Systems and methods for analyzing thermal properties of a railroad
Inventors
Dick, Matthew • Liu, Zhipeng • Yilma, Samson
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-10864926-B2
Publication Date
2020-12-15
Expiration Date
Abstract
A system for analyzing thermal properties of a railroad includes a thermal imaging device configured to generate thermal image data reproducible as a thermal image of a portion of the railroad, the thermal image data being associated with a location of the portion of the railroad, an electronic display device, a memory device configured to receive and store therein the generated thermal image data; and one or more processors configured to: determine a temperature metric of the portion of the railroad based at least in part on the thermal image data; and cause the electronic display device to display (i) a first graph indicative of the temperature metric of the portion of the railroad and (ii) a second graph indicative of a railroad track geometry metric associated with the location of the portion of the railroad.
Core Innovation
The invention is a system for analyzing thermal properties of a railroad that uses a thermal imaging device to generate thermal image data reproducible as a thermal image of a portion of the railroad. The thermal image data is associated with a location of the portion of the railroad, and the generated thermal image data is received and stored in a memory device. One or more processors determine a temperature metric of the portion based at least in part on the thermal image data.
The processors cause an electronic display device to display a first graph indicative of the temperature metric and a second graph indicative of a railroad track geometry metric associated with the location. The system identifies a region of interest in thermal images and determines the temperature metric within that region. The system can also display numerical temperature values and visual markers or overlaid indicators on visual imagery.
The invention further includes identifying a defect in the railroad portion or in plurality of sections by comparing the determined temperature to a predefined temperature threshold stored in memory. The defect identification can include standing water, water seepage, electrical arcing, overheating, power leakage, or any combination thereof. The system can additionally determine and display a temperature spike metric based on a moving average temperature, and it can correlate the displayed thermal metrics with track geometry metrics for maintenance reporting and alerts.
Claims Coverage
The document includes three independent claims, which collectively cover a railroad thermal analysis system with location association and graph display, a GPS-based system that compares determined temperature to a predetermined threshold and conditionally displays thermal/visual outputs, and a method that generates thermal image data for multiple railroad sections and displays graph(s) of temperature metrics.
Graph display of temperature metric with track geometry metric
A thermal imaging device generates thermal image data reproducible as a thermal image of a portion of the railroad, the thermal image data being associated with a location; one or more processors determine a temperature metric based at least in part on the thermal image data and cause an electronic display device to display a first graph indicative of the temperature metric and a second graph indicative of a railroad track geometry metric associated with the location.
GPS-based location, threshold-based defect identification, and conditional display
A thermal imaging device generates thermal image data reproducible as a thermal image of a portion of the railroad, and a camera generates image data reproducible as an image of the portion; a GPS sensor determines a location relative to the portion; one or more processors determine a temperature metric based at least in part on the thermal image data, identify a defect by comparing the determined temperature to a predetermined threshold value stored in memory, and cause the thermal image, the image, and a numerical value indicative of the determined temperature metric, or any combination of these, to be displayed responsive to identifying the defect.
Section-by-section temperature metric graph display
A thermal imaging device generates thermal image data reproducible as one or more thermal images of a plurality of sections of the railroad; a temperature metric is determined for each of the plurality of sections based at least in part on the thermal image data; and one or more graphs indicative of the determined temperature metric for each of the plurality of sections is displayed on an electronic display device.
Across the independent claims, inventive coverage centers on generating thermal image data tied to a railroad portion or sections, determining temperature metrics from the thermal image data, and displaying graphs, and optionally associated visual or thermal images, together with threshold-based defect identification and location association.
Stated Advantages
Not explicitly described in patent.
Documented Applications
Not explicitly described in patent.
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