Arrival time and location targeting system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10654500-B2
Application number	US-201615176362-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 8, 2016
Priority date	Jun 12, 2015
Publication date	May 19, 2020
Grant date	May 19, 2020

Abstract

An arrival time and location targeting system for a train, the system including at least one computer programmed or configured to: (a) receive at least one target location associated with a forward route of the train; (b) determine required time of arrival at the at least one target location based at least partially on the current location of a leading edge of the train; (c) determine an estimated time of arrival of the leading edge of the train at the at least one target location based at least partially on the current location of the leading edge of the train and the current speed of the train; and (d) based at least partially on the difference between the determined required time of arrival and the determined estimated time of arrival, generate a target speed of the train. A computer-implemented arrival time and location targeting method is also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
one or more processors configured to receive at least one target location associated with a forward route of a vehicle system, receive a required time of arrival at the at least one target location, and determine an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle system at the at least one target location based at least partially on a current location of the vehicle system and a current speed of the vehicle system, the one or more processors also configured to determine a time difference between the required time of arrival and the estimated time of arrival and to provide a warning including a countdown to when a braking enforcement action is to be automatically enforced at least partially based on the time difference that is determined, the one or more processors configured to determine whether the warning is ignored and implement or cause an automatic implementation of the braking enforcement action that causes the vehicle system to stop responsive to determining that the warning was ignored and the countdown expired.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to repeatedly receive the at least one target location, receive the required time of arrival, determine the estimated time of arrival, and determine the time difference based on at least one of: the current speed of the vehicle system, the current location of the vehicle system, a current location of a leading edge of the vehicle system, at least one braking prediction process, a set interval, or any combination thereof.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to automatically implement the braking enforcement action at least partially based upon the current speed of the vehicle system.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to automatically implement the braking enforcement action at least partially based upon a current location of a leading edge of the vehicle system.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the required time of arrival is later than the estimated time of arrival.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to direct a visual display device onboard the vehicle system to display one or more of: the estimated time of arrival, the required time of arrival, the current speed of the vehicle system, a target speed of the vehicle system, the at least one target location, a current location of a leading edge of the vehicle system, braking data, alarm data, vehicle system data, route data, target location data, or any combination thereof.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one target location is associated with one or more of a crossing, a safety target, a route section, a route location, a specified location, a restricted speed location, a circuit, a restricted noise location, or any combination thereof.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to communicate or cause communication of specified data to one or more of an on-board computer, a remote server, a wayside device, a device associated with a crossing, a signal device, a cellular device, a specified entity, or any combination thereof at least partially based on the time difference that is determined.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to communicate or cause communication of specified data to one or more of a remote server, a wayside device, a device associated with a crossing, a signal device, a cellular device, a specified entity, or any combination thereof at least partially based on the current speed of the vehicle system.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to communicate or cause communication of specified data to one or more of an on-board computer, a remote server, a wayside device, a device associated with a crossing, a signal device, a cellular device, a specified entity, or any combination thereof at least partially based on the current location of the vehicle system.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to access at least one database that stores the at least one target location.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one database comprises a track database in a positive train control system.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a target speed of the vehicle system based on the time difference between the required time of arrival and the estimated time of arrival, determine a required acceleration or deceleration time associated with adjusting the current speed of the vehicle system to match the target speed of the vehicle system, and implement or cause implementation of the braking enforcement action that causes the vehicle system to stop based on the time difference between the required acceleration or deceleration time and the required time of arrival.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to implement or cause the implementation of the braking enforcement action before the speed adjustment time is later than the required time of arrival.

15. A method comprising:
receiving at least one target location associated with a forward route of a vehicle system;
receiving a required time of arrival at the at least one target location;
determining an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle system at the at least one target location based at least partially on a current location of the vehicle system and a current speed of the vehicle system;
determining a time difference between the required time of arrival and the estimated time of arrival;
providing a warning including a countdown to when a braking enforcement action is to be automatically enforced at least partially based on the time difference that is determined; and
implementing or causing automatic implementation of the braking enforcement action that causes the vehicle system to stop responsive to determining that the warning was ignored and the countdown expired.

16. An apparatus comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having program instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
receive at least one target location associated with a forward route of a vehicle system;
receive a required time of arrival at the at least one target location;
determine an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle system at the at least one target location based at least partially on a current location of the vehicle system and a current speed of the vehicle system;
determine a time difference between the required time of arrival and the estimated time of arrival;
provide a warning including a countdown to when a braking enforcement action is to be automatically enforced at least partially based on the time difference that is determined; and
implement or cause automatic implementation of a braking enforcement action that causes the vehicle system to stop in response to determining that the warning is ignored and the countdown expired.

Assignees

• Westinghouse Air Brake Tech Corp

Inventors

• Schultz Timothy Allen
• Sollars Scott A
• Gorman Joseph W
• Steffen Ii Michael W
• Swiderski Frank J

Classifications

• B61L15/0027

  Radio-based, e.g. using GSM-R · CPC title

• B61L25/025

  Absolute localisation, e.g. providing geodetic coordinates · CPC title

• B61L25/021 Primary

  Measuring and recording of train speed · CPC title

• B61L3/008

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B61L27/0022

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic