Railroad car coupler gap analyzer
AssigneeProgressive Rail Technologies, Inc.
InventorsStephen E. Mace, Robert W. Martin, Jr., Stephen N. Handal
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In trains a dragging air hose can snag an object on the tracks and break. A broken air hose can lead to an emergency stop or an accident caused by faulty brakes. The present invention mounts a video camera opposite a lit screen, thereby contrasting the air hose profile against a white screen in all weather and lighting conditions. Machine vision algorithms locate the air hose in a captured image from a moving train, and compute its lowest point. An alarm condition is sent to a remote location. An optional car gap detector is laser based. It helps align the car gap with the data capture for the camera. Another subsystem can include a car coupler height detection algorithm.
Claims22
A method to detect a low or broken air hose between passing cars of a railroad train, the method comprising:
- providing a light uniform backgound parallel to a railroad track at a chosen distance away from the railroad track;
- mounting a camera on an opposite side of the railroad track;
- aiming the camera at the light uniform background;
- capturing an image of a gap between two railroad cars;
- and
- using a machine vision algorithm to detect a low or broken air hose.
A method to detect a low or broken air hose between passing cars of a railroad train, the method comprising:
- selecting a planar structure parallel to a railroad track at a chosen distance away from the railroad track;
- providing light to the planar structure;
- mounting a camera on an opposite side of the railroad track;
- aiming the camera at the planar structure;
- capturing an image of a gap between two railroad cars;
- and
- using a machine vision algorithm to detect a low or broken air hose.
A system to detect a low or broken air hose between passing cars of a railroad train, the system comprising:
- means for providing a light uniform background parallel to a railroad track functioning to provide a lighted background to contrast a gap between two railroad cars;
- means for mounting a camera on an opposite side of the railroad track and aiming the camera at the light uniform background functioning to capture an image of the gap between two railroad cars;
- and
- means for using a machine vision algorithm functioning to detect a low or broken air hose via an analysis of the image of the gap.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.