US 12,420,796 B2
Vehicle control system and method
Srivallidevi Muthusami, Dallas, TX (US); Mahesh Babu Natarajan, Bangalore (IN); Jeremiah Dirnberger, Jacksonville, FL (US); and Adam Franco, Melbourne, FL (US)
Assigned to Transportation IP Holdings, LLC, Norwalk, CT (US)
Filed by Transportation IP Holdings, LLC, Norwalk, CT (US)
Filed on Oct. 19, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/504,965.
Prior Publication US 2023/0120917 A1, Apr. 20, 2023
Int. Cl. B60W 30/18 (2012.01); B60W 40/02 (2006.01); B60W 40/12 (2012.01); B60W 50/14 (2020.01); B60W 60/00 (2020.01); B60W 30/09 (2012.01); B60W 30/095 (2012.01)
CPC B60W 30/18159 (2020.02) [B60W 40/02 (2013.01); B60W 40/12 (2013.01); B60W 50/14 (2013.01); B60W 60/001 (2020.02); B60W 30/09 (2013.01); B60W 30/0953 (2013.01); B60W 30/0956 (2013.01); B60W 2520/00 (2013.01); B60W 2554/404 (2020.02)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
identifying locations of plural vehicles of a multi-vehicle system relative to a route along which the multi-vehicle system is configured to move, the multi-vehicle system comprising the plural vehicles configured to move together along the route;
identifying a location of an intersection of routes including the route along which the multi-vehicle system is configured to move;
determining which portion of which vehicle of the multi-vehicle system is disposed within or across an intersection of routes including the route along which the multi-vehicle system is configured to move based at least in part on the identified locations of the plural vehicles of the multi-vehicle system;
determining a portion of the vehicle system disposed within or across the intersection of routes;
determining an intersection allowance area that includes the intersection and an intersection threshold distance around the intersection;
determining which vehicle of the multi-vehicle system is disposed within or across the intersection threshold distance or within or across the intersection based on the identified locations of the plural vehicles of the multi-vehicle system;
determining (a) a predicted time of arrival at which a second vehicle system will be disposed within the intersection allowance area; and (b) a predicted time of departure at which the portion of the vehicle of the multi-vehicle system will move out of the intersection allowance area based on one or more of the location of the intersection allowance area, speed of movement of the multi-vehicle system, or the speed of movement of the second vehicle system responsive to determining that the portion of the vehicle of the multi-vehicle system is disposed within the intersection allowance area; and
communicating a command message to the multi-vehicle system to change one or more of a brake setting or a propulsion setting of the multi-vehicle system to move the multi-vehicle system out of the intersection based at least in part on the identification of the location of the vehicle that is disposed within or across the intersection of the routes and within or across the intersection threshold distance.