Patent Document ID: 8630757
Application ID: 11831492
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method comprising: obtaining input for planning one or more trip profiles for a first powered vehicle to follow during a trip along a first route to an end location, the input including one or more of a position of the first powered vehicle, a consist description of the first powered vehicle, a power description of the first powered vehicle, a performance of traction transmission of the first powered vehicle, a consumption of engine fuel as a function of output power of the first powered vehicle, emissions of the first powered vehicle as a function of a power setting, a cooling characteristic of the first powered vehicle, an intended trip route along the first route to the end location, a grade in the first route, a curvature in the first route, a makeup of the first powered vehicle, a drag coefficient of the first powered vehicle, a start time, a start location, the end location, a designated travel time, an operator identification, a crew shift expiration time, or the first route; using one or more processors and the input that is obtained, computing a first trip profile for the first powered vehicle to follow during the trip along the first route to the end location, the first trip profile dictating operational settings of the first powered vehicle as a function of at least one of time or distance along the trip, the first trip profile determined by identifying throttle settings of the first powered vehicle that cause the first powered vehicle to travel along the first route subject to at least one of operating constraints of the first powered vehicle, scheduling constraints of a schedule of the first powered vehicle, or one or more speed limit constraints; predicting a projected arrival time of a second powered vehicle at a designated location along the first route of the trip of the first powered vehicle while the second powered vehicle is moving toward the designated location; and modifying one or more of the operational settings of the first trip profile based on the projected arrival time of the second powered vehicle that is predicted in order to re-plan the first trip profile into a modified trip profile for the first powered vehicle, wherein traveling according to the operational settings of the first trip profile or the modified trip profile causes the first powered vehicle to reduce at least one of fuel consumed or emissions generated by the first powered vehicle during the trip relative to traveling according to a different trip profile that is different from the first trip plan and the modified trip plan, wherein the first trip profile and the modified trip profile are different from the different trip profile in that the first trip profile is determined and the modified trip profile is created using the at least one of operating constraints, scheduling constraints, or one or more speed limit constraints, and the different trip plan is created using one or more different, second constraints on the travel of the first powered vehicle that are not the same as the at least one of the operating constraints, scheduling constraints, or one or more speed limit constraints, wherein the at least one of operating constraints, scheduling constraints, or one or more speed limit constraints that is used to determine the first trip profile and to create the modified trip profile includes a limitation on an amount of emissions generated by the first powered vehicle during the trip and the one or more different, second constraints include a limitation on a time for the first powered vehicle to travel to the end location but do not include the limitation on the amount of emissions generated by the first powered vehicle.