Railway maintenance device
AssigneeInternational Electronic Machines Corp.
InventorZahid F. Mian
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A railway maintenance device configured for autonomous or semi-autonomous operation in a rail environment is provided. The device can process image data to move about the rail environment and perform one or more actions in the rail environment. The actions can include one or more actions related to decoupling and/or attaching rail vehicles, and can be implemented by performing three-dimensional image processing. The device can be configured to move with any movement of a rail vehicle on which one or more actions are being performed. In an alternative embodiment, the various components configured to perform the action are implemented at a stationary location with respect to a rail line.
Claims20
A vehicle comprising:
- a transport component including:
- a motor;
- a set of wheels;
- and
- means for selectively engaging the set of wheels with the motor;
- a set of action components, the set of action components including at least one securing action component configured to be temporarily secured with respect to a target object external to the vehicle for performing a task on the target object;
- means for performing the task on the target object, the means for performing being configured to perform a process including:
- moving the at least one securing action component to temporarily secure the at least one securing action component with respect to the target object;
- operating the means for selectively engaging to disengage the motor from the set of wheels in response to the at least one securing action component being temporarily secured with respect to the target object;
- performing the task on the target object using at least one of the set of action components;
- unsecuring the at least one securing action component from the target object in response to completing the performing;
- and
- operating the means for selectively engaging to re-engage the motor to the set of wheels in response to the unsecuring.
A railway maintenance device comprising:
- a multi-link arm, each link capable of independent movement in at least one direction;
- a set of visualization components configured to capture work region image data for a region including at least one target object;
- an action component located on a link of the multi-link arm;
- and
- a processing component configured to perform a railway maintenance operation by:
- moving at least one of the links to place the action component near a target object in the region using the work region image data;
- disengaging at least one link of the multi-link arm in response to the action component being temporarily secured with respect to the target object to enable the at least one link to move freely;
- and
- operating at least one of:
- the arm or the action component, to perform the railway maintenance operation with the at least one link disengaged.
A rail environment comprising:
- a railway maintenance device configured to perform each of a plurality of railway maintenance operations including:
- decoupling a pair of rail vehicles;
- detaching a pair of brake hoses;
- attaching a pair of brake hoses;
- and acquiring inspection data for a rail vehicle, the device comprising:
- a multi-link arm, each link capable of independent movement in at least one direction;
- a set of visualization components configured to capture work region image data for a region including at least one target object;
- an action component located on a link of the multi-link arm;
- and
- a processing component configured to perform at least one of the plurality of railway maintenance operations by:
- moving at least one of the links to place the action component near a target object in the region using the work region image data;
- disengaging at least one link of the multi-link arm in response to the action component being temporarily secured with respect to the target object to enable the at least one link to move freely;
- and
- operating at least one of:
- the arm or the action component, to perform the at least one of the plurality of railway maintenance operations with the at least one link disengaged.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.