PROJECTS
By virtue of an agreement with Euskal Trenbide Sarea (Basque Railway Network), the centre has developed a system based on laser technology capable of detecting objects on the tracks. This technology is already being tested on an Euskal Trenbide Sarea track in Bolueta (Bilbao).
Safety and reliability are fundamental aspects in any railway transport system. So there is a growing need for safety systems designed to prevent rail traffic accidents caused by the presence of objects on the track. These objects could be the result of the collapse of embankments in areas close to tunnels, motor vehicles stuck on level crossings or any other circumstance that may endanger rail traffic.
The device that IK4-TEKNIKER has developed can offer a reliable system for detecting objects on the tracks in problematic areas like urban zones where the track is exposed to the open air, level crossings and even on tracks along which automated or driverless trains pass. This device is capable of detecting objects the same size as or bigger than a 25-cm edge cube (slightly larger than a football) present on the track.
The system for detecting objects comprises a 2D laser scanner equipped with a motor that provides it with movement so that it can capture a “three-dimensional image” in the form of a point cloud. The choice of a laser solution is based on its intrinsic features, which renders it immune to any changes in lighting or lower levels of it, which may pose a problem in other kinds of solutions.
The laser system scans the area under surveillance from time to time. A point cloud is obtained with each of the scans; during processing, an algorithm compares the point cloud with a template point cloud of the track without any obstacles to detect any differences between one cloud and the other. If any significant variation is detected, the system issues a warning that there could be an object on the railway tracks.
The laser system, the essential factor of which is reliability, is complemented by other systems that reinforce the reliability of the final solution. So the laser system can be combined with a view camera that also monitors the track zone, thus achieving a more robust, more dependable system, in addition to the sending of images to the control centre.
The development of this device is the result of an agreement signed by Euskal Trenbide Sarea and IK4-TEKNIKER in 2012. Right now, its viability is being tested along a stretch of track belonging to Euskal Trenbide Sarea in the district of Bolueta, in Bilbao. The prototype covers a stretch approximately 30 metres long and 8 metres wide.
“The results of the tests indicate that the solution we are proposing is capable of detecting obstacles on the track in a reliable way,” stressed the researcher Carlos Tubío, head of the project at IK4-TEKNIKER. He added, “Despite the fact that this system has been applied to a railway line in this case, it could be applied in any context in which a zone needs surveillance and in which the aim is to monitor any changes that may have taken place.”
