After passing an ATS coil, tilting trains calculate the distance thereafter by the counts of tachometer-generator pulses and determine their position based on the preset position of the coil. However, they get lost if they miss two coils in succession to cause the whole tilt system to fail. We have developed a system to use GPS signals and a database of curvatures and the distance from the terminus to determine the train position without depending on ground equipment. It selects the best algorithm according to GPS signal condition. We were able to confirm that the deviation of positioning was less than 4 m throughout test runs.

Copyright (c) 2003 Railway Technical Research Institute