METHOD FOR CREATING A TRAIN CONTROLLER

Description

The invention relates to a method for creating a train controller.

The driving behavior or braking behavior of a train, which consists of a traction vehicle and a railway carriage coupled thereto, is influenced by means of a train controller, wherein safety specifications must be ensured.

For the creation or configuration of the train controller, data relating to the characteristics of the train, the traction vehicle and the coupled railway carriages is required on the traction vehicle (e.g., on a locomotive).

These include, for example:

• • a total mass of the train,
  • a braking type to be used by the traction vehicle and by predetermined railway carriages, e.g.:
    • “goods train brake, G” braking type—slow-acting, resulting in longer braking distances,
    • “passenger train brake, P” braking type—fast-acting, resulting in shorter braking distances,
    • “high-performance brake, R (rapid) ” braking type—optimized for higher train speeds,
    • other braking types, which may be specified in a country-specific manner,
  • a braking capability of the train described by
    • a “braking percentage” value: these are dimensionless numbers used to evaluate the braking capability of a train, which determine a permissible line speed in a track section, and
    • a “braking weight” value: this is a weight value, expressed in the unit “ton, t” (=1000 kg), used to evaluate the braking capability of a train; the braking weight indicates the mass of the vehicle that can be brought to a standstill by the brakes within a given braking distance and from a given speed,
  • a train length,
  • a maximum permissible speed of the train,
  • a train type (e.g., goods train, passenger train, commuter train, long-distance train, etc.)
  • a type of brakes present in the train (e.g., disk brakes, etc.)

In order to create the train controller, this data is entered into an electronic control system in the traction vehicle, which then configures or creates the train controller using algorithms.

Since this data depends on the assembly of the train and the types of railway carriages used, it must be made available to the driver manually each time the train is assembled or reassembled.

For a train railway carriage under consideration, the train controller determines a braking type depending on the position of the railway carriage in the train, which must then be manually set on the railway carriage before the start of the journey.

The abovementioned data is collected by a control center or by a vehicle dispatch system for the train during each train assembly and made available to the driver either in the form of a handout or in electronic format.

The driver enters this data into the control system of the traction vehicle via a driver's cab display before the start of the journey.

The driver must verify that the electronic vehicle control system has correctly adopted the data by means of a visual inspection carried out manually.

In the future, the intention is that trains will be automated and thus moved without the active involvement of a train driver, so that their involvement in the creation of the train controller will be eliminated.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to specify a method for creating a train controller which can be applied in the automated operation of a train and thus without the involvement of a train driver.

This object is achieved by the features of patent claim 1. Advantageous refinements are specified in the dependent claims.

In the method according to the invention for creating a train controller by means of which the driving behavior and braking behavior of a train is influenced, the train consists of a traction vehicle and at least one railway carriage coupled thereto.

When the train is assembled, each railway carriage is connected to the traction vehicle via a data connection.

Relevant data, which is available from the railway carriages and is required to create the train controller, is transmitted from each railway carriage via the data connection to an electronic control system of the traction vehicle.

The control system uses the relevant data of the railway carriages and relevant data, which is available from the traction vehicle and is required to create the train controller, to automatically create the train controller.

In a preferred refinement, the relevant data describes the respective specific characteristics of the associated railway carriage and thus describes said railway carriage specifically.

In a preferred refinement, the specific data of a railway carriage under consideration is stored electronically by the railway carriage. The data is preferably stored in such a way that it is stored there in a manner secured against unauthorized access.

In a preferred refinement, the relevant data of the traction vehicle describes said traction vehicle specifically.

In a preferred refinement, the specific data is stored electronically by the traction vehicle. The data is preferably stored in such a way that it is stored there in a manner secured against unauthorized access.

In a preferred refinement, the relevant data describes a sequence of railway carriages or a position of a railway carriage in the train.

In a preferred refinement, the relevant data describes a total mass of a railway carriage or the traction vehicle.

In a preferred refinement, the relevant data describes a length of the railway carriage or traction vehicle.

In a preferred refinement, the relevant data describes a type of railway carriage or a type of traction vehicle.

In a preferred refinement, the relevant data describes an existing braking device present in the railway carriage or traction vehicle.

In a preferred refinement, the relevant data describes a braking percentage and a braking weight.

In a preferred refinement, the control system calculates a total mass of the train and/or a total length of the train from the data.

In a preferred refinement, the control system defines a braking type for each individual railway carriage based on the data and based on the sequence of railway carriages in the train.

In a preferred refinement, the control system determines a maximum permissible speed for the train.

In a preferred refinement, the control system defines a specific braking type for a specific railway carriage based on the data.

In a preferred refinement, the specific braking type is transmitted from the traction vehicle to the specific railway carriage via the data connection.

In a preferred refinement, the specific braking type is automatically set on the associated specific railway carriage.

In a preferred refinement, the transmission of data between the railway carriage and the traction vehicle or the control system there is carried out by means of a secure data transmission method in order to secure the data against unintentional or unauthorized data corruption.

In a preferred refinement, in the event of an error occurring during the data transmission, a repeated data transmission is carried out with an adjustable number of repetitions in order to retransmit the relevant data in an error-free manner.

In a preferred refinement, for testing and validation purposes, the control system of the traction vehicle reads out the respective set braking type from all railway carriages of the train via the data connection and compares it with the specifications of the control system.

In a preferred refinement, if an error is detected in the feedback of the braking type or if the feedback of the braking type to the traction vehicle is missing, a repeated braking type transmission with an adjustable number of repetitions to an affected railway carriage and a subsequent feedback of the braking type are carried out until the correct setting thereof is defined by the retransmission and comparison by the traction vehicle.

In a preferred refinement, the control system of the traction vehicle stores all calculated values and transmits them to a landside or a control center.

In a preferred refinement, a parameterization of subsystems on the vehicle side, in particular of train protection systems, takes place by means of the control system.

In a preferred refinement, after the control system has received approval, the data determined for the train is used for performing control tasks.

The present invention eliminates previously necessary manual processes (e.g., manual calculation of the braking type of the railway carriages, manual setting of the braking type on the railway carriages, manual data input by the driver on the traction vehicle) and avoids associated errors or sources of error.

The present invention provides that the traction vehicle automatically calculates train data (e.g., total length, total weight) based on data specified in the respective railway carriages and in the traction vehicle, thus avoiding errors.

The present invention eliminates previously required work steps of the operating personnel, so that an automated or autonomous operation of the train is supported or can be realized.

The present invention reduces train upgrade times and thus achieves considerable cost savings.

The present invention provides that a control center is able to check data currently in use at any time and to archive it for later use.

This enables savings in working time, eliminates sources of error and reduces train operating costs, while maintaining the same operational processes or train assemblies.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to a drawing. In the figures:

FIG. 1 shows an overview of the method according to the invention,

FIG. 2 shows details of the method according to the invention on the basis of a schematic flow diagram, and

FIG. 3 shows further details of the steps described in FIG. 2 with reference to the above FIG.

FIG. 1 shows an overview of the method according to the invention. A traction vehicle TFZ is coupled with railway carriages WA1 to WA4 to form a train ZG.

A data connection DV is set up and initialized between the traction vehicle TFZ and the railway carriages WA1 to WA4 in such a way that data DAT-WA1 to DAT-WA4 can be transmitted from each of the railway carriages WA1 to WA4 to an electronic control system LEIT of the traction vehicle TFZ.

At the same time, data DAT-TFZ is also available from the traction vehicle TFZ, which can preferably also be transferred via the data connection DV to the electronic control system LEIT of the traction vehicle TFZ.

The data DAT-WA1 to DAT-WA4 and DAT-TFZ are suitable for describing the characteristics of the train ZG as relevant data or for creating a train controller ZG-STG based on this data.

This is performed by the electronic control system LEIT of the traction vehicle TFZ with the aid of known algorithms and functionalities.

The data DAT-WA1 to DAT-WA4 is specific for each of the railway carriages WA1 to WA4 and is secured or stored accordingly by each of the railway carriages WA1 to WA4.

The data DAT-TFZ is specific to the traction vehicle TFZ and is secured or stored accordingly there.

For example, the data DAT-WA1 to DAT-WA4 describe the sequence or order or position of the railway carriages WA to WA4 in the train ZG.

For example, the data DAT-WA1 to DAT-WA4 and DAT-TFZ describe a total mass of each individual railway carriage WA1 to WA4 and a total mass of the traction vehicle TFZ.

This enables the control system LEIT to calculate or derive a total mass of the train ZG from this.

For example, the data DAT-WA1 to DAT-WA4 and DAT-TFZ describe a length of each individual railway carriage WA1 to WA4 and a length of the traction vehicle TFZ.

This enables the control system LEIT to calculate or derive a total length of the train ZG from this.

For example, the data DAT-WA1 to DAT-WA4 and DAT-TFZ describe a type of each individual railway carriage WA1 to WA4 and a type of the traction vehicle TFZ.

This enables the control system LEIT to derive or establish a train type (e.g., goods train, passenger train, commuter train, long-distance train, etc.) for the train ZG from this.

For example, the data DAT-WA1 to DAT-WA4 and DAT-TFZ describe a type of brakes present in each individual railway carriage WA1 to WA4 and a type of brakes present in the traction vehicle TFZ.

Due to the sequence of the railway carriages in the trainset, the control system defines the braking type for each individual railway carriage, transmits it to the respective railway carriages and preferably automatically sets it there.

Based on this, the control system LEIT can derive a braking method which is optimized for the train ZG, or the braking type, in order to achieve an optimized braking capability of the train ZG.

In this context, the control system LEIT also takes into account values for a “braking percentage” and a “braking weight” which are specified by the railway carriages WA1 to WA4 and/or the traction vehicle TFZ.

Based on the data, the control system LEIT also determines or defines a maximum permissible speed for the train ZG.

A secure data transmission method is used for the data transmission between the railway carriages WA1 to WA4 and the traction vehicle TFZ or the control system LEIT thereof, which sufficiently secures the data transmission against unintentional or unauthorized data corruption and at the same time is sufficiently fail-safe.

FIG. 2 shows details of the method according to the invention from FIG. 1 based on a schematic flow diagram.

In a first step S1, the train is assembled by coupling the traction vehicle with the railway carriages.

The data connection between the traction vehicle and the railway carriages is set up and initialized.

In a second step S2 following the first step S1, the traction vehicle reads out the relevant data from the individual railway carriages via the data connection, which relevant data is required for calculating or defining the braking type of the railway carriages and for creating the train controller by means of the control system of the traction vehicle.

If an error FEH occurs during the data transmission via the data connection, an attempt is made to read out or retransmit the relevant data from the railway carriages with an adjustable number of repetitions.

If this is unsuccessful, the braking type is manually set in a step MANB in accordance with the prior art described at the outset.

The same applies to the relevant data, which is then manually collected and entered on the traction vehicle by a train driver according to the prior art described at the outset.

In a third step S3 following the second step S2, from the transmitted relevant data of the individual railway carriages and from the relevant data of the traction vehicle, the traction vehicle calculates or determines the total mass, length and maximum speed of the train, while determining the braking percentage, and determines the braking type of each individual railway carriage, which is defined depending on the respective position or the railway carriage sequence within the train.

In a fourth step S4 following the third step S3, the traction vehicle transmits the setting of the braking type to each individual railway carriage in the train in the form of data. The associated data transmission is preferably again carried out using the existing data connection.

The respective braking type is set in each railway carriage according to the data-based specifications, wherein this setting takes place automatically.

If an error FEH occurs during the data transmission via the data connection, an attempt is made to retransmit the data to the railway carriages with an adjustable number of repetitions.

If this is unsuccessful, the step MANB described above is performed once again.

In a fifth step S5 following the fourth step S4, for testing and validation purposes, the traction vehicle reads out the set braking type from all railway carriages via the data connection and compares it with the specifications.

If the braking type in one of the railway carriages has not been set correctly, an attempt will again be made to retransmit the braking type data to the railway carriage with an adjustable number of repetitions until its correct setting is defined by the retransmission and comparison by means of the traction vehicle.

If this is unsuccessful, the step MANB described above is performed once again.

If the braking type of a railway carriage could not be transmitted back to the traction vehicle due to a communication problem, an attempt is once again made to transmit the braking type data to the traction vehicle with an adjustable number of repetitions in order to be able to carry out the comparison there.

If this is unsuccessful, the step MANB described above is performed once again.

In a sixth step S6 following the fifth step S5, the control system of the traction vehicle stores all calculated values and transmits them to a landside or a control center.

In a seventh step S7 following the sixth step S6, the control system parameterizes subsystems on the vehicle side (for example, train protection systems).

In an eighth step S8 following the seventh step S7, the control system uses train data determined for the train for performing control tasks. The use of the data is preceded by the issuing of approval information by the control center.

FIG. 3 shows further details of the steps described in FIG. 2 with reference to the above FIG.

Steps S2 to S8 are carried out by the traction vehicle TFZ.

In the second step S2, the relevant data DAT-WA1 to DAT-WAn are automatically read out from the coupled railway carriages WA1 to WAn of the train ZG via the data connection DV and transmitted to the traction vehicle TFZ.

In a substep S21, the transmitted data is checked for plausibility by the traction vehicle TFZ.

For example, the corresponding maximum value ranges are checked, in particular the train mass, train length, etc.

In the third step S3, the individual, railway carriage-specific settings for the braking type are calculated on the basis of the parameters or data read out from the railway carriages and the parameters or data of the traction vehicle TFZ.

In the fourth step S4, the calculated braking type for each individual railway carriage WA1 to WAn of the train ZG is then transmitted.

Once the braking type has been set in the railway carriages WA 1 to WAn, the setting, which was acquired via external sensors, is read back again and compared with the specifications—steps S5 and S6.

If the setting is carried out correctly, in a seventh step S7, train protection systems are implemented in the traction vehicle TFZ according to the calculated setting.

After the successful setting of the railway carriages and the train protection systems, in an eighth step S8 the train and railway carriage data is transmitted to the landside for further processing.