Importance and applications of robotic and autonomous systems (RAS) in railway maintenance sector: a review

Maintenance, which is critical for safe, reliable, quality, and cost-effective service, plays a dominant role in the railway industry. Therefore, this paper examines the importance and applications of Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) in railway maintenance. More than 70 research publications, which are either in practice or under investigation describing RAS developments in the railway maintenance, are analysed. It has been found that the majority of RAS developed are for rolling-stock maintenance, followed by railway track maintenance. Further, it has been found that there is growing interest and demand for robotics and autonomous systems in the railway maintenance sector, which is largely due to the increased competition, rapid expansion and ever-increasing expense

Side-looking radar in urban research - A case study

Capabilities of side-looking radar in urban researc

EVALUATION PAVEMENT DISTRESSES USING PAVEMENT CONDITION INDEX

Pavement deterioration is resulted by both environmental and structural causes. It is difficult to maintain the road on the same specification that was owned at the opening and problems start to appear represented in the pavement cracks, holes and undulations and so on. Recognizing defects and understanding their causes helps us rate pavement condition and select cost-effective repairs. Periodic inspection is necessary to provide current and useful evaluation data. It is recommended that ratings be updated every year. Maintenance is an essential practice in providing for the long-term performance and the esthetic appearance of an asphalt pavement. The purpose of pavement maintenance is to correct deficiencies caused by distresses and to protect the pavement from further damage. A condition rating of the pavement will help determine what pavement maintenance technique is necessary. A methodology was proposed to investigate the pavement condition; this study focuses on flexible pavement. A manual survey is performed following ASTM D 6433. The pavement is divided into sections. Each section is divided into sample units. The type and severity of sample distress is assessed by visual inspection of the pavement sample units and the quantity of each distress is measured. Typically, this procedure requires a team of at least two engineers. The pavement evaluation results from the manual PCI survey revealed that all sections of road were fair condition. Considered the section of road that surveyed, describing the condition pavement of the all road. The pavement that has been studied at Koums area would seem to require maintenance. Thick overlay (sometimes called surface treating) is needed in a comprehensive pavement

Railway track condition assessment at network level by frequency domain analysis of GPR data

The railway track system is a crucial infrastructure for the transportation of people and goods in modern societies. With the increase in railway traffic, the availability of the track for monitoring and maintenance purposes is becoming significantly reduced. Therefore, continuous non-destructive monitoring tools for track diagnoses take on even greater importance. In this context, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technique results yield valuable information on track condition, mainly in the identification of the degradation of its physical and mechanical characteristics caused by subsurface malfunctions. Nevertheless, the application of GPR to assess the ballast condition is a challenging task because the material electromagnetic properties are sensitive to both the ballast grading and water content. This work presents a novel approach, fast and practical for surveying and analysing long sections of transport infrastructure, based mainly on expedite frequency domain analysis of the GPR signal. Examples are presented with the identification of track events, ballast interventions and potential locations of malfunctions. The approach, developed to identify changes in the track infrastructure, allows for a user-friendly visualisation of the track condition, even for GPR non-professionals such as railways engineers, and may further be used to correlate with track geometric parameters. It aims to automatically detect sudden variations in the GPR signals, obtained with successive surveys over long stretches of railway lines, thus providing valuable information in asset management activities of infrastructure managers

Automatic Railway track Inspection for early warning using Real time image Processing with GPS

Railroad assessment assumes an indispensable part for the correct working of the rail line frameworks; in the past its done manual investigation yet has a few ambiguities. Modified vision based audit systems are engaged to look at the stipulation of rail track. Thusly system fabricates the capability of audit, reduces the required time and giving a more exact and ceaseless information of the railroad track. To give the continuous screens and assistant condition for railroad track using "vision based" and "vibration based" strategy for wellbeing reason. Thusly we can bolster exactness, adequacy and steadfastness. PC vision frameworks have been especially made to be used with the model. The structure delineated in this suggestion makes use of different standard and balanced picture get ready systems, not simply to facilitate the necessities for manual examinations, furthermore to allow steady checking and taking after of any blemishes or varieties from the standard in a rail track. Hereafter to keep up a vital separation from deferments, our propose structure will thusly survey the railroad track by using vision based and vibration based technique. The system gives continuous watching and essential condition for railroad track using vision based procedure and change in accordance with look for the inadequacy range on the track. An examination join perceiving disfigurements on tracks, missing shocks, stay, tie plate and fastens et cetera

Railway freight transport and logistics: Methods for relief, algorithms for verification and proposals for the adjustment of tunnel inner surfaces

In Europe, the attention to efficiency and safety of international railway freight transport has grown in recent years and this has drawn attention to the importance of verifying the clearance between vehicle and lining, mostly when different and variable rolling stock types are expected. This work consists of defining an innovative methodology, with the objective of surveying the tunnel structures, verifying the clearance conditions, and designing a retrofitting work if necessary. The method provides for the use of laser scanner, thermocameras, and ground penetrating radar to survey the geometrical and structural conditions of the tunnel; an algorithm written by the authors permits to verify the clearances. Two different types of works are possible if the inner tunnel surfaces interfere with the profile of the rolling stock passing through: modification of the railroad track or modification of the tunnel intrados by mean milling of its lining. The presented case study demonstrates that the proposed methodology is useful for verifying compatibility between the design vehicle gauge and the existing tunnel intrados, and to investigate the chance to admit rolling stocks from different states. Consequently, the results give the railway management body a chance to perform appropriate measurements in those cases where the minimum clearance requirements are not achieved

Development of Web Application for Monitoring Rail Track Quality

All the rail industries in the present world spend lot of money and resources on track inspections. There are various modern technologies in the modern world for the rail track inspections but neither completely operable at the ground level nor economical for the industries. There is no specific tool or application available in the present market which intakes all the track related data, keep track of the inspections and notify users the schedule of inspections. All this process depends upon the quality of data being collected from the tracks, defining objective from the collected data and achieving the results. For this purpose in this project objectives for the data collection has been given prominent importance and it is done in two ways. Validations are performed before the data is stored into the database. In order to analyze, define and project the data into useful form a robust application is needed which responds to user request dynamically. Our mission here was to understand the user requirements to keep track of the rail track data and automate the process of scheduling inspections and notifying the users. Therefore this project mainly focuses on developing the robust web application which checks the quality data being collected, properly validated and interact with users to help them in scheduling and maintaining inspections. This project helps management to bring legacy systems to bring under one roof and also to expand the existing application in the future according to the changing needs