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AUTOMATED RAILWAY TRACK CHANGING MODEL

WITH REAL-TIME CENTRALIZED MONITORING INTERFACE

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AUTHORS

Department of EEE

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

SHAMIMA HOSSAIN

Department of EEE

Daffodil International University

JUNAED-AL-HOSSAIN

Department of EEE

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

SK. HASIBUL ALAM

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OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to make an automated exchangeable railway track at junction crossing and centralized monitoring system to detect the exact position of the train for safety surveillance as well as efficient railway scheduling and changeable railway routes.

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DESIGN�

  • Hardware Development
  • Software Development
  • Structural Construction

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HARDWARE�

  • Power Supply
    • 9V battery
    • 220V mains to 5V DC
  • Sensor: Infrared
    • 26 sensors used along the track
  • Microcontroller
    • Arduino MEGA 2560
    • Arduino DUE
  • Keypad: 4x4 matrix
  • LCD Module
  • Motor Driver: L293D

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SOFTWARE

Developed using Unreal Engine 4

Language: C++

OS support: MS Windows

Space required: 29 MB

Uploaded to microcontrollers using Arduino IDE

Language: Arduino (C & C++ based)

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N.B. The IR circuitry was simulated using “Proteus Design Suite” for verification before actual hardware implementation.

COMPUTER INTERFACE

IR SENSORS

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STRUCTURE

  • Chassis
    • 5-mm thin plastic wood (under track)
  • Motor
    • 12V DC (for each junction)
  • Linear Actuator
    • Miniature gear (with hard plastic)

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WHOLE VIEW OF THE PROTOTYPE

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WORKING UNITS

INPUT INSERTING UNIT

  • Feature of selecting the starting point and destination station of the train
  • The idea is to change the route depending on demand.
  • Matrix keypad is used for this purpose which will take the source-destination information.
  • Via microcontrollers, this information will be transmitted to central monitoring unit.
  • The idea is to pulse the IR sensors and detect what shines back.
  • When no train passes over the sensor, the output of that sensor is low.
  • When a train passes over that sensor, the output becomes high.
  • The reading from all the 26 IR sensors are continually fed to the microcontrollers.

POSITION TRACKING UNIT

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WORKING UNITS (CONTINUED)

  • When output of IR sensor nearest to a junction goes high, the input pin for the motor (controlling the movement of the junction-switch) becomes high.
  • It then moves the linear actuator to the forward direction (which helps the junction-switch to change its position).
  • When last bogie of the train crosses the sensor placed ahead of the junction, the input of the motor is reversed.

TRACK CHANGING UNIT

  • It is the program we developed using Unreal Engine 4.
  • It is dependent on the continual IR readings from microcontrollers.
  • To observe real-time position of train from a central office, and
  • Manually control the track-changing mechanism

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CENTRAL MONITORING UNIT

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TRACK CHANGING UNIT (DESIRED POSITION)

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Source

Destination

Clockwise

Anti-clockwise

J1

J2

J1

J2

A

B

L1

L2

R1

R2

A

C

L1

No change

No change

R2

B

C

R1

No change

No change

L2

B

A

R1

R2

L2

L1

C

A

No change

R2

L1

No change

C

B

No change

L2

R1

No change

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CENTRAL MONITORING UNIT (ON ACTION)

  • It has 26 circles, each for one IR sensors along the track.
  • The red circle presents the current position.
  • As the train is moving, colors of all the circles are also updated according to new position of the train.

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  • Whole arrangement has been operated 10 times.
  • Among 26 IR sensors, 21 (on average) of them responded correctly at the train position.
  • They showed position on the computer interface in real-time.
  • The DC motors took 0.5 second (approx.) response time to IR sensor.

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Segment

Accuracy (%)

IR Sensor

80.7

Motor

100

Interface

100

Data

100

MODEL ASSESSMENT

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REFERENCES:

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  • M. R. S. Azim, K. Mahmud, and C. K. Das, “Automatic Train Track Switching System with Computerized Control from the Central Monitoring Unit,” Int. J. u- and e- Service, Sci. and Technol., vol. 7, no.1, pp. 201-212, 2014, doi: 10.14257/ijunesst.2014.7.1.18.
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  • M. R Hasan, “Problems and Prospects of a railway: A case study of Bangladesh Railway,” J. Service Marketing, vol. 4, Article no. 5, pp. 124-136, 2009.
  • Y. Maki, “A New Train Position Detection System Using GPS,” Railway Technology Avalanche, no. 9, Aug. 1, 2005. Available: https://www.rtri.or.jp/eng/publish/newsletter/pdf/09/RTA-09-53.pdf
  • S. Badugu and A. Movva, “Positive Train Control,” Int. J. Emerg. Technol. and Adv. Eng., vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 304-307, Apr. 2013. [Online]. Available: https://ijetae.com/files/Volume3Issue4/IJETAE_0413_52.pdf
  • C. Stull, J. Orme, J. Baker, and C. Crandall, “Method and computer program product for monitoring integrity of railroad train,” U.S. Patent 7 222 003 B2, May 22, 2007.
  • Unreal Engine. (4.19), Epic Games Inc. [Online]. Available: https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/

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THANK YOU!