System for remotely operating a vehicle system

• US 9,910,433 B1
• Filed: 10/17/2016
• Issued: 03/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Golden, Samuel William, Cooper, Jared Klineman, Dulmage, Scott William
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunn, Alex C
• Application Number:
  US15/294,865
• Time in Patent Office: 505 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 17/00 Switching systems for classification yards
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/00 Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/00 Recording or indicating positions or identities of vehicles or trains or setting of track apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/14 Following schedules
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/16 Trackside optimisation of vehicle or train operation
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/18 Crew rosters; Itineraries
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/40 Handling position reports or trackside vehicle data
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/57 for vehicles or trains, e.g. trackside supervision of train conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0027 involving a plurality of vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling fleet control of land vehicles from a control room G05D1/0297; traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00; for marine craft G08G3/00; for aircraft G08G5/00

Abstract

Systems and methods for remotely operating a vehicle system are provided. A system is provided herein that includes a radio frequency (RF) circuit configured to establish a plurality of bi-directional communication links with a plurality of remote vehicle systems, and a controller circuit communicatively coupled to the RF circuit. The controller circuit is configured to obtain operational data from the plurality of remote vehicle systems, determine operation statuses of the remote vehicle systems based on the operational data relative to one or more predetermined thresholds, display on a display the operation statuses of the plurality of remote vehicle systems, and transmit a control signal along a first bi-directional communication link of the plurality of bi-directional communication links to the first remote vehicle system.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) circuit configured to establish a plurality of bi-directional communication links with a plurality of remote vehicle systems, each remote vehicle system is traveling along a corresponding route based on a trip plan; and

a controller circuit communicatively coupled to the RF circuit, the controller circuit is configured to;

obtain operational data from the plurality of remote vehicle systems, wherein the operational data includes sensor measurements representing one or more designated characteristics of the remote vehicle systems;

determine operation statuses of the remote vehicle systems based on the operational data relative to one or more predetermined thresholds, wherein at least one of the operation statuses represent an alert status of a first remote vehicle system of the plurality of remote vehicle systems;

display on a display the operation statuses of the plurality of remote vehicle systems; and

transmit a control signal along a first bi-directional communication link of the plurality of bi-directional communication links to the first remote vehicle system, wherein the control signal is configured to adjust at least one of the one or more designated characteristics of the first remote vehicle system based on the alert status of the first remote vehicle system.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more predetermined thresholds are associated with a defined operator specification of the plurality of remote vehicle systems or the trip plans of the plurality of remote vehicle systems.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user interface, wherein the controller circuit is configured to receive a user input indicative of the control signal from the user interface.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller circuit is configured to display an alert notification when the alert status is determined.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the alert notification includes a graphical notification, an auditory alert, an animation, a pop-up graphical window, or continually adjusting a color of the display.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the controller circuit is configured to determine when the alert notification has been displayed longer than a temporal action threshold, and automatically generate the control signal for the first remote vehicle system.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the controller circuit is configured to transmit the alert notification to an alternative remote control system.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the control signal further adjusts the trip plan of the first remote vehicle system.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the display operation includes displaying positions of the remote vehicle systems relative to the corresponding routes.

10. A method comprising:

obtaining operational data from a plurality of remote vehicle systems traveling along corresponding routes based on at least two different trip plans, wherein the operational data includes sensor measurements representing one or more designated characteristics of each remote vehicle system;

determining a respective operation status of each remote vehicle system based on the operational data relative to one or more predetermined thresholds, wherein one of the operation statuses represents an alert status of a first remote vehicle system of the plurality of remote vehicle systems;

displaying on a display the operation statuses of the remote vehicle systems; and

transmitting a control signal along a bi-directional communication link to the first remote vehicle system, wherein the control signal is configured to adjust at least one of the one or more designated characteristics of the first remote vehicle system based on the alert status operation status of the first remote vehicle system.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more predetermined thresholds are associated with a defined operator specification of the plurality of remote vehicle systems or the trip plans of the plurality of remote vehicle system.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving a user input from a user interface representing the control signal.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the display operation includes displaying positions of the remote vehicle systems relative to the corresponding routes.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the display operation includes displaying an alert notification when the alert status is determined.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the alert notification includes a graphical notification, an auditory alert, an animation, a pop-up graphical window, or continually adjusting a color of the display.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining when the alert notification has been displayed longer than a temporal action threshold, and automatically generating the control signal for the first remote vehicle system.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising transmitting the alert notification to an alternative remote control system.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the control signal further adjusts the trip plan of the first remote vehicle system.

19. A system comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) circuit configured to establish a plurality of bi-directional communication links with a plurality of remote vehicle systems, each remote vehicle system is traveling along a corresponding route based on a trip plan; and

a controller circuit communicatively coupled to the RF circuit, the controller circuit is configured to;

obtain operational data from the plurality of remote vehicle systems, wherein the operational data includes sensor measurements representing one or more designated characteristics of the remote vehicle systems;

determine operation statuses of the remote vehicle systems based on the operational data relative to one or more predetermined thresholds, wherein the one or more predetermined thresholds are associated with a defined operator specification of the plurality of remote vehicle systems or the trip plans of the plurality of remote vehicle system, at least one of the operation statuses represent an alert status of a first remote vehicle system of the plurality of remote vehicle systems;

display on a display the operation statuses of the plurality of remote vehicle systems; and

transmit a control signal along a first bi-directional communication link of the plurality of bi-directional communication links to the first remote vehicle system, wherein the control signal is configured to adjust at least one of the one or more designated characteristics of the first remote vehicle system based on the alert status of the first remote vehicle system.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising a user interface, wherein the controller circuit is configured to receive a user input indicative of the control signal from the user interface.