An Accurate GNSS-Based Redundant Safe Braking System for Urban Elevated Rail Maglev Trains

João Batista Pinto Neto,Lucas De Carvalho Gomes,Miguel Elias Mitre Campista,Luís Henrique Maciel Kosmalski Costa

doi:10.3390/info11110531

Abstract

The association of elevated rail structures and Maglev (magnetic levitation) trains is a promising alternative for urban transportation. Besides being cost-effective in comparison with underground solutions, the Maglev technology is a clean and low-noise mass transportation. In this paper, we propose a low-cost automatic braking system for Maglev trains. There is a myriad of sensors and positioning techniques used to improve the accuracy, precision and stability of train navigation systems, but most of them result in high implementation costs. In this paper, we develop an affordable solution, called Redundant Autonomous Safe Braking System (RASBS), for the MagLev-Cobra train, a magnetic levitation vehicle developed at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil. The proposed braking system employs GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receivers at the stations and trains, which are connected via an ad-hoc wireless network. The proposed system uses a cooperative error correction algorithm to achieve sub-meter distance precision. We experimentally evaluate the performance of RASBS in the MagLev prototype located at the campus of UFRJ, Brazil. Results show that, using RASBS, the train is able to dynamically set the precise location to start the braking procedure.

Highlights

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) have attracted significant attention from the industry and academy with the appearance of new vehicular communication standards
This work presented the Redundant Autonomous Safe Braking System (RASBS), a novel cooperative Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)-based positioning algorithm designed for magnetic levitation trains
It relies on the cooperation of controllers equipped with GNSS receivers and wireless communication interfaces, being one controller installed in the vehicle and all the others in train stations

Summary

Introduction

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) have attracted significant attention from the industry and academy with the appearance of new vehicular communication standards. Vehicles have become able to communicate with each other (Vehicle-to-Vehicle or V2V communications) and with fixed infrastructure alongside roads and streets (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure or V2I communications), by using IEEE 802.11p or cellular networks [1] These conditions create an environment which is suitable for the development of many applications, ranging from autonomous and safe driving to entertainment. ITS aim at improving the efficiency of the transportation services, providing more reliable traffic management and lower operational costs. In this sense, various active safety applications have been developed, for instance forward collision warning, risky overtaking warning and hard braking warning systems, which are considered active safety applications because they cooperatively avoid collisions

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Results

Conclusion