Systems and methods for identifying different types of traction motors in a vehicle system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- controlling plural traction motors of a vehicle system to propel the vehicle system along a route, the traction motors being energized by a common power source and being electrically parallel with respect to one another;
receiving motor measurements that represent operating parameters of the traction motors as the vehicle system propels along the route;
comparing the motor measurements to one another;
determining whether the traction motors include different motor types and are mismatched; and
in response to determining that the traction motors include different motor types and are mismatched, at least one of;
(a) notifying an operator of the vehicle system that the traction motors include the different motor types;
(b) notifying a remote monitoring station that the traction motors include the different motor types;
(c) reducing tractive efforts of one or more of the traction motors;
or(d) instructing a planning module to modify an existing operating plan of the vehicle system based on the traction motors of the different motor types.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A control system including a measurement module configured to receive motor measurements that represent operating parameters of plural traction motors of a common vehicle system as the vehicle system propels along a route. The control system also includes an analysis module configured to compare the motor measurements to an expected measurement. The expected measurement corresponds to a designated motor type. The analysis module is configured to determine that at least one of the traction motors is different from the designated motor type based on comparing the motor measurements to the expected measurement.
34 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
controlling plural traction motors of a vehicle system to propel the vehicle system along a route, the traction motors being energized by a common power source and being electrically parallel with respect to one another; receiving motor measurements that represent operating parameters of the traction motors as the vehicle system propels along the route; comparing the motor measurements to one another; determining whether the traction motors include different motor types and are mismatched; and in response to determining that the traction motors include different motor types and are mismatched, at least one of; (a) notifying an operator of the vehicle system that the traction motors include the different motor types; (b) notifying a remote monitoring station that the traction motors include the different motor types; (c) reducing tractive efforts of one or more of the traction motors;
or(d) instructing a planning module to modify an existing operating plan of the vehicle system based on the traction motors of the different motor types. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method comprising:
-
controlling plural traction motors of a vehicle system to propel the vehicle system along a route, the traction motors being energized by a common power source and being electrically parallel with respect to one another; receiving motor measurements that represent operating parameters of the traction motors as the vehicle system propels along the route; comparing the motor measurements to one another; determining whether the traction motors include different motor types and are mismatched; and in response to determining that the traction motors include different motor types, at least one of (a) modifying an existing operating plan to improve an operating efficiency of the vehicle system; (b) modifying an existing operating plan to reduce the tractive efforts provided by one or more of the traction motors;
or(c) modifying an existing operating plan to disable one or more of the traction motors. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A method comprising:
-
controlling at least three traction motors of a vehicle system to propel the vehicle system along a route; receiving motor measurements of the traction motors as the vehicle system propels along the route; comparing the motor measurements to one another; determining whether one of the traction motors is a mismatched traction motor that includes a different motor type than the other traction motors; and in response to determining that the traction motors include the mismatched traction motor, at least one of; (a) notifying an operator of the vehicle system of an identification of the mismatched traction motor; (b) notifying a remote monitoring station of the identification of the mismatched traction motor to initiate a plan for replacing the mismatched traction motor; (c) reducing tractive efforts of the mismatched traction motor to a non-zero value;
or(d) disabling the mismatched traction motor. - View Dependent Claims (20)
-
Specification