TWI526354B - Railway monitoring system - Google Patents

Description

Railway warning system

The invention relates to a railway warning system, in particular to a railway warning system capable of transmitting railway image images in real time for reference by a train driver.

In recent years, railway accidents have emerged in an endless stream. Due to the rapid speed of trains, once an accident occurs, it is often dead and wounded, and the loss is difficult to estimate. There may be many causes of railway accidents, such as rail breaks, man-made control or obstacles in the train's route, which may lead to accidents. Among them, the analysis of the main cause of accidents, the largest account is usually the vehicle crossing the road and foreign bodies (such as falling rocks or broken branches, etc.) remain on the rails to form obstacles, causing the train to derail due to emergency braking or collision. , damage, etc.

Due to the large tonnage, the train has a long stopping distance. Take the TEMU1000 train of the Taiwan Railway Administration (for example, the Taroko) as an example. When the driving speed reaches 130 hours, the stopping distance is It is about 650 meters, so if there is an obstacle on the front rail, the train needs to be warned at least 600~700 meters in front of the obstacle in order to safely stop the train to avoid accidents. However, looking at the known railway safety measures, there is always a lack of a system that can warn the train driver in advance when there are obstacles on the rails, even though most of the domestic level crossings have been equipped with emergency buttons, but only when an emergency occurs It is still difficult to prevent the train from hitting obstacles on the rails when the emergency button is pressed. Moreover, in addition to the level crossing, the rail section is usually unsupervised and lacks warning devices such as emergency buttons. Therefore, once there is an obstacle on the rail, it is likely to cause an accident.

In view of this, it is urgent to provide a railway warning system for transmitting the railway image map in front of the train travel route for reference by the train driver, thereby providing information on the front track condition to improve the driving safety of the train.

An object of the present invention is to provide a railway warning system for transmitting a railway image captured by an image capturing unit to a traveling train by a wireless communication unit, so that the driver of the train can know the train in advance. The condition of the rails in front of the route has the effect of improving the safety of the train.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a railway warning system, which is coupled to the wireless communication unit and the image capturing unit by an integrated control unit. The integrated control unit includes a mutual coupling image processing unit for receiving the The railway image is used for image analysis to determine whether there is an obstacle on the rail in the railway image, which has the effect of improving the utility of the system.

In order to achieve the foregoing object, the technical means for the present invention include: a railway warning system comprising: an image capturing unit for capturing a railway image toward a rail; and an integrated control unit, the integrated control unit An image processing unit and a signal processing unit are coupled to the image capturing unit via the image processing unit for receiving the railway image and performing image processing thereon. The integrated control unit further processes the image through the image processing unit. The unit is coupled to a wireless communication unit for transmitting the railway image by wireless transmission. The image processing performed by the image processing unit includes performing image analysis on the railway image to determine whether there is an obstacle on the rail in the railway image. If the image processing unit determines that there is an obstacle on the rail, the image processing unit generates an obstacle warning signal, and the signal processing unit is coupled to the image processing unit to receive the obstacle warning signal, and the image processing unit is coupled to the image processing unit to receive the obstacle warning signal. The signal processing unit is further coupled to the wireless communication unit for output News obstacle warning The obstacle warning signal includes the obstacle directly on the railway image, and the integrated control unit further includes a signal collecting module for receiving a railway operation signal, the railway operation signal including a train a distance signal, a switch status signal of a level crossing fence machine, a traffic light status signal, and a rail infrared blocking detection signal, and the signal collecting module is coupled to the signal processing unit, and the signal processing unit respectively processes the image processing unit The unit and the signal collecting module receive the obstacle warning signal and the railway operation signal, and perform signal processing to generate an output signal and output the signal to the wireless communication unit.

In the railway warning system of the present invention, the wireless transmission mode adopted by the wireless communication unit has a transmission distance of 600 meters or more.

The railway warning system of the present invention, wherein the wireless transmission mode is Wi-Fi transmission, and the wireless communication unit comprises a Wi-Fi transmission module.

The railway warning system of the present invention, wherein the image processing performed by the image processing unit comprises a compression process or a sampling process.

The railway warning system of the present invention, further comprising a Wi-Fi receiving device for being disposed on a train, the Wi-Fi receiving device for receiving the railway image from a Wi-Fi transmitting module of the wireless communication unit, and The Wi-Fi receiving device can simultaneously receive the railway image captured by the image capturing unit of the plurality of railway warning systems.

In the railway warning system of the present invention, the wireless communication unit further includes a mobile phone communication system transceiver module for detecting the railway image captured by the image capturing unit and the obstacle warning signal received by the signal processing unit and the railway The operation signal is transmitted over long distances via a base station.

The railway warning system of the present invention further includes a speed detecting module for measuring the traveling speed of a train, and the speed detecting module is coupled to the signal collecting module of the integrated control unit.

The railway warning system of the present invention, wherein the speed detecting module is a plurality of mutual mutual An infrared occlusion detector configured to generate a status signal and output to the signal collection module when the train passes, the signal processing unit can receive the signal from the signal collection module Each of the infrared ray interrupts the status signal generated by the detector and calculates the traveling speed of the train.

1‧‧‧ Railway Warning System

11‧‧‧Image capture unit

12‧‧‧Wireless communication unit

121‧‧‧Wi-Fi Transmitter Module

122‧‧‧GSM transceiver module

13‧‧‧Integrated control unit

131‧‧‧Image Processing Unit

132‧‧‧Signal Processing Unit

133‧‧‧Signal collection module

14‧‧‧Speed Detection Module

I‧‧‧ Railway Image

I’‧‧‧ Railway Image

R‧‧‧ railroad tracks

O‧‧‧ obstacles

T‧‧‧ train

T1‧‧‧Wi-Fi receiver

B‧‧‧Base Station

F‧‧‧Border

C‧‧ ‧ level crossing fence

Figure 1 is a system architecture diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing the installation of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic view of a railway image of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing the use of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5a is a schematic view showing the inclusion of an obstacle in a railway image according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5b is a schematic illustration of an obstacle in a railway image in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a schematic view showing the installation of another embodiment of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 7 is a system architecture diagram of another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 8 is a schematic view showing the installation of another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more <RTIgt;

"Coupling" as used throughout the text of the present invention means that the two devices can transfer data to each other by means of a wired entity, a wireless medium or a combination thereof (for example, a heterogeneous network). It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a railway warning system 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The railway warning system 1 includes an image capturing unit 11 , a wireless communication unit 12 and an integrated control unit 13 . The 13 series is coupled to the image capturing unit 11 and the wireless communication unit 12 respectively.

The image capturing unit 11 can be a conventional monitoring camera, a webcam, a nighttime infrared camera, etc., for capturing a railway image I, and the railway image I captured by the image capturing unit 11 is preferably a continuous image; The wireless communication unit 12 can include a Wi-Fi transmitting module, a GSM/GPRS transceiver module, or other conventional wireless transceivers. In addition, the integrated control unit 13 is coupled to the image capturing unit 11 to receive the image capturing unit 11 The captured railway image I is transmitted via the wireless communication unit 12 via the wireless transmission method.

The integrated control unit 13 includes an image processing unit 131. The image processing unit 131 can be a conventional computer host, a file server, or a workstation. The integrated control unit 13 is coupled to the image capturing unit 11 via the image processing unit 131. Therefore, the image processing unit 131 can receive the railway image I and perform image processing accordingly. The image processing performed by the image processing unit 131 preferably includes compression processing or sampling processing, etc., and reducing the amount of data of the railway image I by image processing is advantageous for transmission. The image processing unit 131 can store and record the railway image I for further utilization. In addition, the image processing performed by the image processing unit 131 preferably performs image analysis on the railway image I to determine whether there is an obstacle on the railway in the railway image I. The image processing unit 131 is further coupled to the wireless communication unit 12 to output the railway image I.

In detail, please refer to FIG. 2 together. When the railway warning system 1 of the preferred embodiment is actually used, it can be installed on a level crossing or other place where foreign matter is easily dropped onto the rail (for example, next to a steep slope). And the image capturing unit 11 is photographed toward a rail R to obtain the rail image I. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the railway image I captured by the image capturing unit 11 includes the rail R. Since there is no obstacle on the rail R, the image processing unit 131 can receive the rail image I and use it as the same image as the subsequent image analysis.

In this embodiment, the wireless communication unit 12 includes a Wi-Fi transmitting module 121, and the Wi-Fi transmitting module 121 preferably has a high-power Wi-Fi with a medium-length transmitting distance. The transmitter is designed to provide a transmission distance of more than 600 meters. For example, the VT2210 Wi-Fi transmitting base station produced by Vivato Corporation of the United States has a transmission distance of 4,600 meters at a transmission rate of 11 Mbps, which is in accordance with the preferred implementation. For example, the requirements of the Railway Warning System 1. Therefore, it is only necessary to simply set up a Wi-Fi receiving device T1 on the train T, and the Wi-Fi receiving device T1 can receive the railway image I from the wireless communication unit 12. When the train T travels close to the railway warning system 1 of the preferred embodiment, the wireless communication unit 12 can instantly transmit the railway image I in front of the train travel route to the Wi-Fi receiving device T1, so that the driver of the train T The status of the rail R can be known in advance.

Please refer to the fourth and fifth figures. If an obstacle O appears on the rail R, the railway image I′ captured by the image capturing unit 11 includes the rail R and the obstacle O, so when the train When the T is approaching the railway warning system 1 of the preferred embodiment, the wireless communication unit 12 can instantly transmit the railway image I' to the Wi-Fi receiving device T1, so that the driver of the train T can have sufficient time response And stop the train T. On the other hand, the image processing unit 131 performs image analysis on the railway image I' to detect the obstacle O on the rail R. The image processing unit 131 can use the railway image I obtained when there is no obstacle on the rail R as the same image, and compare the image with the railway image I′ to detect the obstacle. Or; the image processing unit 131 may perform a conventional image analysis operation such as grayscale calculation, filtering processing, and edge detection on the railway image I' to identify the obstacle O. Since the image analysis is a well-known technique that can be easily understood by those having ordinary knowledge in the technical field of the present invention, details of the operation thereof will not be described again. If the image processing unit 131 determines that the obstacle O exists on the rail R after the image analysis is completed, the image processing unit 131 will immediately generate an obstacle warning signal.

However, even if the driver of the train T can immediately receive the railway image I′ transmitted by the wireless communication unit 12, it may not be aware that the obstacle image O is contained in the railway image I′ due to carelessness. Therefore, the driver Please refer to Figure 5b together. The obstacle warning signal is straight. The obstacle O is marked on the railway image I'. For example, in the embodiment, the image processing unit 131 may use the edge detection operation to mark the obstacle O as a barrier warning signal with a border F. Thereby, when the wireless communication unit 12 instantaneously transmits the railway image I′ to the train T, the obstacle warning signal can highlight the presence of the obstacle O in the railway image I′ to remind the driver to pay attention to the obstacle. O, in turn, gives the driver sufficient time to determine whether the obstacle O will hinder the travel of the train T, and take countermeasures in time, for example, when the obstacle O is a vehicle, the train T should be stopped immediately; When the obstacle O is a broken branch, it can be ignored.

However, the obstacle warning signal may also include a radio wave signal. Please refer to FIG. 1 again. The integrated control unit 13 further includes a signal processing unit 132. The signal processing unit 132 may be a digital signal controller (DsPIC). A conventional signal processing device such as a digital signal processor (DSP) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is coupled to the image processing unit 131 to receive the radio signal of the obstacle warning signal, and The signal processing unit 132 is further coupled to the wireless communication unit 12 to output the obstacle warning signal. In more detail, the integrated control unit 13 can further include a signal collection module 133 for receiving various railway operation signals, such as a distance signal of a train T and a switch status signal of a level crossing fence machine. The signal collecting module 133 is coupled to the signal processing unit 132. The signal collecting module 133 is coupled to the signal processing unit 132. The signal processing unit 132 can receive the obstacle warning signal and various railway operation signals from the image processing unit 131 and the signal collection module 133 for signal processing, thereby generating at least one output signal and outputting to the signal processing unit 131. Wireless communication unit 12.

For example, the signal processing unit 132 can receive the obstacle warning signal and the distance signal of the train T, respectively, when the distance between the train T and the railway warning system 1 of the preferred embodiment reaches a warning distance (for example, 1000 metrics). If the obstacle warning signal generated by the image processing unit 131 is still not released, the signal processing unit 132 immediately detects the obstacle The signal is transmitted as the output signal to the train T via the wireless communication unit 12 to remind the driver of the train T to pay attention to the railway image I captured by the image capturing unit 11; or even if the image processing unit 131 does not The obstacle warning signal is generated. If the signal processing unit 132 receives the switch state signal of the level crossing fence machine or the rail infrared blocking detection signal is abnormal, an alert message can still be generated as the output signal and via the wireless The communication unit 12 transmits to the train T to remind the driver of the train T to pay attention to the relevant situation.

With the above system, the railway warning system 1 of the preferred embodiment of the present invention can transmit a railway image I captured by an image capturing unit 11 to a train T on the road by a wireless communication unit 12, because The wireless transmission mode adopted by the wireless communication unit 12 can provide a transmission distance of more than 600 meters, so that the driver of the train T can know in advance the condition of the rail R in front of the train travel route. Accordingly, when there is an obstacle on the rail R, the warning is transmitted in advance through the railway image I, which ensures that the driver has sufficient reaction time and distance to stop the train T, and has the effect of improving the driving safety of the train.

In addition, the railway warning system 1 of the preferred embodiment of the present invention can be coupled to the wireless communication unit 12 and the image capturing unit 11 by using an integrated control unit 13, and the integrated control unit 13 includes a mutual coupling image processing. The unit 131 is configured to receive the railway image I and perform image analysis to determine whether there is an obstacle on the rail R in the railway image I. Accordingly, when the image processing unit 131 completes the image analysis and detects that there is an obstacle on the rail R, an obstacle warning signal can be immediately generated and output to the train T via the wireless communication unit 12 to remind the train. The driver of T pays attention to the railway image I, which effectively prevents the driver from paying attention to the railway image I and cannot find the obstacle on the rail R in time, and has the effect of improving the utility of the system.

Referring to FIG. 6 again, in another embodiment of the railway warning system 1 of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Wi-Fi transmitting module 121 in the wireless communication unit 12 is transmitted by the aforementioned VT2210 type Wi-Fi. As an example, the base station has a transmission distance of 4 to 6 kilometers, far exceeding Through the distribution density of the urban road crossing, when the installation pitch of the railway warning system 1 of the preferred embodiment is smaller than the transmission distance of the Wi-Fi transmitting module 121, the Wi-Fi receiving device T1 of the train T can simultaneously Receiving the railway image I captured by the image capturing unit 11 of the plurality of railway warning systems 1 so that the driver of the train T can simultaneously control the rail R condition of the plurality of railway warning systems 1 in front of the train travel route, further improving Train driving safety.

Referring to Figures 7 and 8, a railway warning system 1 according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention is different from the foregoing preferred embodiment in that the wireless communication unit 12 further includes a mobile telephone communication system (Global The system for mobile, GSM) transceiver module 122, the GSM transceiver module 122 can remotely wirelessly transmit the railway image I captured by the image capturing unit 11 and the signal received by the signal processing unit 132 via a base station B. Transmission, to return to the Central Bank car dispatch center. In this way, the Central Bank Car Control Center can collect the railway conditions of the setting positions of the respective railway warning systems 1 to control the traffic scheduling in a complete manner. Once an obstacle appears on the rail R of the location of one of the railway warning systems 1, the information can be immediately notified. All trains passing through the railroad R have greatly improved the operational efficiency of the railway warning system 1 of the present invention.

In addition, a speed detecting module 14 is further disposed in the railway warning system 1 of the embodiment, and the speed detecting module 14 is configured to measure the traveling speed of the train T, and is preferably disposed at a distance. The position of the second level of the level crossing is about 1000 meters to 1500 meters. In detail, the speed detecting module 14 is coupled to the signal collecting module 133 of the integrated control unit 13, and the speed detecting module 14 can be a plurality of infrared blocking detectors arranged at intervals. The occlusion detector can generate a status signal when the train T passes and output to the signal collection module 133. The signal processing unit 132 can receive the infrared occlusion detector from the signal collection module 133. The generated status signal is used to calculate the travel speed of the train T. Accordingly, the signal processing unit 132 can generate an output signal according to the traveling speed of the train T and output it to the wireless communication unit 12 for controlling the elevation of a level crossing fence C.

By setting the speed detecting module 14 described above, the signal processing unit 132 can An output signal is generated according to the traveling speed of the train T, so that the lifting timing of the level crossing fence C can be adjusted according to the traveling speed of the train T, and the train T will pass the fixed time after the level crossing fence C is lowered. Level crossing fence C. In this way, it is possible to effectively prevent the slow-speed car from approaching the level crossing fence C, the situation that the level crossing fence C drops prematurely, but the train has not passed, indirectly avoiding the accident rate which leads to the impatience of the passerby and lowering the crossing level.

In summary, the railway warning system of the present invention can achieve many functions such as improving the driving safety of the train and improving the practicality of the system.

While the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments described above, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The technical scope of the invention is protected, and therefore the scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

1‧‧‧ Railway Warning System

11‧‧‧Image capture unit

12‧‧‧Wireless communication unit

121‧‧‧Wi-Fi Transmitter Module

13‧‧‧Integrated control unit

131‧‧‧Image Processing Unit

132‧‧‧Signal Processing Unit

133‧‧‧Signal collection module

Claims (8)

A railway warning system comprising: an image capturing unit for capturing a railway image toward a rail; and an integrated control unit comprising an image processing unit and a signal processing unit, the integrated control unit The image processing unit is coupled to the image capturing unit for receiving the railway image and performing image processing therewith. The integrated control unit is coupled to the wireless communication unit via the image processing unit to transmit the railway through wireless transmission. The image processing performed by the image processing unit includes performing image analysis on the railway image to determine whether there is an obstacle on the rail in the railway image. If the image processing unit completes the image analysis, it is determined that the rail has a The obstacle processing unit generates an obstacle warning signal, the signal processing unit is coupled to the image processing unit to receive the obstacle warning signal, and the signal processing unit is coupled to the wireless communication unit to output the obstacle warning signal. Where the obstacle warning signal is included directly in the The obstacle image is displayed on the road image, and the integrated control unit further includes a signal collecting module for receiving a railway operation signal, where the railway operation signal includes a distance signal of the train, a switch state signal of a level crossing fence machine, And a signal processing unit is coupled to the signal processing unit, and the signal processing unit receives the obstacle warning signal from the image processing unit and the signal collection module, respectively. The railway operation signal is signal processed to generate an output signal and output to the wireless communication unit. The railway warning system of claim 1, wherein the wireless transmission unit uses a wireless transmission method having a transmission distance of 600 meters or more. The railway warning system of claim 1, wherein the wireless transmission mode is Wi-Fi transmission, and the wireless communication unit comprises a Wi-Fi transmission module. The railway warning system of claim 1, wherein the image processing unit The image processing performed includes compression processing or sampling processing. The railway warning system of claim 3, wherein the Wi-Fi receiving device is further disposed on a train, and the Wi-Fi receiving device is used for the Wi-Fi transmitting mode from the wireless communication unit. The group receives the railway image, and the Wi-Fi receiving device can simultaneously receive the railway image captured by the image capturing unit of the plurality of railway warning systems. The railway warning system of claim 3, wherein the wireless communication unit further comprises a mobile phone communication system transceiver module for the railway image captured by the image capturing unit and the signal processing unit The received obstacle warning signal and the railway operation signal are transmitted over long distances via a base station. The railway warning system of claim 1, wherein a speed detecting module is provided for measuring the traveling speed of a train, and the speed detecting module is coupled to the signal of the integrated control unit. Collect modules. The railway warning system of claim 7, wherein the speed detecting module is a plurality of mutually spaced infrared blocking detectors, and the infrared blocking detector generates one when the train passes The status signal is output to the signal collection module, and the signal processing unit can receive the status signal generated by the infrared occlusion detector from the signal collection module and calculate the traveling speed of the train.