Traffic control system utilizing on-board vehicle information measurement apparatus
First Claim
1. A railway traffic control system for facilitating traffic flow of a plurality of railway vehicles travelling a predetermined track route, said system comprising:
- an inertial measurement apparatus carried on-board each respective vehicle of said plurality of railway vehicles;
said inertial measurement apparatus including at least one inertial measurement sensor for detecting a corresponding inertial variable;
said inertial measurement apparatus further including processing means for deriving a current position estimate of said respective vehicle based on said inertial variable detected by said at least one inertial measurement sensor;
vehicle control means for determining a desired traffic flow of said plurality of railway vehicles based on respective current position estimates of said vehicles; and
communication means for communicating respective current position estimates from each of said plurality of railway vehicles to said control means.
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Abstract
A railway traffic control system in which accurate vehicle information is effectively available in real-time to facilitate control of traffic flow. Unlike prior art methods of precisely monitoring train location, the current invention is dependant only on equipment on-board the vehicle and position updates provided by external benchmarks located along the track route. The system'"'"'s dynamic motion capabilities can also be used to sense and store track rail signatures, as a function of rail distance, which can be routinely analyzed to assist in determining rail and road-bed conditions for preventative maintenance purposes. In presently preferred embodiments, the on-board vehicle information detection equipment comprises an inertial measurement unit providing dynamic vehicle motion information to a position processor. Depending on the amount and quality of apriori knowledge of the vehicle route, the inertial measurement unit may have as many as three gyroscopes and three accelerometers or as little as a single accelerometer. To minimize error between benchmarks, the processor preferably includes a recursire estimation filter to combine the apriori route information with movement attributes derived from the inertial measurement unit.
183 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A railway traffic control system for facilitating traffic flow of a plurality of railway vehicles travelling a predetermined track route, said system comprising:
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an inertial measurement apparatus carried on-board each respective vehicle of said plurality of railway vehicles; said inertial measurement apparatus including at least one inertial measurement sensor for detecting a corresponding inertial variable; said inertial measurement apparatus further including processing means for deriving a current position estimate of said respective vehicle based on said inertial variable detected by said at least one inertial measurement sensor; vehicle control means for determining a desired traffic flow of said plurality of railway vehicles based on respective current position estimates of said vehicles; and communication means for communicating respective current position estimates from each of said plurality of railway vehicles to said control means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A vehicle traffic control system for facilitating traffic flow of a plurality of land vehicles travelling a predetermined route, said system comprising:
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an inertial measurement apparatus carried on-board each respective vehicle of said plurality of land-based vehicles; said inertial measurement apparatus including a least one inertial measurement sensor for detecting a corresponding inertial variable; said inertial measurement apparatus further including processing means for deriving a current estimate of at least one dynamic vehicle operation characteristic of said respective vehicle based on said inertial variable detected by said at least one inertial measurement sensor; said processing means including memory means for storing apriori route information of said predetermined route; and comparator means operative to periodically compare said current estimate of said at least one dynamic vehicle operation characteristic with said apriori route information and update said current estimate based on such comparison; and vehicle control means for determining a desired traffic flow pattern along said predetermined route based on respective current position estimates of said plurality of land vehicles. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A vehicle traffic control system for facilitating traffic flow of a plurality of land vehicles travelling a predetermined route, said system comprising:
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an inertial measurement apparatus carried on-board each respective vehicle of said plurality of land-based vehicles; said inertial measurement apparatus including a least one inertial measurement sensor for detecting a corresponding inertial variable; said inertial measurement apparatus further including processing means for-deriving a current estimate of at least one dynamic vehicle operation characteristic of said respective vehicle based on said inertial variable detected by said at least one inertial measurement sensor; benchmark means at fixed locations along said predetermined route for selectively communicating benchmark position information to said plurality of land vehicles when said. respective vehicles are in proximity to said benchmark means; said processing means further including comparator means for comparing said current estimate of said at least one dynamic vehicle operating characteristic with said benchmark position information and updating said current vehicle position estimate based on such comparison; and vehicle control means for determining a desired traffic flow pattern along said predetermined route based on respective current position estimates of said plurality of land vehicles. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method of determining the position of a land vehicle travelling over a predetermined route, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) detecting at least one inertial variable of said vehicle utilizing at least one corresponding on-board inertial measurement sensor; (b) calculating on-board said vehicle a current estimate of at least dynamic vehicle characteristic based on said at least one inertial variable; (c) periodically receiving benchmark data from a plurality of fixed land positions along said route, said benchmark data containing the specific location of said land position; and (d) periodically updating said current estimate of said at least one dynamic vehicle operating condition based on said benchmark data from said fixed land positions. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method of determining the position of a land vehicle travelling over a predetermined route, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) detecting at least one inertial variable of said vehicle utilizing at least one corresponding on-board inertial measurement sensor; (b) calculating on-board said vehicle a current estimate of at least dynamic vehicle characteristic based on said at least one inertial variable; (c) storing on-board said vehicle apriori route information of said predetermined route; and (d) updating said current estimate of said at least one dynamic vehicle operating characteristic based on said apriori route information. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A method of determining the diagnostic condition of a predetermined route traveled by a land-based vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) detecting at least one inertial variable utilizing at least one corresponding on-board inertial measurement sensor; (b) calculating on-board said vehicle current estimate of dynamic vehicle characteristics forming a route signature based on said at least one dynamic movement characteristic; (c) processing said current estimate of vehicle position, motion and attitude to provide a route metric as a function of position; and (d) comparing said route signature with a preselected standard to determine said diagnostic condition of said predetermined route. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53)
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Specification