Investigation of a wireless monitoring system
Post Date: July 20, 2007
Contact: Thomas A Langer (e-mail Thomas here for more information)
Preferred Region or State of Student: None
Project Description: I work in the rail transit field and have contacted some universities as to a wireless method to monitor the health of a 750 VDC Overhead Contact System.
Work is being done on methodologies of how to measure and monitor the state of the contact wire in operation, the power system, and even a European company now runs a train with cameras to monitor the state of the OCS at a yearly ride thru. This is also being done with a San Diego company borne out of a University program or knowledge base.
There has also been talk of a nano technology approach for monitoring the main power system grid of a power utility using wireless nanotechnology. However no one has applied this wireless vision of an online wireless system for the OCS or the third rail operation. Much mechanical problems come about with the Pantograph on train, the OCS the contact shoe of a third rail or the third rail itself.
A paper by a university group on the vision and approach of being able to spot as problem before it arises will help stop delays along a transit line form coming as a wire, dropping hanger, a pantograph ,overhead insulator,etc begins to wear and break down and fail. Even motor signature analysis could be applied at various sections of the DC system to determine if a vehicle is causing arcing faults or other serious degradation of the contact wire/pantograph interface using a wireless approach to system monitoring or deployment of the sensing devices. So this would involve mechanical concepts, electrical concepts and operational/Maint concepts for a wireless approach to the state of health of a transit system.
If there is a group doing this then please let me know otherwise it could be something for some Univ types to present allot of transit agencies might deploy this as cost prohibitiveness but it could find some use in the future development of new systems, or the mining industry (MSHA) which also uses rail type transit operations to move the product.
The end product would be some simple ideas on how a hierarchical approach on a small system could be implemented, why it would help to deploy such technology and how and why of some of the sensor types that exist or could be adapted to use.
One great problem is the tensioning of the power cable (5000 lbs) that carries the thousand of amps that goes through to power the vehicle on startup. This failure causes lots of damage and delays and safety concerns. Although in existence for more that 100 years it still is a problem that transit people always would like a heads up before it occurs.
Just the thought of taking a system down to replace a component that is not broken because someone thinks it could be a problem is not an easy thing to accomplish with management that has the attitude if it aint broke don't touch it.
A system that can well predict events that is meaning full is something that would be welcome buy transit and this work could be started by individuals like yourself to start the ball rolling if it hasn't already been done in the R&D labs of a university in the world. Again this is for the low speed systems in USA 55 to 70 Miles per Hour systems I am thinking of, not the High speed in Europe or Japan where some systems are already in place?
Skills needed:
- This would involve mechanical concepts, electrical concepts and operational/maintenace concepts for a wireless approach to the state of health of a transit system
- Knowledge of DC and AC and rail vehicles and heavy mechanical systems, vibration, etc.
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