locomotives.

17. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the first and second processing modules receive information corresponding to a sensed speed of the consist via the communication link, and wherein the lead processing module is enabled for providing the first power operating mode to the first locomotive and the second power operating mode to the second locomotive when the sensed speed is greater than a threshold speed value, and wherein the lead processing module is disabled for providing the first power operating mode to the first locomotive and second power operating mode to the second locomotive when the sensed speed is less than the threshold speed value.

18. A computerized method for controlling a consist of at least first and second locomotives each having discrete power operating modes, said method comprising:

displaying first and second images corresponding to the first and second locomotives, respectively;

receiving input data identifying train characteristics of each of the first and second locomotives;

receiving input data indicating a desired power operating mode;

identifying a lead locomotive from the first and second locomotives as a function of the identified train characteristics;

determining power operating modes of the first and second locomotives as a function of a sensed operating parameter of at least one of the first and second locomotives; and

providing, from the lead locomotive, information corresponding to the determined power operating modes to the first and second locomotives.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein identified train characteristics include one or more of the following:

an electronic air brake designation;

a road number,

a specific fuel consumption type,

an horsepower rating; and

a train model number.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the sensed operating parameter includes one or more of the following:

a fuel consumption rate of at least one of the first and second locomotives;

a power consumption rate of at least one of the first and second locomotives; and

a speed of the consist.