System, method and apparatus for managing railroad operations and assets using frequently acquired, path oriented, geospatial and time registered, sensor mapped data

Abstract

According to the present invention a system and method is provided for managing both fixed and moving railroad assets for increasing payload throughout and operational efficiency, and enhancing public and worker safety. Moreover, according to the present invention, security is providing thereby enhancing operational efficiency and reducing the cost of risk mitigation. The present invention is accomplished through the use of computerized hardware and software utilizing mobile railway platform-acquired, path-oriented, geospatially aligned, sensor mapped multi-phenomena data together with high frequency path monitoring. According to the present invention, augmented reality, spatial awareness and databases may be incorporated along with large scale databases, so that railroad assets, both moving and non-moving, are monitored and compared with historical conditions to ascertain changes indicative of problem states.

1 . A complimentary overlay system for monitoring and controlling the progress and condition of a moving transportation object wherein said system comprises:
 a. one or more sensory data collection devices for gathering information indicative of environmental conditions surrounding said transportation object as it moves through space and time;   b. a geo-location and time-clock device associated with said transportation object for indicating position and time data relative to said transportation object as it moves through space and time;   c. a correlation module for combining said sensory data with said position and time data of said transportation object into combined reference data;   d. a memory storage medium for storing said reference data indicative of a path of motion of said transportation object, including said sensory information and said position and time data, wherein said memory storage medium includes data indicative of said reference data corresponding to a path movement of said transportation between two points without occurrence of any safety concerns that could impact transportation object integrity;   e. a real time data acquisition monitor associated with said transportation object wherein real time sensory information obtained from said sensory collection device and real time position data obtained from said geo-location device are compared with previously collected said sensory information and previously collected said position data to determine if conditions in the proximity of said moving transportation object have changed between data collection times to an extent whereby an unsafe condition exists whereby said unsafe condition may effect transportation object integrity; and   f. wherein said combined reference data is subsequently accessed continuously as said moving transportation object moves through space and compared with any of earlier collected said combined reference data to determine if an unsafe condition exists so as to impede movement of said transportation object in a manner without impacting transportation object integrity.