This report documents a multi-year, multi-member collaborative research effort to demonstrate machine-vision enabled wheel/rail characterization, monitoring and analytics. A unique suite of data acquisition equipment was employed. In-track laser wheel scanning, wayside Lateral over Vertical (L/V) force measurement, Truck Bogie Optical Inspection (TBOGI), and Track Geometry Car (TGC) track inspection technology were combined with a Data Collection Consist (DCC) in revenue service equipped with on-board accelerometers, acoustic and propulsion energy recording devices, and a bogie with two instrumented wheel sets. The effort primarily targeted two required FTA Solicitation categories: Operational Safety & System Resiliency. Enhanced operational safety was demonstrated through data collection supporting analytics to proactively assess conditions to enhance system safety. Conditions were monitored by the wheel/rail characterization and analytics systems. Comparisons of “before event” system data signatures with “after event” system data signatures accurately identify track flaws and damage and failure points to accelerate repairs and service recovery following an event.
The evaluation, selection, and implementation of fuel and powertrain technology choices are critically important to accomplishing the mission of provi...
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving a Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS)/National Transportation Library (NTL)
Web-based service.
Thank you for visiting.
You are about to access a non-government link outside of
the U.S. Department of Transportation's National
Transportation Library.
Please note: While links to Web sites outside of DOT are
offered for your convenience, when you exit DOT Web sites,
Federal privacy policy and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation
Act (accessibility requirements) no longer apply. In
addition, DOT does not attest to the accuracy, relevance,
timeliness or completeness of information provided by linked
sites. Linking to a Web site does not constitute an
endorsement by DOT of the sponsors of the site or the
products presented on the site. For more information, please
view DOT's Web site linking policy.
To get back to the page you were previously viewing, click
your Cancel button.
United States Department of Transportation
[PDF-5.45 MB]
