Patent ID: 8682513

Claim:
A system comprising: a control module configured to be disposed on-board a vehicle that includes a lead powered unit and at least one remote powered unit that are capable of self-propulsion, the control module also configured to operate in an automatic mode where the control module automatically controls operational settings of the at least one remote powered unit and in a manual mode where an operator onboard the vehicle manually controls the operational settings of the at least one remote powered unit; a communication module configured to be disposed on-board the vehicle and to monitor communication of control instructions from the control module to the at least one remote powered unit when the control module operates in the automatic mode, the communication module configured to identify when the communication of the control instructions is interrupted; and a management module configured to be disposed on-board the vehicle and to determine one or more operational setting differences between operational settings of the lead powered unit and the operational settings of the at least one remote powered unit when the interruption in communication is identified by the communication module, wherein the management module is further configured to prevent the control module from switching from the automatic mode to the manual mode when the one or more operational setting differences meet one or more designated criteria.