SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FAULT TOLERANT ROADWAY WORKER SAFETY SYSTEM

• US 20170088046A1
• Filed: 09/24/2015
• Published: 03/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Miller Felpax Corporation
• Original Assignee: Miller Felpax Corporation
• Inventors: DENNY, JOSEPH M., NASEER, MUHAMMAD MOHSIN
• Granted Patent: US 10,106,079 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 7/00 Arrangement or adaptation of portable emergency signal devices on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/00 Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/06 for warning men working on the route
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/70 Details of trackside communication
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 29/24 Means for warning road traffic that a gate is closed or closing, or that rail traffic is approaching, e.g. for visible or audible warning
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 29/28 electrically operated
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 29/30 Supervision, e.g. monitoring arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: E01F 9/30 Arrangements interacting with transmitters or receivers otherwise than by visible means, e.g. using radar reflectors or radio transmitters E01F11/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E01F 9/654 in the form of three-dimensional bodies, e.g. cones; capable of assuming three-dimensional form, e.g. by inflation or erection to form a geometric body
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

A system for reliable detection of an approaching train and warning the roadway workers in proximity of the track is described. The system comprises at least one train detector cone (TDC) deployed along a side of an active railroad track and one or more personnel warning cones (PWC) placed near the work site, the cones configured in a wireless mesh network to provide redundant communication links. Detection of a train by the train detector cone is transmitted to the personnel warning cones which provide audible and visual warnings to nearby roadway workers. The system also includes a remote server for centralized tracking and monitoring of the train detector cones and personnel warning cones.

Claims

1. A system for detecting an approaching train on an active railroad track or an adjacent track and providing an alert to roadway workers near a section of either of said tracks over a secure wireless network, the system comprising:

at least one train detector cone operable to detect an approaching train and transmit an alert signal in response; and

at least one personnel warning cone operable to receive said alert signal and generate an audible alert warning, a visual alert warning, or combinations thereof, in response.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a remote server in communication with said at least one train detector cone, said remote server operable to receive and store data from said train detector cone and to display at least a portion of said data on a user interface.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said train detector cone transmits status information to said remote server, said status information comprising:

GPS coordinates of said train detector cone;

GPS coordinates of said personnel warning cone;

data from sensors associated with said cones; and

combinations thereof.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said status information further includes:

a battery status of said portable train detector cone;

a battery status of said personnel warning cone; and

combinations thereof.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein said status information further includes:

an orientation of said train detector cone;

an orientation of said personnel warning cones; and

combinations thereof.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein said remote server comprises a web server with internet cloud connectivity and non-volatile memory storage.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said remote server presents on a display a location of said train detector cone and a location of at least one of said train warning cones overlaid on a digital map application running in a web browser.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one personal wearable device, said personal wearable device operable to receive said alert signal and generate an audible alert warning, a visual alert warning, a tactile alert warning, or combinations thereof, in response.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein said personal wearable device further comprises a low power radio transceiver and a Bluetooth transceiver.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein said personal wearable device further comprises a display operable to present graphical and text images to a user.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein said train detector cone and said personnel warning cone are portable.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein said train detector cone comprises:

a sensor unit comprising a plurality of simultaneously active sensors for detecting an oncoming train;

a low power radio transceiver operable to transmit said alert signal; and

a microprocessor operable to monitor data received from at least one of said plurality of sensors and to execute instructions directing the operation of said train detector cone.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a cellular telephone modem operable to transmit data to a remote server.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising a GPS receiver operable to provide position coordinates to said microprocessor.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising a warning device operable to provide visual alerts, audio alerts, and combinations thereof.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising analog signal conditioning circuitry operable to filter noise from said simultaneously active sensors.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein said radio transceiver comprises a frequency hopping ISM band spread spectrum radio.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein said microprocessor is further operable to execute logic to generate train presence alerts based on an input of said simultaneously active sensors.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein said sensor unit comprises a plurality of simultaneously active sensors comprising:

a frequency modulated continuous wave radar working in the ISM band, a laser based range finder, an active infrared based range finder, a digital camera, and combinations thereof.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein said wireless network is any one of:

a point to point network;

a point to multipoint network;

a tree network; and

a mesh network.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein said train detector cone transmits a tilt alert signal to said at least one personnel warning cone upon detection of a change in orientation of said train detector cone.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein said personnel warning cone comprises:

a low power radio transceiver for receiving alert signals from other cones and transmitting acknowledgments in response;

a warning device operable to generate audible warnings, visual warnings, and combinations thereof; and

a microprocessor operable to monitor data received by said transceiver and to execute instructions directing the operation of said personnel warning cone.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein said personnel warning cone further comprises a GPS receiver operable to provide position coordinates to said microprocessor.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein said personnel warning cone generates audible and/or visual alarms upon receipt of an alert signal from said train detector cone.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein said personnel warning cone generates audible and/or visual alarms upon detection of a change in an orientation of said personnel warning cone.

26. The system of claim 22, wherein said personnel warning cone propagates signals received from said train detector cone to at least one personal wearable device.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein said train detector cones and said personnel warning cones are configured to be placed along the sides of an active railroad track in an upright position with vertical orientation.

28. A method of forming a self-healing wireless network of at least one train detector cone and a plurality of personnel warning cones and providing visual indications to an operator, the method comprising:

powering up said train detector cone and said personnel warning cones;

executing a routing algorithm to discover cones in the vicinity of said personnel warning cones and said train detector cones;

transmitting network join requests to detected cones;

accepting said join requests and transmitting responsive network join acknowledgments;

transmitting via said train detector cone a train alert signal upon detection of an oncoming train; and

acknowledging receipt of said train alert signal via said personnel warning cone.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

transmitting network heart-beat request signals and transmitting network heart-beat acknowledgments upon receiving said network heart-beat request signals;

30. The method of claim 28, wherein communication between said train detector cone and said portable personnel warning cones takse place wirelessly in the ISM band.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein said self-healing wireless network is a wireless mesh network.

32. The method of claim 28, wherein said routing algorithm is an ad hoc on-demand distance vector routing algorithm.

33. The method of claim 28, wherein said self-healing wireless mesh network is operable to discover new routes in the event any of said portable personnel warning cones is powered down.