On-board monitor for railroad locomotive

• US 6,487,478 B1
• Filed: 10/25/2000
• Issued: 11/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: GE Global Sourcing LLC (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Shaginaw, Thomas, Booth, Thomas Timothy, Jammu, Vinay Bhaskar, Azzaro, Steven Hector, Cook, Thomas George
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Donnelly, Arthur D.
• Application Number:
  US09/696,368
• Time in Patent Office: 762 Days
• Field of Search: 701/19, 701/24, 701/25, 701/29, 701/30, 701/31, 701/35, 701/36, 246/122.R, 246/123, 340/3.1, 370/346
• US Class Current: 701/24
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/26 Rail vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/12 Recording operating variables ; Monitoring of operating variables
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/57 for vehicles or trains, e.g. trackside supervision of train conditions

Abstract

An on-board monitor for a railroad locomotive is disclosed. The on-board monitor interfaces with the controller subsystems of the locomotive to collect parametric performance data. The specific data to be collected and the collection intervals are defined at a remote service center and transmitted to the on-board monitor. The on-board monitor also includes the capability to collect additional data or collect data more frequently in response to the results of certain triggering events.

Claims

1. For use with a mobile asset comprising a plurality of systems, a method for monitoring the performance of the systems, comprising:

(a) collecting performance data relative to at least one mobile asset system;

(b) storing the performance data;

(c) establishing at least one predetermined performance data range;

(d) attempting to transmit the performance data to a remote site when one or more of the performance data ranges is exceeded; and

(e) in the event the attempted transmission of step (d) was unsuccessful, or in the event none of the performance data ranges is exceeded, transmitting the performance data to the remote site periodically.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the mobile asset is a railroad locomotive.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(f) transmitting the performance data to the remote site in response to a polling signal transmitted from the remote site.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the step (f) further comprises:

(f1) activating a timer at the remote site;

(f2) transmitting a polling signal to the vehicle upon expiration of the timer; and

(f3) transmitting the performance data to the remote site in response to the polling signal.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(f) activating a timer at the vehicle, wherein the step of periodically transmitting the performance data comprises transmitting the performance data when the timer expires.

6. The method of claim 1 including the additional steps of:

(f) establishing one or more triggering conditions, wherein each said triggering condition has associated therewith an instruction; and

(g) executing said instruction associated with a satisfied triggering event.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the instruction includes collecting data at a specified frequency.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the instruction includes collecting additional performance data from one or more of the mobile asset systems.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the instruction includes transmitting the performance data to the remote site.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining the geographical location of the locomotive when the performance data is collected; and

tagging the performance data with the geographical location.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of determining the geographical location of the locomotive includes receiving location data from at least one global positioning satellite.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining the current time; and

tagging the performance data with the current time.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the step of determining the current time includes receiving time data from at least one global positioning satellite.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving from the remote site instructions as to the specific items of performance data that are to be collected.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving instructions from the remote site as to the periodicity of the data collecting step.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving instructions from the remote site as to the time interval over which the performance data collecting step is to be executed.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising

calculating statistical measures of the performance data collected.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein a predetermined number of attempts are made to transmit the performance data to a remote site when one or more of the performance data limits are exceeded.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the remote site is a monitoring and diagnostic service center.

20. For use with a mobile asset comprising a plurality of systems, a method for monitoring the performance of the systems, comprising:

collecting data indicative of a fault in at least one mobile asset system;

storing the fault data;

establishing at least one predetermined fault data limit;

attempting to transmit the fault data to a remote site when one or more of the fault data ranges is exceeded; and

in the event the attempted transmission was unsuccessful or in the event none of the fault data range is exceeded, transmitting the fault data to the remote site periodically .

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the mobile asset is a railroad locomotive.

22. For use with a mobile asset comprising a plurality of systems, a method for monitoring the performance of the systems, comprising:

(a) collecting performance data relative to at least one mobile asset system;

(b) storing the performance data;

(c) establishing at least one predetermined performance data range;

(d) contacting a remote site when one or more of the performance data ranges is exceeded;

(e) receiving a return call from the remote site;

(f) transmitting the performance data to the remote site; and

(g) in the event none of the performance data ranges are exceeded, transmitting the performance data to the remote site periodically.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the mobile asset is a railroad locomotive.

24. For use with a mobile asset comprising a plurality of systems, a method for monitoring the performance of the systems, comprising:

(a) collecting performance data relative to at least one mobile asset system;

(b) storing the performance data;

(c) establishing at least one predetermined performance data range;

(d) attempting to transmit a signal to a remote site when one or more of the performance data ranges is exceeded; and

(e) in the event the attempted transmission of step (d) was unsuccessful, or in the event none of the performance data ranges are exceeded, transmitting the performance data to the remote site periodically.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the step (d) further comprises:

(d1) attempting to transmit a flag to the remote site when one or more of the performance data ranges is exceeded;

(d2) in response to the flag, transmitting an acknowledgment signal from the remote site to the mobile asset; and

(d3) in response to the acknowledgment signal, transmitting the performance data to the remote site.

26. The method of claim 24 wherein the step (d) further comprises:

(d1) attempting to transmit a flag to the remote site when one or more of the performance data limits is exceeded; and

(d2) in response to the flag, transmitting data collection instructions to the mobile asset.

27. The method of claim 24 wherein the signal of step (d) includes the performance data.

28. The method of claim 24 wherein the mobile asset is a railroad locomotive.

29. For use with a mobile asset comprising a plurality of systems, an on-board monitor for monitoring the performance of the systems, comprising:

a plurality of sensors for collecting performance data relative to at least one locomotive system;

a first memory for storing the performance data;

a threshold module for establishing at least one predetermined performance data range;

a transmitter for attempting to transmit the performance data to a remote site when one or more of the performance data ranges is exceeded; and

if none of the performance data ranges are exceeded or if the attempted transmission was unsuccessful, said transmitter transmitting the performance data to the remote site periodically.

30. The on-board monitor of claim 29, wherein the transmitter transmits the performance data to the remote site in response to a polling signal transmitted from the remote site to the on-board monitor.

31. The on-board monitor of claim 29 including:

a second memory for storing one or more triggering conditions, wherein each said triggering condition has associated therewith an instruction for controlling the performance monitoring when the triggering condition is satisfied.

32. The on-board monitor of claim 31 wherein if the instruction is not satisfied data is collected on a first frequency and if the instruction is satisfied, data is collected on a second frequency, wherein said second frequency is greater than said first frequency.

33. The on-board monitor of claim 31 wherein the instruction includes collecting additional performance data from one or more of the locomotive systems.

34. The on-board monitor of claim 31 wherein the instruction includes transmitting the performance data to the remote site.

35. The on-board monitor of claim 29 including:

a global positioning system receiver for determining the geographical location of the locomotive when the performance data is collected; and

a module responsive to said global positioning system receiver for tagging the performance data with the geographical location.

36. The on-board monitor of claim 29 including:

a global positioning system receiver for determining the current time; and

a module responsive to said global positioning receiver for tagging the performance data with the current time.

37. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer program product comprising a computer-usable medium having a computer-readable code therein for use with a mobile asset comprising a plurality of systems, for monitoring the performance of one or more of the systems, comprising;

(a) a computer-readable program code module for collecting performance data relative to at least one mobile asset system;

(b) a computer-readable program code module for storing the performance data;

(c) a computer-readable program code module for establishing at least one predetermined performance data range;

(d) a computer-readable program code module for attempting to transmit the performance data to a remote site when one or more of the performance data limits is exceeded; and

(e) in the event the attempted transmission of step (d) was unsuccessful, or in the event none of the performance data limits are exceeded, a computer-readable program code module for transmitting the performance data to the remote site periodically.