Patent ID: 8880314

Claim:
An air brake monitoring system comprising: an air brake control module configured to be disposed onboard a vehicle, the air brake control module configured to control variation of an amount of pressure in a brake pipe of the vehicle responsive to an input, wherein the variation of the amount of pressure in the brake pipe is configured to actuate brakes of a braking system of the vehicle; and an air brake monitoring module configured to be disposed onboard the vehicle, the air brake monitoring module configured to obtain a reference replenishment volume corresponding to a volume of air that recharges the braking system of the vehicle after application of the brakes of the braking system when a first amount of brakes are operational, the air brake monitoring module configured to obtain an actual replenishment volume corresponding to an actual volume of air used to recharge the braking system of the vehicle after a braking activity performed by the vehicle, the air brake monitoring module also configured to generate a signal based on a comparison of the actual replenishment volume to the reference replenishment volume, wherein the air brake monitoring module is configured to determine an air brake effectiveness rating using the comparison of the actual replenishment volume to the reference replenishment volume, and wherein the signal is indicative of the air brake effectiveness rating.