Railway Virtual Coupling: A Survey of Emerging Control Techniques

Wu, Qingping; Ge, Xiaohua; Han, Qing‐Long; Liu, Yafei

doi:10.1109/tiv.2023.3260851

Cited by 21 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 89 publications

(177 reference statements)

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“…As shown in Figure 2, during VCTS operation, the following unit should follow a control objective that is related to its preceding unit and satisfies safety constraints imposed by signaling systems (Q. Wu et al, 2023). To realize VCTS operation, many control approaches have been investigated, for example, feedback control (Bauso et al, 2023;Su et al, 2023) and model predictive control (Luo, Tang, Yin, Liu, 2023;Luo, Tang, Lu, Lv, Liu, 2023;.…”

Section: F I G U R Ementioning

confidence: 99%

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A hierarchical control approach for virtual coupling in metro trains

Liu,

Luo,

Tang

et al. 2023

Computer aided Civil Eng

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As an emerging technology, virtual coupling improves the efficiency and flexibility of metro services by forming multiple trains (units) as a virtually coupled train set (VCTS) without mechanical couplers. However, to realize the desired VCTS operation in practical metro services, a significant gap to be filled is that the implicit and nonlinear safety constraints are hard to be addressed in real‐time control. Thus, this paper proposes a hierarchical control approach with a two‐layer framework. In the upper layer, a trajectory planning method is designed, which addresses the safety constraints and prescribes a reference trajectory for each unit. In the lower layer, a model predictive control approach is constructed, by which each unit accurately tracks its reference trajectory in real time. Afterward, the proposed hierarchical control approach is employed to realize VCTS inter‐station operation in field tests. The average tracking error of speed is around 8 cm/s and the stopping error is less than 12 cm. The following distance between two units in VCTS is reduced to less than 105 m at the speed of 80 km/h, which is a breakthrough in the development of VCTS.

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Section: F I G U R Ementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, to provide more frequent train services and increase line capacity, VC employs this principle and has been widely studied in recent years, for example, preliminary analysis for technical feasibility (Flammini et al, 2021) and review work for VCTS (Q. Wu et al, 2023;Xun et al, 2022).…”

Section: Vc and Train Separation Principlementioning

confidence: 99%

A hierarchical control approach for virtual coupling in metro trains

Liu,

Luo,

Tang

et al. 2023

Computer aided Civil Eng

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“…Virtual coupling (VC) is considered a promising train-control mode in urban rail transit, as it enables two train sets to form one virtual train set by precisely controlling the two trains with a very close distance in operation [ 1 ]. It makes the coupling and decoupling faster and easier, does not need artificial inference, and makes cross-line operations and branching operations more flexible [ 2 ], and therefore enhances transportation efficiency [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Train Distance Estimation for Virtual Coupling Based on Monocular Vision

Hao,

Tang,

Gao

2024

Sensors

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By precisely controlling the distance between two train sets, virtual coupling (VC) enables flexible coupling and decoupling in urban rail transit. However, relying on train-to-train communication for obtaining the train distance can pose a safety risk in case of communication malfunctions. In this paper, a distance-estimation framework based on monocular vision is proposed. First, key structure features of the target train are extracted by an object-detection neural network, whose strategies include an additional detection head in the feature pyramid, labeling of object neighbor areas, and semantic filtering, which are utilized to improve the detection performance for small objects. Then, an optimization process based on multiple key structure features is implemented to estimate the distance between the two train sets in VC. For the validation and evaluation of the proposed framework, experiments were implemented on Beijing Subway Line 11. The results show that for train sets with distances between 20 m and 100 m, the proposed framework can achieve a distance estimation with an absolute error that is lower than 1 m and a relative error that is lower than 1.5%, which can be a reliable backup for communication-based VC operations.

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“…Many scholars have carried out relevant research on RDBM-based VCTS operation control. References [4,5] listed several commonly adopted control methods, including sliding mode control (SMC), machine learning (ML)-based control and model predictive control (MPC). For example, References [6][7][8] adopted the SMC strategy to control the VCTS in formation considering the effect of external environmental disturbances, and it makes the VCTS track the reference operation state by designing a suitable sliding mode surface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distributed Cooperative Tracking Control Strategy for Virtual Coupling Trains: An Event-Triggered Model Predictive Control Approach

Li,

Zhong,

Yang

et al. 2023

Processes

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Virtual coupling (VC) technology has received much attention because of its significant advantages in enhancing the railway transport capacity; it achieves efficient train coupling operation through advanced communication technology. However, due to the uncertainty of the operating environment, a stable and effective control system is the key enabler for realization. In this paper, an event-triggered distributed model predictive control (ET-DMPC) method is proposed for the cooperative tracking control of virtual coupling trains (VCTS), considering resource limitations and multiple constraints. Firstly, a distributed model predictive control (DMPC) framework is designed. Based on the established VCTS dynamics model of the dual-leader communication topology, a distributed optimization objective function and safety constraints containing state information of the neighboring train system are constructed. Secondly, due to the limitations of communication and computational resources, the event triggering (ET) mechanism is further introduced, and an ET-DMPC method suitable for VCTS is proposed. The trigger condition of each unit train is designed on the premise of guaranteeing system stability, under which the system can guarantee the input-state stability (ISS), and the recursive feasibility of the system is proven via theoretical analysis. Finally, the VCTS composed of four CRH380A unit trains is used as the control object for simulation experiments, and through two sets of experimental simulation analysis, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified.

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Railway Virtual Coupling: A Survey of Emerging Control Techniques

Cited by 21 publications

References 89 publications

A hierarchical control approach for virtual coupling in metro trains

A hierarchical control approach for virtual coupling in metro trains

Train Distance Estimation for Virtual Coupling Based on Monocular Vision

Distributed Cooperative Tracking Control Strategy for Virtual Coupling Trains: An Event-Triggered Model Predictive Control Approach

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