Flavors Technology Incorporated

Slide 20 of 24

The Japanese Shinkhansen, or Bullet Train, is world renowned for its commitment to schedule. It is said that if you were standing in the queue blindfolded and walked forward at the schedule time, you would enter the door to your car. However, even the famed Bullet Train is not immune from perturbations that impact the schedule.

When an event occurs that can impact the schedule, the immediate task is getting the trains back on time. To do so, JR engineers have implemented an agent-based simulator using Flavors' PIM and Paracell. In this architecture, each train, station, track segment, et cetera is represented as an agent. Together, these agents form a representation of the overall system. In simulation mode, track operators are able to simulate events such as high winds or track obstacles, then run the simulation faster than real-time to try various approaches to getting the trains back on schedule.

This particular installation features over 100 PIM boards connected via TCP/IP. It has become a valuable training and simulation tool for JR. Long range plans involve connecting the PIM to some of the real-time control of the system.