Apparatus and method for improving the safety of railroad systems
First Claim
1. A method of determining the location of hazardous spots on the railroad track comprising the steps of:
- providing an inertial navigation system including an attitude sensor on the rail car for sensing the position and attitude of the rail car;
providing a radio navigation system on the rail car;
moving the rail car over a length of railroad tracks;
sensing the position of the rail car with the inertial navigation system at a plurality of positions on the railroad tracks as the rail car moves over the length of the railroad tracks;
determining an external position reference using data from the radio navigation system;
correcting any error in the sensed position of the rail car using the determined external position reference;
sensing the attitude of the rail car at the plurality of positions;
storing a sensed attitude and sensed position at the plurality of positions;
comparing the sensed attitude at the plurality of positions with reference attitudes at the plurality of positions; and
determining the location of hazardous spots on the railroad track based on the comparison of the sensed attitudes with the referenced attitudes.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for improving the safety of railroad systems of the present invention includes a system for navigating a railroad vehicle over railroad tracks. An attitude sensor is used to dynamically sense the attitude of the railroad vehicle as it travels over a set of railroad tracks. By sensing the attitude of the railroad vehicle, a determination of the condition of the railroad tracks can be made. The apparatus also sensed the position of the railroad vehicle in real time to correlate the sensed attitude with a precise position along the railroad tracks. The navigation system is capable of determining a highly accurate position of the vehicle in real time. The position of the vehicle is also used to navigate the railroad vehicle.
113 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of determining the location of hazardous spots on the railroad track comprising the steps of:
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providing an inertial navigation system including an attitude sensor on the rail car for sensing the position and attitude of the rail car; providing a radio navigation system on the rail car; moving the rail car over a length of railroad tracks; sensing the position of the rail car with the inertial navigation system at a plurality of positions on the railroad tracks as the rail car moves over the length of the railroad tracks; determining an external position reference using data from the radio navigation system; correcting any error in the sensed position of the rail car using the determined external position reference; sensing the attitude of the rail car at the plurality of positions; storing a sensed attitude and sensed position at the plurality of positions; comparing the sensed attitude at the plurality of positions with reference attitudes at the plurality of positions; and determining the location of hazardous spots on the railroad track based on the comparison of the sensed attitudes with the referenced attitudes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of surveying railroad tracks comprising the steps of:
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providing a rail vehicle; providing an inertial navigation system on the rail vehicle for sensing the position of the vehicle; providing a radio navigation system on a rail vehicle; determining an external position reference using data from the radio navigation system; moving the rail vehicle over the railroad tracks to be surveyed; sensing the attitude of the rail vehicle at a plurality of locations along the railroad tracks as the rail vehicle moves over the railroad tracks; sensing the position of the rail car with the inertial navigation system vehicle as the rail vehicle moves over the railroad tracks; correcting any error in the sensed position of the rail car using the determined external position reference; correlating the sensed attitudes at the plurality of positions along the railroad tracks with the sensed position at each of the plurality of locations; and storing the correlated information in memory device. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of improving the safety of railroad systems comprising the steps of:
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providing a rail vehicle placed on a set of railroad tracks; providing an inertial navigation system on the rail vehicle for determining a first position; providing a radio navigation system on the rail vehicle to correct errors in determining the first position; determining the attitude of the rail vehicle at the first position on the railroad tracks; and determining the condition of the railroad tracks at the first position based on the determined attitude. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A navigation system for a railroad vehicle comprising:
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a position change sensor for sensing the speed of the railroad vehicle; a set of gyros for sensing the attitude and heading of the railroad vehicle; a set of angular change sensors for sensing the pitch and roll of the railroad vehicle; a radio navigation system for sensing an external reference position, said radio navigation system including an antenna coupled to said railroad vehicle; a processor connected to each of said sensors and radio navigation system, said processor performing the processing steps of; correcting the sensed attitude of the railroad vehicle using the sensed pitch and roll of the railroad vehicle; determining the velocity of the railroad vehicle using the sensed speed, heading and attitude of the railroad vehicle, determining a first position by integrating the determined velocity, and correcting the determined first position using the external reference position. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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Specification