US 12,007,787 B2
Vehicle control system
Igor Abrosimov, Germantown, MD (US); Osman Burak Onal, Germantown, MD (US); and Brian Kurz, Germantown, MD (US)
Assigned to Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA (US)
Filed by Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA (US)
Filed on Apr. 6, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/223,884.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/009,194, filed on Apr. 13, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0318694 A1, Oct. 14, 2021
Int. Cl. G05D 1/00 (2006.01); B60T 8/17 (2006.01); G01C 21/34 (2006.01); G08G 1/00 (2006.01)
CPC G05D 1/0293 (2013.01) [B60T 8/1705 (2013.01); G01C 21/3407 (2013.01); G05D 1/0212 (2013.01); G08G 1/20 (2013.01); B60T 8/1701 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
receiving vehicle makeup information from multiple vehicles in a multi-vehicle system, the vehicle makeup information representing one or more characteristics of the vehicles, the vehicle makeup information received at a controlling vehicle of the vehicles in the multi-vehicle system that controls movement of the multi-vehicle system;
receiving, at the controlling vehicle, locations from location-determining devices respectively onboard the vehicles in the multi-vehicle system;
determining a sequence of the vehicles in the multi-vehicle system using the locations of the vehicles that are received at the controlling vehicle; and
controlling, with the controlling vehicle, operation of the multi-vehicle system using a combination of the vehicle makeup information received from the vehicles, the locations of the vehicles, and the sequence of the vehicles;
determining a state of a first brake in the multi-vehicle system, wherein at least a second brake in the multi-vehicle system is controlled based on the state of the first brake and based on the location of at least the second brake, wherein the first brake is disposed onboard a first vehicle of the vehicles in the multi-vehicle system and the state that is determined indicates that the first brake has failed, and further comprising: determining that the second brake is disposed onboard a second vehicle of the vehicles in the multi-vehicle system that is within a threshold distance from the first vehicle; and changing engagement of the second brake based on the state of the first brake and the second vehicle being within the threshold distance from the first vehicle.