Monitoring and Smart Maintenance in Rail Infrastructure

1 July 2016,  Connect2 Systems – Connect2 Systems and ITM Monitoring will be demonstrating their remote monitoring solution for Rail Infrastructure at ISP 44 Health, Monitoring & Predictive Maintenance in Rail Infrastructure event at the National Rail Museum, York on 5th July.

The solution utilises wireless sensor network technology from Connect2 Systems to send real-time data about the condition of rail infrastructure and its environment to ITM Monitoring’s Calyx-OMS monitoring software as illustrated below.

C2S-ITM-solution

Calyx-OMS web-based software package allows for the interpretation of large amounts of instrumentation data and is accessible 24/7. It provides continual monitoring of site conditions and functions include graphing, imaging, layering, reports, site overviews and, where required, GIS mapping. Detailed photographic images allow you to visualise your assets remotely, minimising the need for physical onsite monitoring.

Connect2 Systems Inclinometer Wireless Sensor Nodes are designed for near vertical borehole applications and are used to measure lateral movement in the ground or in a structure for applications such as detecting slopes and landslides; monitoring dams, retaining walls and bending in piles; detecting and recording ground movement due to tunnelling operations; and measuring settlement and deformation of concrete slabs and tank bases. We have also integrated Advantech B+B SmartWorx’s WzzardTM Wireless Sensor Nodes as part of the solution. Wzzard Sensor nodes are typically used to monitor the temperature of the environment or the condition of equipment and facilities. Examples where they have been used include data centre temperature monitoring to reduce energy consumption; construction aggregate plant monitoring of ‘crusher’ drive motors and conveyor belts to enable predictive maintenance and reduce unexpected failures.

The solution features include:

  • Simple dashboard view providing status updates at a glance
  • Customisable, scrollable/scalable maps and plans including integration with Google Maps
  • Multi-level alarming with full logbook integration
  • Advanced graphing engine with customisable axis
  • Full integration of web-cameras which adds intelligence to site data
  • Access to both the raw and processed data stored in the database to allow integration with analytic/predictive software to facilitate condition based maintenance
  • Ability to remotely manage and monitor Wireless Sensor Nodes and network ‘Over-the-Air”, including changing configuration settings (e.g. frequency at which sensor data is sent) monitoring the health of the Wireless Sensor Network and upgrading the firmware
  • Secure and reliable 2-way wireless communications – Device Authentication, and 128 bit AES-based encryption with multiple keys
  • Ability to rapidly respond to changing operational situations by processing the sensor data/running applications at the network ‘edge’ e.g. to apply rules, set thresholds, respond to events

The end-to-end solution, benefits of true interoperability, extensibility and reuse from using industry standards including:

  • IEEE 802.15.4e for the air interface
  • 6LoWPAN – IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks
  • IETF CoAP for a RESTful API
  • OMA Lightweight M2M (LWM2M) – a lightweight Internet of Things/Machine-to-Machine device management standard, defined by the Open Mobile Alliance