Autonomous vehicle for road and rail
OwnerMordechai Teicherinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An autonomous electric road vehicle is transported by a railcar for automated railed travel on a railway. During automated railed travel, the railcar is powered by the autonomous road vehicle's main power source and driven by the autonomous road vehicle's driving automation control system. A driver control of the autonomous electric road vehicle allows a human driver to apply emergency braking during both road and railed travel.
Claims18
An autonomous road vehicle operable for both automated road travel and automated railed travel, during automated railed travel the autonomous road vehicle is mounted on and transported by a railcar on a railway, the autonomous road vehicle comprising:
- a vehicle motor;
- a main power source operable to:
- during automated road travel, electrically power the vehicle motor, and
- during automated railed travel, electrically power a railcar motor of the railcar;
- a vehicle power delivery connection operable to, during automated railed travel, deliver electric power from the autonomous road vehicle to the railcar to electrically power the railcar motor;
- and
- a driving automation control system operable to:
- during automated road travel, autonomously control at least braking of the autonomous road vehicle, and
- during automated railed travel, autonomously control at least braking of the railcar.
A method for operating an autonomous road vehicle for automated travel of at least one road segment and at least one rail segment, the method comprising:
- for automated travel of a road segment:
- electrically powering a vehicle motor of the autonomous road vehicle, and
- autonomously controlling, by a driving automation control system of the autonomous road vehicle, at least braking of the autonomous road vehicle;
- and
- for automated travel of a rail segment:
- mounting the autonomous road vehicle on a railcar,
- delivering electric power from the autonomous road vehicle to the railcar to power a railcar motor of the railcar, and
- autonomously controlling, by the driving automation control system of the autonomous road vehicle, at least braking of the railcar.
A system for automated road travel and automated railed travel of autonomous road vehicles, the system comprising:
- a railcar operable to transport an autonomous road vehicle on a railway, the railcar comprising:
- a deck operable to support an autonomous road vehicle while mounted on the railcar for automated railed travel,
- a railcar motor,
- a railcar power delivery connection operable to deliver electric power from an autonomous road vehicle mounted on the railcar to power the railcar motor, and
- railcar friction brakes;
- and
- an autonomous road vehicle comprising:
- a vehicle motor,
- a main power source operable to:
- (i) during automated road travel, electrically power the vehicle motor, and (ii) during automated railed travel, electrically power the railcar motor,
- a vehicle power delivery connection operable to, during automated railed travel, deliver electric power from the autonomous road vehicle to the railcar to electrically power the railcar motor, and
- a driving automation control system operable to:
- (i) during automated road travel, autonomously control at least braking of the autonomous road vehicle, and (ii) during automated railed travel, autonomously control at least braking of the railcar.
A railcar transporting an autonomous road vehicle on a railway, the railcar comprising:
- a deck supporting the autonomous road vehicle;
- a railcar AC motor;
- and
- a railcar power delivery connection delivering variable frequency AC power from a vehicle inverter of the autonomous road vehicle to power the railcar AC motor, or
- momentarily delivering electric power to the autonomous road vehicle upon regenerative braking.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.