ESR’s National Centre of Tribology (NCT) has recently been involved in a joint research project with a data science company to develop a new cutting-edge data-driven system that will provide real-time condition monitoring of rail networks.
NCT has carried out many instrumentation tasks over the years, from frequency excitation of hospital ACUs to the flow rate of industrial heat exchangers, and strain rail support structures. However, the joint “Polytrack” project goes beyond these in complexity and results.
The system is installed on a tram and consists of multiple accelerometers on each axis of the tram bogey, the signals from there are all routed to a central computer, as is the position data from a GPS mounted on the roof of the tram. To prevent disruptions, the equipment is carefully arranged to ensure uninterrupted tram operations. The signals are then amplified, processed, and uploaded to the cloud where they can be viewed through NCT’s net application. This then alerts the user to areas of the track which have caused high accelerations and thus may need maintenance.
A system that enables targeted track maintenance can be a highly effective cost-saving measure for train operators.
Some of our NCT engineers, Greg Kelly (Senior Consultant) and Omar Shah (Consultant) visited the tram where the Polytrack system is installed. Both engineers headed on-site to carry out maintenance on the system including a full inspection, cable run checks and performing an analysis of the signals from the sensors to ensure their accuracy, thus highlighting NCT’s commitment to finding solutions to challenging unconventional engineering problems. The Polytrack project is still in the development stage but is showing promising results.
Our NCT Team have carried out many bespoke, unique instrumentation tasks in a variety of environments, so if you require help in this field, do not hesitate to contact us to enquire about our services or discuss further details with our engineers. Email us at info@esrtechnology.com for any further information or enquiries.
Figure 1: Greg checking signals from the sensor system
Figure 2: After finishing the job
Figure 3: Omar checking cabling on tram roof