System for estimating a load index of a railway vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023122725-A1
Application number	US-202117759909-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 5, 2021
Priority date	Feb 6, 2020
Publication date	Apr 20, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system for estimating a load index of a railway vehicle is described, comprising:
an image acquisition means arranged to acquire a real-time image of a predetermined area inside a wagon of such a railway vehicle; and a control means arranged to determine the load index of the railway vehicle as a function of this image acquired by the image acquisition means.

First claim

1 . A system for estimating a load index of a railway vehicle, comprising:
an image acquisition means arranged to acquire in real time an image of a predetermined area inside a wagon of said railway vehicle; and a control means arranged to determine the load index of the railway vehicle as a function of said image acquired by the image acquisition means.

2 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein said control means is arranged for:
comparing the image acquired by the image acquisition means with a plurality of predefined sample images; each sample image being assigned a predetermined load index of the railway vehicle; determining which sample image has the greatest degree of similarity with the image acquired by the image acquisition mean; and determining that the current load index of the railway vehicle corresponds with the predetermined load index assigned to the sample image determined to have the greatest degree of similarity with the image acquired by the image acquisition means.

3 . The system according to claim 2 , wherein the control unit is arranged to determine which sample image has the greatest degree of similarity with the image acquired by the image acquisition means through an image recognition software based on artificial intelligence.

4 . The system according to claim 2 , wherein said control means is arranged for:
counting the number of passengers within the image acquired by the image acquisition means; determining the current load index of the railway vehicle, based on a predetermined average passenger weight value, the counted number of passengers, a full load mass value indicative of the mass of the railway vehicle in a condition in which the maximum acceptable number of passengers is present in the railway vehicle and a tare mass value indicative of the mass of the railway vehicle in a condition in which there are no passengers in the railway vehicle, through the following formula:

Load
⁢

index

=

number
⁢

of
⁢

passengers
⁢

counted
*
average
⁢

passenger
⁢

weight
⁢

value

full
⁢

load
⁢

mass

-

tare
⁢

mass

.

5 . The system according to claim 2 , wherein said control means is arranged for:
counting the number of freight items within the image acquired by the image acquisition means; determining the current load index of the railway vehicle, based on a predetermined average freight item weight value, the counted number of freight items, a full load mass value indicative of the mass of the railway vehicle in a condition in which the maximum acceptable number of freight items is present in the railway vehicle and a tare mass value indicative of the mass of the railway vehicle in a condition in which there are no freight items in the railway vehicle, through the following formula:

load
⁢

index

=

counted
⁢

number
⁢

of
⁢

freight
⁢

items
*
average
⁢

freight
⁢

item
⁢

weight

full
⁢

load
⁢

mass

-

tare
⁢

mass

.

6 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein said control means is arranged for:
counting the number of passengers in the image acquired by the image acquisition means; determining the load index, on the basis of a predetermined maximum acceptable number of passengers within the railway vehicle and the counted number of passengers in the image acquired by the image acquisition means, through the following formula:

Load
⁢

index

=

counted
⁢

number
⁢

of
⁢

passengers

maximum
⁢

number
⁢

of
⁢

passengers
⁢

acceptable
⁢

in
⁢

the
⁢

railway
⁢

vehicle

.

7 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein said control means is arranged for:
counting the number of freight items in the image acquired by the image acquisition means; determining the load index, on the basis of a predetermined maximum acceptable number of freight items within the railway vehicle and the counted number of freight items in the image acquired by the image acquisition means, through the following formula:

Load
⁢

index

=

Assignees

• Faiveley Transport Italia Spa

Inventors

• Frea Matteo

Classifications

• G06T2207/30242

  Counting objects in image · CPC title

• G06V10/761

  Proximity, similarity or dissimilarity measures · CPC title

• G06V2201/06

  Recognition of objects for industrial automation · CPC title

• G06V10/772

  Determining representative reference patterns, e.g. averaging or distorting patterns; Generating dictionaries · CPC title

• G01G19/04 Primary

  for weighing railway vehicles · CPC title