21-01-2013, 04:39 PM
Metro Rail Tracking and Safety Mechanism
1Metro Rail.doc (Size: 297 KB / Downloads: 43)
Abstract:
In short the transport system for the country needs to be maintained and should be given the highest priority whenever progress is sought in the country. Metro trains are the talk of the town. With the successful launch of Metro Rail services in Kolkata and Delhi, it’s now the turn of Bangalore to enjoy the services of world class transport network.
As cities grow in size, the number of vehicular trips on road system goes up. This necessitates a pragmatic policy shift to discourage private modes and encourage public transport once the level of traffic along any travel corridor in one direction exceeds 20,000 persons per hour. Introduction of a rail based (MRTS) Mass Rapid Transit System is called for. Mass Rapid Transit Systems are capital intensive and have long gestation period. It has been observed that in developed countries, planning for mass transit system starts when city population size exceeds 1 million; the system is in position by the time the city population is 2 to 3 million and once the population exceeds 4 million or so, planned extensions to the Mass Rapid Transit Systems is vigorously taken up.
Whenever the technology advances so does the perils of accidents due to it. Metro Rails run underground and also on the elevated rails. We propose to design a mechanism to precisely monitor the current location of the trains and something to increase the safety features in it. This mechanism will be consisting of two parts. The former being concerned with the metro rail tracking system which will be employing the RFID to track the Metro Rail and a wireless mechanism to send the information about the current location to the base station. This information with the base station can be used for various purposes like
• Efficient planning about the number of Trains on a particular route.
• Number of broken down Trains (which cannot be used on road)
• Trains undergoing servicing.
• Trains in the yard / depot etc.
The Latter part consists of introducing the safety features so that the passengers can be safe inside the train even in case of an accident.
Metro Rail Tracking:
The entire route needs to be planted with the RFID tags at strategic locations where the trains need to be tracked. RFID has been used over the years for animal identification and recently in attendance tracking. Since this is a reliable method of identification as well as a non-contact method, the wear and tear on the ID is non-existent. Therefore, RFID is being suggested more and more for tracking vehicles in trains, fleets, taxis and in corporate.
The bus will be fitted with a RFID reader. The RFID reader consists of a 125KHZ oscillator that allows interrogation of the RFID transponder. The information in the transponder is relayed via the reader to an on board Microcontroller through a serial interface. The RFID transponder will transmit the ID codes without making physical contact with the reader. This non-contact method of ID code reading will allow non-invasive, non-intrusive identification process. Additionally, the RFID transponder has the advantage of being immune to dust, dirt, grease, paint and any other contaminant found in everyday life.
The information received from the RFID transponder (tags) is then relayed over the air using an FM modulated signal via an Encoder. This information about the location will be relayed to the Base station. This message will be consisting of details like the train number, and the current location (RFID tag value).