Vehicle control system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023120917-A1
Application number	US-202117504965-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 19, 2021
Priority date	Oct 19, 2021
Publication date	Apr 20, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A vehicle control system and method includes obtaining a size of a vehicle system, identifying locations of different portions of the vehicle system, and determining one or more of a) whether the vehicle system is disposed within or across an intersection of routes or b) a predicted time of arrival at which the vehicle system will be disposed within or across the intersection based on the size of the vehicle system and the locations of the different portions of the vehicle system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
obtaining a size of a vehicle system; identifying locations of different portions of the vehicle system; and determining one or more of (a) whether the vehicle system is disposed within or across an intersection of routes or (b) a predicted time of arrival at which the vehicle system will be disposed within or across the intersection based on the size of the vehicle system and the locations of the different portions of the vehicle system.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
measuring a moving speed of the vehicle system; determining a location of the intersection; and determining one or more of a predicted time of departure of the vehicle system from the intersection or the predicted time of arrival of the vehicle system based on the speed of movement of the vehicle system and the location of the intersection.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle system is disposed within or across the intersection, and further comprising automatically communicating an alert to an operator of one or more of the vehicle system or another vehicle system responsive to determining that the vehicle system is disposed within or across the intersection.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle system is disposed within or across the intersection, and further comprising automatically controlling operation of the vehicle system to move the vehicle system out of the intersection.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving communication from a wayside device that an obstacle is disposed within or across the intersection.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the communication indicates one or more of a moving speed of the obstacle, a size of the obstacle, or a predicted time of departure of the obstacle at which the obstacle is expected to move out of the intersection.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
determining whether a portion of the obstacle will interfere with at least one of the different portions of the vehicle system within the intersection based on one or more of the speed of movement of the obstacle, the size of the obstacle, or the size of the vehicle system.

8 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
changing one or more operating settings of the vehicle system to change the predicted time of arrival of the vehicle system at the intersection to a new time of arrival based on the obstacle disposed within or across the intersection.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
determining a time at which the obstacle is expected to move out of the intersection; and changing the one or more operating settings of the vehicle system to change the predicted time of arrival of the vehicle system at the intersection to the new time of arrival, the new time of arrival being at a time that is after the obstacle has moved out of the intersection.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining a vector projection of the vehicle system based on one or more of a direction of movement of the vehicle system, a route along which the vehicle system moves, a moving speed of the vehicle system, or the predicted time of arrival of the vehicle system at which the vehicle system will be disposed within or across the intersection; and determining whether the vehicle system will interfere with an obstacle at the intersection based on the vector projection of the vehicle system.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising communicating a command message to the vehicle system to change one or more operating settings of the vehicle system to change the predicted time of arrival of the vehicle system at the intersection to a new time of arrival responsive to determining that the vehicle system will interfere with the obstacle based on the vector projection of the vehicle system.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining an intersection allowance area that includes the intersection and a threshold distance around the intersection; and determining one or more of (a) whether the vehicle system is disposed within or across the intersection allowance area, or (b) the predicted time of arrival at the vehicle system will be disposed within or across the intersection allowance area.

13 . A system comprising:
a controller comprising one or more processors configured to obtain a size of a vehicle system, the one or more processors configured to identify locations of different portions of the vehicle system, and the one or more processors configured to determine one or more of (a) whether the vehicle system is disposed within or across an intersection of routes or (b) a predicted time of arrival at which the vehicle system will be disposed within or across the intersection based on the size of the vehicle system and the locations of the different portions of the vehicle system.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to measure a moving speed of the vehicle system and determine a location of the intersection, the one or more processors configured to determine one or more of a predicted time of departure of the vehicle system from the intersection or the predicted time of arrival of the vehicle system at the intersection based on the speed of movement of the vehicle system and the location of the intersection.

15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to automatically communicate an alert to an operator of one or more of the vehicle system or another vehicle system responsive to determining that at least one of the different portions of the vehicle system is disposed within or across the intersection.

16 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the controller is communicatively coupled with a wayside device comprising one or more sensors, the controller configured to receive data signals from the wayside device indicative of an obstacle disposed within the intersection.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to change one or more operating settings of the vehicle system to change the predicted time of arrival of the vehicle system at the intersection to a new time of arrival based on the obstacle disposed within or across the intersection.

18 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to obtain a vector projection of the vehicle system based on one or more of a direction of movement of the vehicle system, a route along which the vehicle system moves, a moving speed of the vehicle system, or the predicted time of arrival at which the vehicle system will be disposed within or across the intersection,
wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine whether the vehicle system will interfere with an obstacle at the intersection based at least in part on the vector projection of the vehicle system.

19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to communicate a command message to the vehicle system to change one or more operating settings of the vehicle system to change the predicted time of arrival at which the vehicle system will be disposed within or across the intersection responsive to determining that the vehicle system will interfere with the obstacle based on the vector projection of the vehicle system.

20 . A method comprising:
identifying locations of different portions of a first vehicle system; identifying a location of an intersection allowance area of routes, the intersec

Assignees

• Transp Ip Holdings Llc

Inventors

• Muthusami Srivallidevi
• Natarajan Mahesh Babu
• Dirnberger Jeremiah
• Franco Adam

Classifications

• B60W40/12

  related to parameters of the vehicle itself {, e.g. tyre models} · CPC title

• B60W30/0953

  the prediction being responsive to vehicle dynamic parameters · CPC title

• B60W2520/00

  Input parameters relating to overall vehicle dynamics · CPC title

• B60W40/02

  related to ambient conditions · CPC title

• B60W2554/404

  Characteristics · CPC title