# US 12,109,993 B2 · Vehicle control system and method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,109,993 B2 - Document ID: US12109993B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/183,128 - Filed: 2023-03-13 - Published: 2023-10-19 - Granted: 2024-10-08 - Earliest claimed: 2022-04-19 - Assignees: Transportation IP Holdings, LLC - Applicants: Transportation IP Holdings, LLC - Inventors: Derek K. Woo; Travis Jarboe; Brian Lee Staton; Sanketh Bhat; Prem Kumar Patchaikani; Jayeshkumar Jayanarayan Barve; Saurabh Shamkant Dhamne - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12109993B2 ## CPC - B60T 8/1705: {for rail vehicles} - B60L 15/20: for control of the vehicle or its driving motor to achieve a desired performance, e.g. speed, torque, programmed variation of speed - B60L 15/36: with automatic control superimposed, e.g. to prevent excessive motor current - B60L 15/40: Adaptation of control equipment on vehicle for remote actuation from a stationary place (devices along the route for controlling devices on rail vehicles B61L3/00; central rail-traffic control systems B61L27/00) - B61L 3/127: {for remote control of locomotives (remote control of locomotives within a train consist B61C17/12)} - B61L 15/0062: {On-board target speed calculation or supervision} - B61L 15/0094: {Recorders on the vehicle} - B61L 25/021: {Measuring and recording of train speed} - B60L 2200/26: Rail vehicles - B60L 2240/12: Speed - B61L 2201/00: Control methods - B60T: VEHICLE BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF; BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF, IN GENERAL (electrodynamic brake systems for vehicle, in general B60L; brakes per se, i.e. devices where braking effect occurs, including ultimate brake actuators, F16D); ARRANGEMENT OF BRAKING ELEMENTS ON VEHICLES IN GENERAL; PORTABLE DEVICES FOR PREVENTING UNWANTED MOVEMENT OF VEHICLES; VEHICLE MODIFICATIONS TO FACILITATE COOLING OF BRAKES - B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES - B61L: GUIDING RAILWAY TRAFFIC; ENSURING THE SAFETY OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC (brakes or auxiliary equipment B61H, B61K; point or crossing construction E01B) ## Abstract A vehicle control system may determine a required tractive effort and/or a required braking effort to propel a vehicle system at a determined speed. The vehicle control system may determine a throttle setting or a brake setting to provide the required tractive effort and/or the required braking effort and communicate a control signal from a remote controller device to an onboard controller device. The vehicle control system may operate a propulsion system at the throttle setting and/or a brake system at the brake setting to move the vehicle system at the determined speed. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: determining one or more of a required tractive effort or a required braking effort to propel a vehicle system at a determined speed; determining one or more of a throttle setting of a propulsion system or a brake setting of a brake system of the vehicle system that will provide one or more of the required tractive effort or the required braking effort; communicating a control signal from a remote controller device to an onboard controller device of the vehicle system; and operating one or more of the propulsion systems at the throttle setting or the brake system at the brake setting with the control signal to move the vehicle system at the determined speed. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a current tractive effort of the propulsion system or a current braking effort of the brake system; determining a difference between one or more of the required tractive effort and the current tractive effort or the required braking effort and the current braking effort; and controlling one or more of the propulsion systems to change the current tractive effort to the required tractive effort or the brake system to change the current braking effort to the required braking effort. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein determining one or more of the current tractive effort of the propulsion system or the current braking effort of the brake system comprises determining a grade on which the vehicle system is disposed, and the method further comprises: adjusting one or more of the current tractive effort or the current braking effort based on the grade on which the vehicle system is disposed. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein determining the required tractive effort comprises: determining an acceleration of the vehicle system, an effective grade of the vehicle system, and a drag force on the vehicle system. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein determining the effective grade comprises determining a grade on which the vehicle system is disposed, a length of the vehicle system, and a weight of the vehicle system. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein determining the grade on which the vehicle system is disposed comprises one or more of obtaining the grade from a database or determining the grade from one or more measurement devices. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein obtaining the grade from a database comprises obtaining grade information of a route the vehicle system is traveling for a determined upcoming distance at a determined time interval. ### Claim 8 A system comprising: one or more controllers configured to: determine one or more of a required tractive effort or a required braking effort to propel a vehicle system at a determined speed; determine one or more of a throttle setting of a propulsion system or a brake setting of a brake system of the vehicle system that will provide one or more of the required tractive effort or the required braking effort; communicate a control signal from a remote controller device to an onboard controller device of the vehicle system; and operate one or more of the propulsion system at the throttle setting or the brake system at the brake setting with the control signal to move the vehicle system at the determined speed. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to: determine a current tractive effort of the propulsion system or a current braking effort of the brake system; determine a difference between one or more of the required tractive effort and the current tractive effort or the required braking effort and the current braking effort; and control one or more of the propulsion system to change the current tractive effort to the required tractive effort or the brake system to change the current braking effort to the required braking effort. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein to determine one or more of the current tractive effort of the propulsion system or the current braking effort of the brake system the one or more controllers are configured to: determine a grade on which the vehicle system is disposed; and adjust one or more of the current tractive effort or the current braking effort based on the grade on which the vehicle system is disposed. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein to determine the required tractive effort the one or more controllers are configured to: determine an acceleration of the vehicle system, an effective grade of the vehicle system, and a drag force on the vehicle system. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein to determine the effective grade the one or more controllers are configured to: determine a grade on which the vehicle system is disposed, a length of the vehicle system, and a weight of the vehicle system. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The system of claim 12, wherein to determine the grade on which the vehicle system is disposed the one or more controllers are configured to: one or more of obtain the grade from a database or determine the grade from one or more measurement devices. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein to obtain the grade from a database the one or more controllers are configured to: obtain grade information of a route the vehicle system is traveling for a determined upcoming distance at a determined time interval. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The system of claim 14, wherein the determined upcoming distance is five miles, and the determined time interval is one minute. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more measurement devices comprises one or more of a barometer or a navigation instrument configured to determine a geographic location of the vehicle system. ### Claim 17 A method, comprising: calculating a first grade of a vehicle system, the vehicle system comprising a propulsion system and a plurality of vehicles; estimating a second grade of the vehicle system; obtaining a third grade of the vehicle system from a database; determining from the first grade, the second grade, and third grade, a corrected grade of the vehicle system; and determining from the corrected grade a required tractive effort of the propulsion system to propel the vehicle system at a determined speed. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein calculating the first grade of the vehicle system comprises determining the grade of at least two vehicles of the vehicle system. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein determining the grade of the at least two vehicles of the vehicle system comprises determining the grade of the at least two vehicles from measurement devices onboard the at least two vehicles. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein the measurement devices comprise barometers or navigation instruments configured to determine a geographic location of the at least two vehicles.