Title: Design of master controller test kit for the railway diesel locomotives

Authors: K. Kishore Kumar; Movva Pavani

Addresses: Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE), Faculty of Science and Technology, IFHE, Hyderabad, India ' Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE), Faculty of Science and Technology, IFHE, Hyderabad, India

Abstract: In the present paper, a master controller test kit for the diesel locomotives is designed, developed and the prototype is tested. Master controller test kit is used by the locomotive driver to drive the engine which is a human-machine interface which primarily performs three essential functions such as controlling the regression, progression, and locomotive braking. Stick type master controller is a modular based compact design which is crew friendly for smooth operation and comfort. In the proposed model, the operation of solenoids is indicated by LEDs, and dynamic braking is shown by digital voltmeter for measuring the drop across braking control pot (BKCP) coil. By using this test stand, a layman can also check the master controller in the section itself which saves staff-hours and most significantly loco downtime. The tested prototype is economical, and its performance is comparable with the existing microcontroller based master controllers.

Keywords: diesel locomotive; throttle handle; reverser handle; master controller testing kit; directional handle; dynamic brake handle.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIE.2021.117983

International Journal of Intelligent Enterprise, 2021 Vol.8 No.4, pp.342 - 365

Received: 13 Aug 2018
Accepted: 14 Jan 2019
Published online: 06 Oct 2021 *

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