Train control device, method, and program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11964683-B2
Application number	US-202017621546-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 19, 2020
Priority date	Jun 26, 2019
Publication date	Apr 23, 2024
Grant date	Apr 23, 2024

Abstract

A train control device including a control logic generation unit that uses an environmental model defined by the number of a plurality of closed sections constituting a track included in a predetermined control target region, a connection configuration of the closed sections, and the number of trains present on the track, a state of the environmental model being changed discretely according to a combination of a position of one control target train that is the train to be controlled, positions of zero or more other trains, and the presence or absence of reservation for each of the closed sections, and generates a control logic that is a logic for transitioning the state of the environmental model depending on the state of the environmental model so as to satisfy a predetermined condition, and a regeneration instruction unit that instructs the control logic generation unit to regenerate the control logic.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A train control device, which controls trains by using an environmental model that is defined by the number of a plurality of closed sections constituting a track included in a predetermined control target region, a connection configuration of the closed sections, and the number of trains present on the track, a state of the environmental model being changed discretely according to a combination of a position of one control target train that is the train to be controlled, positions of zero or more other trains, and presence or absence of reservation for each of the closed sections, the train control device comprising:
a control logic generation unit configured to generate a control logic that is a logic for selecting any one of actions of “reservation of a closed section or release of the reservation”, “movement to a reserved closed section”, and “standby in a current closed section”, which are to be performed by the control target train depending on the state of the environmental model, and transitioning the state of the environmental model depending on the selection result, so as to satisfy a predetermined condition that is a condition for passing through the control target region;
an action determination unit configured to sequentially determine the actions, which are to be performed by the control target train depending on the state of the environmental model, on the basis of the generated control logic until the predetermined condition is satisfied; and
a regeneration instruction unit configured to instruct the control logic generation unit to regenerate the control logic with a present state of the environmental model as an initial state before the predetermined condition is satisfied.

2. The train control device according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined condition includes a condition to be reached as a target state and a condition that has to not be reached.

3. The train control device according to claim 1 , wherein the control logic includes information indicating correspondence between a flow of a state transition of each of the closed sections included in the control target region and each of the actions to be sequentially performed by the control target train.

4. The train control device according to claim 1 , wherein the regeneration instruction unit is configured to instruct the control logic generation unit to regenerate the control logic at a time when the state of the environmental model changes a plurality of times.

5. The train control device according to claim 1 , wherein, when the environmental model has changed, the regeneration instruction unit is configured to instruct the control logic generation unit to regenerate the control logic by using the changed environmental model.

6. The train control device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the control logic generation unit is configured to separately generate the control logics for a plurality of partial control regions into which the control target region is divided, and
wherein the regeneration instruction unit is configured to instruct the control logic generation unit to regenerate the control logic when the other train enters from a region other than the partial control region where the control target train is present or when the other train leaves from the partial control region where the control target train is present.

7. The train control device according to claim 6 , further comprising:
an additional generation instruction unit configured to, when the control target train approaches the other partial control region different from the partial control region where the control target train is present, instruct the control logic generation unit to generate a control logic for the other partial control region in addition to generation of the control logic for the partial control region where the control target train is present.

8. The train control device according to claim 6 , further comprising:
a region redefinition unit configured to redefine the partial control region according to the position of the control target train.

9. The train control device according to claim 1 , wherein the train control device is mounted on the train.

10. A method, which controls trains by using an environmental model that is defined by the number of a plurality of closed sections constituting a track included in a predetermined control target region, a connection configuration of the closed sections, and the number of trains present on the track, a state of the environmental model being changed discretely according to a combination of a position of one control target train that is the train to be controlled, positions of zero or more other trains, and presence or absence of reservation for each of the closed sections, the method comprising:
a step of selecting any one of actions of “reservation of a closed section or release of the reservation”, “movement to a reserved closed section”, and “standby in a current closed section”, which are to be performed by the control target train depending on the state of the environmental model, so as to satisfy a predetermined condition that is a condition for passing through the control target region;
a step of generating a control logic that is a logic for transitioning the state of the environmental model depending on the selection result;
a step of sequentially determining the actions, which are to be performed by the control target train depending on the state of the environmental model, on the basis of the generated control logic until the predetermined condition is satisfied; and
a step of regenerating the control logic with a present state of the environmental model as an initial state before the predetermined condition is satisfied.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium which stores a program causing a computer, which constitutes a device for controlling trains to perform a method of controlling the trains by using an environmental model that is defined by the number of a plurality of closed sections constituting a track included in a predetermined control target region, a connection configuration of the closed sections, and the number of trains present on the track, a state of the environmental model being changed discretely according to a combination of a position of one control target train that is the train to be controlled, positions of zero or more other trains, and presence or absence of reservation for each of the closed sections, the method comprising:
a step of selecting any one of actions of “reservation of a closed section or release of the reservation”, “movement to a reserved closed section”, and “standby in a current closed section”, which are to be performed by the control target train depending on the state of the environmental model, so as to satisfy a predetermined condition that is a condition for passing through the control target region;
a step of generating a control logic that is a logic for transitioning the state of the environmental model depending on the selection result;
a step of sequentially determining the actions, which are to be performed by the control target train depending on the state of the environmental model, on the basis of the generated control logic until the predetermined condition is satisfied; and
a step of regenerating the control logic with a present state of the environmental model as an initial state before the predetermined condition is satisfied.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Heavy Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Handa Takanobu
• Yanai Noritaka
• SAIMEN Atsuyoshi

Classifications

• B61L27/40 Primary

  Handling position reports or trackside vehicle data · CPC title

• B61L27/20

  Trackside control of safe travel of vehicle or train, e.g. braking curve calculation · CPC title

• B61L2027/204

  using Communication-based Train Control [CBTC] · CPC title

• B61L2201/00

  Control methods · CPC title

• B61L15/0027

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