Self-powered, Wireless, and Low-cost sensor network for monitoring railway track health conditions.

I&T Solution Self-powered, Wireless, and Low-cost sensor network for monitoring railway track health conditions.
(REF: S-1700)
Trial Project
Solution Feature
  • Current railways rely on detection trains that are scheduled to run once per week or month. Our solution installs sensors directly on railway tracks so that tracks’ conditions will be measured directly many times per day.
  • We present a paradigm shift, from indirect to direct measurement. The inspection frequency is boosted by over 10 times. The maximum train speed can be up to 100 km/h.
  • We provide real-time monitoring, wireless communication, and remote analysis. The sensor system is powered by our new energy-harvesting technology.
  • The system can operate in all weathers. rain, hot summer, frozen winter, fog, dust, vibration, nighttime, etc will not affect the sensor accuracy.
  • Low cost. The fabrication cost of each sensor node is lower than 100 HKD, hundreds of times cheaper than the state-of-the-art.
Trial Application and Expected Outcome
  • The railway condition monitoring sensor is fully self-powered, wireless, and autonomous. The project includes mechanical design, circuit design, system development, programming, and data analysis.
  • The sensor node is installed on railway tracks and wirelessly feeds accurate railway 6-axis motions and temperature information. The receiver will be installed on the train.
  • The sensor node is easy to install—no need to make any changes to the existing design and infrastructure of railways. The installation time of each sensor node is less than 10 minutes.
  • Low-cost operation and maintenance. Our solution is fully passive and batteryless. We waive the trouble of battery change or recharging. When one sensor node malfunctions, the ID will be sent to the control center. We need to replace this one sensor node.
  • Based on our advanced data analysis system, we can prevent multiple railway failures such as rail cracks, rail deformation, high temperature, loose fasteners, etc.
Info on I&T Solution Provider
Solution Provider:Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Address:Rm. 2557, Academic Building, MAE, HKUST, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong
Contact Person:Zhengbao YANG
Position:Associate Professor
Tel:2358 7187
Email: zbyang@ust.hk
Webpage: https://yanglab.hkust.edu.hk/

For details of the above I&T solution, please contact the I&T solution provider.