System, method and computer software code for controlling a powered system and operational information used in a mission by the powered system

• US 9,527,518 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2008
• Issued: 12/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Global Sourcing LLC (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Lacy, Patricia Sue, Kumar, Ajith Kuttannair, Shaffer, Glenn Robert, Young, Jennifer B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, John Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fei, Jordan S.
• Application Number:
  US12/061,444
• Publication Number:
  US 20080195269A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,191 Days
• Field of Search: 701 19- 26
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0058 On-board optimisation of vehicle or vehicle train operation

Abstract

A method for communicating operational information for a mission plan to an operator of a powered system, the method including collecting information specific to a mission plan, verifying information specific to the mission, and/or accepting information specific to the mission. The powered system is allowed to be autonomously controlled. A system and a computer software code are also disclosed for communicating operational information for a mission plan to an operator of a powered system.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining information specific to a trip for a powered vehicle to travel from a current first location to a second location along one or more routes, the information including trip setup data representative of one or more characteristics of the trip and. vehicle setup data representative of one or more characteristics of the powered vehicle;

presenting the information to an operator of the powered vehicle;

receiving verification of at least some of the information from the operator via an operator input device prior to the powered vehicle starting movement to travel along the one or more routes;

creating a trip plan subsequent to the information being obtained and presented to the operator, subsequent to the verification of the at least some of the information being received from the operator, and prior to the powered vehicle starting the movement to travel along the one or more routes, the trip plan created based on the at least some of the information that is verified by the operator, the trip plan including operational conditions that are designated for the powered vehicle during the trip according to locations of the powered vehicle as the powered vehicle travels from the first location to the second location so that the powered vehicle is controlled according to the operational conditions based on where the powered vehicle is located; and

autonomously implementing the trip plan with the powered vehicle by using the operational conditions that are designated in the trip plan to autonomously control or instruct manual control of actual operational conditions of the powered vehicle to match the operational conditions designated in the trip plan during the trip.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining the information further comprises collecting the information from at least one of a remote dispatch location or at least one powered system.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing feedback to at least one of the operator or a remote monitoring facility during at least one of obtaining the information or receiving the verification.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the feedback is provided through at least one of a visual representation, an audible representation, or a physical contact representation.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing access to the information via the operator input device.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising configuring access to the information on the operator input device in accordance with at least one of a location of the powered vehicle, a condition of the powered system, external environment proximate the powered vehicle, or additional information provided by at least one of a remote monitoring location or the operator.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising modifying the information prior to at least one of receiving the verification or creating the trip plan, wherein the information that is modified is used to create the trip plan.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising communicating at least one of the information or the verification through a wireless communication network.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising displaying the information to the operator prior to receiving the verification from the operator.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information comprises at least one of forces acting on the powered system, operating information of the powered system, operator training data, trip completion time, fuel data, emission data, operating constraints of the powered system, terrain information, future trip parameters, or prior trip parameters.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the powered vehicle comprises a rail vehicle having a power generating unit.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the powered vehicle comprises a marine vessel having a power generating unit.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the powered vehicle comprises an off-highway vehicle having a power generating unit.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the powered vehicle comprises at least one of a transportation vehicle or an agricultural vehicle having a power generating unit.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein presenting the information includes visually displaying the information in a series of displays and receiving the verification includes receiving at least one of the verification or a modification to the at least some of the information on each of the displays in the series of displays before presenting a subsequent display in the series of displays.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the series of displays includes a display that presents at least one of a start station of the trip for the powered vehicle, an end station of the trip, or a map of the trip as the trip setup data.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the powered vehicle includes plural power generating units coupled with each other, and the series of displays includes a display that presents a status of each of the power generating units as the vehicle setup data, the status including a running status wherein the power generating unit is configured to provide tractive effort to propel the powered vehicle or an isolated status wherein the power generating unit is in an operational mode that does not provide the tractive effort to propel the powered vehicle.

18. The method according to claim 15, wherein the information specific to the trip includes slow orders for one or more sections of the one or more routes over which the powered vehicle will travel during the trip, and wherein the series of displays includes a display that presents one or more speed restrictions along the one or more routes to be traversed by the powered vehicle during the trip as the slow orders.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein receiving the verification includes receiving confirmation that the one or more speed restrictions in the display correspond to a manifest provided to the operator.

20. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving a modification to the at least some of the information prior to receiving the verification of the at least some of the information.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the powered vehicle includes plural power generating units coupled with each other, and receiving the modification includes receiving a change in a status of one or more of the power generating units between a running status wherein the power generating unit produces tractive effort and an isolated status wherein the power generating unit does not produce tractive effort.

22. The method according to claim 1, wherein the operational conditions that are designated by the trip plan dictate at least one of throttle settings, braking settings, or speeds of the powered vehicle to follow during the trip to reduce at least one of fuel consumed or emissions generated by the powered vehicle relative to traveling in the trip according to one or more other plans.

23. A system comprising:

a processor configured to present information specific to a trip for a powered vehicle to travel from a current first location to a second location along one or more routes to a user, the information including trip setup data representative of one or more characteristics of the trip and vehicle setup data representative of one or more characteristics of the powered vehicle; and

an operator input device configured to be communicatively coupled with the processor and to receive verification of at least some of the information from the user prior to the powered vehicle starting movement to travel along the one or more routes, wherein the processor is further configured to create a trip plan subsequent to the information being presented to the operator, subsequent to the verification of the at least some of the information being received from the operator, and prior to the powered vehicle starting the movement to travel along the one or more routes, the trip plan created based on the at least some of the information that is verified by the user, the trip plan including operational conditions that are designated for the powered vehicle during the trip according to locations of the powered vehicle as the powered vehicle travels from a first location to a second location of the trip so that the powered vehicle is controlled according to the operational conditions based on where the powered vehicle is located, wherein the processor is configured to autonomously implementing the trip plan with the powered vehicle by using the operational conditions that are designated in the trip plan to autonomously control or instruct manual control of actual operational conditions of the powered vehicle to match the operational conditions designated in the trip plan during the trip.

24. The system according to claim 23, wherein the processor is configured to interface with a communication network to at least one of receive the verification from the operator input device or transmit the information specific to the trip.

25. The system according to claim 23, wherein the processor is configured to interface with a display to present a rolling map to display at least one of terrain information or speed information.

26. The system according to claim 23, wherein the processor is configured to interface with a display to illustrate at least one movement event involving the powered vehicle.

27. The system according to claim 23, wherein the processor is configured to interface with a display that illustrates forces that are at least one of created by the powered system or act upon the powered system.

28. The system according to claim 23, wherein the processor is configured to interface with a display that illustrates control instructions for the user of the powered vehicle to follow in operating the powered vehicle during the trip, the control instructions based on the operational conditions that are designated by the trip plan.

29. The system according to claim 28, further comprises a recording device configured to interface with the processor to collect operational information representative of actions taken by the user during operation of the powered vehicle.

30. The system according to claim 23, wherein the processor is configured to interface with a display to illustrate when the user should take manual control of the powered vehicle during a time period that the powered vehicle is operating autonomously according to the operational conditions that are designated by the trip plan.

31. A tangible non-transitory computer readable media comprising computer software code that is operable with one or more processors, the computer software code including one or more computer software modules configured to direct the one or more processors to:

obtain information specific to a trip for a powered vehicle to travel from a current first location to a second location along one or more routes, the information including trip setup data representative of one or more characteristics of the trip and vehicle setup data representative of one or more characteristics of the powered vehicle;

present the information to an operator of the powered vehicle;

receive verification of at least some of the information from the operator via an operator input device prior to the powered vehicle starting movement to travel along the one or more routes;

create a trip plan subsequent to the information being presented to the operator, subsequent to the verification of the at least some of the information being received from the operator, and prior to the powered vehicle starting the movement to travel along the one or more routes, the trip plan created based on the at least some of the information that is verified by the operator, the trip plan including operational conditions that are designated for the powered vehicle during the trip according to locations of the powered vehicle as the powered vehicle travels from the first location to the second location so that the powered vehicle is controlled according to the operational conditions based on where the powered vehicle is located and wherein the one or more computer software modules are configured to direct the one or more processors to autonomously implement the operational conditions designated by the trip plan to control actual operational conditions of the powered vehicle during the trip.

32. The tangible non-transitory computer readable media according to claim 31, wherein the one or more computer software modules are configured to direct the one or more processors to provide feedback to the operator when the processor at least one of obtains the information or receives the verification.

33. The tangible non-transitory computer readable media according to claim 31, wherein the one or more computer software modules are configured to direct the one or more processors to provide the operator with an ability to access to the information.

34. The tangible non-transitory computer readable media according to claim 33, wherein the one or more computer software modules are configured to direct the one or more processors to control access to the information by the operator based on at least one of a location of the powered vehicle, a condition of the powered system, external environment proximate the powered vehicle, or additional information provided by at least one of a remote monitoring location or the operator.

35. The tangible non-transitory computer readable media according to claim 31, wherein the one or more computer software modules are configured to direct the one or more processors to receive a modification to the at least some of the information prior to receiving the verification of the at least some of the information.

36. The tangible non-transitory computer readable media according to claim 31, wherein the one or more computer software modules are configured to direct the one or more processors to communicate at least one of the information or the verification of the at least some of the information through a wireless communication network.