Simulated isolation of locomotives

摘要

A method of controlling one or more locomotives in a consist includes receiving a command and control signal at a controller associated with one of the one or more locomotives, the command and control signal indicative of a desired performance goal for the consist. Operational characteristics of the one locomotive that are factors in achieving the performance goal for the consist are determined. Operational settings for selected ones of the determined operational characteristics for the one locomotive are selectively designated to achieve the performance goal for the consist. Effects of the selectively designated operational settings for the one locomotive may be implemented through the use of control signals to simulate isolation of the one locomotive without physically switching the one locomotive to an isolation mode.

主权项

1. A method of controlling one or more locomotives in a consist, the method comprising:
receiving a command and control signal at a controller associated with one of the one or more locomotives, the command and control signal indicative of a desired performance goal for the consist; determining which operational characteristics of an associated locomotive are factors in achieving the performance goal for the consist; selectively designating operational settings for selected ones of the determined operational characteristics for the associated locomotive in order to achieve the performance goal for the consist; and implementing effects of the selectively designated operational settings for the associated locomotive through the use of control signals to simulate isolation of the associated locomotive without physically switching the associated locomotive to an isolation mode, wherein simulating isolation of the associated locomotive includes one or more of:
a) rendering the associated locomotive unresponsive to throttle notch requests transmitted to the associated locomotive, while still providing notification of active faults detected on the associated locomotive that would normally be ignored when the associated locomotive is physically isolated;b) responding to a request for an increase in a throttle notch setting for the associated locomotive by drawing more electrical power from a common electrical power bus extending between the one or more locomotives in the consist without increasing power output of a prime mover engine on the associated locomotive;c) responding to a throttle notch request at the associated locomotive only if the requested throttle notch setting is above a predefined limit;d) responding to a throttle notch request at the associated locomotive only if the requested throttle notch setting is below a predefined limit; ande) commanding at least one of engine speed-up and engine slow-down in response to different throttle notch settings at different rates when the associated locomotive is in simulated isolation mode than when it is in a regular run mode.