A smart signalling system
for
Indian railways
Smart signalling system – user’s view
•
•
•
•
Full capacity realisation
Flexibility of movements
Easy to operate
Intelligence to identify bottle necks - plan
movements – suggest best option
• Maximum availability – reliable & minimum
maintenance blocks - degraded operation in case of
unavoidable failures
• Unique meaning to each aspect – easy to
understand - adequate uniform braking distances
Challenges of Signal Engineers on IR
• Over used infrastructure – less time for
maintenance
• Skill up-gradation of maintenance staff
• Multiplicity of similar equipment in one section
• Customisation of foreign technology
• Age old maintenance practices and schedules
• Inadequate diagnostics of signalling equipment
A Smart signalling system
Maintenance practice
• Periodical preventive – disconnection of equipment
• Breakdown – processor based equipment
• Predictive – desirable
A Smart signalling system
• Signalling Equipment to generate diagnostic
data
• Monitoring system with Root cause
identification
• Diagnostic alarms to maintenance staff on real
time – to reduce MTTR
A Smart signalling system
• Reports to increase MTBF - long term
performance
To identify contribution of
local conditions --- installation & maintenance practices
operating staff --- equipment failure
to take managerial decisions to provide inputs
• Semi centralisation of field equipment – for
better trouble shooting & monitoring
Skills to build smart signaling system
• Accurate & non-invasive measurement of
parameters Voltage & Current
Time
Distance [gap]
Potential free contact
Data of processor based – IPS, DAC, LEU, EI
• Transportation of data from place of measurement
without delay to central location
Skills to build smart signaling system
• Ability to process large data on real time basis
• Ability to convert real time data - useful information
to generate actionable alarms - adopting
predictive maintenance
• Time synchronization of geographically distributed
monitoring systems
• Analytics of big data to identify trends in system
behaviour for long term planning
A smart signalling model for IR
• Least additional hardware to implement
• Best use of communication medium
• Less maintenance - Reliable
• Data integrity
• Accessible to all
• Data availability on real - time basis
Model 1
Model 2
Model 3
Model for monitoring an equipment
Examples of
smart signalling components
DC Track Circuit
Predictive maintenance - DC TC
• Excitation below the set limit – availability
• Excitation above the set limit – safety
• Feed end voltage less than set limit – battery
• Excitation is OK but track repeater relay not
operated in relay room
• Track feed charger input voltage beyond set limits
• External supply in Location beyond set limits
Current signature – DC TC
Use case of DC track circuit monitoring
Point machine Current signature
Use case of point machine monitoring
Alarms - from current signature
• Point failed due to obstruction – which end of crossover
• Point machine not operated even after control relay operation
• Point machine correctly operated but detection failed
• Point machine overload protection time delay less
• Point machine friction clutch requires adjustment
• Point machine operating voltage beyond set limits
• Point detecting voltage beyond set limits
ELD – Earth Leakage Detection
Relay Status
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
S6 RECR UP
S20 RECR UP
S18 RECR UP
S15 RECR UP
S3RECR UP
S1 HECR UP
at
at
at
at
at
at
S1D DECR UP
S6 DECR DN
S20 DECR DN
S20 HECR DN
S18 HECR DN
S18 DECR DN
S15 DECR DN
S3 HECR DN
S1 RECR DN
S1D HECR DN
at
at
at
at
at
at
at
at
at
at
07:06:04:593
08:25:42:890
08:29:16:718
08:29:36:109
08:58:48:140
09:02:37:265
Fault
Message
Earth
Leakage
appeared
in 110V
09:02:37:345
AC
07:06:04:078
Supply
08:10:40:546
08:25:42:500
08:27:46:218
08:29:16:218
08:29:35:687
08:58:47:718
09:02:37:390
09:02:37:921
Occurred
TIME
04/23/2013
09:03:10
BMU – Battery Monitoring Unit
Cell voltage – high resistance
Integrated Power Supply
Dissemination of diagnostic data
• Front end technician - on real time basis –
actionable - reduce the MTTR
• Supervisor - diagnostic data – to get root cause to guide technician at site
• Manager - more statistical information - trend of
failures - to decide inputs required to be given
Dissemination of diagnostic data
Maintainer – Supervisor – OEM
Measurements made easy
Data security - Cloud – big data
• Smart signalling system is data intensive - option of
adopting new technologies - ‘cloud’ – ‘Big data’
• Implementation of Information Security standards
– [ISO 27001]
Information security
Smart testing
Smart testing
Smart testing – output
Test name
Operation
with time
stamp
Actual result with
Expected result time stamp of the Success
event
52 Point
normal
Route 1A-A
detection
52 NWKR Down
52 Point
drop initiated: 1A UCR Down
negative
at
1A HR Down
test
01/04/2011
09:28:51:0
52 NWKR Down
01/04/2011
09:28:51:312
1A UCR Up
01/04/2011
09:28:50:766
1A HR Down
01/04/2011
09:28:51:344
No
Thanks