U.S. patent application number 16/637835 was filed with the patent office on 2020-06-04 for sensor-controlled adjustment of odometric measurement parameters to weather conditions.
The applicant listed for this patent is SIEMENS MOBILITY GMBH. Invention is credited to STEVEN ALEXANDER CALDER, HAMED KETABDAR, NAVID NOURANI-VATANI, ANDREW PALMER.
Application Number | 20200172135 16/637835 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 63042005 |
Filed Date | 2020-06-04 |
![](/patent/app/20200172135/US20200172135A1-20200604-D00000.png)
![](/patent/app/20200172135/US20200172135A1-20200604-D00001.png)
![](/patent/app/20200172135/US20200172135A1-20200604-D00002.png)
United States Patent
Application |
20200172135 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CALDER; STEVEN ALEXANDER ;
et al. |
June 4, 2020 |
SENSOR-CONTROLLED ADJUSTMENT OF ODOMETRIC MEASUREMENT PARAMETERS TO
WEATHER CONDITIONS
Abstract
A method for adjusting measurement parameters of an odometry
unit of a rail vehicle includes acquiring sensor data from the
interior and/or the surroundings of the rail vehicle with the aid
of at least one sensor unit that includes an internal
image-recording unit. Weather data are determined on the basis of
the acquired sensor data. Lastly, fusion weightings for the fusion
of odometric data that have been determined on the basis of
odometric sensor data from different types of odometric sensors are
defined depending on the determined weather data. An adjustment
device and a rail vehicle are additionally provided.
Inventors: |
CALDER; STEVEN ALEXANDER;
(BERLIN, DE) ; KETABDAR; HAMED; (BERLIN, DE)
; NOURANI-VATANI; NAVID; (BERLIN, DE) ; PALMER;
ANDREW; (BERLIN, DE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SIEMENS MOBILITY GMBH |
MUENCHEN |
|
DE |
|
|
Family ID: |
63042005 |
Appl. No.: |
16/637835 |
Filed: |
July 19, 2018 |
PCT Filed: |
July 19, 2018 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2018/069642 |
371 Date: |
February 10, 2020 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B61L 25/026 20130101;
B61L 25/021 20130101; B61L 25/025 20130101; B61L 23/041 20130101;
B61L 15/0072 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B61L 25/02 20060101
B61L025/02; B61L 15/00 20060101 B61L015/00; B61L 23/04 20060101
B61L023/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 10, 2017 |
DE |
10 2017 213 991.9 |
Claims
1-15. (canceled)
16. A method for adjusting measurement parameters of an odometry
unit of a rail vehicle, the method comprising the following steps:
using at least one sensor unit including an internal
image-recording unit to capture sensor data from at least one of an
interior or surroundings of the rail vehicle; determining weather
data based on the captured sensor data; and determining fusion
weightings for a fusion of odometric data having been determined on
a basis of sensor data of different types of odometric sensors, as
a function of the determined weather data.
17. The method according to claim 16, which further comprises
selecting the at least one sensor unit as at least one of: an
external image-recording unit, a temperature sensor, a humidity
sensor, a LIDAR sensor for obstacle detection.
18. The method according to claim 17, which further comprises
selecting a monitoring camera as the internal image-recording
unit.
19. The method according to claim 18, which further comprises using
the monitoring camera to observe the weather so that image data can
be captured from external surroundings of the rail vehicle.
20. The method according to claim 18, which further comprises using
the monitoring camera to observe the weather so that image data can
be captured from the internal area of the rail vehicle.
21. The method according to claim 19, which further comprises
determining a current weather situation based on the image data
captured by the monitoring camera.
22. The method according to claim 21, which further comprises
applying an image evaluation method based on machine vision to the
captured image data to determine the current weather situation.
23. The method according to claim 22, which further comprises
carrying out the image evaluation method by comparing the image
data with different image patterns each being assigned to a
different weather situation.
24. The method according to claim 23, which further comprises
selecting different weather situations as: snow fall, fog,
rain.
25. The method according to claim 16, which further comprises using
current operating data of an air-conditioning system of the rail
vehicle to determine a weather situation.
26. The method according to claim 16, which further comprises
reducing fusion weightings of sensors classified as fault-prone due
to weather data, as a function of the determined weather data.
27. An adjustment facility for a rail vehicle, the adjustment
facility comprising: a data input interface for receiving captured
sensor data from a sensor unit including an internal
image-recording unit recording images of at least one of an
interior or surroundings of the rail vehicle; a weather
determination unit for determining weather data based on the
captured sensor data; and a defining unit for defining fusion
weightings for a fusion of odometric data having been determined on
a basis of odometric sensor data from different types of odometric
sensors as a function of the determined weather data.
28. A rail vehicle, comprising: at least one sensor unit having an
internal image-recording unit; and an adjustment facility according
to claim 27.
29. A non-transitory computer program product having a computer
program which is directly loadable into a storage unit of a
computer unit of a rail vehicle, having program portions that when
executed on a processor, perform all of the steps of claim 16.
30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium on which program
portions that are executable by a computer unit are stored, in
order to carry out all of the steps of claim 16 when the program
portions are executed by the computer unit.
Description
[0001] Sensor-controlled adjustment of odometric measurement
parameters to weather conditions
[0002] The invention relates to a method for adjusting measurement
parameters of an odometry unit of a rail vehicle. In addition, the
invention relates to an adjustment facility. Moreover, the
invention relates to a rail vehicle.
[0003] Speed measurements are indispensable for autonomous driving
and vehicle assistance systems. Speed data can be used for many
different purposes. Examples of this are the monitoring of
adherence to statutory requirements, the planning of journeys, the
introduction of braking processes and position determinations. A
determination of the speed is typically achieved by the fusion of
measurement results of different sensors. Sensors used for the
speed determination can produce faulty data. This can be the case
for instance on account of poor weather conditions, such as, for
instance, rain, snow etc. Snow, fog and rain can negatively impact
the performance of Doppler radar sensors. Rain can result in smooth
carriageways or rail surfaces, which also contributes to the wheels
slipping and overrunning, as a result of which the measuring
accuracy of sensors, which measure the number of revolutions of the
wheels, is negatively affected. There is therefore the problem of
errors occurring when odometric data is measured by means of
individual sensors, and the overall result of the odometric
measurement is therefore falsified.
[0004] DE 10 2006 035 597 A1 describes a method for determining the
travel distance and the speed of a vehicle, in particular for
safety-critical automatic train protection systems. In this context
sensor data from various sensors is fused.
[0005] DE 10 2009 006 113 A1 describes a device for depicting the
environment of a vehicle, wherein the existence of objects is
determined on the basis of fused sensor data.
[0006] US 2017/0307247 A1 describes the detection of weather
conditions with the aid of on-board sensors of a motor vehicle.
[0007] In U.S. Pat. No. 9,676,393 B2 weather conditions are
captured, which can negatively impact the function of a warning
system of a rail vehicle.
[0008] There is therefore the object of adjusting a method for
odometric measurement and a corresponding measuring facility so
that these provide more precise results than has hitherto been the
case, in spite of adverse weather conditions.
[0009] This object is achieved by a method for adjusting
measurement parameters of an odometry unit of a vehicle as claimed
in claim 1, an adjustment facility as claimed in claim 12 and a
rail vehicle as claimed in claim 13.
[0010] In the method according to the invention for adjusting
measurement parameters of an odometry unit of a rail vehicle,
sensor data from the interior and/or the surroundings of the rail
vehicle is captured with the aid of at least one sensor unit, which
comprises an internal image-recording unit. The captured sensor
data is used to determine weather data. The weather data is
preferably determined in an automated manner, so that no additional
personnel are required and the evaluation can take place in real
time. Fusion weightings for the fusion of odometric data are
defined as a function of the determined weather data. The odometric
data itself, for instance speed data or position data, is
determined on the basis of odometric sensor data from different
types of odometric sensors by weighted combination or fusion, for
instance by weighted addition in the odometry unit. Current weather
data can advantageously be taken into account with the aid of
defining the weights for the fusion of the odometric data to ensure
that odometric sensors negatively impacted by the current weather
situation or the odometric data thereof is weighted less heavily.
This measure improves the accuracy of the odometric data and the
robustness of the determination of this data. The definition of the
fusion weightings is preferably carried out likewise automatically
in order to enable a real time adjustment of the measurement
parameters, i.e. of the fusion weightings.
[0011] Internal image-recording units may already be present in
rail vehicles as monitoring cameras, for instance, in order to
improve the personal safety of the passengers. Advantageously no
additional cameras have to be installed in order to determine the
weather situation, but the monitoring cameras which are already
present can additionally take over the task of monitoring the
weather situation. For this purpose, the monitoring cameras can
occasionally be aligned in the direction of the windows of the rail
vehicle, so that the external environment can be captured and
weather data can be determined.
[0012] The inventive adjustment facility for a rail vehicle has a
data input interface for receiving sensor data from a sensor unit,
which comprises an internal image-recording unit, from the interior
and/or the surroundings of the rail vehicle. Part of the adjustment
facility is also a weather determination unit for determining
weather data based on the captured sensor data. The inventive
adjustment facility also comprises a defining unit for defining
fusion weightings for the fusion of odometric data, which was
determined on the basis of odometric sensor data from different
types of odometric sensors, as a function of the determined weather
data.
[0013] The inventive rail vehicle comprises at least one sensor
unit, which comprises an internal image-recording unit, and the
inventive adjustment facility. The inventive rail vehicle shares
the advantages of the inventive adjustment facility.
[0014] Some components of the inventive adjustment facility can
largely be embodied in the form of software components. This
relates in particular to parts of the weather determination unit
and the defining unit. Essentially these components can however
also be realized to some extent, particularly if it involves
particularly rapid calculations, in the form of software-assisted
hardware, for instance FPGAs or suchlike. Similarly the required
interfaces, for instance when it only involves a takeover of data
from other software components, can be embodied as software
interfaces. They can also be configured as interfaces constructed
from hardware, which are controlled by suitable software.
[0015] A realization largely through software has the advantage
that computer systems already available until now in a rail vehicle
can easily be upgraded with a software update after a possible
extension by means of additional hardware elements in order to
operate in the manner according to the invention. In this respect,
the object is also achieved by means of a corresponding computer
program product with a computer program which is loadable directly
into a storage apparatus of such a computer system, having program
portions in order to carry out all the steps of the method
according to the invention when the computer program is executed in
the computer system.
[0016] Such a computer program product can comprise, where
relevant, in addition to the computer program, further
constituents, such as, for example, documentation and/or additional
components including hardware components, for example, hardware
keys (dongles, etc.) in order to use the software.
[0017] For transport to the storage apparatus of the computer
system and/or for storage at the computer system, a
computer-readable medium, for example, a memory stick, a hard disk
or another transportable or permanently installed data carrier can
be used on which the program portions of the computer program which
can be read in and executed by a computer unit are stored. For this
purpose, the computer unit can have, for example, one or more
cooperating microprocessors or the like.
[0018] The dependent claims and the description below each contain
particularly advantageous embodiments and developments of the
invention. In particular the claims of one claim category can also
be developed similarly to the dependent claims of another claim
category and the description passages belonging thereto. In
addition, in the context of the invention, the different features
of different exemplary embodiments and claims can also be combined
to form new exemplary embodiments.
[0019] In one embodiment of the inventive method for adjusting
measurement parameters of an odometry unit of a rail vehicle, the
at least one sensor unit comprises at least one of the following
sensor types: [0020] an external image-recording unit, [0021] a
temperature sensor, [0022] a humidity sensor, [0023] a LIDAR sensor
for obstacle detection.
[0024] An external image-recording unit as a sensor unit enables
weather phenomena to be captured visually and then identified.
Conclusions with regard to the reliability of individual odometric
sensors can in turn be drawn from the weather situation.
Temperature sensors can likewise provide important criteria
relating to the reliability of odometric sensors. For instance,
frost can indicate the occurrence of snow, which in turn hampers a
speed measurement with the aid of a Doppler radar. Humidity sensors
may already be present for instance for the automated operation of
windscreen wipers in rail vehicles and can now be used in
accordance with the invention additionally to obtain weather data
in order to assess the reliability of odometric sensors. LIDAR
sensors can be used to identify the occurrence of fog, for
instance. Fog in turn hampers the use of a speed measurement with
the aid of a Doppler radar.
[0025] In one variant of the inventive method for adjusting
measurement parameters of an odometry unit of a rail vehicle, a
monitoring camera is used as an internal image-recording unit. As
already mentioned, it is advantageously possible to revert to
already existing installations, wherein an automated evaluation of
the image data additionally takes place.
[0026] In one embodiment of the inventive method for adjusting
measurement parameters of an odometry unit of a rail vehicle, the
monitoring camera is set up to monitor the weather so that image
data can be captured from the external surroundings of the rail
vehicle. Advantageously, information relating to the external
surroundings of the rail vehicle, which provides information as to
the current weather situation, can be captured with the monitoring
camera.
[0027] In one variant of the inventive method for adjusting
measurement parameters of an odometry unit of a rail vehicle, the
monitoring camera is set up to monitor the weather so that image
data can be captured from an internal area of the rail vehicle. In
this variant, the inward alignment of the monitoring cameras can be
retained and indirect information about the weather situation are
on the basis of the clothing and equipment of the passengers. The
monitoring of the interior and the external surroundings can also
be combined with one another in order to obtain more reliable
weather data.
[0028] In one embodiment of the inventive method for adjusting
measurement parameters of an odometry unit of a rail vehicle, a
current weather situation is determined on the basis of the image
data captured by the monitoring camera. Advantageously the image
data can additionally be used to monitor and also to determine the
weather situation so that no additional hardware is required for
capturing weather information.
[0029] In a preferred embodiment of the inventive method for
adjusting measurement parameters of an odometry unit of a rail
vehicle, in order to determine the current weather situation, an
image evaluation method is applied to the captured image data which
is based on the machine vision.
[0030] With the image evaluation method, a comparison of the image
data can preferably be carried out with different image patterns
which are assigned in each case to a different weather
situation.
[0031] The different weather situations can comprise the following
weather situations, for instance: [0032] snow fall, [0033] fog,
[0034] rain.
[0035] As already mentioned, the cited weather situations have an
influence on the reliability of the odometric sensors. For
instance, snow can negatively impact the reliability of a Doppler
radar. Rain can result in the wheels of the rail vehicle slipping
and thus in reduced reliability of the rotary frequency
sensors.
[0036] Current operating data of an air-conditioning system of the
rail vehicle can be used to determine the weather situation. The
operating data can be used to conclude a current temperature, which
in turn provides details about the current weather situation.
[0037] In one embodiment of the inventive method for adjusting
measurement parameters of an odometry unit of a rail vehicle,
fusion weightings of sensors, which are classified as fault-prone
on account of the weather data, are reduced as a function of the
determined weather data. The accuracy of the determined odometric
data is advantageously improved in this way.
[0038] The invention is explained again in more detail below with
reference to the appended drawings on the basis of exemplary
embodiments, which show:
[0039] FIG. 1 a flow diagram which illustrates a method for
adjusting measurement parameters of an odometry unit of a rail
vehicle according to a first exemplary embodiment of the
invention,
[0040] FIG. 2 a block diagram which illustrates an adjustment
facility according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention,
[0041] FIG. 3 a block diagram which illustrates a rail vehicle
according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
[0042] FIG. 1 illustrates a method for adjusting measurement
parameters of an odometry unit of a rail vehicle. In step 1.I,
sensor data, in this exemplary embodiment image data BD, is
captured from the surroundings of the rail vehicle, which is
captured by a monitoring camera, temperature data TD is captured by
a temperature sensor, which measures an external temperature,
humidity sensor data FSD is captured by a humidity sensor and Lidar
sensor data LSD is captured by a Lidar Sensor. In step 1.II,
weather data WD is determined on the basis of the captured sensor
data BD, TD, FSD, LSD. For instance, it is possible to determine
with the aid of the humidity sensor data whether it is currently
raining and how heavily it is raining. Finally, in step 1.III,
fusion weightings FG for the fusion of odometric data, for instance
a measured speed or covered distance, are determined on the basis
of the determined weather data WD. The odometric data itself is
determined after adjustment with the aid of a rotary frequency
sensor and a Doppler radar, for instance, and is then combined
weighted, with the aid of the cited fusion weighting FG, in order
to determine a vehicle speed or a covered distance.
[0043] FIG. 2 describes an adjustment facility 20 for a rail
vehicle 40 (see FIG. 3). The adjustment facility 20 comprises a
data input interface 21, which is designed to receive sensor data
SD from the interior and/or the surroundings of the rail vehicle
40. The sensor data SD is transmitted to a weather determination
unit 22, which is used to determine weather data WD on the basis of
the captured sensor data SD. Part of the adjustment facility 20 is
also a defining unit 23, which is designed to define fusion
weightings FG for the fusion of odometric data v, P(t), which was
determined on the basis of sensor data FD, DRD of different types
of sensors 15, 16 (see FIG. 3), as a function of the determined
weather data WD. The determined weightings FG are output by way of
an output interface 24 and transmitted to an evaluation unit 30
(see FIG. 3).
[0044] FIG. 3 shows a block diagram which illustrates a rail
vehicle 40. The rail vehicle 40 comprises a plurality of different
sensor units 10, 11, 12, 13, with which sensor data BD, TD, FSD,
LSD is captured as the basis of the determination of weather data
WD. The sensor units 10, 11, 12, 13 comprise a monitoring camera
10, which receives image data BD from the surroundings of the rail
vehicle 40, a temperature sensor 11 for determining external
temperature data TD, a humidity sensor unit 12 for determining
humidity sensor data FSD, which conveys information about the air
humidity, and a Lidar sensor unit 13, which, with the aid of Lidar,
can determine information about the occurrence of precipitation,
for instance rain or snow, and fog. Furthermore, the rail vehicle
40 has another two odometric sensors 15, 16. A first odometric
sensor 15 is embodied as a rotary frequency meter and a second
odometric sensor is embodied as a Doppler radar sensor. Frequency
data FD or Doppler radar data DRD is transmitted from the two
odometric sensors to an evaluation unit 30, also odometry unit,
which obtains data relating to fusion weightings FG to be applied
in addition to the adjustment facility 20. The evaluation unit 30
determines, on the basis of the odometric frequency data FD, first
odometric data records v.sub.F, P.sub.F(t) relating to the speed
and the position of the rail vehicle 40 and on the basis of the
Doppler radar data DRD second odometric data records V.sub.D,
P.sub.D(t), which likewise specify the speed and the position of
the rail vehicle 40. The determined odometric data records v.sub.F,
P.sub.F (t), v.sub.D, P.sub.D (t) are combined weighted with the
aid of the determined weightings FG to form fused odometric data v,
P(t). The fused odometric data v, P(t) is transmitted to a control
unit 31, which carries out automatic control processes on the basis
thereof, and sends the data v P(t) to a display unit (not shown),
on which they are shown graphically to the operating personnel.
[0045] Finally, it should again be noted that the methods and
devices described above are merely preferred exemplary embodiments
of the invention and that the invention can be modified by a person
skilled in the art without departing from the field of the
invention, insofar as it is specified by the claims. For the sake
of completeness, it should be noted that the use of the indefinite
articles "a" or "an" does not preclude the relevant features from
also being present plurally. Similarly, the expression "unit" does
not preclude this consisting of a plurality of components which can
possibly also be spatially distributed.
* * * * *