Title of Invention

"A MICROCONTROLLER BASED GOVERNOR FOR THE CONTROL OF TRACTIVE EFFORT OF DIESEL ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE"

Abstract

The invention relates to a microcontroller based governor for the control of tractive effort of diesel electric locomotive by controlling rotational speed of the engine comprising an actuator / senor unit (14) which consists of a DC servo motor (1) or stepper motor, lube oil pressure transmitter (2), boost air pressure transmitter (3), fuel oil pressure transmitter (4), said DC servomotor being connected by a mechanical linkage (5) to the fuel control shaft on the diesel engine and a controller / display unit (16) connected to the said actuator / sensor unit. (14)

Full Text

This invention relates to a microcontroller based governor for the control of tractive effort of Diesel electric locomotive by controlling the revolutions per minute (RPM) of Diesel engine on board a Diesel electric locomotive. The device used for controlling the RPM of diesel engine is called as 'Governor'. Solid state electronic circuitry comprising of a micro controller, analog and digital integrated circuits in conjunction with a DC motor (Stepper motor or Servomotor) are used to control the RPM of the diesel engine and hence the device is named as 'Micro controller based Governor'. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The diesel engine is extensively used as a prime mover or power pack for Diesel electric locomotive traction in the transportation of passengers and goods by Railways all over the world including Indian Railways. Indian Railways are presently manufacturing around 150 Diesel engines of ALCO 251 series for application on WDM2 /WDM2C/WDG2/WDP2 type of locomotives. These engines are presently being equipped with governors of either Electro-hydraulic type or mechanical-hydraulic type. Electro-hydraulic type governors are based on M/S General Electric design, which are also called as EDC governors. Mechanical-hydraulic governors are of M/S Woodward make and are being imported. Keeping in line with the world wide trend, Indian Railways are contemplating to switch over to Electronic governing systems in place of the electro-hydraulic and mechanical-hydraulic governors, provided, the electronic governor could be indigenously developed. Indian Railways are hoping to achieve 5 to 10% fuel savings by incorporating electronic governors. M,s RDSO, Lucknow has framed the technical requirements of the electronic governing system and started exploring the possibilities of it's indigenous development. In response to their exploratory letter and Railway Board's developmental order BHEL R&D held detailed discussion with RDSO and developed the Micro Controller Based Governing system. There are disadvantages associated with the present system of governing of Diesel Engine. On Diesel Electric Locomotive, using of mechanical / electro hydroelectric type of devices as recited above does not produce efficient and accurate speed and load control. The main object of the present invention is to provide a microcontroller based electronic circuit in conjunction with an electrical servomotor (or stepper motor) for carrying out the governing of the diesel engine fitted on Diesel Electric Locomotives of the Indian Railways. Accordingly to the present invention ihere is provided a microcontroller based governor for the control of tractive effort of diesel electric locomotive by controlling rotational speed of the engine comprising an actuator /sensor unit which consists of a DC servo motor or stepper motor, lube oil pressure transmitter, boost air pressure transmitter, fuel oil pressure transmitter, said DC servomotor being connected by a mechanical linkage to the fuel control shaft on the diesel engine and a controller / display unit connected to the said actuator/sensor unit. The nature of the invention, its objective and further advantages residing in the same will be apparent from the following descriptive made with reference to non-limiting exemplary embodiments of the invention represented in the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1. shows a sectional diagram of woodward governor as in prior art. Fig. 2. shows a schematic diagram of typical woodward governor of prior art. Fig. 3. shows engine speed control system using EDC governor as in prior art. Fig. 4. shows the plan view of EDC governor mechanical arrangement of prior art. Fig. 5. shows the operating principle of microcontroller based governor of the invention. Fig. 6. shows the hardware scheme of the microcontroller based governor of the invention. Fig. 7. shows the schematic for sensing notch position and RPM in microcontroller based governor of the invention. Fig. 8. shows the schematic for processing frequency characteristic of techogenerator output in microcontroller based governor. Fig. 9. shows the schematic for solid state load control potentiometer in microcontroller based governor of the invention. Fig. 10. shows the linkage mechanism for connecting servomotor output to fuel rack of the invention. PRIOR ART The Woodward governor is a mechanical-hydraulic type of governor (Please refer to Fig.l: Sectional diagram of Woodward governor). It consists of a speed-setting mechanism for control of engine speed. It gets it's drive from the engine cam-shaft gear through a right angle gear box and uses flyweights and associated mechanism for engine speed control. It also consists of a hydraulic power piston with tailrod for linkage to fuel control shaft on the diesel engine. The power piston produces a linear reciprocating output. It also consists of a 'Vane servo and rheostat' (Please refer to Fig.2: Schematic diagram of typical Woodward governor) which is used as a load-control device for automatic regulation of engine load to maintain a specific power output at each speed setting. The EDC governor (Please refer to Fig.3: Engine speed control system using EDC governor) is an Electro-hydraulic type of governor. It works in conjunction with a throttle handle (TH), 4 speed relays (ESR 1,2,3,4), Engine control panel (ECP), oil pump and a Tachometer generator (TG). The tachometer generator (TG) produces an A-C electrical signal whose amplitude is proportional to engine speed. The engine control panel (ECP) contains resistors which are connected into the circuit between the tachometer generator and the governor, the switching in or out of these resistors being done by the speed relays (ESR1, 2, 3, 4), whose coils are selectively energized by interlocks controlled by the throttle handle (TH). Oil under pressure for use in the governor is supplied by a motor driven pump. This governor is not mechanically connected to any of the engine's rotating part as in Woodward Governor. The EDC governor components are contained in steel housing, the base of which forms an oil sump. The housing also contains an oil pressure regulating valve, strainer, sight-glasses for checking oil level, supply and return connections for the oil pump. The load control potentiometer is gear driven from the main shaft. (Please refer to Fig.4: EDC GOVERNOR MECHANICAL ARRANGEMENT - PLAN VIEW). The load control potentiometer has a wide inactive band - that is, over about one half of its travel, movement of the brush arm makes no change in circuit resistance. The brush arm is timed during assembly of the gearbox so that it is just ready to enter the active section as the governor reaches the full fuel position. Further movement of the slave position at this time, indicating that engine speed is still too low for the throttle sensing, causes the over travel spring to "wind up" and at the same tune rotates the brush arm of the load control potentiometer over the active section of it's commutator. The load control potentiometer is wired into an appropriate excitation circuit so as to reduce generator demand, thus reducing the load on the diesel engine just enough to allow it to maintain rated speed. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The Micro Controller based Governor (here after called as MCBG) for ALCO/DLW 16-cylinder 251-B Diesel engine fitted on WDM2/WDM2C/WDG2/WDP2 locomotives is realized using a microcontroller in conjunction with a DC servomotor. The micro controller with it's associated circuitry is used for controlling the diesel engine RPM and for monitoring lube oil pressure, booster air pressure and fuel oil pressure. It controls the diesel engine RPM by regulating the fuel supply to the engine, which in turn is achieved by positioning the fuel control shaft on the diesel engine with the help of a mechanical linkage from the output shaft of the DC servomotor. The MCBG also regulates the fuel supply to the engine based on available booster air pressure for efficient burning of fuel. Various safety features are incorporated in MCBG for shutting down the diesel engine safely in case of defined abnormal conditions of the engine. Functions of MCBG: 1. Controls the rpm of the Diesel Engine at various notch positions. 2. Controls the rate of increase or decrease of Engine rpm, whilechanging over from one notch position to another. 3. Maintains the constant horsepower output and RPM of Diesel Engineby suitably modulating the excitation field of the Traction alternator. 4. Limits the fuel to the Diesel Engine based on booster air pressureand notch position for fuel optimization. 5. Shuts down the Diesel Engine in case of low lube oil pressure,over speeding of engine rpm, manual shutdown or any other defined abnormal condition. 6. Provides a display of engine parameters and an indication of enginestatus / faults /alarms etc. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The Micro Controller based Governor (MCBG) for WDM2/WDM2C/ WDG2/WDP2 Diesel Electric Locomotive consists of two sub-assemblies, namely 1) Actuator/Sensor unit 2) Controller/Display unit. Actuator / Sensor Unit: The Actuator / sensor unit consists of the following items. DC Servo motor or Stepper motor (1) for driving the fuel control shaft of the diesel engine with in-built position sensor for measuring the servomotor output shaft position.(or fuel control shaft position on the engine) a) Lube oil pressure ( here after called as LOP) transmitter (2) b) Boost air pressure (here after calbd as BAP) transmitter (3) c) Fuel oil pressure (here after called as FOP) transmitter (4) e) A mechanical linkage (5) for connecting the output of the DC servomotor (1) to the fuel control shaft on the Diesel engine. Items a to d are housed in an enclosure. The enclosure is to be mounted in the Engine compartment at the existing location of Woodward / or EDC governors. Controller / Display Unit: This unit consists of electronic circuitry for a) Processing the Notch position (7) selected with THROTTLE HANDLE. (6) b) Processing engine rpm (10) signal derived from the existing Tacho generator (8) mounted against cam shaft gear (9) teeth. c) Processing the signals from LOP transmitter (2), BAP transmitter (3), FOP transmitter (4) and servomotor output shaft position sensor (11) located in the Actuator / sensor unit. d) Driving the Servo motor (1) in the Actuator/Sensor unit (14) e) Displaying (12) various parameters Viz. Engine rpm, Notch position, Lube oil pressure (LOP) (2), Boost air pressure (BAP) (3), Fuel oil pressure (FOP) (4), Load control potentiometer position (LCP) (13) and Fuel control shaft position (FRP) etc. f) Providing output to 'E-type Excitation system' for matching engine power with Locomotive demand. g) Processing the operator commands through a front panel mounted membrane keypad. (15) h) Providing display (12) of engine parameters and visual indication of engine status / faults /alarms etc. The Electronic circuitry is housed in an Instrument enclosure, which is designed to prevent the ingress of dust, moisture, oil etc. The Controller / Display unit (16) is mounted on the short hood side wall just below the existing location of Lube oil, (2) Fuel oil, (4) Booster air pressure (3) gauges in the Engine driver's cabin. The Actuator / Sensor unit (14) and the Controller / Display unit (16) are interconnected through two connectors (labeled as X-MITTERS, MOTOR) mounted on the respective units. The cables running from the connectors are enclosed in metallic conduits. These cables carry all the signals between Actuator / Sensor unit (14) and the Controller / Display unit. (16) Signals from the Throttle lever, (6) Tachogenerator, (8) power supply and E-type excitation system from ECP (17) are connected to the Controller / Display unit through a third connector (labeled as ECP). Principle of operation: (Please refer to Fig 5: Operating principle of MCBG) The actual RPM of the diesel engine is sensed from the existing Tachogenerator (8) on the engine, placed against the teeth of the camshaft gear (9). The Tachogenerator (8) provides a signal of 141.84 Cycles/second corresponding to an engine speed of 1200 rpm. The desired RPM is computed by the micro controller in the Controller/ Display unit (12) based on the Notch position (7) selected with the THROTTLE HANDLE (6). This is achieved by monitoring the status of the control wires 13/15,12, 7 and 3 from Engine control panel (ECP). (17) The actual engine rpm is continuously compared with the desired engine rpm for every 25 milliseconds in the software A PID algorithm (Proportional -Integral - Derivative) acts on the rpm error signal (desired rpm - actual rpm) to compute the desired servomotor shaft position. The desired servomotor shaft position so computed is in turn compared with the actual shaft position signal. The actual servomotor shaft position signal is obtained by a non contact position sensor placed against die servomotor shaft position. Another PID algorithm acts on this positional error signal (desired servomotor shaft position - actual shaft position) continuously to position and throttle the servomotor shaft position, The servomotor shaft is connected to the fuel control shaft of the engine by means of a mechanical linkage arrangement (5). The mechanical linkage (5) is designed for transmitting the position information from the servomotor (1) to fuel control shaft of the diesel engine in a smooth and reliable manner. A very important feature of the MCBG is that it continuously monitors the booster air pressure (3) and thereby limits the movement of the fuel control shaft based on a pre - programmed characteristic of "Permissible fuel control shaft position Vs booster air pressure". This feature helps in optimum utilization of the fuel thereby preventing incomplete combustion, smoky exhaust, excessive engine temperature and fuel wastage. In addition to the booster air imposed fuel limitation, the MCBG is also programmed for limiting the fuel based on the selected notch position. Hardware in Actuator/ Sensor Unit (14) This unit consists of a DC Servomotor (1), pressure transmitters (2,3,4) for measuring LOP, BAP, FOP and the linkage mechanism (5) for transmitting the Servomotor shall output position to the fuel control shaft. The DC servomotor (1) provides a torque greater than 16 Nm at it's output shaft. The response time of the servomotor is 170 milliseconds and the angle of rotation is 42°. The torque is transmitted to the fuel control shaft on the engine by means of the mechanical linkage arrangement. A feed back cam is mounted on the servomotor output shaft, which is scanned by anon contact probe. The position of the output shaft is transmitted as a voltage signal of 1.5 to 5 volts to the Controller / Display unit corresponding to fuel control shaft position of 0 to 30mm. The LOP, (2) BAP (3) & FOP (4) transmitters provide a proportional output of 4 to 20mA corresponding to the input pressure range of 0 to 10 kg/scm, 0 to 2.5 kg/scm and 0 to 10 kg/scm respectively. The 4 to 20mA signal is converted into a voltage of 2 to 10 volts in the "Field interface circuit" board. Linkage Mechanism: (5) (Please refer to Fig. 10: LINKAGE MECHANISM FOR CONNECTING SERVOMOTOR OUTPUT TO FUEL RACK) (28) The linkage mechanism (5) consists of a crank rod (6.2) with L H threading towards Actuator end and R H threading towards Fuel control shaft end. The crank rod (6.2) is screwed into a rod end bearing (6.4) and is provided with a nut (6.5) for tightening the crank rod (6.2) to the rod end bearing (6.4). The rod end bearing (6.4) engages to the spline crank pin and the lateral movement of the rod end bearing (6.4) is arrested with a circlip (6.1..4) on the pin. (6.1.2). The spline hole of the spline crank is to be engaged to the spline shaft of the Servomotor of the Actuator/Sensor unit. (14) A split is provided in the spline hole, so as to firmly engage the slpine crank to the spline shaft (6.1.1) of the Actuator with the help of two screws (6.1.3). The other end of the crank rod (6.2) with R H threading matches with the fork (6.3) used for connecting the fuel rack assembly. Hardware in Controller / Display Unit: (16) This unit consists of electronic circuitry for a) Processing the Notch position (7) selected with THROTTLE HANDLE (6) b) Processing engine rpm (10) signal derived from the existing Tacho generator (8) mounted against cam shaft gear (9) teeth. c) Processing the signals from LOP transmitter (2), BAP transmitter, (3) FOP transmitter (4) and servomotor position sensor (17) located in the Actuator / Sensor unit. (14) d) Driving the Servo motor (1) in the Actuator / Sensor unit (14). e) Displaying (12) various parameters Viz. Engine actual RPM, (10) Notch position, (7) Lube oil pressure (LOP), (2) Boost air pressure (BAP), (3) Fuel oil pressure (FOP), (4) Load control potentiometer position (LCP) (13) and Servomotor output shaft position (FRP) etc. f) Providing output to 'E-type Excitation system' for matching engine power with locomotive demand. g) Processing the operator commands through a front panel Mounted membrane keypad. (15) h) Providing display of engine parameters and visual indication of engine status / faults / alarms etc. The Controller/Display unit (12) consists of the following circuit boards and modules for processing the above signals. Field interface circuit board: (16) This board consists of circuitry for providing signal conditioning to the various signals coming from or going to the diesel engine and it's associated equipment on the locomotive. (Please refer to Fig.6: Hardware scheme of MCBG). a) The Notch position (7) is selected with 'THROTTLE HANDLE". (6) b) Engine RPM (10) signal generated by the Tachogenerator (8) mounted against the cam shaft gear (9) teeth. c) LOP transmitter signal. (2) d) BAP transmitter signal. (3) e) FOP transmitter signal. (4) f) Servomotor output shaft position signal. (17) All these signals are conditioned for attenuation, filtering, surge suppression and optical isolation. The THROTTLE HANDLE' (6) position is converted into 4 optically isolated TTL signals and are fed to the digital input interface of the micro controller board. The Tachogenerator (8) generates a signal of 0 to 141.84 Hz corresponding to an engine RPM of 0 to 1200. The varying amplitude component of the Tachogenerator (8) output is arrested by clamping it to around 7 volts using T9 and T10 zener diodes. Resistor R81 limits the current flow into the input of opto isolator 1C (U12). The output of U12 at pin no:6 is waveshaped to produce a clean squarewave by passing it through a series of 6 inverters of 1C U13. The output of 1C U13 at pin no: 12 is fed to a phase locked loop 1C U14. The 1C U14 in conjunction with 1C U15 forms a frequency multiplier of 100. The frequency is fed to a frequency to voltage converter 1C U16 at pin no:7. 1C U16 produces a DC voltage at pin no: 10 proportional to the input frequency. The 14.184 kHz signal so obtained is converted into a 0 to 10V signal and fed to the analog input interface of the micro controller board. The 4-20 mA signals from LOP, BAP and FOP transmitters are converted to a voltage of 2 to 10 volts and fed to the analog input interface of the micro controller board. The servomotor (1) output shaft position signal of 1.5 to 5 volts (corresponding to 0 to 30 mm fuel rack position) is also fed to the analog input interface of the micro controller board. This board also provides an output of 24.4 to 68.8 volts to the E - type Excitation system for matching the diesel engine power with the locomotive demand. (Please refer to Fig.9: SCHEMATIC FOR SOLID STATE LOAD CONTROL POTENTIOMETER IN MCBG) for an explanation of the working of the circuit. The output of Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) (20) is fed to an isolation amplifier Ull (19). The isolation amplifier (19) is configured for unity gain. Hence, the DAC (20) output applied at pin 19 of Ull (20) with respect to pin 18 appears at pin 1 with respect to pin 2 without any attenuation. The galvanically isolated output is applied to high voltage and high current operational amplifier Ql (21) through resistor R50. With the help of resistor R83 and potentiometer P5, the 1C Ql is configured for a gain of 10. Resistors R52, R53 and potentiometer P1 are used for adjusting the "zero" of the output. Potentiometer P3 is used for adjusting the "span" of the output. The output of the 1C Ql (21) appears at pin no. 1. This output is fed to wire no.29A of ECP. Thus, an output of 24.4 volts corresponds to 100% excitation of the traction generator field and 68.8 volts corresponds to zero percent field excitation is generated by this circuit. Lastly, the 24.4 volts to 68.8 volts output signal to the E-type Excitation system is attenuated by a factor of 10, optically isolated and the resulting signal of 2.44 volts to 6.88 volts is fed to the analog input interface of microcontroller board for the purpose of display of LCP position in Hrs : Mts. time format. Microcontroller board (22) The micro controller board is a miniature control computer. It includes a microprocessor, analog and digital interfaces, a user interface (keypad).It has an expansion bus connector which allows external expansion of the. input/output capabilities. It has serial communications capability suitable for communicating with Personal computer. It supports both RS232 and RS485/RS422 serial communication modes. The microcontroller board has the following input/output interfaces: 1. Six universal inputs which may be used as analog inputs (to measure voltage, current or resistance ) or as digital inputs. The universal inputs accept 0-10V with 10-bit resolution. 2. Seven digital inputs. 3. One high-sensitivity differential analog input. 4. Two relay contact outputs (NO, NC, COM for each relay). The relays are rated for 3 A at 48V. 5. Ten high-current outputs suitable for driving relays, lamps or solenoids. 6. One analog output (DAC) which may be a 0 to 10V voltage output or 0-20 m A current output. 7. A full duplex RS422/RS485 serial port, which can operate asynchronously at baud rates up to 38,400 baud. 8. An RS232 serial port with handshaking lines, which can operate at rates up to 38,400 baud. A second RS232 port can be configured as a substitute for the RS485 port by changing board jumpers, but it will have no hand shaking lines. 9. A 26-pin connector to expansion bus for expansion devices. The microcontroller board has the following internal features: 1. Battery -backed RAM, up to 512 kbytes. 2. EPROM, up to 512K bytes, for holding program and data. 3. Battery-backed time/date clock. 4. Lithium button battery. This battery will last about 10 years in normal use. It provides power for the time/date clock and the battery-backed memory when no external power is supplied to the unit. 5. Watchdog timer. 6. Power failure warning interrupt. 7. EEPROM, standard 512 bytes. The EEPROM holds factory-set calibration constants and user configuration data of a more permanent nature than data held in the battery-backed RAM. 8. Interface to Vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) module. The VFD module has 2 lines of 20 characters in each line. 9. A membrane Keypad consisting of 12 keys arranged in 2 rows, 6 keys in each row. Auxiliary DAC board (23) This board receives a digital signal from the microcontroller board for modulating the excitation of the Traction generator field. The digital signal so received is converted into an equivalent signal of 2.48 volts to 6.88 volts for -further processing to a voltage of 24.8 volts to 68.8 volts in the field interface board as explained in "Field interface circuit" board. Power supply module (24) This module is used for converting the power supply voltage available from Battery or Auxiliary generator on the engine to an output voltage of 24 volts. The output voltage is maintained at 24 volts even when the input voltage from Battery or Auxiliary generator varies from 20 volts to 100 volts. The output is galvanically isolated from the input and is provided with a filter and transient / surge suppressor at the input side. The 24 volts output of this module is fed to the servomotor through Servomotor drive module. Auxiliary power supply board (25) This board generates 5 volts and +15 volts power supplies needed for the field interface board and micro controller board. The input to this board is 24 volts output from the above mentioned power supply module. Servomotor drive module (26) This module receives the desired servomotor output shaft position as 2.5 to 10 V signal from the micro controller board. It also receives the actual servomotor shaft position feed back as 1.6 to 2.9 volts signal, which in turn is converted into a 1.5 to 5 volts signal. A PID position control circuit operateson the deviation of the actual position signal from the desired position signal. This module consists of MOSFET based 4 - quadrant amplifier for driving the servomotor in either direction. This module also consists of a control input by which the servomotor is de-energised till the diesel engine reaches firing or ignition RPM. This feature is useful for carrying out adjustments on the mechanical linkage, when the engine is at stand still. Vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) module (12) This is a display module and consists of 40 alpha-numeric characters arranged in two rows, 20 characters in each row. The color of the display is bluish-green. During normal running, the VFD provides a continuous display of Lube oil pressure (LOP), (2) Booster air pressure (BAP), (3) Fuel oil pressure (FOP), (4) Actual speed in rpm, (10) Load control position (LCP) in Hrs: Mts. format, Fuel rack position (FRP) in mm and Notch no: # in decimal units. Membrane key pad (15) The membrane keypad is mounted on the front panel of the Controller/Display unit and consists of 2 rows of 6 keys as follows: - MENU ITEM FIELD UP DOWN ITRT.P Fl F2 F3 F4 F5 DEF The upper row keys VIZ: MENU, HEM, EELD, UP, DOWN, HELP in Conjunction with the VFD are used for selecting / setting / adjusting various diesel engine related parameters and controller parameters. The lower row keys Fl, F2, F3, F4, F5, DBF are used for displaying various parameters of the MCBG to facilitate functional checking before actual installation on the engine. Using these keys the following parameters can be adjusted a) Desired rpm at each notch. b) Desired minimum LOP at each notch. c) Maximum permissible fuel rack at each notch. d) Maximum permissible fuel rack based on available BAP. e) Dynamics (P, I, D) of speed control loop. f) Load control response. g) Fuel rack position calibration. Software The governing control program is written in dynamic "C", a high level programming language tailored for meeting the real time control requirements. The acquisition of engine rpm and the output of the rpm control loop is updated every 25 milliseconds. The output to the E - type excitation system is updated every 100 milliseconds for matching the enginepower output with locomotive demand. The notching up or notching down of the engine rpm is programmed with defined rates of acceleration and deceleration. Similarly, the increase rate and decrease rate of excitation is also programmable so as to match the engine power with the locomotive demand. Defined time delays have been programmed for startup, notch up and notch down to initiate engine shut down in case of insufficient lube oil pressure. The desired rpms, desired lube oil pressures are made operator programmable at each notch. Similarly the permissible rack movement based on available booster air pressure and the selected notch also are programmable. The MCBG is programmed to shut down the engine safely in case of defined abnormal conditions on the engine. In case of certain defined faulty conditions, the governor is programmed to coast down to IDLE rpm. The governor is programmed to check and display the actual setting of the 'mechanical over speed trip device' on the engine. The MCBG is programmed shut down the engine at 10 rpm less than the mechanical over speed device setting, in case of any abnormal over speeding of the engine. All the programming is carried out in the IBM compatible Personal computer. The length of the program is 44 kilobytes. The programmable parameters are stored in a battery backed RAM which can retain the data for 10 years .The invention described herein above is in relation to non-limiting embodiments and as defined by the accompanying claims. WE CLAIM: 1. A microcontroller based governor for the control of tractive effort of diesel electric locomotive by controlling rotational speed of the engine comprising an actuator / senor unit (14) which consists of a DC servo motor (1) or stepper motor, lube oil pressure transmitter (2), boost air pressure transmitter (3), fuel oil pressure transmitter (4), said DC servomotor being connected by a mechanical linkage (5) to the fuel control shaft on the diesel engine and a controller / display unit (16) connected to the said actuator / sensor unit. (14) 2. The microcontroller based governor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said controller/ display unit having a throttle handle (6) selects the notch position (7) for the reference RPM generator (27). 3. The microcontroller based governor as claimed in claim 1 wherein the signals from pressure transmitters (2,3,4) and servomotor output shaft position sensor (11) located in the actuator / sensor unit (14) and processed to drive the servomotor (1) in the actuator / sensor unit (14) and said linkage mechanism for transmitting the servomotor shaft output position to fuel control shaft. 4. The microcontroller based governor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said linkage mechanism for connecting servomotor output to fuel rack (28) comprises of a crank rod (6.2) with L.H threading towards actuator end R,H threading towards fuel control shaft end, 5. The micro con tro Her based governor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said controller / display unit (16) comprises of a microcontroller board (22), membrane keyboard (15), auxiliary DAC board (23), auxiliary power supply board (25), power supply module (24), servomotor drive module (26), a vacuum florescent display module (12) and a membrane key pad (15). 6. A microcontroller based governor for the control of tractive effort of diesel electric locomotove as herein described and illustrated with the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

33-del-2001-abstract.pdf

33-del-2001-claims.pdf

33-DEL-2001-Correspondence-Others-(20-10-2010).pdf

33-del-2001-correspondence-others.pdf

33-del-2001-correspondence-po.pdf

33-del-2001-description (complete).pdf

33-del-2001-drawings.pdf

33-del-2001-form-1.pdf

33-DEL-2001-Form-15-(20-10-2010).pdf

33-del-2001-form-19.pdf

33-del-2001-form-2.pdf

33-del-2001-form-3.pdf

33-del-2001-form-4.pdf

33-del-2001-form-5.pdf

33-del-2001-gpa.pdf