Abstract:
Shift2Rail and In2Smart are two initiatives that will be part of the development of
the necessary technologies to complete the Single European Railway Area
(SERA). The target of this proposal is to accelerate the integration of new and
advanced technologies into innovative rail product solutions.
Shift2Rail has a robust framework to meet ambitious objectives. The most
important is to double the capacity of the European rail system and increase its
reliability and service quality by 50% while having life-cycle costs.
In2Smart, as a project directed mainly of Network Rail, is measured in
Technology Readiness Levels (TRL). These levels will indicate the maturity of
technology for the application into the industry. The intention of this project is to
reach a homogeneous TRL 3/4 demonstrator of a system capable to secure
proper maintenance of rails, which is a Robotic Inspection and Repair System
(RIRS).
This research is focused on the scalability of the RIRS, taking into consideration
the creation of a representative demonstrator that will authenticate the concept,
the validation and verification of that demonstrator and finally the simulation of a
scale-up system that will be more robust and will upgrade the TRL. This
document contains the development of the control diagrams and schematics for
the future incorporation of this control to a higher TRL prototype.
The initial demonstrator consists of an autonomous railway vehicle equipped with
a robotic arm that will scan the rails searching for faults and simulate a repairing
process with a 3D printed polymer. The V&V of the physical demonstrator was a
result of tests in the laboratory and the display of the demonstrator in several
conferences and events.