1. A method for delivering ballast to a section of railroad track, comprising:
measuring an existing ballast profile of a section of railroad track using a remote sensing system, and providing a signal indicative thereof to a first computer;
comparing the existing ballast profile with an ideal ballast profile to generate a track file representing a volume of additional ballast needed as a function of linear position along the section of railroad track, using the first computer;
transmitting data representing the track file to a second computer of an automatic ballast dump train; and
dumping ballast along the section of railroad track according to the track file via the ballast dump train under control of the second computer.
2. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the remote sensing system comprises a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system.
3. A method in accordance with claim 2, further comprising a pair of LIDAR devices, oriented toward rails of the railroad track, the LIDAR devices configured to obtain data across an arc having an angle of from about 100\xb0 to about 270\xb0.
4. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of measuring the existing ballast profile comprises obtaining a set of data points representing the existing railroad track surface.
5. A method in accordance with claim 4, further comprising the steps of:
defining an arbitrary surface;
finding points in the set of data points that represent the existing railroad track surface;
identifying landmark points of the existing railroad track surface within the set of data points;
comparing locations of the landmark points in the set of data points to expected locations of the landmark points;
calculating a positional difference between the locations of the landmark points and the expected locations;
transforming the set of data points by the positional difference;
registering the arbitrary surface to the location of the landmark points;
updating the expected location of landmark points for subsequent scenes using the transformed set of data points.
6. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of measuring an existing ballast profile comprises obtaining a set of data points representing an existing surface of the railroad track.
7. A method in accordance with claim 6, wherein the step of comparing the existing ballast profile with an ideal ballast profile comprises:
registering an ideal surface with reference to the existing surface to create a volume, the ideal surface defining a full volume level;
determining a number of scan points that lie below the full volume level;
obtaining an incremental cross-sectional area by multiplying a coordinate for each scan point that lies below the full volume level by a magnitude below the full volume level and a weighted factor associated with the volume; and
accumulating a total volume by multiplying the incremental cross-sectional area by an incremental distance between scan locations and adding all results.
8. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first computer is associated with a ballast profiling rail vehicle, and the second computer is associated with a ballast train having remotely controllable ballast dump gates on a plurality of ballast hopper cars.
9. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first computer and second computer are both associated with a ballast train having remotely controllable ballast dump gates on a plurality of ballast hopper cars.
10. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the track file represents a ballast plan having an execution period of a year or more.
11. A method for delivering ballast to a section of railroad track, comprising:
measuring an existing ballast profile of a section of railroad track using a remote sensing system, and providing a signal indicative thereof to a first computer having a processor and system memory;
comparing the existing ballast profile with an ideal ballast profile to determine a volume of additional ballast needed as a function of linear position along the section of railroad track, using the first computer; and
dumping ballast along the section of railroad track according to the determined volume of additional ballast needed using an automatic ballast dump train.
12. A method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the step of measuring an existing ballast profile of a section of railroad track using a remote sensing system comprises scanning the section of railroad track with a remote sensing device and obtaining a set of data points representing the existing railroad track surface.
13. A method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the step of comparing the existing ballast profile with an ideal ballast profile comprises:
registering an ideal surface with reference to the set of data points, the ideal surface defining a full volume level;
determining a number of scan points that fall within the volume and lie below the full volume level;
obtaining an incremental cross-sectional area by multiplying a coordinate for each scan point that lies below the full volume level by a magnitude below the full volume level and a weighted factor associated with the volume; and
accumulating a total volume by multiplying the incremental cross-sectional area by an incremental distance between scan locations and adding all results.
14. A method in accordance with claim 11, further comprising compensating for possible irregularities in the ballast profile by the steps of:
defining an arbitrary surface;
finding points in the set of data points that represent the existing railroad track surface;
identifying landmark points of the existing railroad track surface within the set of data points;
comparing locations of the landmark points in the set of data points to expected locations of the landmark points;
calculating a positional difference between the locations of the landmark points and the expected locations;
transforming the set of data points by the positional difference;
registering the arbitrary surface to the location of the landmark points; and
updating the expected location of landmark points for subsequent scenes using the transformed set of data points.
15. A method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the first computer is associated with a ballast profiling rail vehicle, and the step of comparing the existing ballast profile with an ideal ballast profile is performed by the first computer.
16. A method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the second computer is associated with the automatic ballast dump train, and controls the dumping of ballast along the section of railroad track.
17. A method, performed by a computer having a processor and system memory, for calculating missing ballast volume on a section of railroad track, comprising:
scanning an existing section of railroad track using a remote sensing system to produce a set of data points representing an existing surface of the railroad track;
registering an ideal surface with reference to the existing surface to create a volume, the ideal surface defining a full volume level;
determining a number of scan points that fall within the volume and lie below the full volume level;
obtaining an incremental cross-sectional area by multiplying a coordinate for each scan point that lies below the full volume level by a magnitude below the full volume level and a weighted factor associated with the volume; and
accumulating a total volume by multiplying the incremental cross-sectional area by an incremental distance between scan locations and adding all results.
18. A method in accordance with claim 17, wherein the remote sensing system comprises a LIDAR system.
19. A method in accordance with claim 17, further comprising compensating for possible irregularities in the data points representing the existing surface by the steps of:
defining an arbitrary surface;
finding points in the set of data points that represent the existing railroad track surface;
identifying landmark points of the existing railroad track surface within the set of data points;
comparing locations of the landmark points in the set of data points to expected locations of the landmark points;
calculating a positional difference between the locations of the landmark points and the expected locations;
transforming the set of data points by the positional difference;
registering the arbitrary surface to the location of the landmark points; and
updating the expected location of landmark points for subsequent scenes using the transformed set of data points.
20. A method in accordance with claim 17, further comprising:
providing a graphical user interface having an interactive map of the section of railroad track; and
displaying ballast data on the interactive map.
21. A method in accordance with claim 20, wherein the ballast data is selected from the group consisting of: No Dump Zone (NDZ) begin and end points; quantity of ballast needed; number of ballast hopper car gates of ballast to drop for a given train speed; locations at which to drop ballast; curves and spiral easements; and truck position.
22. A method in accordance with claim 20, wherein the graphical user interface further includes features selected from the group consisting of: an image showing remote sensing points; a milepost marker input feature; a note input feature; and a 3-D model of the environment.
23. A method, performed by a computer having a processor and system memory, for registering a functional equation to fixed infrastructure defined in a set of points, comprising:
defining an arbitrary surface;
generating a 3-dimensional set of points of a physical scene using a remote sensing system;
finding points in the set of points that represent the fixed infrastructure in the physical scene;
identifying landmark points of the fixed infrastructure within the set of points;
comparing locations of landmark points in the set of points to an expected location of the landmark points and calculating a numerical difference therebetween;
transforming the sensed set of points by the calculate numerical difference; and
registering the arbitrary surface to the location of the landmark points.
24. A method in accordance with claim 23, wherein the fixed infrastructure comprises a portion of railroad track.
25. A method in accordance with claim 24, wherein the landmark points are selected from the group consisting of: the top inside corner of a rail; the bottom inside corner of a rail; the top outside corner of a rail; the bottom outside corner of a rail; a top surface of a crosstie; and a top outside corner of a crosstie.
26. A method in accordance with claim 23, wherein the step of generating the 3-dimensional point set of the physical scene comprises generating a set of data points using a LIDAR system.
27. A method in accordance with claim 26, wherein the physical scene comprises a railroad track, and the set of data points is generated using a pair of LIDAR devices oriented toward rails of the railroad track, the LIDAR devices being configured to sweep an arc having an angle of from about 100\xb0 to about 270\xb0.
28. A method, performed by a computer having a processor and system memory, for analyzing a section of railroad track, comprising:
scanning an existing section of railroad track using a remote sensing system to produce a set of data points representing an existing scene along the railroad track;
determining a geometric position and characteristics of physical features represented by data points in the scene.
29. A method in accordance with claim 28, further comprising the step of analyzing the physical features in the scene to determine their proximity to a safety envelope associated with the railroad track.
30. A method in accordance with claim 28, wherein the step of determining the geometric position and characteristics of physical features represented by data points in the scene comprises determining the presence of a grade crossing.
31. A method in accordance with claim 28, wherein the step of determining the geometric position and characteristics of physical features represented by data points in the scene comprises determining a relative vertical angle of a roadway at a grade crossing.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1-8. (canceled)
9. A computer usable program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable storage medium including computer usable code for use in a mobile device to prevent loss, the computer usable program product comprising code for performing the steps of:
monitoring environmental parameters by a mobile device;
storing the environmental parameters in the mobile device to form a history of the environmental parameters;
applying statistical analysis to a current set of environmental parameters as compared to the history of the environmental parameters to determine a probability that the mobile device is lost; and
responsive to determining the probability that the mobile device is lost exceeds a threshold, performing an action to prevent loss of the mobile device.
10. The computer usable program product of claim 9 wherein the history contains respective histories of a plurality of environmental parameters.
11. The computer usable program product of claim 10 wherein the history of environmental parameters is selected from a group consisting of location parameters, ambient parameters, operational functionality parameters, derivative parameters, and correlations between environmental parameters.
12. The computer usable program product of claim 11 wherein the environmental parameters are selected from a group consisting of an indication of location relative to another device, geographic location, temperature, device motion, device orientation, image capture analysis, audio capture analysis, battery depletion of the device, and analysis of the operational functionality of the device.
13. The computer usable program product of claim 9 wherein the action is selected from a group consisting of an audible alert, flashing a light, texting information to another device, emailing information to another device, and phoning information to another device.
14. The computer usable program product of claim 10 further comprising:
generating statistical derivatives of the history of environmental parameters;
wherein applying statistical analysis to a current set of environmental parameters as compared to the history of the environmental parameters includes applying statistical analysis to statistical derivatives of the history of the environmental parameters.
15. A data processing system for a mobile device to prevent loss, the data processing system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory storing program instructions which when executed by the processor execute the steps of:
monitoring environmental parameters by a mobile device;
storing the environmental parameters in the mobile device to form a history of the environmental parameters; applying statistical analysis to a current set of environmental parameters as compared to the history of the environmental parameters to determine a probability that the mobile device is lost; and
responsive to determining the probability that the mobile device is lost exceeds a threshold, performing an action to prevent loss of the mobile device.
16. The data processing system of claim 15 wherein the history contains respective histories of a plurality of environmental parameters.
17. The data processing system of claim 16 wherein the history of environmental parameters is selected from a group consisting of location parameters, ambient parameters, operational functionality parameters, derivative parameters, and correlations between environmental parameters.
18. The data processing system of claim 17 wherein the environmental parameters are selected from a group consisting of an indication of location relative to another device, geographic location, temperature, device motion, device orientation, image capture analysis, audio capture analysis, battery depletion of the device, and analysis of the operational functionality of the device.
19. The data processing system of claim 15 wherein the action is selected from a group consisting of an audible alert, flashing a light, texting information to another device, emailing information to another device, and phoning information to another device.
20. The data processing system of claim 16 further comprising:
generating statistical derivatives of the history of environmental parameters;
wherein applying statistical analysis to a current set of environmental parameters as compared to the history of the environmental parameters includes applying statistical analysis to statistical derivatives of the history of the environmental parameters.