Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SAFETRACK (STAND ALONE SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING REAL-TIME, ACCURATE, AND RELIABLE MONITORING AND WARNING OF ANY INCIDENTS AND DANGSYSTEM FOR COMPLETE MONITORING, ALERTING AND AUTOMATING OF THE RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2020-07-01 al 2021-06-30
Summary
SAFETRACK is a project aimed for the railway industry, providing the authorities and infrastructure managers with a unique stand-alone real-time infrastructure monitoring securing the industry with accurate and reliable warning of any anomalies and incidents which occur on the infrastructure.
The SAFETRACK team and NGRT has now completed the first 12 months. NGRT reports that the progress of SAFETRACK has followed the project plan and structure without serious deviations and the need for alterations on either plan or budget. Work has been carried out according to the defined WP’es and with clear focus on deliverables, milestones, and risks. Risks that were identified prior to project start, and new risk(s) as to mention above.
The only deviation which have had some impact on the project plan and budget allocation has been the need for an increased international freight service delivered by DHL
The reasons and addressed needs for the railway industry which SAFETRACK is based upon, has not decreased since NGRT was awarded the Grant. In 2021 more than 200 people have died in various train accidents and derailments around the world.
1. What is the problem/issue being addressed?
The second most common accident type in Europe is due to collisions with obstacles on the track infrastructure. The introduction of automation and smart sensors in railway infrastructure is decades behind other sectors. There is no real-time system to control track conditions or railway infrastructure, even detecting an incoming train at the crossing is still a challenge.
Improving the safety of railways supports EU Green Deal challenges such as climate change risks, sustainability and net zero emissions. Continuous rail monitoring can greatly mitigate the risk of extreme weather events associated to climate change on the infrastructure for the railway industry, which in Europe saves 8.4 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions and which could be even more with better monitoring.
2. Why is it important for society?
Each year numerous incidents and accidents have a huge impact, both financially and socially. Only in the EU, there are annually around 2k accidents with 1k injured and 1k deaths, and alarmingly the number doesn’t decrease year to year. In the US in 2017 there were 11 597 accidents with 8 553 injuries and 864 deaths. EU has estimated the economic impact of tremendous €2.1 billion of loss only due to deaths. Total direct costs related to incidents, accidents and fatalities are estimated to be approx. €2.74 billion per year and is increasing. A 50% of these accidents can be linked to problems with the infrastructure leading to train accidents and could have been avoided if monitoring and data exchange system was introduced.
3. What are the overall objectives?
The overall objectives for the SAFETRACK project is to design, develop, manufacture a real-time railway infrastructure monitoring system based on passive monitoring of rail vibrations to detect and identify problems with the rails (damage, obstacles) and trains (location, wheels) to increase safety and capacity while reducing railway maintenance costs.
The systems incorporates machine learning and improves over time as it is used. SAFETRACK can safely provide comprehensive railway network monitoring, replacing numerous single purpose equipment. Additional benefits include providing data on actual track usage to enable more efficient preventive maintenance of the tracks.
SAFETRACK is a project aimed for the railway industry, providing the authorities and infrastructure managers with a unique stand-alone real-time infrastructure monitoring securing the industry with accurate and reliable warning of any anomalies and incidents which occur on the infrastructure.
The SAFETRACK team and NGRT has now completed the first 12 months. NGRT reports that the progress of SAFETRACK has followed the project plan and structure without serious deviations and the need for alterations on either plan or budget. Work has been carried out according to the defined WP’es and with clear focus on deliverables, milestones, and risks. Risks that were identified prior to project start, and new risk(s) as to mention above.
The only deviation which have had some impact on the project plan and budget allocation has been the need for an increased international freight service delivered by DHL
The reasons and addressed needs for the railway industry which SAFETRACK is based upon, has not decreased since NGRT was awarded the Grant. In 2021 more than 200 people have died in various train accidents and derailments around the world.
1. What is the problem/issue being addressed?
The second most common accident type in Europe is due to collisions with obstacles on the track infrastructure. The introduction of automation and smart sensors in railway infrastructure is decades behind other sectors. There is no real-time system to control track conditions or railway infrastructure, even detecting an incoming train at the crossing is still a challenge.
Improving the safety of railways supports EU Green Deal challenges such as climate change risks, sustainability and net zero emissions. Continuous rail monitoring can greatly mitigate the risk of extreme weather events associated to climate change on the infrastructure for the railway industry, which in Europe saves 8.4 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions and which could be even more with better monitoring.
2. Why is it important for society?
Each year numerous incidents and accidents have a huge impact, both financially and socially. Only in the EU, there are annually around 2k accidents with 1k injured and 1k deaths, and alarmingly the number doesn’t decrease year to year. In the US in 2017 there were 11 597 accidents with 8 553 injuries and 864 deaths. EU has estimated the economic impact of tremendous €2.1 billion of loss only due to deaths. Total direct costs related to incidents, accidents and fatalities are estimated to be approx. €2.74 billion per year and is increasing. A 50% of these accidents can be linked to problems with the infrastructure leading to train accidents and could have been avoided if monitoring and data exchange system was introduced.
3. What are the overall objectives?
The overall objectives for the SAFETRACK project is to design, develop, manufacture a real-time railway infrastructure monitoring system based on passive monitoring of rail vibrations to detect and identify problems with the rails (damage, obstacles) and trains (location, wheels) to increase safety and capacity while reducing railway maintenance costs.
The systems incorporates machine learning and improves over time as it is used. SAFETRACK can safely provide comprehensive railway network monitoring, replacing numerous single purpose equipment. Additional benefits include providing data on actual track usage to enable more efficient preventive maintenance of the tracks.
NGRT has been working on all the defined 5 work packages (WP) during the projects first 12 months period. The following 5 main areas are defined as WP1 to WP5: Software upgrades, Hardware upgrades, Validation studies (pilot tests), Preparation for commercialization and communication campaign and securing a solid and firm execution of the project with a clear Project Management methodology. Each of the WPs has clear deliverables and below NGRT will highlight the work done on each of them
WP1
•Development and tested software for the demonstration in the training demo control centre
•Software to test data transmission and recording of live data
•Identify bugs, enhancements to the current Software Baseline.
•Created a Final System Design Architecture of the NGRT product
•Created a Software Development Environment Baseline for the productisation of the software
•Built and tested the following algorithms: Axle counting, Correlation, Compression, Event direction, Event localisation and Train speed
WP2:
•Designed, developed and manufactured new VDU
•Redesigned and re-constructed the VDU electronics components
•Analysis new prototype piezo-ceramic sensor/accelerometer
•Built a Work Site Protection solution.
•Designed this solution with a setup where all data from any installation or system is automatically sent to our data server
WP3
•Identified two sites on the ADIF infrastructure to perform pilot testing of SAFETRACK.
•Designed and structured the process of performing pilot tests by establishing a documentation package from start to finish
•Prepare the necessary equipment needed for executing the installation
WP4
•Secured a continuous patent registration and renewals for EU, Australia, South Africa, Brazil and the US territories
•The IPR strategy has been assessed by an independent auditor from the organisation OEPM in Spain
•Participated in several international railway congresses/ conferences and seminars
WP5
WP5 is monitoring of the progress of project execution, manage the risk and communicate with EC representatives. Weekly status meetings have been held
The SAFETRACK has defined and incorporated a “Time-Line” document with clear indication on responsible resources and what the deliverables.
WP1
•Development and tested software for the demonstration in the training demo control centre
•Software to test data transmission and recording of live data
•Identify bugs, enhancements to the current Software Baseline.
•Created a Final System Design Architecture of the NGRT product
•Created a Software Development Environment Baseline for the productisation of the software
•Built and tested the following algorithms: Axle counting, Correlation, Compression, Event direction, Event localisation and Train speed
WP2:
•Designed, developed and manufactured new VDU
•Redesigned and re-constructed the VDU electronics components
•Analysis new prototype piezo-ceramic sensor/accelerometer
•Built a Work Site Protection solution.
•Designed this solution with a setup where all data from any installation or system is automatically sent to our data server
WP3
•Identified two sites on the ADIF infrastructure to perform pilot testing of SAFETRACK.
•Designed and structured the process of performing pilot tests by establishing a documentation package from start to finish
•Prepare the necessary equipment needed for executing the installation
WP4
•Secured a continuous patent registration and renewals for EU, Australia, South Africa, Brazil and the US territories
•The IPR strategy has been assessed by an independent auditor from the organisation OEPM in Spain
•Participated in several international railway congresses/ conferences and seminars
WP5
WP5 is monitoring of the progress of project execution, manage the risk and communicate with EC representatives. Weekly status meetings have been held
The SAFETRACK has defined and incorporated a “Time-Line” document with clear indication on responsible resources and what the deliverables.
KEY DIFFERENTIATORS that place SAFETRACK above the current State of the Art include:
• The only proven solution (with our pilot partners) in the world that analyses vibrations for multiple applications helping prevent accidents on railways
• The only versatile system that meets the diverse needs of infrastructure managers – they can simply select functionalities they need.
• The only monitoring system that will work in the environment controlled by ERTMS
• The only system that it is truly future-proof – new applications will need software upgrade only
• A plug and play system easy to use, deploy and maintain
Our applications require small, unobtrusive system installations placed wayside at the site of interest. Alarms and alerts are then relayed to the client designated personnel via a variety of communication channels. The core technology can be utilised for multiple applications, also increasing the unique innovation level of the project significantly.
From the company standpoint, NGRT will work towards applying a net zero emissions approach. Our technology can use renewable energy sources such as solar panels or wind turbines, and itself creates no emissions. We plan to work with certified green manufacturers and transport our hardware by train to reduce the carbon footprint over the entire value chain.
• The only proven solution (with our pilot partners) in the world that analyses vibrations for multiple applications helping prevent accidents on railways
• The only versatile system that meets the diverse needs of infrastructure managers – they can simply select functionalities they need.
• The only monitoring system that will work in the environment controlled by ERTMS
• The only system that it is truly future-proof – new applications will need software upgrade only
• A plug and play system easy to use, deploy and maintain
Our applications require small, unobtrusive system installations placed wayside at the site of interest. Alarms and alerts are then relayed to the client designated personnel via a variety of communication channels. The core technology can be utilised for multiple applications, also increasing the unique innovation level of the project significantly.
From the company standpoint, NGRT will work towards applying a net zero emissions approach. Our technology can use renewable energy sources such as solar panels or wind turbines, and itself creates no emissions. We plan to work with certified green manufacturers and transport our hardware by train to reduce the carbon footprint over the entire value chain.