GB2504137A

GB2504137A - Monitoring railway track condition by comparing train motion data to a previously determined track profile

Info

Publication number: GB2504137A
Application number: GB1212935.9A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Joanna Binstead; Malcolm Edwards; Stuart Morris; Gary Parkinson
Original assignee: Siemens PLC
Current assignee: Siemens PLC
Priority date: 2012-07-20
Filing date: 2012-07-20
Publication date: 2014-01-22
Anticipated expiration: 2032-07-20
Also published as: EP2687419A3; AU2013207603B2; GB2504137B; AU2013207603A1; GB201212935D0; EP2687419A2

Abstract

A train cab radio comprises a movement sensor (e.g. vibration sensor, accelerometer or gyroscope); a processor for establishing a track profile using data from the sensor and location data from a location device LR (e.g. GPS or Galileo receiver), and for comparing current sensor data with the profile; and a (e.g. GSM-R-based) radio communication device CR for communicating data relating to the comparison. The data may be transmitted to a ground station GS whenever the current data differs from the profile by more than a threshold value. The profile may be learnt over repeated journeys of the same train. The sensor and processor may form a module that slots into the radio housing. Alternatively the comparison and communication steps may be carried out other than by the cab radio; or the profile may not be generated by the cab radio processor and/or rely on location data.

Description

tM:;: INTELLECTUAL !. .*. PROPERTY OFFICE Application No. tJB1212935.9 RTM Date:19 Novcrnbct 2012 The following terms are registered trademarks and should be read as such wherever they occur in this document: Siemens, Bluetooth Intellectual Properly Office is an operaling name of Ihe Patent Office www.ipo.gov.uk

Description

Apparatus and method for monitoring the condition of railway tracks The present invention related to apparatus, including a train cab radio, module for train cab radio, ground station and system, and method for monitoring the condition of railway tracks.

Currently, the overall track quality (affected by sleepers, ballast and underlying stability of prepared ground) and rail quality (wear of actual rails & fittings) is monitored using a small number of specialist trains, see for example New Measurement Train (NMT)" disclosed in http://www.railpro.co.uk/magazine/?idArticles=304, and by visual inspection, e.g. by patrols walk the track every couple of weeks. These are not looking explicitly for track defects but for any infrastructure problem e.g. undergrowth etc. This is costly and happens at defined intervals.

Defects can occur between inspection intervals and a continual inspection mechanism would be beneficial.

Several other proposals for monitoring the condition of railway tracks are known from for example the documents US 6570497, US 6044698, US 5987979 and EP 1180175.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automated and relatively inexpensive solution for monitoring the condition of railway tracks. This object is solved by the features of the independent claims. Further advantageous features of the invention are disclosed in dependent claims.

According to the invention, a trainborne cab radio is provided which comprises at least one sensor device for determining movement, a processing device for establishing a profile of a track taking into account at least data from the at least one sensor device and location data from a location device, and for comparing current data from the at least one sensor with the profile, and a radio communication device for communicating data relating to results derived from the comparison.

An example of a typical cab radio for use in a rail traffic management system based on the GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications -Railway) standard is the Siemens SVR- 400 trainborne voice radio.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the at least one sensor is at least one of a vibration sensor, an accelerometer, and a gyroscope. Such sensors detect movement of the train as it travels on a rail track.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the radio communication device operates according to the GSM-R standard. Based on the well kncwn GSM standard used for mobile communication, the GSM-R standard is an extension of this standard specifically developed for the railway industry. The GSM-R standard is inter alia defined in ETSI standards EN 301 515 and the technical specification ETSI TS 102 281.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the location device is realised as a receiver for GPS (Global Positioning System) or Galileo satellite navigation system.

Depending on the performance of the receiver, the receiver determines its location with a certain precision, i.e. with a certain deviation from its real location.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the at least one sensor device and/or the location device are at least partly realised outside of the cab radio and connected to the cab radio via communication means, for example by cable or radio based communication using the Bluetooth standard (IEEE 802.15) for short range communication. If multiple sensors are used to determine movement of the train, one or several of these may be mounted outside the cab radio housing, for example at a specific location in the train. At least the antenna of a location device such as a GPS receiver is typically mounted on the outside of the train, to aiLlow for optimal reception of signals transmitted by GPS satellites. But also, due to its high level of integration, the entire location device, for example a OPS receiver, may be fitted outside the cab radio.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the at least one sensor device and the processing device are realised on a module which is configured to be slotted into the housing of the cab radio and connected to a cab radio processor module. Such modular concept allows the addition of the condition monitoring feature to cab radios already installed in trains. By integrating all sensor and processing devices into the module, no specific changes to the hardware of a cab radio need to be made. Also, the operation of the monitoring can be automated such that any intervention from for example the train driver would not be required.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the data relating to the results is communicated whenever current data from the at least one sensor exceeds a predefined threshold value when compared to the profile data. Such predefined threshold is used to trigger sending of data relating to the results, so for example only substantial variations of the current data from the profile data are reported.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the communicated data relating to the results comprises at least location information relating to the location at which the data provided by the at least one sensor exceeded the threshold value. Using the location information provided by the location device, the exact or approximate location, for example defined by GPS coordinates, depending on the available precision of the location information, can be reported.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the data relating to the results is communicated to a central ground station. The central ground station can then prooess the received data further by correlating it with data received from at least one other train. The central ground station may then also comprise means to indicate to a person operating the rail system, for example by prompting information on a display and/or emitting acoustic alarms that a fault in the track has been determined so that further actions can be taken by the operator.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the data relating to the results is communicated using a text message.

such text message may be configured according to the short message service used in the GSM-R standard, or according to any other means of sending data supported by the system.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the profile is generated based on multiple journeys of a train over the same stretch of rail track. The profile, which is subsequently used by the processing device in the cab radio for comparison with current measurement data provided by sensors, is flearnt" by the cab radio while the train travels several times along the same stretch of railway track. For example, for a commuter or passenger train doing the same run several times a day, such profile can be established within a couple of days. The profile itself may be realised as a movement profile of the train, based for example on measurements of shocks and/or vibrations made by the sensors.

These measurements are linked to the current location or position of the train determined by the location device, to establish a typical profile of train movement over distance.

According to the invention, there is also provided a method for monitoring the condition of railway tracks, comprising the steps of determining movement using at least one sensor device, establishing, in a cab radio of the train, a profile of a track based on data from at least one sensor device and a location device, comparing current data with the profile, and communicating data relating to results derived from the comparison.

According to one embodiment of the inventive method, the data relating to thc results is received and correlated with data received from at least one other train at a central ground station.

According to the invention, there is also provided a module for a train cab radio, comprising at least one sensor device for determining movement, a processing device for establishing a profile of a track taking into account at least data from the at least one sensor device and location data from a location device, for comparing current data from the at least one sensor with the profile, and for triggering communication of data relating to results derived from the comparison by a cab radio module, and connecting means for connecting the module to a cab radio module.

According to the invention, there is also provided a system for monitoring the condition of railway tracks, comprising at least one trainborne cab radio, configured to determine movement of the train using at least one sensor device, to establish a profile of a track based on data from the at least one sensor device, and to communicate data relating to results derived from a comparison of data from the at ieast one sensor device and a location device with an established profile, and a central ground station, enabled to receive the data communicated by the train cab radio, to correlate the received data with data received from at least one other train.

According to the invention, there is also provided a train, comprising at least a cab radio as defined above.

According to the invention, there is also provided a ground station of a railway system, comprising means for receiving data from multiple trainborne cab radios, wherein the data relates to results derived from a comparison of data from sensor devices with an established profile of a railway track, and means for correlating the data received from the multiple trainborno cab radios.

Examples of the inventive concepts are further described with reference to the following figures FIG 1 shows a simplified diagram of a railway track monitoring system, and FIG 2 shows components in a cab radio.

FIG 1 shows an exemplary train I travelling along a railway track RI. The train T is equipped with at least a cab radio CR and a location receiver LR for receiving signals from satellites SAT of a satellite navigation system. The trainborne cab radio CR comprises at least a radio communication module which allows it to send and receive signals from base stations BS of a mobile radio communication system, operating for example according to the GSM-R standard. The cab radio CR also comprises other components which are described in connection with FIG 2. Directly or indirectly connected to the mobile radio communication system is also a ground station GS of the railway system, to receive data from cab radios CR installed in trains. The ground station GS comprises at least a data processing device DPD for processing the data received from the trains as weil as a user interface UI for displaying information or alarms to a person operating the rail system or being responsible for maintaining the railway tracks.

FIG 2 shows an exemplary cab radio CR for installation in train cabs. The cab radio CR comprises at least one cab radio processor card CRPC which provides the functionality, i.e. hardware, software CS, protocols etc., required for communication within the railway system, i.e. with other entities in the system.

Tn order to allow monitoring of the condition of railway traoks, the cab radio CR is fitted with an additional proocssor/sonoor card SC which oompriocs furthcr doviocs.

such processor/sensor card SC can be realised as a module, which slots or integrates into the housing of a cab radio and connects to other modules already mounted therm. The further devices consist of at least sensors SEN, for example at least one of a vibration sensor, a gyroscope and/or an accelerometer, to measure movement, shock and/or vibration experienced while travelling along a track, and a processing device NP, for example one or several microprocessors, to process data provided by the sensors and the location receiver LR, and to generate from the data a profile over a number of runs of the train on the same track. The data and profiles are stored in at least one memory MEM, for example a non volatile and a RAM memory. Interfaces CMI, realised as hardware and software interfaces, on the processor card CRPC are adapted to exchange data with the processor/sensor card SC to support the track condition monitoring function added to the cab radio CR.

Also, a location receiver LR, for example a GPS receiver mounted on the roof of the train, is connected to the cab radio CR. The location receiver LR provides data on the current location of the train on a periodic basis. In case the location receiver hR is connected to the processor card CRPC, location data locd is made available to the processing device NP on the processor/sensor card SC and/or stored in the memory MEM. Alternatively, the location receiver hR may also be directly connected to the processor/sensor card SC.

In operation, the cab radio CR first "learns" the shock/vibration profile of a track over a number of runs, using data from sensors SEN and the location receiver hR.

S

Once the profileof a specific track or stretch of track is established (this can be regarded as the "normal" signature of the track) and stored in the memory, the processing device NP compares current data from the sensors SENn with the profile data, i.e. previous records. Should the processing device NP detect any variation from the profile data which exceeds a certain predefined threshold, it initiates the transmission of a report to the ground station GS by the cab radio processor card ORPO. For this, the processing devices sends a request to send data rts to the processor card ORPO which triggers the transmission of the report, as well as data relating to results of the comparison done by the processing device NP. This report may comprise information relating to the locatien at which the sensor data exceeded the predefined threshold and/er the extend of the determined variation at this location.

After the cab radio processor card CRPO has received the request to send rts and the report rep, it sends a message to the ground station OS using for example the short message service (SMS) prcvided by the GSM-R communication system.

The ground station OS, after having received the message with the report from the cab radio OR of this specific train I, correlates the information contained in the report with information received from other trains, thereby determining if other trains having done the same run also experienced the same or similar variations in the movements of the train. Any analysis or summary of this data, for example a summary of received messages by time and/or date, by train, record number or by location, is displayed or prompted in a different way to operators operating the railway system. This may then help the operator to identify potential locations or areas where maintenance of the track are required.

An exchange of determined profile data between trains or cab radios is in principle not foreseen or advantageous, because such profile can depend on a number of factors, for example on the exact position of where the cab radio is installed in the train, the train type or model etc. Instead, every cab radio "learns" its own profile of a track once installed in the train or travelling a specific section of track for the first time.

Claims

Patent Claims 1. Train cab radio for monitoring the condition of railway tracks, comprising -at least one sensor device for determining movement, -a processing device for establishing a profile of a track taking into account at least data from thc at least one sensor device and location data from a looation device, and for comparing current data from the at least one sensor with the profile, and -a radio communication device for communicating data relating to results derived from the comparison.
2. Train cab radio according to claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is at least one of -a vibration sensor, -an accelerometer, and -a gyroscope.
3. Train cab radio according to any preceding claim, wherein the radio communication device operates according to the GSI4-R standard.
4. Train cab radio according to any preceding claim, wherein the location device is a receiver for GPO or Galileo satellite navigation system.
5. Train cab radio according to any preceding claim, wherein the at least one sensor device and/or the location device are at least partly realised outside of the cab radio and connected to the cab radio via communication means.
6. Train cab radio according to any preceding claim, wherein the at least one sensor device and the processing device are realIsed on a module which is configured to be slotted into the housing of the cab radio and connected to a cab radio processor module.II
7. Train cab radio according to any preceding claim, wherein the data relating to the results is communicated whenever the current data from the at least one sensor exceeds a predefined threshold value when compared to the profile.
8. Train cab radio according to claim 7, wherein the communicated data comprises at least a location information relating to the location at which the sensor data exceeded the threshold value.
9. Train cab radio according to any preceding claim, wherein the data relating to the results is communicated to a central ground station.
10. Train cab radio according to any preceding claim, wherein the data relating to the results is communicated using a text message.
11. Train cab radio according to any preceding claim, wherein the profile is generated based on multiple journeys of a train over the same stretch of rail track.
12. Method for monitoring the condition of railway tracks, comprising the steps of -determining movement using at least one sensor device, -establishing, in a trainborne cab radio, a profile of a track based on data from at least one sensor device and a location device, -comparing current data with the profile, and -communicating data relating to results derived from the comparison.
13. Method according to claim 12, wherein at a central ground station, the data relating to the results is correlated with data received from at least one other train.
14. Module for a train cab radio, comprising -at least one sensor device for determining movement, -a processing device for establishing a profile of a track taking into account at least data from the at least one sensor device and location data from a location device, for comparing current data from the at least one sensor with the profile, and for triggering communication of data relating to results derived from the comparison by a cab radio module, and -connecting means for connecting the module to a cab radio module.
15. System for monitoring the condition of railway tracks, comprising -at least one trainborne cab radio, configured to determine movement of the train using at least one sensor device, to establish a profile of a track based on data from the at least one sensor device, and to communicate data relating to results derived from a comparison of data from the at least one sensor device and a location device with an established profile, and -a central ground station, enabled to receive the data communicated by the train cab radio, to correlate the received data with data received from at least one other train.
16. Train, comprising at least a cab radio according to any of claims 1 to 11.
17. Ground station of a railway system, comprising -means for receiving data from multiple trainborne cab radios, wherein the data relates to results derived from a comparison of data from sensor devices with an established profile of a railway track, and -means for and correlating the data received from the multiple trainborne cab radios.