1. Field of the Invention
The subject matter described herein relates generally to devices and methods for monitoring motion of a vehicle and, more particularly, to monitoring vehicle motion on a path.
2. Related Art
Currently, the monitoring of vehicle motion along a path, such as a railway or a track, is carried out using a central controller or computer. The computer monitors each vehicle's position on the track and when vehicle spacing is within a predetermined minimum distance, all vehicles on the track are stopped. Such a system, in addition to the computer, includes multiple sensors mounted at various locations along the track and complex wiring for connecting each sensor and the computer. Because of the necessary computer, complex wiring, and multiple sensors, the system is difficult to integrate and to costly to maintain. Other disadvantages include the requirement to test and prove system functionality after track installation, the technical challenge of aligning a sensor and target for the vehicle to track interface, the inability to sense a spacing problem until it has become sufficiently severe to violate the minimum spacing, and the inability to change spacing criteria without adding additional sensors which makes the system less flexible.
Accordingly, it is now desired to reduce cost and eliminate the above-described disadvantages of a centrally controlled system.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a ride control system for controlling a plurality of vehicles on a path, comprises a path processor, a bi-directional voting circuit in circuit with the path processor, communication between processors, and a busbar for conducting electrical signals along the path. Each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles may comprise a vehicle processor supported by the at least one vehicle and a voting shunt relay in circuit with the path processor and other vehicle processors. Each vehicle processor may be configured to close a respective shunt relay upon a predetermined condition of the vehicle whereby the bi-directional voting circuit is activated to notify all other vehicles. Vehicle processors may communicate with other vehicle processors or a master processor via communication to initialize or maintain positions along the path.
In another aspect of the present invention a vehicle control system for a vehicle movable along a path comprises a vehicle energizing and stopping system, at least a portion of which is mounted to each vehicle, and a vehicle sensor system. The vehicle sensor system is mounted to each vehicle and in circuit with the vehicle energizing and stopping system. The vehicle sensor system is configured to determine an actual location of a particular vehicle while the vehicle is moving along the path and compare the actual location to a range of predicted locations. The vehicle sensor system may be further configured to signal the vehicle energizing and stopping system to stop all vehicles on the path where the actual location of the particular vehicle is outside the range of predicted locations.
The following detailed description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
One embodiment of the present invention concerns a system and a method for energizing, stopping, and monitoring a location of vehicles on a path. One particular embodiment of the system includes a vehicle energizing and stopping system, at least a portion of which is mounted to each vehicle, and a vehicle sensor device that is mounted to each vehicle and in circuit with the vehicle energizing and stopping system.
Referring to
Referring now to
The track processor may also be configured to determine and broadcast an ideal location of each vehicle to each vehicle on the path according to some predetermined plan such as every vehicle is spaced equally along the path. Each vehicle may then synchronize or vary its position along the path by increasing velocity or braking to correct its spacing from other vehicles.
As shown in greater detail in
As illustrated in
The processor 110 may be any suitable processor such as a programmable logic controller. The memory 112 may be any suitable type including but not limited to RAM, ROM, EPROM, and flash.
The memory 112 may store a program for the processor 110 and store a look up table for a predicted range of locations given a duration that a vehicle 10 is traveling along the track 20.
The timer 114 provides a timing function that may be used by the processor 110 to time an actual duration that the vehicle 10 is traveling along the track 20.
The distance/speed sensor 116 may comprise a magnet 120 and a magnetic field or optical sensor 122 which together function in a known manner to provide electrical pulses to the processor 110 which correspond to a distance traveled by the wheel 14. Optionally, other sensors such as a multi-turn encoder may be employed. To determine the distance the pulses may be counted or directly measured by the processor 110 to determine a distance and, therefrom, a location of the vehicle 10 along the track 20. It will be appreciated that the distance/speed sensor 116 may also comprise known pulse shaping circuitry.
The processor 110 is configured, via any suitable means such as software or firmware, to receive an initial signal from a start indicator 124 that the vehicle 10 has started traveling along the track 20 and thereafter, to continuously, or at regular intervals, calculate an actual location for the vehicle along the track as described above. The processor 110 is further configured to look up a predicted range of locations for the vehicle 10 along the track 20 based, e.g., on the duration from the timer 114 and compare that with the actual location. Where the actual location falls outside of that range of predicted locations, the processor 110 sends a signal along line 126 to the energizing and stopping system 118 which, as described in more detail below, is configured to stop the vehicle 10 from any further progress along the track 20 along with the progress of any other vehicles traveling along the track. Further, the processor 110 may be configured to receive an ideal location from the track processor 52 and compare its location to the ideal location and either brake or not brake, as described below, to thereby increase vehicle velocity to compensate.
One embodiment of an energizing and stopping system 118 suitable for use in the practice of the present invention is shown in
The processor 128 may be similar to the processor 110 described above in connection with
Likewise, the memory 130 may be similar to the memory 112 described above and may function to store a program for configuring the processor 128.
The power source 132 may be any suitable power source such as a battery, generator or transformer. Optionally, the power source 132 may omitted and/or transform power received via the electrode 28. The power source 132 may provide sufficient electrical energy for energizing both the output switch controller 64 and the brake controller 136 which may be mounted to the brake 30 (
Referring now also to
In operation, the processor 128 may be configured, via, e.g., software or firmware, to respond to a command signal from the processor 110 to stop movement of the vehicle 10 by notifying the brake controller 136 to apply the brake 30. At the same time, the processor 128 may be further configured to notify the output switch controller 64 to close shunt relay 66 to short the generator 30 and alert the bi-directional voting circuit 56 so that other vehicles traveling on the track 20 will be notified that stopping is required via each vehicles' vehicle track monitor system 138. The processor 128 may also be configured to review the current speed and apply the brake 30 where necessary as described above to correct when an error in position on the track 20 is identified as described above. When the error in position is above a predetermined threshold position such as greater than five feet or, for example, within five feet of another vehicle, then the processor 128 may then alert the bi-directional voting circuit 56 so that other vehicles traveling on the track 20 will be notified that stopping is required.
A method of monitoring and controlling location of a plurality of vehicles movable along a path in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated generally at 200 in
Technical effects of the herein described systems and methods include determining a location of a vehicle on a track. Other technical effects include determining whether the location is within a range of predicted locations.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what are presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to these herein disclosed embodiments. Rather, the present invention is intended to cover all of the various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
This application is a divisional of prior U.S. application Ser. No. 11/847,612, filed Aug. 30, 2007, the specification of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20150210301 A1 | Jul 2015 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11847612 | Aug 2007 | US |
Child | 14677737 | US |