Electronic scanning MIMO Radar for railway level crossing obstruction detection alerting

Project Information

LCODA

Grant agreement ID: 673348

DOI

10.3030/673348

Project closed

EC signature date 1 May 2015

Start date 1 June 2015

End date 30 November 2015

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

GUIDANCE NAVIGATION HOLDINGS LTD
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LCODA (Electronic scanning MIMO Radar for railway level crossing obstruction detection alerting)

Reporting period: 2015-06-01 to 2015-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Summary
The study has identified and investigated a major market opportunity for object and personnel detection at Level Crossings. In UK, the rail regulator (ORR) has defined that such a sensor be able to detect children above 8 years of age. This requirement is not achieved by current radar devices and the need has been met by the supply of a dual-laser sensor on an ALARP basis. The combination of radar to detect objects and laser for personnel is expensive both in build and install and requires multiple sensors that utilise mechanical rotation.
• Network Rail is investing in personnel detection at LC’s and recent actions suggest the scope may widen and the pace increase.
• The UK LC safety standards exceed those of most other European states. From Europe wide consultation, we believe that these standards will spread across the European Union and probably extend to other rail networks.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Technical Development
Trials have been carried out with prototype hardware. The results from these trials suggest that radar systems can be developed to meet the UK standard both for performance and reliability. The sensor is able to detect people lying in a level crossing area. Further development of both hardware and data processing algorithms will be necessary to achieve the performance required that was identified in this project.
The safety standards that need to be met for this equipment are EN5012X, SIL3 or above. All software that has been trialled has been developed in a manner that fulfils these standards.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Technical Challenge
The major challenge to all such systems will remain that of reducing false positives to the level where delays caused to traffic throughput are minimal compared to ALL other delay sources. Such a requirement will force extensive testing to be carried out before live use is permitted. Once this is achieved a single, all-weather sensor which contains no mechanically rotating parts will provide protection at level crossings far superior to that which is available from existing systems.

Business Plan

A detailed business plan has been presented that demonstrates the commercial feasibility of this development.

Electronic Scanning Radar for Level Crossing