Light rail vehicle monitoring and stop bar overrun system
AssigneeStc PLC
InventorBrad Cross
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A satellite positioning location based control and monitoring system for light rail transit systems which enables transit personnel to track vehicle positions, progress and non-vital signals as light rail vehicles travel through their routes while eliminating the capital and maintenance costs associated with embedded light rail transit monitoring systems.
Claims14
A method for monitoring vehicle positions, progress and non-vital signals within a traffic grid, the method comprising:
- having one or more vehicles within a traffic grid, each vehicle having a published schedule;
- establishing one or more pre-defined detection zones within the traffic grid, each of the pre-defined detection zones having its own parameters and monitoring purpose;
- and
- determining when the one or more vehicles within the traffic grid have violated the parameters of the one or more pre-defined detection zones.
A method for establishing a plurality of pre-defined detection zones within a traffic grid, the method consisting of:
- recording a mass transit vehicle's route within a traffic grid with general systems manager software;
- opening the recorded mass transit vehicle's route with the general systems manager software at a central control center;
- selecting starting and ending points for one or more pre-defined detection zones on the mass transit vehicle's route within the traffic grid;
- assigning parameters for each of the selected pre-defined detection zones on the mass transit vehicle's route within the traffic grid;
- and
- assigning appropriate corrective actions for when a mass transit vehicle fails to meet the assigned parameters for each of the selected pre-defined detection zones on the mass transit vehicle's route within the traffic grid.
A system for monitoring when a vehicle overruns a stop bar at an intersection within a traffic grid, the system comprising:
- a pre-defined detection zone located in a traffic grid after a stop bar at an intersection;
- wherein if a mass transit vehicle is detected within the pre-defined detection zone located in the traffic grid after the stop bar at an intersection when the stop bar is engaged, the system will determine that a violation has occurred;
- wherein when the system determines that a violation has occurred an alert will be sent through a network to a central control system;
- and
- wherein the central control system will record a log of the violation, the log including information chosen from the group consisting of:
- date of occurrence, time of occurrence, vehicle identification number, stop bar signal state, speed and global satellite positioning strength.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.