An autonomous railway track assessment apparatus includes: a railway track assessment platform including a boxcar including an enclosed space formed therein; one or more power sources located on the boxcar; a controller; a first sensor assembly in electronic communication with the controller oriented to capture data from the railway track; an air handling system located on the rail car, the air handling system including an air blower and a heater/chiller; a set of air ducts in fluid communication with the air handling system and the first sensor assembly for supplying heated or cooled blown air from the air from the handling system to the first sensor assembly. Data from the railway track is autonomously collected by the first sensor assembly controlled by the controller and such data is stored on the data storage device.

An autonomous railway track assessment apparatus includes: a railway track assessment platform including a boxcar including an enclosed space formed therein; one or more power sources located on the boxcar; a controller; a first sensor assembly in electronic communication with the controller oriented to capture data from the railway track; an air handling system located on the rail car, the air handling system including an air blower and a heater/chiller; a set of air ducts in fluid communication with the air handling system and the first sensor assembly for supplying heated or cooled blown air from the air from the handling system to the first sensor assembly. Data from the railway track is autonomously collected by the first sensor assembly controlled by the controller and such data is stored on the data storage device.

The present invention is provided with: a sensing unit which is provided in a vehicle and measures the three-dimensional shape of an object; a matching unit for performing matching between multiple sets of structure information, in which are associated a data group indicating the three-dimensional shapes of structures provided beforehand near a path the vehicle will travel along and positional information indicating the posit ions of the structures, and a data group indicating the three-dimensional shape of the object measured by the sensing unit, and for specifying the position of the object; and an estimated position determination unit for determining, with the position specified by the matching unit as a reference position, the estimated position of the vehicle on the basis of the reference position.

A method displays a course of a process of at least one railway safety unit. While using at least one device control, process data supplied by the at least one railway safety unit, are converted by dual-channel processing into first and second image data of the course of the process to be displayed. The image data are output to be displayed on a data display unit. In order to simplify the displaying of the course of the process, a pair of display spectacles having a first and a second display is used as a data display unit. The first display displays a first representation of the first image data delivered thereto that is visually detectable by the right eye, and the second display displays a second representation of the second image data delivered thereto that is visually detectable by the left eye.

A method displays a course of a process of at least one railway safety unit. While using at least one device control, process data supplied by the at least one railway safety unit, are converted by dual-channel processing into first and second image data of the course of the process to be displayed. The image data are output to be displayed on a data display unit. In order to simplify the displaying of the course of the process, a pair of display spectacles having a first and a second display is used as a data display unit. The first display displays a first representation of the first image data delivered thereto that is visually detectable by the right eye, and the second display displays a second representation of the second image data delivered thereto that is visually detectable by the left eye.

A method of determining the geographical position of a rail vehicle travelling on a defined route that has a number of known stopping locations separated by known distances. The method comprises steps of: recording a linear speed signal of the vehicle; processing the linear speed signal to identify a plurality of preceding stationary periods when linear speed equals zero, including a last stationary period, and to calculate the distance traveled between the plurality of preceding stationary periods; comparing the calculated distances with the known distances between stopping locations, to match the last identified stationary period to a corresponding one of the known stopping locations and identify the direction of travel of the rail vehicle; and determining the geographical position of the rail vehicle by processing a portion of the speed signal obtained since the last identified stationary period, to calculate the distance traveled from the corresponding stopping location.

A method of determining the geographical position of a rail vehicle travelling on a defined route that has a number of known stopping locations separated by known distances. The method comprises steps of: recording a linear speed signal of the vehicle; processing the linear speed signal to identify a plurality of preceding stationary periods when linear speed equals zero, including a last stationary period, and to calculate the distance traveled between the plurality of preceding stationary periods; comparing the calculated distances with the known distances between stopping locations, to match the last identified stationary period to a corresponding one of the known stopping locations and identify the direction of travel of the rail vehicle; and determining the geographical position of the rail vehicle by processing a portion of the speed signal obtained since the last identified stationary period, to calculate the distance traveled from the corresponding stopping location.

A train control system configured to automatically execute and ensure compliance with all requirements for radio blocking. A radio blocking module of the physical train control system of a lead train retrieves and displays the appropriate clearance points for acceptance by the train driver of the lead train. Once accepted, the clearance points are transmitted to a trailing train for display and acceptance by the train driver of the trailing train. An accepted clearance point is passed to the train control system for use as the next destination point for navigation purposes. The train control system can also electronically log all acts to comply with applicable radio blocking requirements.

A train control system configured to automatically execute and ensure compliance with all requirements for radio blocking. A radio blocking module of the physical train control system of a lead train retrieves and displays the appropriate clearance points for acceptance by the train driver of the lead train. Once accepted, the clearance points are transmitted to a trailing train for display and acceptance by the train driver of the trailing train. An accepted clearance point is passed to the train control system for use as the next destination point for navigation purposes. The train control system can also electronically log all acts to comply with applicable radio blocking requirements.

The present invention relates to a method for remotely controlling the status of graphic user interfaces such as monitors, panels, displays, screens and others, used in railway or transportation systems. For achieving a reliable safety level, so that a person can be sure that the information displayed by the graphic interface in real time correspond to the effective situation of the transportation network, there is provided a feedback control loop between an image elaboration-generation block, and a safety block. According to a preferred solution, the communications between the blocks of the control loop are encrypted. With the control method of the present invention, it is possible to achieve a top safety level in the railway networks, even when using commercially available graphic user interfaces, such as COTS terminal.