EP2296955A1

EP2296955A1 - System for determining the movement properties of a guided vehicle

Info

Publication number: EP2296955A1
Application number: EP08875603A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Philippe Forin; Nicolas Cravoisy; Norbert Pfeifer; Pierre-Joseph Beaurent
Original assignee: Siemens SAS
Current assignee: Siemens SAS
Priority date: 2008-07-16
Filing date: 2008-07-16
Publication date: 2011-03-23
Also published as: CA2730956A1; TW201006712A; CN102099237A; KR20110044203A; US20110130899A1; WO2010007217A1; US8712612B2; BRPI0822938A2

Abstract

The invention particularly relates to a system for determining the movement properties of a guided vehicle along a section adapted for a lane signalling control, characterised in that: the vehicle includes at least four onboard transponders arranged in pairs, the two transponders of each pair being aligned in parallel relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, i.e. at least one pair downstream and at least one pair upstream from the vehicle, and providing distinct identification means; at least one transponder reader is provided on the ground at each end of the section; a ground calculator communicates with the readers and determines, upon the passage of at least two transponders of a vehicle, a driving direction and a front/rear intrinsic orientation of the vehicle relative to the lane.

Description

System for determining the motion properties of a guided vehicle

The present invention relates to a system for determining the properties of the movement of at least one guided vehicle along a block (transport zone comprising several guide tracks) according to the preambles of claims 1 and 7.

As a vehicle, it includes means of public transport such as buses, trolleybuses, trams, subways, trains or train units, etc. In particular, automatic guiding train units (also commonly called "CBTC" = "communication based train control") are covered by the invention. These generally include vehicles in communication with on-board and (remote) guidance equipment controlled by ground automation (signaling, central computer, etc.). An exemplary embodiment of such vehicles is known on, inter alia, registered trademarks VAL, AIRVAL, CITYVAL, NEOVAL for which train units comprise at least one device of rollers / traction wheels on a longitudinally central guide rail on a train track and pneumatic side wheels, carrying units on longitudinal concrete strips on each side of the track.

First, the determination of presence properties of a guided vehicle along a block is known in several forms: a) The traditional solution, which applies to tracks made of two iron rails, is to install a "track circuit" (also abbreviated as diminutive "CdV" later) on each (channel) canton: this consists of an onboard electrical conductor element connecting electricity the two rails (with, for example, a signal transmitter / receiver at the canton ends) and makes it possible to know the state of occupancy of the block. As a general rule, the VC can for example be installed via an axle-iron. If this electrical conductor makes a short circuit between the rails on a block, the county VC is in the "low" state and the block is declared occupied by the vehicle. If no short circuit is detected, the VC is in the "up" state and the block is free of the vehicle.

When one or more trains are present on the block, each axle thus establishes a short circuit between the two rails, which keeps the CV in the "low" state. As soon as all the axles of the present train (s) have left the canton, this one goes to the free state regardless of the sequence of entry and exit trains. The CV does not provide the exact number (more than 1) of vehicles on a block.

However, safety is ensured as almost all the failures of a VC have the same effect as a short circuit between the rails: the VC remains in the low state in case of failure.

The main disadvantage of VCs is also their high cost. b) Another solution is the following: when the tracks are not made up of two rails (conductors), for example for the majority of metros and trams equipped with wheels with tires, other solutions exist and are used: - For CBTC-type systems, each train (or vehicle) is equipped with a computer, continually locates itself on the network and permanently transmits its position to one or more computer (s) on the ground which determines (s) the state of each canton. "Negative detectors" (eg light or ultrasonic barriers) at the system's borders are used to safely detect the entrance of a "dumb" train into the network. - Devices located under the trains permanently emit a fixed frequency signal which is picked up by ground receivers associated with loops (antennas) located in the track. They can be associated with negative barriers placed at particular points. One or more computer (s) on the ground, connected to the receivers, determines the state of occupation of each block according to the detection or not of a signal by each receiver. The security is ensured either by redundancy of transmitters and receivers, or, if the receiver loops continuously cover all the channels, by checking that each train transmits without interruption and by prohibiting the entry of a train on any canton already occupied. . In the latter two cases (a and b), if the trains make unplanned or unauthorized movements (in particular rollbacks or the penetration of a train into an already occupied canton), the cantons concerned are frequently and inevitably busy state even if no train is there. This is very penalizing to achieve a high performance of automated vehicle management and maneuvering. c) A document US 2004/0030466 A1 ("train registry overlay system") finally describes a method for determining the presence properties of a guided vehicle along a block. To provide a back-up in the event of failure of the CBTC systems without the use of a VC because of their cost, a transponder attached to each vehicle / train unit contains an identifier. Transponder readers located along the tracks retrieve these identifiers as the trains pass and retransmit them to a ground computer which uses them to determine the occupation of the tracks. Safety can be increased by redundancy of onboard transponders, transponder readers and calculators.

However, if this device makes it possible to identify all the trains present in the CBTC system, it does not make it possible to de- terminate the motion properties of a vehicle, particularly if the vehicle enters or leaves a block. In other words, a transponder / reader assembly can not deliver a vehicle direction. Moreover, the intrinsic orientation of the vehicle (its front and rear) in relation to the track also remains unknown. This point is also disadvantageous in the context of CBTC automations, in particular to determine the direction of movement of the vehicle with respect to the track, where according to the topology of the track, during its operation, it has the possibility of to turn around.

In particular, if a vehicle has not yet been identified, it is not possible to know, when passing a first transponder located at a border between a first and a second block, if it leaves the first block and enter the second canton or vice versa.

Similarly, if an already identified vehicle stops with its transponder in front of the transponder reader, it is not possible to determine, at the moment when it restarts, whether it is heading towards a block located upstream of the transponder or to a canton located downstream of the transponder: neither of the two cantons can be "released", in the sense that automatic protections prohibit another vehicle to access the canton free reality. These blockages constitute high penalties in the train traffic.

An object of the present invention is to propose a system for determining the motion properties of at least one guided vehicle along a block for which, in particular, an understanding of the direction of travel of a vehicle at a border between two cantons. be exactly insured. A second object of the invention is, if necessary, related to the knowledge of the intrinsic orientation "front / rear" of the vehicle with respect to a block track. This last aspect orientation will also be more simply called "polarity" in the rest of the document.

In dependence on vehicle equipment and possible knowledge or not on the polarity of the vehicle, in particular for CBTC type equipment or vehicles not equipped, the invention thus proposes two embodiments of systems adapted to these two. very real figures while remaining in a unitary framework for determining vehicle movement properties of all types. These two modes are related by the contents of the main claims 1 and 7.

A set of subclaims also has advantages of the invention.

The invention thus proposes a first embodiment of a system for determining properties of the movement of a vehicle guided along a block adapted to a lane signaling control, for which:

the vehicle comprises at least four onboard transponders arranged in pairs, the two transponders of each pair being aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, at least one pair downstream and at least one pair upstream of the vehicle and delivering means identification,

at least one transponder reader is placed on the ground at each end of the block,

- A computer on the ground is in communication with the readers and determines when passing at least two transponders of a vehicle a direction of travel and an intrinsic forward / backward orientation of the vehicle relative to the track (polarity). The two pairs of transponders being aligned parallel to the axis of movement of the train, one at the front and the other at the rear of each train, each transponder contains at least one unique identifier of its absolute position on the train and optionally an identifier of the train (as in the state of the art),

One or two transponder readers and their antennas are located at the boundaries of each block and can thus extract the identification information contained in the transponders and transmit them to the ground computer in the order in which they were read, which allows the calculator to determine the direction of travel, the polarity in a unique and exact way and what canton it goes out and on which canton it enters. This is a major aspect to avoid unnecessarily blocking one block in free reality for another vehicle.

At least one computer is connected to the transponder readers of each independent train detection zone, each zone containing one or more channels divided into one or more cantons.

In some cases, it is possible that the polarity of vehicles is known to the calculator (ie we know the "front" and "back" of each train with respect to the track, regardless of the direction of the circulation), it is then possible to determine, as soon as two transponders of one end of a train are passed in front of a reader:

- in which direction of travel the train is traveling

- from which canton he goes and on which canton he enters.

In other cases, the polarity of the vehicles is not known to the ground computer and a determination of the polarity of the vehicle is necessary.

When the polarity of a train (as a vehicle) is unknown to the computer, the system according to the invention then makes it possible to determine it in several ways, for example: or by adding a second row of transponders at the front and rear of the trains, symmetrical to the first with respect to the axis of the train, and arranging the readers' antennas asymmetrically with respect to the axis of the train. track, so that only the "right" transponders (right side of the vehicle) are read when the polarity is "positive" and that only the "left" transponders (left side of the vehicle) are read when the polarity is "negative"". The polarization of the train is then known from the reading of a first transponder by virtue of its position identifier on the train.

while waiting for a transponder to pass two readers successively arranged along the track, which makes it possible to determine both the running direction of the train and its polarity.

The two successive readers can be either two readers bordering any one canton, but the train must then travel a whole canton before its polarity is known, is a first reader already present at the limit of each zone and a second reader that one place near this first reader, so also in zone limit, but shifted longitudinally on the track. The polarity of the trains is then advantageously and immediately determined as soon as they enter an area.

The transponder pairs can be arranged in / on the vehicle in a number of ways depending on the number of readers used at one end of the block. The simplest and economical solution is to minimize the number of readers leaving to increase the number of transponders which are generally simple passive electronic tags with a unique identifier also known by the name of RFID or TAG, and activatable by the reader in a perimeter defined therein to communicate the unique identifier to the reader. Thus, if a single reader is disposed at one end of a block, the transponder pairs can be flexibly disposed along vehicle sides or diagonally nal of a longitudinal axis of vehicle movement, so as to ensure a reading regardless of the direction of travel and the polarity of the vehicle passing in front of the reader.

With each pair of transponders or transponders, it is advantageously possible to add at least one additional transponder thus being ideally arranged at the front and the rear of the vehicle to ensure a redundant number of transponders. In the event of a transponder failure, the additional transponder and the transponder still in use ensure a reading that is always of equal order and therefore a continuous safe service without any disruption of traffic or danger of loss of information. If none of the transponders is out of order, the quality of determining the properties of the vehicle movement with the transponder in redundant numbers will be made under better readability.

In an advantageous configuration, the reader can be arranged in the vicinity of a block track and be connected to an antenna disposed transversely offset with respect to a median longitudinal axis of the track. In addition, the transponders are arranged transversely offset relative to the median longitudinal axis of the vehicle. In this way again, only "right" transponders (right side of the vehicle) are read when the polarity is "positive" and only "left" transponders (left side of the vehicle) are read when the polarity is "negative" ". The polarity of the train is then determined as soon as a first transponder is read using its position identifier on the train.

Alternatively, the transponders (at least one pair) may be aligned along a longitudinal median axis of the vehicle and antennas of two readers are then advantageously ment disposed in succession along the median axis ^¬ longitudi nal of the vehicle in the vicinity of each end of the block.

As previously discussed, additional transponders can also easily be arranged on the vehicle to form rows of transponders, said rows being conveniently placed along each side of the vehicle at the front and rear of the vehicle. Ideally, the practice recommends that each row should have two or three transponders (ie a total of four or six row-dividing transponders downstream and upstream of the vehicle) successively aligned along the vehicle for both safe and secure purposes. excellent readability of transponders.

A second embodiment of the system for determining the properties of the movement of a vehicle guided along a block adapted to a lane signaling control is also proposed, in particular for a type of vehicle having a means of determining the direction of travel and for which:

the vehicle comprises at least two onboard transponders, each disposed downstream and upstream of the vehicle and delivering a predefined identification means of the vehicle, from the front and the rear of the vehicle,

a way of determining the direction of operation intervening by coding the identification means of the transponders,

- at least one transponder reader is placed on the ground at one end of the block, - a ground computer is in communication with the reader and determines when passing at least one transponder of the vehicle its direction of travel and an intrinsic orientation front / rear of the second type of vehicle with respect to the track. In other words, the direction is determined originally by the vehicle equipment and retransmitted to cal ^¬ culateur ground after setting a transponder coding taking into account the direction of travel. This means of determining the direction of travel of the vehicle is for example delivered by an onboard motion calculator or a displacement measuring device.

For all embodiments of systems according to the invention, the transponders are simple electronic tags of "RFID" type, where appropriate codable for the computer according to a parameter provided by the equipment. The codes can also be indirectly read by the computer from a databank in which the identifiers of the RFIDs refer to information, for example on the direction of travel, or even the polarity.

Finally, it is clear that the vehicles comprise wheels with pneumatic, iron or magnetic levitation. This aspect of the invention therefore makes it applicable to any type of vehicle chassis, unlike the "CV" requiring rails-iron.

Exemplary embodiments according to the invention are provided by means of the figures described:

FIG. 1 First embodiment of a motion property determination system of a train (top view),

Figure 2 Same system for determining motion properties of a train (side view),

Figure 3 Arrangement of staggered readers with respect to two parallel paths, Figure 4 Arrangement of readers and transponders in an area comprising two maneuvering blocks,

Figure 5 Second embodiment of motion property determination system of a train (side view).

FIG. 1 shows the first embodiment of a system for determining the motion properties of a vehicle 1, such as a train seen from a height with respect to the track provided with a central guide rail 4 between two tracks. portage. The train 1 has carrying wheels 2 equipped with tires on each of the carrier tracks and traction guide wheels 3 housed in the central guide rail 4. The train 1 comprises in this example four groups of triplets of transponders 21. 22-23, 24-25-26, 31-32-33, 34- 35-36 arranged respectively at its "right front", "left front", "right rear" and "left rear" . The terms "forward", "rear", "right", "left" do not in any way refer to the direction of travel of the train or its polarity but only serve to designate groups of transponders. This system therefore shows an advantageous configuration in redundancy (or high availability) by arranging rows of three transponders at the four ends of the train. It would also have been minimally possible to have only a pair 21-22 at the "front" part and a pair 31-32 at the rear of the train 1 and at least one reader (not shown) at the end of the block including the way. For the sake of clarity, the ground computer was also not shown.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1 illustrating the configuration of the transponders 24-25-26, 34-35-36 arranged in the form of two rows parallel longitudinally to a track V on at least one of the "front" sides and "rear" AR of the train 1. With this arrangement, the transponders can be read successively during their passage in the vicinity of a reader. It is also visible here that the carrying wheels are in contact with the slightly raised carriage ways and two guide wheels are anchored in the guide rail placed a little lower than the carrier tracks.

FIG. 3 shows an arrangement of two separate readers 6 offset from two parallel tracks V1, V2 each provided with central guide lane 4 and carrying lanes TPRI1, TPR12, TPR21, TPR22. The reading modules of the readers 6 are thus off and at the edge of the channels and are each, on the one hand, connected to respective antennas 7 of readers as well as to a bus 8, Eth of Ethernet type connecting them to the computer on the ground (no represent) . An antenna 7 per channel (responsible for the activation of transponders during their passage in their vicinity as well as responsible for the transmission of transponder identifiers to the reading module per se of the reader) is here embedded in one of the porting channels TPR12 , TPRlI. This example thus exhibits a clever realization to arrange the reader 6 in the vicinity of a cantonal channel by connecting it to an antenna 7 arranged in transverse offset with respect to a median longitudinal axis of the channel and for which the transponders (in pairs or in rows of more than two transponders for example) are identically arranged in transverse offset with respect to the median longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

FIG. 4 shows an arrangement of readers and transponders in an area comprising two maneuvering blocks according to the invention and comprises a typical double-track portion of a railway network, with a non-equipped area 40 and a maneuvering area. ensuring communication between the two paths. Both ways and communication are divided into cantons

C50, C51, CM52, CM53, C54 to C58. The ends of the two cantons CM52, CM53 are equipped with five readers controlled 65 transponders to ensure excellent security and to ensure high availability. Other 60 to 64 transponder readers are only controlled for security purposes. The computer (not shown) here has detected a defect on the reader 61 and can for reasons of security and availability merge the cantons C50 and C51 into a single block C50.51.

FIG. 5 shows the second embodiment of a system for determining the motion properties of a train on a track V according to the invention (in side view with respect to the track) for which an equipment M is provided on board the train 1 as a means for determining the direction of travel (or polarity) involved by coding the identification means of two unique transponders 44, 54 arranged at the "front" and "rear" ends of the train 1. By interaction transponders with at least one reader and ancillary equipment, the polarity of the train can thus be determined. Analogously, if the equipment delivers the polarity, the direction of travel can be determined using the transponders.

Claims

claims

A system for determining the properties of the motion of a vehicle (1) guided along a block adapted to a lane signaling control, characterized in that

the vehicle comprises at least four onboard transponders arranged in pairs, the two transponders of each pair being aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, at least one pair downstream and at least one pair upstream of the vehicle and delivering distinct means of identification,

- at least one reader (6) of transponders is placed on the ground at each end of the block, - a ground computer is in communication with the readers (6) and determines during the passage of at least two transponders of a vehicle a direction of travel and an intrinsic forward / backward orientation of the vehicle relative to the track.

2. System according to claim 1, wherein at least one additional transponder is arranged at the front and rear on the vehicle to ensure a redundant number of transponders.

3. System according to one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the reader disposed in the vicinity of a block track is connected to an antenna (7) disposed transversely offset relative to a median longitudinal axis of the track and for which the transponders are arranged transversely offset relative to the median longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

4. System according to one of claims 1 to 2, for which the transponders are aligned along a median axis longitudinally of the vehicle and antennas (7) of two readers are arranged successively along the longitudinal median axis of the vehicle in the vicinity of each end of the block.

5. System according to one of the preceding claims, for which additional transponders (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36) are arranged on the vehicle to form rows of transponders, said rows being ideally placed along each side. vehicle at the front and rear of the vehicle.

6. System according to claim 4, wherein each row comprises two or three transponders successively aligned along the vehicle.

7. Vehicle motion property determination system (1) guided along a block adapted to a lane signaling control, characterized in that

the vehicle comprises at least two embedded transponders (24, 34), each disposed downstream and upstream of the vehicle and delivering a predefined identification means of the vehicle, from the front and the rear of the vehicle; determination of the direction of operation intervening by coding the identification means of the transponders,

- At least one reader (6) of transponders is placed on the ground at one end of the block, - a computer on the ground is in communication with the reader (6) and determines when passing at least one transponder of the vehicle its meaning and an intrinsic forward / backward orientation of the second type of vehicle with respect to the track.

8. System according to claim 6, wherein the means for determining the running direction of the vehicle is delivered by an onboard motion calculator or a displacement measuring device.

9. System according to one of the preceding claims, for which the transponders are electronic tags of "RFID" type.

10. System according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the vehicles comprise pneumatic wheels, iron or magnetic levitation.