Electronic scanning MIMO Radar for railway level crossing obstruction detection alerting

Informazioni relative al progetto

LCODA

ID dell’accordo di sovvenzione: 673348

DOI

10.3030/673348

Progetto chiuso

Data della firma CE 1 Maggio 2015

Data di avvio 1 Giugno 2015

Data di completamento 30 Novembre 2015

Finanziato da

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport

Costo totale

€ 71 429,00

Contributo UE

€ 50 000,00

Coordinato da

GUIDANCE NAVIGATION HOLDINGS LTD
United Kingdom

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

Periodo di rendicontazione: 2015-06-01 al 2015-11-30

Sintesi del contesto e degli obiettivi generali del progetto

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.

Lavoro eseguito dall’inizio del progetto fino alla fine del periodo coperto dalla relazione e principali risultati finora ottenuti

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.

Progressi oltre lo stato dell’arte e potenziale impatto previsto (incluso l’impatto socioeconomico e le implicazioni sociali più ampie del progetto fino ad ora)

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