Wheel monitoring system and method

• US 9,728,016 B2
• Filed: 11/19/2014
• Issued: 08/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Global Sourcing LLC (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Willis, Jeffrey David, Moffett, Jeffrey Paul, Pfingsten, Mark Alan, Kumar, Ajith Kuttannair, Worden, Bret Dwayne, Ehret, Steven Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Mawari, Redhwan K
• Assistant Examiner(s): WHALEN, MICHAEL F
• Application Number:
  US14/547,662
• Publication Number:
  US 20150193992A1
• Time in Patent Office: 993 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B61K 9/12 Measuring or surveying wheel-rims measuring techniques G01
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/10 Suspensions, axles or wheels
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

Systems and methods for monitoring a vehicle determine a baseline wheel rotational speed and wheel rotational speeds of a wheel for different positions along an outer perimeter of the wheel. One or more deviations between the wheel rotational speeds and the baseline wheel rotational speed are determined, and the deviations between the wheel rotational speeds and the baseline wheel rotational speed are correlated with one or more identified positions of the positions along the outer perimeter of the wheel. One or more of damage to the wheel or damage to a drivetrain of the vehicle is identified based at least in part on the one or more deviations being correlated with the one or more identified positions.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining first rotational speeds of a wheel of a vehicle using a rotational speed sensor;

determining a baseline wheel rotational speed of the wheel, the baseline wheel rotational speed representing one or more of an average or filtered rotational speed of the wheel based on second rotational speeds of the wheel that previously were measured;

identifying one or more differences between the first rotational speeds and the baseline wheel rotational speed;

correlating the one or more differences between the first rotational speeds and the baseline wheel rotational speed with different segments of an outer perimeter of the wheel by temporally matching when the first rotational speeds associated with the one or more differences were measured and when the different segments of the outer perimeter of the wheel were in contact with a route on which the vehicle is moving;

identifying one or more of damage to the wheel or damage to a drivetrain of the vehicle based at least in part on the one or more differences being correlated with the one or more segments of the outer perimeter of the wheel; and

changing movement of the vehicle responsive to identifying the one or more of the damage to the wheel or the damage to the drivetrain.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of identifying the one or more differences, correlating the one or more differences with the one or more identified segments, or identifying the one or more of damage to the wheel or damage to the drivetrain occurs during the movement of the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more differences includes determining one or more of a peak of the first rotational speeds, a median of the first rotational speeds, an average of the first rotational speeds, or a root mean square of the first rotational speeds, wherein the one or more differences exceed the one or more of the peak, the median, the average, or the root mean square to the first rotational speeds by at least a designated threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first rotational speeds occurs for more than one revolution of the wheel over the route.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a position signal output from a motor that is operably coupled with the wheel, wherein temporally matching the first rotational speeds with the different segments of the outer perimeter includes dividing the position signal output by the motor by a gear ratio of one or more components that interconnect the motor with the wheel.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the segments along the outer perimeter of the wheel is representative of a flat portion of the wheel, surface damage to the wheel, one or more damaged bearings, or one or more damaged axle journals.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising identifying a type of the damage to the wheel or the damage to the drivetrain of the vehicle from among two or more different types of damage based at least in part on a magnitude of the one or more differences between the first rotational speeds and the baseline wheel rotational speed, wherein the different types of the damage are associated with different magnitudes of the one or more differences between the first rotational speeds and the baseline wheel rotational speed.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising one or more of generating a warning signal to an operator of the vehicle or automatically slowing the movement of the vehicle responsive to identifying the one or more of the damage to the wheel or the damage to the drivetrain of the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more of the damage to the wheel or the damage to the drivetrain occurs responsive to correlating at least a designated, non-zero threshold number of the one or more differences with the one or more segments of the outer perimeter of the wheel that are within a designated spatial range of each other.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein identifying the one or more of the damage to the wheel or the damage to the drivetrain occurs responsive to correlating at least the designated, non-zero threshold number of the one or more differences with the one or more segments of the outer perimeter of the wheel that are within the designated spatial range of each other during plural revolutions of the wheel.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more of the damage to the wheel or the damage to the drivetrain includes sorting the one or more differences by the segments of the outer perimeter of the wheel for plural revolutions of the wheel and identifying a group of the one or more differences associated with the one or more segments of the outer perimeter of the wheel that are within a designated, non-zero distance of each other along the outer perimeter of the wheel.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more of the damage to the wheel or the damage to the drive train is identified responsive to the group of the one or more differences having at least a designated, non-zero number of differences in the group.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more of the damage to the wheel or the damage to the drivetrain includes:

grouping the one or more differences into plural different groups according to which of the segments of the outer perimeter of the wheel are associated with the one or more differences for plural revolutions of the wheel; and

selecting at least one group from the different groups as being representative of the one or more of the damage to the wheel or the damage to the drivetrain based on a comparison of numbers of the one or more differences in the different groups.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the one or more segments along the outer perimeter of the wheel by calculating a time integral of the first rotational speeds.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the first rotational speeds based at least in part on a frequency as which signal pulses are output from the rotational speed sensor operably coupled with one or more of a motor of the vehicle or the wheel.

16. A system comprising:

one or more processors configured to receive first rotational speeds of a wheel of a vehicle from a rotational speed sensor, the one or more processors configured to determine a baseline wheel rotational speed of the wheel, the baseline wheel rotational speed representing one or more of an average or a filtered rotational speed of the wheel based on second rotational speeds of the wheel that were previously measured, the one or more processors also configured to identify one or more differences between the first rotational speeds and the baseline wheel rotational speed, and to correlate the one or more differences between the first rotational speeds and the baseline wheel rotational speed with different segments of an outer perimeter of the wheel by temporally matching when the first rotational speeds associated with the one or more differences were measured and when the different segments of the outer perimeter of the wheel were in contact with a route on which the vehicle is moving,

wherein the one or more processors also are configured to identify one or more of damage to the wheel or damage to a drivetrain of the vehicle based at least in part on the one or more differences being correlated with the one or more identified segments of the outer perimeter of the wheel,

wherein the one or more processors also are configured to change movement of the vehicle responsive to identifying the one or more of the damage to the wheel or the damage to the drivetrain.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more segments of the outer perimeter of the wheel are representative of a flat portion of the wheel, surface damage to the wheel, one or more damaged bearings, or one or more damaged axle journals.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors are configured to identify the one or more of the damage to the wheel or the damage to the drivetrain includes sorting the one or more differences by the segments along the outer perimeter of the wheel for plural revolutions of the wheel and identifying a group of the one or more differences associated with the one or more segments along the outer perimeter of the wheel that are within a designated, non-zero distance of each other along the outer perimeter of the wheel.

19. A method comprising:

determining rotational speeds of a wheel during movement of a vehicle that includes the wheel along a route;

determining different locations along the wheel that contact the route as the rotational speeds are measured;

determining one or more of the rotational speeds of the wheel that exceed a baseline rotational speed of the wheel;

determining one or more groups of the locations along the wheel that correspond with the one or more rotational speeds of the wheel that exceed the baseline rotational speed;

determining one or more of damage to the wheel, a flat portion of the wheel, or damage to a drivetrain of the vehicle based at least in part at least one of the groups of the locations including at least a designated, non-zero threshold number of the locations along the wheel that correspond with the one or more rotational speeds of the wheel that exceed the baseline rotational speed; and

changing movement of the vehicle responsive to determining the one or more of damage to the wheel, the flat portion, or the damage to the drivetrain.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein determining the rotational speeds and determining the different locations occurs over multiple revolutions of the wheel, and wherein determining the one or more groups of the locations along the wheel includes the locations that correspond with the one or more rotational speeds that exceed the baseline rotational speed across the multiple revolutions and that are within a designated, non-zero distance from each other along an outer perimeter of the wheel in a common group of the one or more groups.