Better. Faster. Stronger. Improving Safety, Precision & Performance of the Modern Rail Industry
The rail industry continues to seek efficiencies to reduce operational costs and improve customer service and safety. One area of focus is the efficiency of rail yards. The performance of rail yards has an impact on the fluidity of the global rail system and a train’s travel time.
Efficiency improvements have been primarily achieved through human operators, however, automation is now increasingly important for moving trains and their loads between yards and platforms, known as ‘shunting.’
As locomotives and rolling stock enter rail yards, they typically need to be separated and reconfigured to prepare for the forwarding of goods. These vehicles often weigh tens of tons and must maneuver with extreme precision, especially when connecting cars within the restrictions of complex rail yards.
Precise position accuracy can now be achieved by combining a rugged Gateworks Corporation Single Board Computer (SBC) with a companion high-precision GNSS Mini-PCIe card. This solution includes u-blox’s market-leading ZED F9P high-precision GNSS receiver combined with the u-blox PointPerfect GNSS correction service allowing for centimeter-level accuracy which is essential for the precise moving of heavy rail stock.
In addition to precise location tracking, there is also temperature, humidity, motion, vibration and infrared which can be monitored using sensors. Gateworks SBCs include GPIO, USB, CAN, RS232, RS485, SPI and I2C interfaces for connecting local sensors to track and monitor rails and railways.
This sensor data can be stored and analyzed wirelessly using low-energy Bluetooth or pushed up to a cloud server for more long-term storage and heavier analysis. Many trains utilize CAN Bus for monitoring critical rail data, such as engine temperature, speed, and oil levels which is also possible using a Gateworks single board computer.
The partnership between u-blox and Gateworks aims to enhance rail yard efficiency to reduce costs, improve performance and increase safety. Rail operators can now achieve centimeter-level accuracy in tracking and can monitor critical data to streamline yard operations and enhance customer service.
For more information about u-blox visit their website: u-blox.com
For more information about u-blox PointPerfect GNSS correction service: u-blox.com/en/product/pointperfect
View GW16143 High Precision GPS Mini-PCIe Card Featuring u-blox
