A novel, non-contact, thermal imaging sensor assembly for continuous bogie monitoring from Rail Vision Ltd

Train accidents are often due to worn bogie parts (wheels, axles, brakes & bearings)
overheating, breaking, & derailing the wagon affected. To identify this heat, Hot Axle Box &
Hot Wheel (HABD/HWD) detection units are mounted at the track side. HABD/HWD use
infrared (IR) sensors to makes point based measurements of passing bogie IR radiation, which
is converted into electric voltages & displayed as absolute temperatures. There are limitations
with HABD/HWD, such as sampling of incorrect target points giving inaccurate information,
as well as detrimental effects from solar radiation. ~10% of heat derailments occur despite the
train having previously passed a HABD/HWD – likely an underestimate, as Germany, where
most EU HABD/HWD are installed, has the highest number of heat-related derailments.
The opportunity is for Rail Vision to develop a system to detect heat from bogies via a
£582,405, 24-month development of prototype project. This low-cost, undercarriage-mounted
digital thermopile array module (DTAM), coupled to an optical camera, creates a continuous
bogie monitoring system (CBMS). The CBMS tracks & records heat, merged with optical
data from the bogie to provide more accurate information than HABD/HWD, & enabling
remote, real-time monitoring (RTM) of the bogie. The CBMS will detect a gradient of
temperature across a cross-section of the component being monitored – to do this, RV will
generate bespoke algorithms, data communication protocols & software platforms to collect,
track & monitor data, & alert. CBMS RTM enables more accurate evaluation of temperature
anomalies than isolated IR HABD/HWD sampling – for customers, this will result in greater
safety of their rolling stock, and maintenance cost improvements. The CBMS supersedes
HABD/HWD by monitoring temperature across cross-sections of bogies vs. isolated areas,
allowing the user to accurately pinpoint heat anomalies via merging with optical imaging, &
tracking & building a history of bogie performance