Innovations in Railways: Technologies Making an Impact

This edition explores the exciting applications and benefits of AR, AI, and robots in the realm of railways, highlighting their potential to shape the future of this crucial mode of transportation.

Robots for train and track inspection

Robots are emerging as indispensable assets in the field of inspection, revolutionizing the way railways ensure safety and efficiency. Equipped with advanced sensors and imaging technologies, these robotic systems are capable of conducting thorough inspections of trains, tracks, and infrastructure with unparalleled precision and speed. These robots can navigate through challenging terrains and confined spaces, reaching areas that are otherwise difficult for human inspectors to access.

Robots for train inspection

Robots can autonomously detect and analyse anomalies such as cracks, corrosion, and wear, ensuring early identification of potential risks and minimizing downtime for maintenance. ANYbotics partnered with Stadler to explore the potential of mobile robots to increase the efficiency and quality of routine inspection and maintenance of rolling stock.

Robots for track inspection

This Track Inspection Robot is equipped with a self-moving motion platform and various high-precision intelligent sensor modules to achieve rapid and accurate detection of track defects. It is used to assist track inspectors to complete the night-time route inspection tasks and solving the problems of heavy tasks, difficult detection, and missing detection encountered by traditional manual inspection. Thereby reducing the cost of inspection manpower and personnel work intensity, improving the efficiency and quality of inspection, and timely eliminating the safety hazards existing in the rail track.

Safety: Digital shields on the railway

During KiwiRail’s Trentham to Upper Hutt double-tracking project in the Wellington Region, KiwiRail and its partners have developed what is called "Digital Shields" to protect excavator drivers from overhead power lines and other sensitive areas such as the live rail corridor, by locking the controls of excavators if any part of the machine gets too close.

The shields are made by creating a virtual twin of the physical environment, using a laser scanner. This survey technique collects millions of points of data, which are then used to build a 3D digital model. These models allow us to create digital shields a set distance from the position of real-world objects. Once a shield is created, it is sent to a computer onboard the excavator that is linked to a GPS unit. The system on the excavator knows where the machine is, and through a series of sensors, what shape it is, as well as where the shield sits. If the excavator comes into contact with the location of the digital shield, then a signal is sent to the hydraulic system, and the controls are locked out, preventing the machine from coming too close to the real-world hazard.

Realtime Pantograph Monitoring using AI & ML

Within the rail industry, damaged pantographs can result in significant damage to overhead lines (OHL) and supporting infrastructure. In severe circumstances this can lead to de-wirement, causing significant delays for rail operators and high repair costs.

Transmission Dynamics proposes an integrated camera module to provide high-definition images and video footage. With the addition of advanced image processing algorithms, artificial intelligence, and machining learning, the system automatically interprets the data and can detect:

• OHL wire stagger
• Pantograph height
• Carriage sway/ride quality
• Arcing

Acoustic Camera

Have you ever seen noise in colour? This video shows how we can use imaging to establish which are the dominant noise sources, in order to prioritise the order of improvement to quieten the area.