Control of throttle and braking actions at individual distributed power locomotives in a railroad train
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- determining a first control aspect for a first group of one or more locomotives in a rail vehicle consist, the first control aspect representing at least one of a first throttle command or a first braking command for the one or more locomotives in the first group, the first control aspect being determined based on a first location of the first group along a track being traveled by the rail vehicle consist and a first operating condition of the one or more locomotives in the first group;
determining a second control aspect for a second group of one or more locomotives in the rail vehicle consist, the second control aspect representing at least one of a second throttle command or a second braking command for the one or more locomotives in the second group, the second control aspect being determined based on a second location of the second group along the track and a second operating condition of the one or more locomotives in the second group; and
controlling the one or more locomotives in the first group according to the first control aspect and the one or more locomotives in the second group according to the second control aspect.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for controlling first (14/12A) and second (12B) locomotives of a railroad train (8), the first (14/12A) and the second (12B) locomotives separated by at least one railcar (20). The method comprises determining a location of the first locomotive (14/12A) and a location of the second locomotive (12B), determining an operating condition of the first locomotive (14/12A) and an operating condition of the second locomotive (12B), determining a first control aspect of the first locomotive (14/12A) responsive to the operating condition and the location of the first locomotive (14/12A), determining a second control aspect of the second locomotive (12B) responsive to the operating condition and the location of the second locomotive (12B), and controlling the first (14/12A) and the second (12B) locomotives according to the first control aspect and the second control aspect, respectively.
66 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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determining a first control aspect for a first group of one or more locomotives in a rail vehicle consist, the first control aspect representing at least one of a first throttle command or a first braking command for the one or more locomotives in the first group, the first control aspect being determined based on a first location of the first group along a track being traveled by the rail vehicle consist and a first operating condition of the one or more locomotives in the first group; determining a second control aspect for a second group of one or more locomotives in the rail vehicle consist, the second control aspect representing at least one of a second throttle command or a second braking command for the one or more locomotives in the second group, the second control aspect being determined based on a second location of the second group along the track and a second operating condition of the one or more locomotives in the second group; and controlling the one or more locomotives in the first group according to the first control aspect and the one or more locomotives in the second group according to the second control aspect. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method comprising:
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determining a location of each of plural locomotives that are interconnected with each other but spaced apart from each other in a rail vehicle consist; determining an operating condition of each of the plurality of locomotives; determining a control aspect for each of the locomotives based on the operating condition and the location associated with the corresponding locomotive; and controlling each of the locomotives according to the control aspect that corresponds to each of the locomotives. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having one or more computer readable program code modules embodied in the medium and for execution by a processor, the computer readable program code modules configured to direct the processor to:
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determine a first control aspect of a first group of one or more locomotives of a rail vehicle consist based on a first operating condition and a first location of the first group; determine a second control aspect of a second group of one or more locomotives of the rail vehicle consist that is separated from the first group by one or more railcars in the rail vehicle consist, the second control aspect based on a second operating condition and a second location of the second group; and control the one or more locomotives of the first group according to the first control aspect and the one or more locomotives of the second group based on the second control aspect. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. A system comprising:
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a controller disposed onboard a distributed power rail vehicle consist having at least a first locomotive and a second locomotive that provide tractive effort to propel the rail vehicle consist along a route, the controller configured to determine a first location of the first locomotive and a second location of the second locomotive along the route or relative to each other, and to determine a first operating condition of the first locomotive and a second operating condition of the second locomotive, wherein the controller is configured to generate control signals based on the first location of the first locomotive and the second location of the second locomotive, and wherein the control signals are transmitted to the first locomotive and to the second locomotive to control a first tractive effort provided by the first locomotive and a different, second tractive effort provided by the second locomotive. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification