Method of remotely resetting locomotive control systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016185368-A1
Application number	US-201414585029-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 29, 2014
Priority date	Dec 29, 2014
Publication date	Jun 30, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of resetting a control system of a machine is disclosed. The method may include observing a condition of the machine from off-board the machine and determining a fault associated with the control system based on the condition. The control system may include a controller onboard the machine and at least one breaker in communication with the controller. The method may further include generating a command from off-board the machine directing the controller to attempt to automatically reset the control system. Automatically resetting the control system may include cycling the at least one breaker or rebooting the controller.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of resetting a control system of a machine, comprising:
observing a condition of the machine from off-board the machine; determining a fault associated with the control system based on the condition, the control system including:
a controller onboard the machine; and
at least one breaker in communication with the controller; and
generating a command from off-board the machine directing the controller to attempt to automatically reset the control system, wherein automatically resetting the control system includes cycling the at least one breaker or rebooting the controller.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the machine further includes one or more traction motors; and observing the condition of the machine includes observing a power output of the one or more traction motors.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the fault includes comparing the power output of the one or more traction motors to a requested output.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein observing the condition of the machine includes observing a feedback signal from the at least one breaker.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one breaker includes an actuator configured to toggle the at least one breaker between an off-position and an on-position when energized; and cycling the at least one breaker includes energizing the actuator.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the controller includes an inbuilt restart function; and rebooting the controller includes initiating the inbuilt restart function.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further including directing the command to the controller wirelessly.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
automatically resetting the control system further includes determining an inactive status of the fault after a previous automatic reset attempt; and setting an error flag to an off-position based on the inactive status of the fault.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
automatically resetting the control system further includes determining an active status of the fault after a previous automatic reset attempt; and attempting to automatically reset the control system again based on the active status of the fault.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein automatically resetting the control system further includes:
determining a number of previous automatic reset attempts; and attempting to automatically reset the control system again when the number of previous automatic reset attempts is below a first threshold.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein automatically resetting the control system further includes preventing subsequent attempts to automatically reset the control system when the number of previous automatic reset attempts is equal to or greater than the first threshold.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further including generating an override command from off-board the machine, wherein the override command includes cycling the at least one breaker.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further including directing the override command to the at least one breaker wirelessly.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the override command is automatically generated by an off-board computer.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the override command is manually generated by off-board personnel.

16 . A method of resetting a control system of a machine, comprising:
observing a condition of the machine from off-board the machine; determining a difference between the condition and an expected condition; determining a fault associated with the control system based on the difference, the control system including:
a controller onboard the machine; and
at least one breaker in communication with the controller; and
generating a command from off-board the machine based on the fault; wirelessly directing the controller to attempt to automatically reset the control system, wherein automatically resetting the control system includes cycling the at least one breaker or rebooting the controller; determining a number of previous automatic reset attempts; preventing subsequent automatic reset attempts based on the number of previous automatic reset attempts; and generating an override command from off-board the machine based on the number of previous automatic reset attempts; and wirelessly directing the override command to the at least one breaker, the override command including cycling the at least one breaker.

17 . A control system for a machine, comprising:
a device associated with an operation of the machine; at least one breaker configured to provide power to the device; an onboard controller in communication with the device and the at least one breaker, the onboard controller being configured to automatically cycle the at least one breaker and reboot the onboard controller; an off-board controller in communication with the onboard controller and with the at least one breaker and configured to:
observe a condition of the machine;
determine a fault based on the condition; and
wirelessly command the onboard controller to automatically attempt to reset the control system based on the fault, wherein resetting the control system includes cycling the at least one breaker or rebooting the onboard controller.

18 . The control system of claim 17 , wherein the onboard controller is further configured to:
determine a number of previous automatic reset attempts; and prevent subsequent automatic reset attempts based on the number automatic reset attempts.

19 . The control system of claim 18 , wherein the off-board controller is further configured to wirelessly direct an override command to the at least one breaker, the override command including cycling the at least one breaker.

20 . The control system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one breaker includes an actuator configured to toggle the at least one breaker between an off-position and an on-position when energized.

Assignees

• Electro Motive Diesel Inc

Inventors

• Melas Dennis
• Traylor Isaac Suwa
• Kupiec Gregory Raymond
• Jezior Paul P

Classifications

• G05B15/02

  electric · CPC title

• B61L3/006

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B61K9/00

  Railway vehicle profile gauges; Detecting or indicating overheating of components; Apparatus on locomotives or cars to indicate bad track sections; General design of track recording vehicles · CPC title

• B61L27/0094 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B61L27/57 Primary

  for vehicles or trains, e.g. trackside supervision of train conditions · CPC title