SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE CODE FOR DETERMINING A MISSION PLAN FOR A POWERED SYSTEM USING SIGNAL ASPECT INFORMATION

• US 20090076667A1
• Filed: 11/13/2008
• Published: 03/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Global Sourcing LLC (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Hann, Gregory, Daum, Wolfgang, Danner, Phillip, Stull, Craig Alan, Otsubo, Tom
• Granted Patent: US 9,828,010 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/2
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0058 On-board optimisation of vehicle or vehicle train operation
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 3/006 On-board optimisation of vehicle or vehicle train operation track-side optimisation of operation B61L27/16

Abstract

A mission planner system for a powered system, the mission planner system including a receiving device to collect aspect information as the powered system performs a mission, said aspect information being received from a remote location, a processor to determine a speed limit based at least in part on the aspect information, and a control system connected to the powered system to operate the powered system in response to the speed limit. A method and a computer software code for determining the mission plan with aspect information obtained from a remote location during the mission are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A mission planner system for a powered system, the mission planner system comprising:

a receiving device to collect aspect information as the powered system performs a mission, said aspect information being received from a remote location;

a processor to determine a speed limit based at least in part on the aspect information; and

a control system connected to the powered system to operate the powered system in response to the speed limit.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein:

the control system is configured to generate a mission plan for controlling the mission of the powered system; and

the mission plan is re-planned when the speed limit is determined, based at least in part on the aspect information received by the receiving device.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein operating the powered system in response to the speed limit comprises operating the powered system so that the speed limit is not violated, and where emissions output or fuel consumption is reduced while at least one mission requirement other than the speed limit is not violated.

4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a data storage device connected to the processor and/or control system and configured to store a database used to determine a speed limit associated with the aspect information and/or to store aspect information.

5. The system according to claim 1, further comprising computer readable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to quantify the aspect information and provide the speed limit associated with the aspect information.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the powered system comprises a railway system, a marine vessel, an off-highway vehicle, a transportation vehicle, and/or an agricultural vehicle.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the control system operates in a closed loop process.

8. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a manual controller which an operator may use to control the powered system.

9. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a notification system configured to notify an operator when a speed of the powered system is changed in response to the speed limit.

10. A method for determining a mission plan for a powered system, the method comprising:

receiving, at the powered system, a speed limit or signal aspect information from a remote location;

determining the speed limit based at least in part on the signal aspect information;

re-planning the mission plan to comply with the speed limit and at least one other mission objective; and

operating the powered system based on the re-planned mission plan.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein determining the speed limit further comprises evaluating the aspect information by cross-referencing the aspect information to a database that correlates respective aspect information to respective speed limits.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein receiving the signal aspect information, determining the speed limit, re-planning the mission plan, and operating the powered system are performed in a closed-loop process.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the powered system comprises a railway system, a marine vessel, an off-highway vehicle, a transportation vehicle, and/or an agricultural vehicle.

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein the re-planned mission plan is optimized in regards to at least one parameter associated with operation of the powered system during the mission.

17. The computer software code of claim 14, wherein the re-planned mission plan is optimized in regards to at least one parameter associated with operation of the powered system during the mission.

15. A computer software code stored on a computer readable media and configured for execution with a processor designated for determining a mission plan for a powered system using aspect information obtained from a remote location during a mission, the computer software code comprising:

a computer software module for determining a speed limit based on the signal aspect information received from the remote location, when executed with the processor;

a computer software module for re-planning the mission plan to comply with the speed limit and at least one other mission objective, when executed with the processor; and

a computer software module for operating the powered system based on the re-planned mission plan, when executed with the processor.

16. The computer software code according to claim 15, wherein the powered system comprises a railway system, a marine vessel, an off-highway vehicle, a transportation vehicle, and/or an agricultural vehicle.