Methods and apparatus for measuring navigational parameters of a locomotive
First Claim
1. A method for determining at least one of motion and location parameters of a railroad locomotive, with the locomotive oriented with either end thereof in the lead in the direction of travel of the locomotive, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing at least two satellite signal receivers on the locomotive at spaced locations along the length of the locomotive;
determining a vector distance {right arrow over (d)} between the two satellite signal receivers using an integer ambiguity, wherein an initial integer ambiguity is resolved by consulting a database that provides an initial heading and track grade as a function of latitude and longitude;
determining a set of phase differences between satellite reference signals received by satellite receivers; and
determining an accurate heading, accurate heading rate, attitude, and attitude rate of the locomotive during normal locomotive transit operation using only the set of phase differences between the satellite reference signals and the vector distance {right arrow over (d)} the method further comprising the step of determining {right arrow over (d)} as {right arrow over (d)}=(HTH)−
1HT{right arrow over (y)}, where;
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Abstract
The present invention, in one aspect, is a method for determining motion and/or location parameters of a locomotive. One method embodiment includes steps of phase locking a pair of receivers having antennas at different locations on a locomotive to reference signals received from a set of satellites, determining a set of phase differences between the reference signals received at the antennas, and determining at least one of an accurate heading, heading rate, attitude, and attitude rate of the locomotive using the set of phase differences between the reference signals.
47 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for determining at least one of motion and location parameters of a railroad locomotive, with the locomotive oriented with either end thereof in the lead in the direction of travel of the locomotive, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing at least two satellite signal receivers on the locomotive at spaced locations along the length of the locomotive; determining a vector distance {right arrow over (d)} between the two satellite signal receivers using an integer ambiguity, wherein an initial integer ambiguity is resolved by consulting a database that provides an initial heading and track grade as a function of latitude and longitude; determining a set of phase differences between satellite reference signals received by satellite receivers; and determining an accurate heading, accurate heading rate, attitude, and attitude rate of the locomotive during normal locomotive transit operation using only the set of phase differences between the satellite reference signals and the vector distance {right arrow over (d)} the method further comprising the step of determining {right arrow over (d)} as {right arrow over (d)}=(HTH)−
1HT{right arrow over (y)}, where; - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus for determining at least one of motion and location parameters of a railroad locomotive to detect curves and reduce track wear, with the locomotive oriented with either end of the locomotive in the lead in the direction of travel of the locomotive, said apparatus comprising:
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at least two phase-locking satellite receivers configured to reference signals received from a set of satellites; and a processor configured to; determine a set of phase differences between the reference signals received by said satellite receivers; determine a vector distance {right arrow over (d)} between the two satellite receivers using an integer ambiguity, wherein an initial integer ambiguity is resolved by consulting a database that provides an initial heading and track grade as a function of latitude and longitude; and determine an accurate heading, accurate heading rate, attitude, and attitude rate of the locomotive during normal locomotive transit operation using only the set of phase differences between the reference signals and the vector distance {right arrow over (d)} wherein said processor is further configured to determine {right arrow over (d)} as {right arrow over (d)}=(HTH)−
1HT{right arrow over (y)}, where; - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification