Railway Sensor Measuring a train's distance from afar.

Transcription

1 Railway Sensor Measuring a train's distance from afar. by Chris Nogueira V Ian Scott V Rajbir Sidhu V Shane Jagdis V , Sukhpal Parmar V Group: 16 Supervisor: Dr. Kin Fun Li Due: Oct. 16, 2012 Dept. Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Victoria All rights reserved. This report may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author.

2 Table of Contents Background and Motivation Page 1 Proposed Project Page 1 Alternative Approaches Page 2 Task List Page 3 Deliverables Page 3 Team Biographies Page 4 Logbook Appendix

3 Background and Motivation Rail transport is one of the most common modes of carrying cargo and passengers from one place to another. The prevalence of road transportation created the need of train crossings and the danger associated with them. In many developed countries, trains are tracked in real-time using a variety of sensors and communication technologies. The data provided by the sensors allows transport authorities to stop vehicles from crossing the track when a train is near, or direct train traffic on rail turnouts or switches. Even with these high-tech solutions, transport authorities still lose contact with the rail cars due to lack of cellular service. Some trains use a third rail to provide communications, among other uses. These third rails are more reliable than wireless communications, but still have challenges. Organic build up due to foliage and dead leaves can cause the train to lose connection and disappear on the rail. Developing nations do not have the infrastructure in place to monitor the trains and rely on schedules to track their position. This means the crossings are unmarked and pose a high risk to vehicles crossing the tracks. Similarly, the rail turnouts and switches are controlled by manned stations that rely on line of sight and scheduled train times. Currently it is too expensive for these nations to update and computerize the systems. A low cost solution to monitor the track and detect trains from a single location would not require communication between the train and a central control station. Developing countries could install the crossing markers that would alert approaching vehicles of oncoming trains and prevent accidents. Countries that already track the trains in realtime still lose communication with the trains due to a variety of reasons, so they could implement the system as a backup. Proposed Project This project is an intelligent railway crossing device that detects the vibration in the railways, and activates a warning or gate closure when necessary. This will be done by using a piezoelectric sensor to take in the vibrational signals and convert them into an electric signal. We will be using a microprocessor to process these signals and output appropriately to external devices and further our goals of safe railways crossing. A piezoelectric sensor is a transducer which uses the piezoelectric effect to turn pressure and strain into an electronic signal. Piezoelectric sensors are very versatile and can be used for taking measurements after a certain time interval or in situations which require a fast response. They can also operate at very high temperatures ranging up to 500ºC. An obstacle we expect to run into during this project is the variety of tracks and technologies used in the rail systems. Different tracks are constructed using different 1 P age

4 methods. An example of this is the CWR method is being used on many new tracks internationally, but older tracks use older technologies and may differ in the way they vibrate. Another potential issue is the joints in the rail tracks. Tracks are generally 12m or 24m pieces and are joined together using different methods. Each of the joint methods could attenuate the waves differently, and cause the frequency and amplitude values to change. With the sensor in place and retrieving data, a microprocessor could be used to read and interpret the values. When a certain threshold is reached, the processor can output a signal to an appropriate alarm system, warning oncoming cars and people to back away from the rail crossing. If more than one sensor is used, we could potentially warn oncoming trains to prevent head on collisions as well. Alternative Approaches Vibration Sensors: A single piezoelectric sensor offers one axis of vibration measurement and could be a limiting factor on the accuracy of the system. An alternative to this is to implement a 3- axis accelerometer which is essentially one piezoelectric sensor for each axis of vibration. This would allow us to measure every angle of movement on a track, providing a more detailed analysis of the vibration strength and frequency compared to a single sensor. Another approach that does not require mounting a sensor to the track is using ultrasonic sensors. These sensors emit high frequency sound waves at a target and use the echo received from the target to measure distance, frequency of vibration, etc. The ultrasonic range of sound waves used is typically greater than 18kHz which is above the hearing range for humans. Other Sensors: In instances where an approaching train is in line of sight of a rail crossing, sensors can be used to detect the train at a distance. Lasers rangefinders are commonly used to find the distance and other parameters of far away targets. Distance is measured by sending a narrow beam of light towards a target and measuring the amount of time it takes for the reflection to reach the sender. Doppler Effect techniques can also be used to determine the direction of travel of a target, as well as its speed. This system would likely require more power than a simple vibration sensor, but using the two together could provide an extra level of detection in case one was to fail. 2 P age

5 Task List The following is a list of jobs that have to be completed by the project group in order for the intelligent railway crossing device to be successful. Find a mechanical engineering instructor, and research about vibrations and waves through metal materials. Decide on the most efficient and cost effective method of reading the vibration data (frequency, amplitude, and distance). Talk to VIA Rail to acquire data on rail track vibration. Find a microprocessor to perform the required signal processing. Record rail track vibration data (frequency, amplitude, distance) through data acquisition. Develop a software breakdown for what the microprocessor has to accomplish. Researching vibration changes due to the change of weather. Estimate the cost of the intelligent railway crossing device. Design a block diagram of the intelligent railway crossing system. Deliverables At the end of ELEC 399, a final report will be written that will include the following: Results found on vibrations and waves through metal materials. Recorded rail track vibration data (amplitudes, frequencies, distances, temperatures etc.). Plotted vibration data (amplitude vs frequency, amplitude vs temperature, etc.) and resulting trends. Software algorithm for the microprocessor to perform signal processing. A system block diagram of the intelligent railway crossing circuit. Projected project costs calculations. 3 P age

6 Team Biographies Chris Nogueira: Chris is a electrical engineering student currently in 3B at UVic after completing the Computer and Electrical Engineering Technologist Program at Camosun College, where he worked with Shane and Sukhpal to design a 52 touch screen. His first two Co-op terms were spent at Department of National Defence in the Combat Weapons Systems Department. During his time there, he calibrated, fixed, and upgraded the Canadian military s Pacific fleet. He recently opted to do an entrepreneurial Co-op with Shane and Ian, to develop a RGB LED Disco Coffee Table. The table was capable of listening to ambient noise or music via microphone, and display shapes on the top of the table using the LED modules that were located under the black glass of the table. He was in charge of the audio aspects of the project, which included the graphic equalizer display, and beat detection. Ian Scott: Ian is currently in 3rd year Electrical Engineering at Uvic after having completed the Computer and Electrical Engineering Technologist Program at Camosun College. For his first Co-op term he worked as a Service Technician for FTS Environmental. There he maintained, upgraded and calibrated sensors used in the monitoring of weather in rural areas. He was also tasked with the training and supervising of new technicians. For his final project at Camosun College he worked with a team to develop a Home- Automation system. The system consisted of a microcontroller utilizing wired and wireless protocols to control various home appliances. His main duties for the project included designing circuitry and producing code that allowed the microcontroller to interface with X10 and Bluetooth devices. Rajbir Sidhu: Rajbir Sidhu is currently a 3rd year Uvic student. He, like the other members of the group, has graduated from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology program from Camosun College. In his project term at Camosun College he worked on creating a six legged robot. The 4 P age

7 robot had six separate PIC microcontrollers for each leg and one centralized Brain microcontroller. The robot was controlled using a wireless controller. His role in the team was to create and program the wireless controller and to also design and build the robot. In the past term he had a Co-op as a Field Engineer with Kiewit Energy Canada on the Kearl Lake project. During his time at Kiewit he was responsible for managing and inspecting the work of the crew under his supervisor. He was also responsible for getting changes approved from the owner and then redlining the changes on to the engineered drawing. Shane Jagdis: Shane is in his 3B academic term at UVic, also graduating from the Camosun Bridge program. Currently studying Computer Engineering, he also has a diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology. He participated in one Co-op term while at Camosun, working at the Department of National Defense in the Marine Systems Engineering department. There, he worked alongside Instrumentation and Control Engineers learning about the systems they work on and data collection. During the work term he created database with a GUI to map out the electrical signals of the steering systems for the ships and generate point-topoint schematics based on chosen signals. In his project term at Camosun he worked with Sukhpal and Chris to create a 52 touch screen using a rear-projection/rear diffused illumination method. The finished product included computer hardware inside running a customized linux operating system with a fully touch optimized interface created in python. Last term at UVic, rather than a standard Co-op placement, he opted to do an entrepreneurial work term with Ian and Chris. The group designed and built a high-tech coffee table containing 400 RGB LEDs and a variety of other technologies. Shane headed the hardware development including table design, schematic and PCB layouts, and parts specification. Sukhpal Parmar: Sukhpal is a computer engineering student currently in his 3B academic term. This is his second term at UVic, as he transferred from Camosun College, where he received a 5 P age

8 Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology and completed the Computer Engineering Bridge Program. Camosun provided Sukhpal with many practical and hands on skills through laboratory work and his final project term, where he collaborated with Shane and Chris to create a 52 touch screen surface computer. His first two Co-op terms were as a Camosun student. He worked at Reliable Controls Corporation as an Hardware Engineering Technologist for a total of nine months. During this time he worked on assembling and testing prototypes for a wireless HVAC controller from the beginning of the project to the beta testing stage. More recently, Sukhpal had a Co-op work term at FTS Environmental as a Software Test Engineer. During this time he created a testing platform for a datalogger using C# and.net Framework. 6 P age

9 Appendix Logbook Date Name Task 10/3/2012 Shane Jagdis Whole group met and discussed feasibility of project idea, contacted VIA Rail 10/11/2012 Sukhpal Parmar ed Professor to arrange supervisor 10/12/2012 Shane Jagdis Met with Dr. Li to ask if he would be our supervisor 10/14/2012 Sukhpal Parmar Worked on Interim Report, researched railways and vibrations. 10/14/2012 Ian Scott Worked on interim report 10/14/2012 Shane Jagdis Worked on Interim Report 10/14/2012 Rajbir Sidhu Worked on Interim Report 10/14/2012 Chris Nogueria Worked on Interim Report