System and method for vehicle operation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9689681-B2
Application number	US-201414457304-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 12, 2014
Priority date	Aug 12, 2014
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

A system includes an energy management processing unit that includes a trip planning module, a plurality of estimator modules, and an arbiter module. The trip planning module plans a trip profile specifying power settings based on trip data including a plurality of parameters having expected values. Each of the estimator modules generates an estimation re-plan request when the difference between an expected and experienced respective trip planning parameter value exceeds a threshold. The arbiter module receives at least one estimation re-plan request from the plurality of estimator modules, determines whether a re-plan is to be performed based on at least one of a state of the vehicle system or additional estimation re-plan requests, and provides an arbitrated re-plan request to the trip planning module for re-planning the trip profile when it is determined that a re-plan is to be performed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
an energy management processing unit configured to be disposed onboard a vehicle system, the energy management processing unit comprising one or more processors configured to:
plan a trip profile specifying power settings for performing a mission based on trip data, the trip data including a plurality of parameters having expected values;
estimate respective experienced values of the plurality of parameters used by the trip planning module to plan the trip profile, determine respective differences between the experienced values and the expected values, and generate respective estimation re-plan requests of the trip profile when any of the differences exceed respective thresholds;
based on the estimation re-plan requests, select a re-plan request from among a first one of the estimation re-plan requests or an additional one or more of the estimation re-plan requests, prior to performing a re-plan of the trip profile, and provide the selected re-plan request to the trip planning module for re-planning the trip profile based on the selected re-plan request; and
control the vehicle system based on the re-planned trip profile.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors is configured to select among the estimation re-plan requests based on a predetermined priority ranking.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the one or more processors is configured to select the first estimation re-plan request over a second one of the estimation re-plan requests when one or more of the parameters corresponding to the second estimation re-plan request depend on one or more of the parameters specified by the first estimation re-plan request.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the one or more processors is configured to select the first estimation re-plan request over a second one of the estimation re-plan requests when the first estimation re-plan request is determined to be more reliable than the second estimation re-plan request.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors is configured to adjust a value of the first estimation re-plan request to provide a corresponding modified value for the arbitrated re-plan request.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more processors is configured to adjust the value of the first estimation re-plan request based on the state of the vehicle system.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors is configured to determine whether to forward the arbitrated re-plan request to the trip planning module based on a planning state of the vehicle system.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors is further configured to commence a countdown period after receiving the first one of the estimation re-plan requests and before implementing the first one of the estimation re-plan requests, and to select the selected re-plan request from among the first one of the estimation re-plan requests and other re-plan requests received during the countdown period.

9. A method comprising:
obtaining, with one or more processors, a first estimation re-plan request for re-planning a trip profile, the first estimation re-plan request based on a difference between an expected value and an experienced value of a parameter used to generate the trip profile for a vehicle system;
obtaining, with the one or more processors, one or more additional estimation re-plan requests based on a difference of one or more expected and experienced values of one or more respective additional parameters used to generate the trip profile;
selecting, with the one or more processors, a re-plan request from among the first estimation re-plan request or the one or more additional estimation re-plan requests, prior to performing a re-plan of the trip profile;
re-planning the trip profile based on the selected re-plan request; and
controlling the vehicle system based on the re-planned trip profile.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein selecting the re-plan request is performed based on a predetermined priority ranking.

11. The method of claim 10 , comprising selecting the first estimation re-plan request over a second estimation re-plan request of the one or more additional estimation re-plan requests when one or more parameters corresponding to the second estimation re-plan request depend on one or more parameters specified by the first estimation re-plan request.

12. The method of claim 10 , comprising selecting the first estimation re-plan request over a second estimation re-plan request of the one or more additional estimation re-plan requests when the first estimation re-plan request is determined to be more reliable than the second estimation re-plan request.

13. The method of claim 9 , comprising adjusting a value of the first estimation re-plan request to provide a corresponding modified value for the arbitrated re-plan request.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the adjusting the value is performed based on the state of the vehicle system.

15. The method of claim 9 , comprising determining, with the one or more processors, whether the arbitrated re-plan request is implemented based on a planning state of the vehicle system.

16. A tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium comprising one or more computer software modules configured to direct one or more processors to:
obtain a first estimation re-plan request for a re-planning a trip profile, the first estimation re-plan request based on a difference between an expected value and an experienced value of a parameter used to generate the trip profile for a vehicle system;
obtain, with the one or more processors, one or more additional estimation re-plan requests based on a difference of one or more expected and experienced values of one or more respective additional parameters used to generate the trip profile;
select a re-plan request from among the first estimation re-plan request or the one or more additional estimation re-plan requests, prior to performing a re-plan of the trip profile;
re-plan the trip profile based on the selected re-plan request; and
control the vehicle system based on the re-planned trip profile.

17. The tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the one or more computer software modules are configured to direct the one or more processors to select the selected re-plan request based on a predetermined priority ranking.

18. The tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the one or more computer software modules are configured to direct the one or more processors to select the first estimation re-plan request over a second estimation re-plan request of the one or more additional estimation re-plan requests when one or more parameters corresponding to the second estimation re-plan request depend on one or more parameters specified by the first estimation re-plan request.

19. The tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the one or more computer software modules are configured to direct the one or more processors to select the first estimation re-plan request over a second estimation re-plan request of the one or more additional estimation re-plan requests when the first estimation re-plan request is determined to be more reliable than the second estimation re-plan request.

20. The tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the one or more computer software modules are configured to adjust a value of the first e

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Napolitano James Andrew
• Meyer Brian Nedward

Classifications

• Y02T90/16

  Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles · CPC title

• Y02T10/72

  Electric energy management in electromobility · CPC title

• B61L27/00

  Central railway traffic control systems; Trackside control; Communication systems specially adapted therefor · CPC title

• B60L2240/662

  Temperature · CPC title

• B60L7/12 Primary

  for vehicles propelled by DC motors · CPC title