ATO system for CBTC-based railways: Planning and disturbance estimation for enhanced automation

This article presents a control architecture for the Automatic Train Operation (ATO) subsystem within the Automatic Train Control (ATC) system, particularly in the context of Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC). The high-level component of the ATO, known as the mesoscopic layer, focuses on generating optimal setpoints to meet the requirements of the railway-level control layer, referred to as the macroscopic layer. This facilitates the generation of setpoints for various modes of operation, such as economical driving (ECO) mode and high-performance driving (TURBO) mode. These setpoints are utilised by the low-level component of the ATO, the microscopic layer, which implements a novel control scheme that generates commands to ensure the train reaches the desired position in the required operation time, meets all macroscopic requirements and mitigates undesirable effects due to actuator saturation. Additionally, a designed disturbance observer enables the control architecture to adapt the optimal setpoints, minimising their impact on system response. The results confirm that the designed architecture robustly meets control objectives autonomously, even in the presence of unexpected uncertainties, significantly enhancing the efficiency and reliability of the ATO within a CBTC framework and ensuring optimal performance across various operating conditions and railway tracks.