JP7461106B2 - Pass-through door, vehicle for track transportation system, and modification method thereof - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an orbital transportation system that runs on a track.

In recent years, research has been conducted to automate the operation of existing rail transportation systems due to concerns about a shortage of drivers due to the aging of drivers, as well as to reduce operational costs. In a track transportation system where transportation vehicles run on tracks, if there is an obstacle on the track, it cannot be avoided by steering, so detecting obstacles improves the safety and operability of the transportation system. It is important for

Currently, drivers visually detect obstacles on the track and along the route, but autonomous driving requires a mechanism to automatically detect obstacles along the route.
Research into obstacle detection technology is being conducted for autonomous driving of automobiles, and it is common to use multiple sensors such as millimeter wave radar, laser radar, cameras, etc. Using multiple sensors makes it possible to detect obstacles under various conditions (weather, brightness, distance to obstacles, etc.).

Furthermore, even if one sensor fails, it can be backed up by another sensor, which has the advantage of improving operability. When detecting obstacles using multiple sensors, it is important to combine the information from each sensor on the same coordinates, and for this purpose calibration is performed to understand the positional relationship of the sensors installed on the vehicle. . Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for efficiently calibrating a plurality of sensors.

JP 2018-146487 A

The track transportation system operates commercially with a limited number of vehicles, and it is difficult to remove the vehicles from commercial operation for a long period of time in order to install obstacle detection sensors. Therefore, it is important to be able to install obstacle detection sensors for autonomous driving on vehicles on existing routes while maintaining vehicle operational efficiency.

The technology described in Patent Literature 1 aims to make the calibration work more efficient, but does not eliminate the need for calibration work. In addition, the technology is aimed at a dedicated vehicle in which obstacle detection sensors are installed so as to be in accurate positional relationship, and there is an issue that it takes time to install the sensors.
In order to address the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to easily install multiple sensors on vehicles of a rail transportation system.

In order to solve the above problems, a through door installed on the end face of a vehicle of a track transportation system is characterized by having an installation part for fixing a plurality of sensors.

According to the present invention, multiple sensors can be easily installed on vehicles of a rail transportation system. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will become clear from the description of the following embodiment.

FIG. 1 is an overview diagram of a track transportation system vehicle having a through door. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a through door in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a sensor frame according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic view of a through door according to an embodiment of the present invention, seen from inside the vehicle.

Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings, in which when installing a plurality of sensors to an existing rail transport system vehicle, it is sufficient to simply replace the through door, thereby reducing the installation time.

FIG. 1 is an overview diagram of a track transportation system vehicle having a through door. The through door 102 is provided on the end face of a vehicle 101 of a track transportation system such as a train, and partitions a through path when the vehicles are connected to each other. The through door of this embodiment is effective when it is located in the front of the leading car, that is, on the gable side on the traveling direction side.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a through door in the embodiment of the present invention.
The through door of this embodiment is composed of an obstacle detection sensor 201, a sensor installation frame 202 which is an installation member for installing the sensor, and a through door body 203. The sensor frame and the through door are fixed. A plurality of obstacle detection sensors are installed in a line in a direction perpendicular to the ground surface.

FIG. 3 is a general view of the sensor installation frame 202. The sensor installation frame 202 has a configuration in which a plurality of sensors can be installed. Furthermore, an acrylic plate is installed on the front surface of the sensor installation frame 202 to protect the sensor from dirt. The material installed to prevent contamination may be other than an acrylic plate, and the material may be any material as long as it does not affect the sensor or has a small effect. In this embodiment, any method is not critical as long as stains can be prevented.

The placement of sensors is defined according to the properties and specifications of each sensor. It is desirable to place the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) sensor 301 at the top so that it is easy to receive radio waves. Long-distance sensors are placed at the top of the sensor installation frame 202 to avoid occlusion, and short-distance sensors (for example, LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)) 302 are placed at the bottom of the sensor installation frame 202 to reduce blind spots.

The order in which the sensors are installed in the middle of the sensor frame does not matter, but it is preferable to install the camera as high up as possible to avoid occlusion. The millimeter wave radar sensor is also installed high up in the sensor frame to avoid interference with the rails. The millimeter wave radar sensor is preferably installed above the middle in the height direction of the sensor installation frame 202. The above-mentioned sensor placement order is one example, and in the present invention the sensor installation order is set appropriately depending on the situation.

Figure 4 is an overview of the through door from the inside of the vehicle in an embodiment of the present invention. The through door is provided with holes 401 through which the power lines of the sensors and the cables for data communication can pass. This eliminates the need to drill holes in the vehicle, and reduces the work time required to install the sensors.

Next, a method for installing the through door of this embodiment on a vehicle will be described. First, a sensor frame and an obstacle detection sensor are attached to the through door of the vehicle to be installed at the factory. At this stage, the positional relationship of each sensor is corrected so that it becomes a specified positional relationship. In this way, there is no need to adjust the positional relationship of each sensor when installing it on the vehicle, and the labor time required for installation can be reduced. In addition, because the positional relationship of each sensor is constant regardless of the vehicle, there is no need to perform calibration work for each vehicle to be installed, and the labor time required for installation can be reduced.

The gate assembled in the factory and the gate integrating the obstacle detection sensor are then attached to the vehicle at the depot. The work involved in this is to simply remove the gate installed on the vehicle and replace it with the gate equipped with the sensor.

Instead of installing the obstacle detection sensors at the factory, the sensors themselves may be installed at a different location. Even in this case, the accuracy of at least the height of the shelf is guaranteed, which reduces the installation time. Furthermore, if the sensor installation frame 202 is processed so that the installation position of the obstacle detection sensor is uniquely determined, it is possible to achieve the same accuracy as when assembled at a factory.

As described above, the retrofit method using the through door of this embodiment can reduce the time required to install multiple obstacle detection sensors on vehicles of an existing track transportation system. In addition, because the relative positions of the sensors are fixed, there is no need to perform calibration for each vehicle on which they are installed, making it possible to install obstacle detection sensors during periodic inspections between commercial operations. This eliminates the need to remove the target vehicle from commercial operation in order to install obstacle detection sensors, making it possible to install obstacle detection sensors for autonomous driving on vehicles on existing routes while maintaining the operational efficiency of the vehicles.

In the first embodiment, the data communication cable is pulled into the vehicle through hole 401 in the through door, but a controller equipped with obstacle detection logic may be installed in the sensor installation frame. This makes it possible to introduce an obstacle detection system to vehicles that do not have space to install a controller inside the vehicle.

In the first embodiment, the power line is pulled into the vehicle through the hole 401 in the through door, but the power supply for the sensor may be installed in the sensor installation frame. In this way, it is possible to introduce the obstacle detection system without installing power supply work on the vehicle side.

Vehicles in the orbital transportation system are equipped with a pneumatic brake system that operates using air power via pneumatic piping for emergencies. The through door of this embodiment may be equipped with a mechanism (for example, a solenoid valve) for controlling the air brake piping as a control unit. By connecting the through door and the air brake system, the controller installed in the through door will recognize an obstacle based on information from the obstacle detection sensor, and if there is a possibility of collision with the obstruction, the air brake will be activated. A mechanism for controlling the pipes may be operated to operate the brakes of the vehicle.
That is, a configuration may be adopted in which the control unit installed in the through door is connected to the brake command control line of the vehicle.

In this way, by simply installing the through door of this embodiment in a vehicle, it is possible to detect obstacles and perform avoidance operations (braking) without any construction on the vehicle side. Note that the brake command may be generated by a method other than controlling the piping of the air brake; for example, pressurization or non-pressurization of the brake command control line may be controlled via a solenoid valve or the like.

In the embodiment, the purpose of the installed sensors has been described as obstacle detection, but the purpose of the installed sensors may be other than obstacle detection, for example, they may be used to estimate the position of a vehicle. Furthermore, the number and types of sensors to be installed may be other than those described above.

101 Track transportation system vehicle 102 Through door 201 Obstacle detection sensor 202 Sensor installation frame 203 Through door body 301 GNSS sensor 302 Short range sensor 401 Hole

Claims (5)

In the through door installed on the gable side of the vehicle of the track transportation system running on the track,
It has a sensor installation frame that fixes multiple obstacle detection sensors,
The plurality of obstacle detection sensors are fixed to the sensor installation frame,
The plurality of obstacle detection sensors include a long-distance sensor and a short-distance sensor, and the long-distance sensor is installed above the sensor installation frame than the short-distance sensor. A through door featuring In the through door installed on the gable side of the vehicle of the track transportation system running on the track,
It has a sensor installation frame that fixes multiple obstacle detection sensors,
The plurality of obstacle detection sensors are fixed to the sensor installation frame,
The through door, wherein the plurality of obstacle detection sensors include a millimeter wave radar sensor, and the millimeter wave radar sensor is installed at an upper part of the sensor installation frame. In a through door installed on the end surface of a vehicle of a track transportation system running on a track,
A sensor installation frame for fixing a plurality of obstacle detection sensors is provided,
A through door characterized in that a hole is provided for pulling in at least one of the power lines of the multiple obstacle detection sensors and a data communication line that transmits and receives data acquired by the multiple obstacle detection sensors to a controller equipped with obstacle detection logic from outside the vehicle into the vehicle. In a vehicle for a track transportation system that has a through door on the end side,
a sensor installation frame for fixing a plurality of obstacle detection sensors to the through door ;
A vehicle for a track transportation system , wherein the through door has a control section, and the control section is connected to a brake command control line of the vehicle . A method for modifying a rail transit system vehicle having a through door on its end face, comprising the steps of:
A method for modifying a vehicle for a track transportation system, comprising replacing the aforementioned through door with a through door having a sensor installation frame for fixing a plurality of obstacle detection sensors.

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