Abstract

Advancement in wireless communication enables engineers to apply sophisticated and relatively inexpensive technologies in new fields of industry, which were previously designated solely to wire-based solutions. One of those fields is railway transportation system. In effect of a high reliability and safety demands, this area was resistive to new technologies. Nowadays, increased security and reliability of wireless sensor networks lead to consideration of their application in railway transportation. The concepts of application of such networks in two areas of railway transportation system were proposed. First concept considers introduction of novel wireless communication structure for control and supervision of switch disconnectors in railway supply system. Radio communication systems have already been used in this field, but they require: an extra space for cabinet, an external power supply and wiring between the cabinet and an actuator. The proposed system overcomes those drawbacks by introduction of low-cost communication modules provided for each of actuators. The modules and actuators are fed by a local alternative power supply (solar, wind). The main advances of the proposed solutions are: low installation and operation cost, flexibility, and high reliability. The second concept considers the diagnostics of railway vehicles current collectors. Faultless power collection is influenced i.e. by proper adjustment and technical condition of a current collector. Cases of maladjustment or even damage of the current collectors often occur between periodic inspections of the rolling stock. In order to quickly detect such malfunction test stands situated on railway lines are introduced. The assessment of current collector condition is conducted by the analysis of mechanical parameters of the catenary, registered when a vehicle passes the test point. The transducers have to be assembled on the catenary, which introduces many constraints for power and data-transmission wiring. The constraints can be overcome by the use of wireless low-power sensor modules. The modules can by battery-supplied, charged by a small photovoltaic module. Small dimensions, weight and cost allow to spread many modules along the section of catenary, increasing of the amount of diagnostic data. Presented solutions are based on modern communication technologies, using dedicated microelectronic components such as specialized microprocessors and power supplies.

Authors (3)