Method and system for timetable optimization utilizing energy consumption factors

Abstract

Systems and methods for synchronizing two or more vehicles operating on an electric transportation line to optimize energy consumption. A controller is provided having a computer memory component storing a set of computer-executable instructions, a list of braking intervals, and a list of acceleration intervals for the vehicles. The controller also has a processing component configured to execute the set of computer-executable instructions to operate on the list of braking intervals and the list of acceleration intervals to minimize an energy consumption of the electric transportation line over a determined period of time by shifting acceleration intervals to synchronize with braking intervals. A dedicated heuristic greedy algorithm and an energy model are implemented in the controller as part of the computer-executable instructions to achieve the improved energy consumption.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system, comprising:
 a controller configured to process a list of braking intervals and a list of acceleration intervals associated with a plurality of vehicles configured to operate on an electric transportation line to determine shifts in time of one or more of the acceleration intervals with respect to one or more of the braking intervals that result in a reduced consumption of energy by the electric transportation line over a period of time; and   a communication component configured for operable coupling with the controller and to control communication of the shifts in time determined by the controller to the vehicles, for controlling movement of the vehicles.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:
 relate a first braking interval of the list of braking intervals to a set of acceleration intervals of the list of acceleration intervals in a neighborhood of the first braking interval, wherein the neighborhood includes all acceleration intervals of the list of acceleration intervals that occur in a same time space as the first braking interval;   select an acceleration interval of the neighborhood and shift the acceleration interval that is selected with respect to the first braking interval such that a local energy consumption is reduced; and   remove the acceleration interval that is selected from the list of acceleration intervals.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to employ an energy model and a heuristic greedy algorithm to determine the shifts in time of the one or more of the acceleration intervals with respect to the one or more of the braking intervals that result in the reduced consumption of energy. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the heuristic greedy algorithm provides the computation of an objective function that includes minimizing, over the determined period of time as represented by a set of time slots, a resulting energy consumption of each time slot. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the energy model relates to at least one of a network topology for the electric transportation line, an ohmic resistance energy loss, and equipment energy loss, or an energy transfer between at least two of a first vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, a second vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, a track associated with the first vehicle, and a track associated with the second vehicle. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the reduced consumption of energy results from a transfer of regenerative energy produced by a first vehicle of the plurality of vehicles during a braking interval to a second vehicle of the plurality of vehicles during an acceleration interval. 
     
     
         7 . A method comprising:
 processing, with a controller, a list of braking intervals and a list of acceleration intervals associated with a plurality of vehicles configured to operate on an electric transportation line to determine shifts in time of one or more of the acceleration intervals with respect to one or more of the braking intervals that result in a reduced consumption of energy by the electric transportation line over a period of time; and   communicating to the vehicles, with a communication component operably coupled to the controller, information of the shifts in time determined by the controller, for controlling movement of the vehicles.