LOW VOLTAGE APPARATUS ›› 2026, Vol. 0 ›› Issue (4): 32-40.doi: 10.16628/j.cnki.2095-8188.2026.04.004

• Research & Analysis • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Investigation of Pantograph Wire-Following Contact Force in Electric Locomotives Based on Multi-Agent Proximal Policy Optimization

MA Zhenhao, GUO Fengyi, HAN Congxin   

  1. College of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China
  • Received:2025-12-21 Online:2026-04-30 Published:2026-05-18

Abstract:

The pantograph-catenary system, as the key interface for traction power transmission in electric locomotives, determines current-collection quality and operational reliability through its coordination performance. At high speeds, the sliding of pantograph along the contact wire excites coupled vibrations in the pantograph-catenary system, undermining contact stability and reducing current-collection efficiency. Regulating the wire-following contact force(WFCF) is an effective remedy. A multi-agent proximal policy optimization(MAPPO) method augmented with a long short-term memory(LSTM) network is proposed to achieve dynamic WFCF control. Within a centralized-training, decentralized-execution(CTDE) framework, multiple agents are trained to learn speed-specific control policies, enabling precise force regulation across operating conditions. Experimental results show that the proposed approach substantially suppresses WFCF fluctuations and enhances contact wire-following performance(CWFP).

Key words: wire-following contact force, MAPPO, pantograph, contact wire-following performance

CLC Number: