B61L27/40

Systems and methods for railway asset management
11325625 · 2022-05-10 · ·

Systems and methods for railway asset management. The methods comprise: using a virtual reality device to recognize and collect real world information about railway assets located in a railyard; and using the real world information to (i) associate a railway asset to a data collection unit, (ii) provide an individual with an augmented reality experience associated with the railyard and/or (iii) facilitate automated railyard management tasks.

Systems and methods for railway asset management
11325625 · 2022-05-10 · ·

Systems and methods for railway asset management. The methods comprise: using a virtual reality device to recognize and collect real world information about railway assets located in a railyard; and using the real world information to (i) associate a railway asset to a data collection unit, (ii) provide an individual with an augmented reality experience associated with the railyard and/or (iii) facilitate automated railyard management tasks.

System and method for track occupancy determination

A method and a system determine a subsequent number of guided vehicles occupying a track section of a railway network. The system has a trackside device configured for controlling and managing a movement authority of a guided vehicle for a track section and at least one neighboring trackside device. Each neighboring trackside device is configured for controlling and managing a movement authority for a directly neighboring track section. The trackside device is configured for calculating the subsequent number of guided vehicles from a number of guided vehicles occupying the track section previously determined by the trackside device and information received from each neighboring trackside device regarding a number of guided vehicles entering, from the track section. The directly neighboring track section is controlled by the neighboring trackside device and a number of guided vehicles leaving the directly neighboring track section for the track section.

Systems and methods for controlling movement of locomotives
11318972 · 2022-05-03 · ·

An example locomotive consist control system includes a locomotive controller located on a locomotive consist to control movement of the locomotive consist along one or more tracks, and a field operator control unit in communication with the locomotive controller. The field operator control unit is configured to control movement of the locomotive consist via the locomotive controller. The system also includes a yard supervisory controller configured to monitor a location of the locomotive consist along the one or more tracks, and a remote operator controller in communication with the yard supervisory controller and the locomotive controller. The remote operator controller is configured to transmit speed and direction orders from the yard supervisory controller to the locomotive controller to control movement of the locomotive consist.

Systems and methods for controlling movement of locomotives
11318972 · 2022-05-03 · ·

An example locomotive consist control system includes a locomotive controller located on a locomotive consist to control movement of the locomotive consist along one or more tracks, and a field operator control unit in communication with the locomotive controller. The field operator control unit is configured to control movement of the locomotive consist via the locomotive controller. The system also includes a yard supervisory controller configured to monitor a location of the locomotive consist along the one or more tracks, and a remote operator controller in communication with the yard supervisory controller and the locomotive controller. The remote operator controller is configured to transmit speed and direction orders from the yard supervisory controller to the locomotive controller to control movement of the locomotive consist.

Systems and methods for safety locking of operator control units for remote control machines

According to various aspects, exemplary embodiments are disclosed of systems and methods for safety locking of operator control units for remote control locomotives. In an exemplary embodiment, a system includes a machine control unit located on a locomotive to control operation of the locomotive, a primary operator control unit including a primary network interface configured to transmit received input commands to the machine control unit to control motion of the locomotive, and a secondary operation control unit including a secondary network interface and a secondary input interface. The secondary operator control unit is configured to operate in a secondary role that does not include motion control of the locomotive, and the secondary operator control unit is configured to transmit a lock command to the machine control unit to inhibit movement of the locomotive in response to receiving a lock command input at the secondary input interface.

Systems and methods for safety locking of operator control units for remote control machines

According to various aspects, exemplary embodiments are disclosed of systems and methods for safety locking of operator control units for remote control locomotives. In an exemplary embodiment, a system includes a machine control unit located on a locomotive to control operation of the locomotive, a primary operator control unit including a primary network interface configured to transmit received input commands to the machine control unit to control motion of the locomotive, and a secondary operation control unit including a secondary network interface and a secondary input interface. The secondary operator control unit is configured to operate in a secondary role that does not include motion control of the locomotive, and the secondary operator control unit is configured to transmit a lock command to the machine control unit to inhibit movement of the locomotive in response to receiving a lock command input at the secondary input interface.

TRAIN WARNING SYSTEM FOR RAIL OPERATIONS
20230242164 · 2023-08-03 ·

A computing device communicatively coupled to a light assembly that is coupled to a railroad track and that is operable to emit light in a plurality of different colors, determines a current train state of a plurality of different train states at a first location. In response to determining that the current train state is a first train state of the plurality of different train states, the computing device causes the light assembly to emit a first color of the plurality of different colors emittable by the light assembly.

Detecting a Hunting Condition of a Railcar Axle

Systems, methods, and non-transitory machine-readable media for remote monitoring and for detecting that an axle of a railcar is in a hunting condition in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. In one or more example embodiments, a device for detecting a hunting condition of a railcar axle that includes a controller having one or more processors, a data array, an accelerometer, and memory storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the controller to obtain from an accelerometer acceleration data indicating lateral acceleration of a railcar, store the acceleration data in the data array, determine multiple standard deviations of accelerometer readings based on the acceleration data stored in the data array, and provide an indication that an axle of the railcar is in a hunting condition based on at least one of the standard deviations of accelerometer readings satisfying a standard deviation threshold.

Detecting a Hunting Condition of a Railcar Axle

Systems, methods, and non-transitory machine-readable media for remote monitoring and for detecting that an axle of a railcar is in a hunting condition in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. In one or more example embodiments, a device for detecting a hunting condition of a railcar axle that includes a controller having one or more processors, a data array, an accelerometer, and memory storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the controller to obtain from an accelerometer acceleration data indicating lateral acceleration of a railcar, store the acceleration data in the data array, determine multiple standard deviations of accelerometer readings based on the acceleration data stored in the data array, and provide an indication that an axle of the railcar is in a hunting condition based on at least one of the standard deviations of accelerometer readings satisfying a standard deviation threshold.