A system comprises a first sensor on a first end of a vehicle and an on-board controller coupled to the first sensor. The first sensor is configured to detect a radio frequency (RF) signature of a marker along a guideway. The first sensor is a radar detection device. The on-board controller is configured to determine a first position of the vehicle on the guideway or a first distance from the position of the vehicle to a stopping location along the guideway based on at least the RF signature received from the first sensor. The marker is a metasurface plate comprising a first diffused element, a first retroreflector element, a first absorbing element and a second diffused element between the first retroreflector element and the first absorbing element.

Presented are a transportation system apparatus and method of operation. An exemplary transportation system includes an elevated track and a vehicle coupled with and operable to traverse the elevated track. Additionally, the transportation system includes a first elevated track loop wherein the vehicle is operable at a first speed, a second elevated track loop operable to receive the vehicle merging from the first elevated track loop, wherein the vehicle is operable at a second speed, and an elevated track section operable to receive the vehicle merging from the second elevated track loop, wherein the vehicle is operable at a third speed.

A wheel impact load detection system for detecting defects in wheel of railroad vehicles is presented. The system can receive data from sensors and/or a weather station to determine a maximum force applied to a rail, and subsequently calibrate the determined maximum force to account to environmental conditions. Additionally, the present disclosure can assign severity levels and generate alerts with the assigned severity levels, and such severity levels can facilitate the proper prioritization of the alerts. It is an object of the invention to provide a system for accounting for variable environmental conditions and/or variable rail tension in assigning severity levels to mitigate unneeded stoppage of railway traffic.

Presented are a transportation system apparatus and method of operation. An exemplary transportation system includes an elevated track and a vehicle coupled with and operable to traverse the elevated track. Additionally, the transportation system includes a first elevated track loop wherein the vehicle is operable at a first speed, a second elevated track loop operable to receive the vehicle merging from the first elevated track loop, wherein the vehicle is operable at a second speed, and an elevated track section operable to receive the vehicle merging from the second elevated track loop, wherein the vehicle is operable at a third speed.

A transportation system is provided. The system includes: a highway vehicle, a first set of highway points located along a path of the vehicle, a second set of highway points located along a traffic signal section, at least one RFID tag located at each of the first set and the second set of highway points, and at least one RFID tag reader located on the highway vehicle connected to a network. The at least one RFID tag located at the first set of highway points is configured to store dynamic and static characteristics of the highway vehicle as it passes the first set of highway points and the at least one RFID tag located at the second set of highway points is configured to store dynamic and static characteristics of the vehicle as it passes the second set of highway points.

A RFID tag unit is attached to a wheelset of a railcar and includes a RFID tag and an attaching member on which the RFID tag is mounted and which is attached to the wheelset. At least a portion of the attaching member which portion faces the RFID tag is made of a non-metal material. The attaching member is interposed between the RFID tag and the wheelset.

A robust system processor comprising three parallel processors, each configured to process in parallel an input and emit an output; and a reconciler that compares the three outputs, determines whether at least two of the outputs are equal, and if so validates the majority output and communicates the validated output via a network to at least one other system processor.

A train control system comprising a track switch controller; RFID tags located at first and second track switches coupled via a length of track that store characteristics of train sets as they pass the track switches, and RFID tag readers located on the train sets, connected to a network. The train sets write data to the RFID tags such that the data is read by RFID tag readers of subsequent trains; and the data stored in the RFID tags is overwritten with new data each time a train set passes by the RFID tags.

There is provided a configuration in which an association between a location of each brake shoe of a railway vehicle and each abrasion detection tag is easily learned, and system implementation and management are simplified. A brake shoe abrasion detection system of a railway vehicle includes a computer that receives data of a signal read by a reader from at least one abrasion detection RF tag attached to each of a plurality of brake shoes of the railway vehicle passing the reader. The computer determines an association between a plurality of the signals and the plurality of brake shoes based on an order that the reader reads the plurality of signals from a plurality of the abrasion detection RF tags attached to the plurality of brake shoes, respectively.

A robust system processor comprising three parallel processors, each configured to process in parallel an input and emit an output; and a reconciler that compares the three outputs, determines whether at least two of the outputs are equal, and if so validates the majority output and communicates the validated output via a network to at least one other system processor.