EP3696047A1 - Control system for a railway vehicle and railway vehicle comprising said system - Google Patents

Abstract

This control-command system (4) for a railway vehicle, characterized in that this system comprises: - a central computer (10), - a communication network (12), - at least one power controller (16) for control at least one electrical device (6) of the railway vehicle, - at least one acquisition device (14) of at least one measured physical quantity representative of the operating state of one or more electrical devices ( 6) of the rail vehicle. The central computer is configured to automatically control the power controllers as a function of the measured physical quantities received from the or each acquisition device, in order to control the operation of the at least one electrical device.

Description

The present invention relates to an instrumentation and control system for a railway vehicle. The invention also relates to a railway vehicle comprising such a system.

Known railway vehicles typically include controllable electrical devices such as electrical or electromechanical equipment relating to main functions (traction and / or braking units, etc.) or secondary functions (heating and air conditioning, lighting, management of doors and entrances, passenger information systems, etc.) of the rail vehicle.

Generally, the control and the electrical supply of these devices are carried out by means of a wired control-command system including individual electromechanical devices such as relays, contactors, and switches, interconnected by wire links.

These known solutions however have many drawbacks. On the one hand, the electromechanical devices and the associated cables are bulky and complicated to install. On the other hand, the architecture of the system must be completely modified each time one wishes to update or modify a functionality. As a result, these solutions have limited scalability and their maintenance is expensive and complicated to implement. Finally, the electromechanical devices used generally include inductive elements, such as coils, which generate electromagnetic noise and degrade the quality of the control signals and / or of the measurement signals passing through the system.

It is these drawbacks that the invention more particularly intends to remedy by proposing an instrumentation and control system for a railway vehicle.

• un ordinateur central,
• un réseau de communication,
• au moins un contrôleur de puissance pour piloter un appareil électrique du véhicule ferroviaire,
• au moins un dispositif d'acquisition d'au moins une grandeur physique mesurée représentative de l'état de fonctionnement du au moins un appareil électrique,

dans lequel chaque contrôleur de puissance et chaque dispositif d'acquisition est connecté à l'ordinateur central par l'intermédiaire du réseau de communication,
dans lequel chaque dispositif d'acquisition est configuré pour transmettre automatiquement les grandeurs physiques mesurées uniquement à destination de l'ordinateur central par l'intermédiaire du réseau de communication,
dans lequel l'ordinateur central est configuré pour piloter automatiquement chaque contrôleur de puissance en fonction des grandeurs physiques mesurées reçues depuis le ou chaque dispositif d'acquisition,
et dans lequel chaque contrôleur de puissance est configuré pour être piloté automatiquement par l'ordinateur central au moyen de signaux de commande transmis par l'intermédiaire du réseau de communication.To this end, the invention relates to an instrumentation and control system for a railway vehicle, comprising:

• a central computer,
• a communication network,
• at least one power controller for controlling an electrical device of the railway vehicle,
• at least one device for acquiring at least one measured physical quantity representative of the operating state of the at least one electrical device,

in which each power controller and each acquisition device is connected to the central computer via the communication network,
in which each acquisition device is configured to automatically transmit the measured physical quantities only to the central computer via the communication network,
in which the central computer is configured to automatically control each power controller as a function of the measured physical quantities received from the or each acquisition device,
and wherein each power controller is configured to be automatically controlled by the central computer by means of control signals transmitted via the communication network.

• le réseau de communication est un réseau filaire de type Ethernet.
• chaque contrôleur de puissance est en outre configuré pour transmettre des informations de diagnostic vers l'ordinateur central, par l'intermédiaire du réseau de communication, sans passer par le dispositif d'acquisition, les informations de diagnostic étant représentatives de l'état interne du contrôleur de puissance et/ou de valeurs d'intensité d'un courant électrique transitant par le contrôleur de puissance.
• chaque contrôleur de puissance comporte un ou plusieurs composants de puissance tels que des interrupteurs de puissance ou des dispositifs de protection électrique.
• chaque contrôleur de puissance comporte un boîtier à l'intérieur duquel sont encapsulés les composants du contrôleur de puissance.
• chaque contrôleur de puissance est un contrôleur de puissance à l'état solide, par exemple basé sur des dispositifs électroniques à semi-conducteurs.

According to advantageous but not mandatory aspects of the invention, such an instrumentation and control system can incorporate one or more of the following characteristics, taken in isolation or in any technically admissible combination:

• the communication network is a wired Ethernet type network.
• each power controller is further configured to transmit diagnostic information to the central computer, via the communication network, without going through the acquisition device, the diagnostic information being representative of the internal state of the power controller and / or intensity values of an electric current passing through the power controller.
• each power controller comprises one or more power components such as power switches or electrical protection devices.
• each power controller has a box inside which the components of the power controller are encapsulated.
• each power controller is a solid state power controller, for example based on semiconductor electronic devices.

According to another aspect, the invention relates to a railway vehicle comprising electrical devices and a control-command system for controlling each electrical device, characterized in that the control-command system is as previously described.

According to optional aspects, each electrical device is electrical or electronic equipment relating to main functions of the rail vehicle or to secondary functions of the rail vehicle, such as a motor or a compressor or an actuator.

• [Fig 1] la figure 1 est un diagramme schématique d'un véhicule ferroviaire comportant un système de contrôle-commande selon des modes de réalisation de l'invention ;
• [Fig 2] la figure 2 est un diagramme schématique d'un contrôleur de puissance du système de contrôle-commande de la figure 1.

The invention will be better understood and other advantages thereof will emerge more clearly in the light of the following description of an embodiment of an instrumentation and control system for a railway vehicle, given solely by way of information. 'example and made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

• [ Fig 1 ] the figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a railway vehicle comprising an instrumentation and control system according to embodiments of the invention;
• [ Fig 2 ] the figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a power controller of the control system of the figure 1 .

The figure 1 shows a rail vehicle 2 comprising a control system 4 for controlling one or more electrical devices 6 of the rail vehicle 2.

For example, the rail vehicle 2 is a passenger train, or a freight train, or an urban transport vehicle such as a metro or a tram, or else a rail maintenance vehicle such as a railcar or a locotractor.

According to examples, the electrical devices 6 are electrical or electromechanical equipment relating to main functions (traction and / or braking units, etc.) or to secondary functions (heating and air conditioning, lighting, door and door management. access, passenger information systems, etc.) of the rail vehicle 2.

By way of illustrative example, the electrical devices 6 can be motors or compressors or actuators or any other controllable electrical device and can be referred to generically as “actuators” in what follows.

On the figure 1 , the reference "8" designates a group which may contain several electrical devices 6 of the railway vehicle 2.

The system 4 comprises a central computer 10, a communication network 12, at least one acquisition device 14 of at least one measured physical quantity representative of the operating state of one or more devices. electric 6 and at least one power controller 16 to control at least one of the electric devices 6.

For example, the power controllers 16 are solid state controllers (“Solid-State Power Controller”), for example based on semiconductor electronic devices.

Each power controller 16 and each acquisition device 14 is connected to the central computer 10 via the communication network 12.

For example, the communication network 12 is a wired network of Ethernet type, preferably of industrial Ethernet type, such as EtherCAT or equivalent.

Mainframe 10 includes a microprocessor and computer memory which stores instructions that can be executed by the microprocessor to operate computer 10.

For example, the central computer 10 is a central railway computer of the TCMS (“Train Control and Management System”) type.

Each acquisition device 14 is configured to acquire one or more physical quantities representative of the operating state of one or more of the electrical devices 6.

According to examples, the physical quantities can include one or more of the following physical quantities: an electric voltage, the intensity of an electric current, an electric power, a frequency, a temperature, a position, a distance, a luminous intensity, and many others.

The physical quantity or quantities are for example measured by means of one or more measuring devices 18 associated with one or more of the devices 6 of group 8, this or these measuring devices 18 being connected to the acquisition device 14.

For example, each acquisition device 14 comprises an electronic circuit or a programmable electronic computer, a measurement acquisition interface connected to one or more measurement devices 18, as well as a network interface connected to the network 12.

The measuring devices 18 can include one or more sensors, such as current sensors, voltage sensors, power sensors, temperature sensors, position or distance sensors, or the like.

The measuring devices 18 are connected to one or more acquisition devices 14, for example by means of analog or digital links.

Each device 14 is further configured to automatically transmit the measured physical quantities, only to the central computer 10, via the communication network 12.

In other words, the measurement data collected by each acquisition device 14 are automatically fed back to the central computer 10 via the communication network 12 without going through the power controllers 16.

The central computer 10 is configured to automatically control the power controllers 16 as a function of the measured physical quantities received from the or each acquisition device 14, with a view to controlling the operation of the electrical appliance (s) 6.

Each power controller 16 is configured to be automatically controlled by the central computer 10 by means of control signals transmitted via the communication network 12.

In other words, the acquisition devices 14 are not able to directly control the power controllers 16, nor to directly supply the power controllers 16 with the measured physical quantities representative of the state of the devices 6.

On the example of figure 1 , a single electrical appliance 6, a single device 14 and a single power controller 16 are illustrated for ease of explanation, but in practice their number may be different.

According to examples, as illustrated by figure 2 , each power controller 16 comprises a network interface 20, a power input interface 22, an electronic control circuit 24, one or more power components 26 and a control output 28.

The network interface 20 is connected to the communications network 12.

The network interface 20 makes it possible in particular to receive control signals sent by the central computer 10 for controlling an apparatus 6.

The power input interface 22 is connected to an electrical power source of the vehicle 2, not shown.

The power components 26 are, for example, power switches or electrical protection devices.

Preferably, the power components 26 are semiconductor devices.

For example, power switches include transistors, in particular field effect transistors, or bipolar transistors, or thyristors, or triacs, or insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) or any other similar device.

Electrical protection devices are for example circuit breakers equipped with electronic trip units.

The power components 26 are controlled by the electronic control circuit 24 as a function of the control signals sent by the central computer 10 and received on the network interface 20 via the communication network 12.

The control output 28 is connected to a device 6.

The control output 28 is able to deliver a control signal for the device 6 and / or an electrical power for electrically supplying the device 6 to which it is connected, from the electrical power received from the input interface. 22.

In practice, the power controller 16 can include several independent control outputs 28 connected to different devices 6 and which can be activated independently of each other.

The power components 26 may also include one or more power converters to modify the shape and / or the properties of the power signal received on the input interface 22, depending on the characteristics of the apparatus 6 connected to the output. 28.

Preferably, the power controller 16 comprises a housing inside which the components of the power controller 16 as described above are encapsulated. For example, the box is arranged so that it can be plugged in or removed from an electrical panel in the vehicle 2, in the manner of a removable drawer.

According to variants, each power controller 16 is further configured to transmit diagnostic information to the central computer 10, via the communication network 12, without going through the acquisition device 14.

The diagnostic information is for example generated by the electronic control circuit 24.

For example, the diagnostic information is representative of the internal state of the power controller 16 (open or closed state of components 26 when the latter are switches and / or circuit breakers, information on a possible fault, sending of a code. error ...).

According to another example, the diagnostic information is representative of intensity values of an electric current flowing through the power controller 16, for example for an electric current received at input 22, for an electric current delivered at output 28, or for an electric current measured at one or more power components 26.

The embodiments of the invention thus make it possible, among other things, to simplify the operation, installation and maintenance of the system 4.

The functionalities of the system 4 can be modified and / or updated, in particular when an electrical device 6 is added or removed or modified, without it being necessary to change the entire architecture of the system 4.

The power controllers 16 are fewer in number, more compact and easier to handle and connect than the known individual electromechanical devices with their hard-wired interconnects. The power controllers 16 make it possible to simplify the wiring and to optimize mass and significant volume at the level of the complete train, which makes it possible in particular to save energy or else to allocate more seats to passengers. In fact, they allow, compared to the state of the art, the passage from a logic wired with many analog components (relays, micro-circuit breakers ...), to a logic programmed with adapted interfaces.

The control and / or measurement signals run less risk of being altered because the power controllers 16 do not generate as much electromagnetic noise as known electromechanical devices.

The embodiments and the variants considered above can be combined with one another to construct new embodiments.

Claims (8)

Control-command system (4) for a railway vehicle, characterized in that this system comprises: - a central computer (10), - a communication network (12), - at least one power controller (16) for controlling at least one electrical device (6) of the rail vehicle, - at least one acquisition device (14) of at least one measured physical quantity representative of the operating state of the at least one electrical device (6), in which each power controller (16) and each acquisition device (14) is connected to the central computer (10) via the communication network (12),
in which each acquisition device (14) is configured to automatically transmit the measured physical quantities only to the central computer (10) via the communication network (12),
in which the central computer (10) is configured to automatically control each power controller (16) according to the measured physical quantities received from the or each acquisition device (14), in order to control the operation of the at least one electrical appliance (6),
and wherein each power controller (16) is configured to be automatically controlled by the central computer (10) by means of control signals transmitted via the communication network (12). System according to Claim 1, characterized in that the communication network (12) is a wired network of the Ethernet type. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each power controller (16) is further configured to transmit diagnostic information to the central computer (10), via the communication network (12 ), without going through the acquisition device (14), the diagnostic information being representative of the internal state of the power controller and / or of intensity values of an electric current flowing through the power controller. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each power controller (16) comprises one or more power components (26) such as power switches or electrical protection devices. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each power controller (16) comprises a casing inside which the components of the power controller are encapsulated. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each power controller (16) is a solid state power controller, for example based on semiconductor electronic devices. Railway vehicle (2) comprising one or more electrical devices (6) and a control-command system (4) for controlling each electrical device, characterized in that the control-command system (4) is according to any one of previous claims. Rail vehicle (2) according to claim 7, characterized in that each electrical device (6) is electrical or electronic equipment relating to the main functions of the rail vehicle (2) or to secondary functions of the rail vehicle (2), such than a motor or a compressor or an actuator.

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