A system and method for automating railroad maintenance for a tie gang using electronic tie marking (ETM) configured to optimize railroad asset maintenance. The system enables the automating of an adaptive maintenance process for the asset that is being maintainanced. The system can identify a railroad asset scheduled for maintenance using various forms of inspection including real-time kinematic (RTK)-corrected GPS data, radar signal processing data, and real-time imaging. The system also provides for the acquisition and upload of asset pictures for verification and analysis of a railroad asset. The system can identify a next location to perform maintenance and can calculate an optimum path based on sensor input incorporating machine-specific and environmental characteristics. The system further can provide a customizable user interface to identify, track, and process information related to maintenance of the railroad asset.

A system and method for automating railroad maintenance by a tie gang using electronic tie marking (ETM) configured to optimize railroad asset maintenance. The system enables collision avoidance between members of the tie gang performing maintenance on railway assets (e.g., Rails, Ties, Ballasts, Turnouts, Crossings, etc.). The system can generate production numbers for the railway assets and evaluate an asset queue for the tie gang to perform maintenance. The system can utilize real-time updates from the tie gang to optimize work output. The system can provide a customizable user interface to identify, track, and process information related to maintenance of the railroad asset. The system also provides for a heads-up-display (HUD) to notify an operator of relevant information, such as maintenance information, travel indicators, and updated asset queue. The system can identify a next location and calculate an optimum path based on sensor input incorporating machine-specific and environmental characteristics.

A system and device that will notify roadway maintenance workers of an approaching mass transit vehicle and, conversely, will notify the operators and administrators of mass transit vehicles of roadway maintenance workers within the vicinity of an approaching section of track.

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.

A train control network includes a rail, a first communication element and a second communication element, which are to communicate with each other. The first communication element includes a first HF-injector, adapted for injecting HF-signals into the rail. The second communication element includes a HF-receiver, adapted for receiving HF-signals transmitted via the rail. An evaluation unit is provided for analyzing the received HF-signals.

A system and method for monitoring a track and/or rail employs one or more distance measuring imagers mounted to a railcar and directed to image the track and/or rails wherein the images are geo-tagged with location data. Geo-tagged distance measurements are processed to determine at least track gauge and/or at least rail fastener integrity. The system and method may also determine other track and/or rail integrity issues including, e.g., rail profile, rail alignment, center point dip, cross level, rail cant, wheel wear, wheel integrity, rail wear, rail defects, and/or rail temperature. The system and method may also determine when inspection and/or maintenance of the track is indicated, and provide selected records of where and/or when such inspection and/or maintenance is indicated.

A vehicle location and control system determines a signal-derived separation distance between antennas disposed onboard a vehicle based on signals received by the antennas from an off-board source. The system determines an input-derived separation distance between the antennas based on input offset distances of the antennas from a designated location on the vehicle, determines a difference between the input-derived separation distance and the signal-derived separation distance, and activates or deactivates an automated route identification system that determines which route of several different routes that the vehicle is disposed upon based on the difference that is determined.

The present invention relates to an early warning protection system based on Beidou position automatic sensing, the system is in communication connection with a TDCS/CTC system, and the early warning protection system includes a locomotive train-mounted terminal subsystem, a ground early warning protection platform subsystem, and a handheld terminal subsystem, the ground early warning protection platform subsystem is in communication connection to the TDCS/CTC system, the locomotive train-mounted terminal subsystem, and the handheld terminal subsystem respectively; and the ground early warning protection platform subsystem performs judgment processing on train-to-train and train-to-person early warning logics according to Beidou positioning, a train speed, and train direction information provided by the locomotive train-mounted terminal subsystem and Beidou positioning information of the handheld terminal subsystem and with reference to station information and train number information sent by the TDCS/CTC system and line data and data of a virtual transponder, and forwards processed early warning information to the locomotive train-mounted terminal subsystem and the handheld terminal subsystem. Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the advantages of implementing early warning and protection for railway construction personnel, a train, and the like.

In order to locate points or lines of interest (A, B, C, D, A′, B′, C′, D′, 162, 163, 164) of a railway track (22), by means of a railway locating system (12), progressing on the railway track (22), a linear camera (26) pointing at the railway track (22) repeatedly acquires instantaneous linear optical data along an instantaneous measurement line (50), and an orientation device (52) of the railway locating system (12) repeatedly acquires orientation data of the railway locating system (12) with respect to a reference line (22A) of the railway track (22). By processing at least the instantaneous linear optical data, a potentially distorted bitmap image is constructed of a zone of the surface of the railway track (22), then points or lines of interest (A, B, C, D, A′, B′, C′, D′, 162, 163, 164) are identified in the potentially distorted bitmap image, before determining rectified coordinates of the points or lines of interest (A, B, C, D, A′, B′, C′, D′, 162, 163, 164), as a function of potentially distorted coordinates of the points or lines of interest (A, B, C, D, A′, B′, C′, D′, 162, 163, 164) in a reference system of the potentially distorted bitmap image and orientation data.

A method for determining the point location of a vehicle stopped on one storage track among a set of storage tracks, using virtual beacons is provided. It determines and compares the likelihood of a plurality of hypotheses as to the stopped location of the vehicle, corresponding to a first set of NBe predefined virtual beacons Be(i), i varying from 1 to NBe, the respective positions of which are known in an amount of one virtual beacon per storage track, by correlating the GNSS geo-positioning signals received at various synchronization reset times of a second set by the GNSS receiver located on board the vehicle with predicted GNSS geo-positioning signals of replicas expected for the various positions of the virtual beacons of the first set at the various times. The detected holding position of the vehicle is the position that corresponds to the maximum likelihood.