Rail vehicle identification and processing

• US 8,140,250 B2
• Filed: 07/11/2008
• Issued: 03/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Electronic Machines Corp.
• Original Assignee: International Electronics Exchange
• Inventors: Mian, Zahid F., Mullaney, Jeremy C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jayne, Darnell
• Assistant Examiner(s): Varghese, Sasha T
• Application Number:
  US12/171,438
• Publication Number:
  US 20090055043A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,348 Days
• Field of Search: 701/19, 701/29, 701/33, 701/117, 104/26.1, 105/4.2, 105/26.05, 246/122.R, 246/169.R
• US Class Current: 701/117
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/57 for vehicles or trains, e.g. trackside supervision of train conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/10 Suspensions, axles or wheels
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom

Abstract

A solution for further automating the identification, processing, and/or routing of rail vehicles is provided. Each individual rail vehicle in a series of rail vehicles is identified and measurement data is acquired for the rail vehicle. The measurement data is analyzed and the rail vehicle is automatically routed based on the analysis. The rail vehicle can be routed to an outbound track based on a destination, to a maintenance shop for repair, and/or to a local track for repair and/or re-measurement. The solution can further incorporate expert systems and data mining to reduce the number of rail vehicles that are unnecessarily routed for repair and/or inadvertently allowed to pass with one or more unsafe conditions.

Claims

1. A method of processing rail vehicles, the method comprising:

identifying each individual rail vehicle in a plurality of attached rail vehicles as the plurality of attached rail vehicles move along a set of rails using data acquired by a first set of sensing devices located external to the plurality of attached rail vehicles;

acquiring measurement data for each identified rail vehicle as it moves along the set of rails from a second set of sensing devices located external to the plurality of attached rail vehicles;

analyzing the measurement data for each identified rail vehicle, wherein the analyzing identifies a set of rail vehicle maintenance attributes; and

automatically and independently routing each of a plurality of subsets of the plurality of attached rail vehicles based on the analyzing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatically routing includes routing a rail vehicle to an outbound track based on a destination for the rail vehicle when the analyzing indicates that no repair will be performed.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing indicates that at least one defect is present for a rail vehicle.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the automatically routing includes:

determining whether each of the at least one defect can be repaired locally; and

routing the rail vehicle based on the determining.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

generating a repair order for the at least one defect;

repairing the at least one defect; and

generating a repair bill for the at least one defect based on the repairing.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the analyzing includes:

determining an overall condition of a component of the rail vehicle having a defect based on a plurality of attributes of the component; and

determining that the at least one defect does not require repair based on the overall condition.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining inspection data and operating data for a plurality of related rail vehicles;

creating a wear model for at least one component of the plurality of related rail vehicles based on the inspection data and operating data; and

forecasting at least one of;

maintenance requirements or measurement data for a rail vehicle using the wear model, wherein the analyzing is based on the forecasting.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatically routing includes detaching a first rail vehicle from a second rail vehicle using a robotic device.

9. A system for processing rail vehicles, the system comprising:

at least one sensing device configured to acquire data as a plurality of attached rail vehicles move along a set of rails, wherein the at least one sensing device is located external to the plurality of attached rail vehicles;

a component configured to identify each individual rail vehicle in the plurality of attached rail vehicles using the data acquired by the at least one sensing device;

a component configured to analyze measurement data acquired by the one sensing device for each identified rail vehicle, wherein the component identifies a set of rail vehicle maintenance attributes for each identified rail vehicle; and

a component configured to automatically and independently route each of a plurality of subsets of the plurality of attached rail vehicles based on the analyzed measurement data.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the component configured to automatically route is configured to route a rail vehicle to an outbound track based on a destination for the rail vehicle when the analyzed measurement data indicates that no repair will be performed.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the analyzed measurement data indicates that at least one defect is present for a rail vehicle.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the component configured to automatically route is configured to:

determine whether each of the at least one defect can be repaired locally; and

route the rail vehicle based on the determination.

13. The system of claim 11, further comprising a component configured to generate a repair order for the at least one defect and generate a repair bill for the at least one defect after the at least one defect is repaired.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the component configured to analyze measurement data is configured to:

determine an overall condition of a component of the rail vehicle having a defect based on a plurality of attributes of the component; and

determine that the at least one defect does not require repair based on the overall condition.

15. The system of claim 9, further comprising a component configured to create a wear model for at least one component of the plurality of related rail vehicles based on inspection data and operating data for the plurality of related rail vehicles, and forecast at least one of:

maintenance requirements or measurement data for a rail vehicle using the wear model, wherein the component configured to analyze measurement data uses the forecast.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the component configured to automatically route includes a robotic device configured to detach a first rail vehicle from a second rail vehicle.

17. A system for processing rail vehicles, the system comprising:

at least one sensing device configured to acquire maintenance measurement data as a plurality of attached rail vehicles move along a set of rails, wherein the at least one sensing device is located external to the plurality of attached rail vehicles;

a component configured to identify each individual rail vehicle in the plurality of attached rail vehicles using the maintenance measurement data acquired by the at least one sensing device; and

a component configured to automatically and independently route each of a plurality of subsets of the plurality of attached rail vehicles to a corresponding outbound track based on a destination for the rail vehicle, wherein the component configured to automatically route includes a robotic device configured to detach a first rail vehicle from a second rail vehicle in the plurality of attached rail vehicles.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a component configured to analyze measurement data acquired by the at least one sensing device for each identified rail vehicle to determine a presence of at least one defect for each identified rail vehicle, wherein the component configured to automatically route is configured to route an identified rail vehicle for repair when the analyzed measurement data indicates the presence of at least one defect that requires repair and can be repaired locally.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the component configured to analyze measurement data is configured to:

determine an overall condition of a component of the rail vehicle having a defect based on a plurality of attributes of the component; and

determine that the at least one defect does not require repair based on the overall condition.

20. The system of claim 18, further comprising a component configured to create a wear model for at least one component of the plurality of related rail vehicles based on inspection data and operating data for the plurality of related rail vehicles, and forecast at least one of:

maintenance requirements or measurement data for a rail vehicle using the wear model, wherein the component configured to analyze measurement data uses the forecast.