Consist manager for managing two or more locomotives of a consist

• US 7,618,011 B2
• Filed: 01/06/2006
• Issued: 11/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Cooper, Charles E., Oleski, Todd S., Natalo, James A., Sheridan, Christopher L., Kumar, Ajith Kuttannair, Shaffer, Glenn R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le; Mark T
• Application Number:
  US11/327,746
• Publication Number:
  US 20060138285A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,411 Days
• Field of Search: 701/19, 701/20, 701/29, 701/35, 701/70, 246/167.R, 246/187.A, 246/1.R, 246/1.C, 340/539.25, 340/933, 348/148, 434/29, 700/83, 702/184, 703/8, 715/763, 715/839, 707/100, 707/104.1, 105/61, 318/370
• US Class Current: 246/167.00R
• CPC Class Codes: B61C 17/12 Control gear; Arrangements for controlling locomotives from remote points in the train or when operating in multiple units control from points outside the train B61L3/00; fluid-actuated telemotors, servomotors F15B; control devices in general G05
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0027 Radio-based, e.g. using GSM-R
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0036 Conductor-based, e.g. using CAN-Bus, train-line or optical fibres
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0054 Train integrity supervision, e.g. end-of-train [EOT] devices
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0058 On-board optimisation of vehicle or vehicle train operation
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0072 On-board train data handling
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0081 On-board diagnosis or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/009 On-board display devices
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 2205/04 Satellite based navigation systems, e.g. global positioning system [GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/021 Measuring and recording of train speed
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/025 Absolute localisation, e.g. providing geodetic coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/028 Determination of vehicle position and orientation within a train consist, e.g. serialisation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 30/00 Transportation of goods or passengers via railways, e.g. energy recovery or reducing air resistance

Abstract

A consist manager for controlling a consist having a lead locomotive and at least one trailing locomotive. A graphical user interface displays a lead locomotive image and at least one trailing locomotive imagers. The graphical user interfaces allows a user to selectively identify train characteristics of each of the first and second locomotives. The consist manager receives a control command and determines a first power operating mode of the first locomotive and a second power operating mode of the second locomotive as a function of the control command and the identified train characteristics. The consist manager controls the first locomotive according to the first power operating mode and controls the second locomotive according to the second operating mode.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media having computer executable components executed by a computing device for use with a consist of first and second locomotives each having a graphical display, said computer-readable media comprising:

a graphical user interface (GUI) component for displaying a menu of train characteristics and first and second images corresponding to the first and second locomotives, respectively;

an input component receiving user input for associating a user-selected one of the train characteristics to a user-selected one of the images, wherein the GUI component displays the user-selected image and the user-selected train characteristic via the graphical display; and

a storage component responsive to user input for creating a locomotive/characteristics file that includes user-selected train characteristics for each locomotive in the consist, and wherein said storage component stores the locomotive/characteristics file in a memory;

wherein the first and second locomotives each have discrete power operating modes and are each configured for receiving control signals via a communication link, said control signals including a desired power operating mode of the consist received from a master controller, and wherein a first processing module is associated with the first locomotive and a second processing module is associated with the second locomotive, and wherein the first and second processing modules receive the user-selected train characteristics corresponding to the first and second locomotives via the storage component, and wherein one of the first and second processing modules is identified as a lead processing module as a function of the received characteristics, and wherein the identified lead processing module is responsive to the desired power operating mode as indicated by the locomotive control for determining a mode of operation of the first locomotive according to a first power operating mode and for determining a mode of operation of the second locomotive according to a second power operating mode, wherein, in at least one mode of operation of the system, the first power operating mode is different as compared to the second power operating mode, and wherein said lead processing module provides information corresponding to the first power operating mode to the first locomotive and provides information corresponding to the second power operating mode to the second locomotive.

2. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the first and second processing modules receive information corresponding to a brake designation of the first and second locomotives, respectively via the communication link, and wherein the lead processing module is identified as a function of the received brake designation.

3. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the first image corresponds to a lead locomotive and the second image corresponds to a trailing locomotive, and wherein the lead locomotive operates at the first power operating mode, and wherein the trail locomotive operates at the second power operating mode.

4. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the first and second processing modules receive information corresponding to a fuel level of the first locomotive and a fuel level of the second locomotive, and wherein the lead processing module determines a fuel consumption rate of at least one of the first and second locomotives, and wherein the lead controller determines that the power operating modes of the first and second locomotives are selected as a function of the determined fuel consumption rate of at least one of the first and second locomotives.

5. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the first and second processing modules receive information corresponding to a sensed speed of the consist via the communication link, and wherein the lead processing module is enabled for providing the first power operating mode to the first locomotive and the second power operating mode to the second locomotive when the sensed speed is greater than a threshold speed value, and wherein the lead processing module is disabled for providing the first power operating mode to the first locomotive and second power operating mode to the second locomotive when the sensed speed is less than the threshold speed value.