30-05-2012, 04:54 PM
CDMA based anti collision system for trains using GPS Data.
RAILWAY ANTI COLLISION REPORT_TARIQ.docx (Size: 442.53 KB / Downloads: 320)
1) Bot train are approaching the same direction with the train behind is having more speed than the train in front.
2) Bot train are approaching towards each other which is the most severe case which increases the chance of accident to a great deal
3) A train is standby and the other is moving towards it.
4) The chances of accident is increased by 90% when the tracks of two trains are same for a period of time.
5) Both the trains may be in different tracks and may have the possibility of coming to same track due to signaling error.
6) The stopping time of the trains varies based to it’s mass and current velocity.
The problem to above scenarios is either to employ an alarm and auto breaking or/and employ a auto track guiding system. An auto guiding system must consider most complex scenerios, specially when the train is nearby to a station. Hence instead of auto guiding to be used as anti collision system, we adopt detection and alarm system.
We also demonstrate the mechanism of controlling the train relay corresponding to a collision sensing to alter the moving track of a train to avoid collision.
Introduction
One of the most widely used and comfortable modes of transportation system is the train, but occasionally, accidents occur due to collisions as well as other reasons. It is very difficult to stop such collisions because of speed of moving trains, which need a lead distance to stop. Collisions happen due to human errors and/or faulty equipment. We jointly with KRCL took up an Intensive analysis of major accidents that have occurred in India. The functional requirements of the clients and operational safety procedures have been fully considered for designing the logics.
Based on the concept and domain knowledge provided by Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd, we developed the networked Anti-Collision system. which is a customized version of RAKSHA KAVACH™ product, using Global Positioning System, Radio Communication, and Application Logics and inter-facing these with an auto breaking system in the train, conforming to the functional requirement specifications laid down by Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd.
Rapid growth in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a worldwide phenomenon experienced today. Emergence of wireless and mobile technologies plays a key role in the global ICT boost, unfolding a new era of communication technology. Global private sector was the first to explore the endless opportunities and potential of wireless technologies, by redesigning the business processes with the integration of latest wireless and mobile technologies to have the competitive advantage in the business world. Today, the ability to achieve organization’s goals depends purely on the availability, accuracy and reliability of the information.
Governments worldwide have also recognized the high potential in the ICT sector and are using it as a core instrument to facilitate government processes and functions with the goal of uplifting the current standards of living of the society. Governments today are inspired by the concepts like eGovernment and mGoverment where governments are driven by the innovative and intelligent use of ICT as a service provider for government activities and distribution of public information. ICT combined with latest mobile and wireless technologies can be used effectively to streamline government activities and public service delivery process to improve productivity and drastically reduce capital expenditure, time and effort. Many governments have identified potential areas to be developed via the effective implementation of ICT based solutions that will
meet the demands of the future world. The transportation infrastructure is one such area, which can be improved to provide an efficient, dependable and safe service to the general public with the integration of advanced communication technology. Appropriate adoption of technology would assist seamless administration of resources that would positively impact the country’s economy.
The railway services in India are rendered by the India railways Department, which is wholly owned by the public sector of the country. The government is seeking methods to improve the efficiency of this service with the main objective of providing a better service to the train commuters. However, the effort of the government is constrained by the lack of funding and
inappropriateness of the current solutions. But the development of ICT has revealed many options to uplift the railway service at a lower cost. Accurate train positioning has been a fundamental requirement to improve the efficiency of the service. The current switch based train-tracking system used by India Railways (SLR) supports the train controllers to manage the train operation by providing the train’s location. The location data provided by this system lacks in
dependability. Furthermore, the maintenance of the system accounts to a large portion of total cost incurred on the railway service. Majority of these systems (especially outside the Colombo Suburban Area) offers low accuracy in terms of indicating the location of a train to the Train Controllers. Installing the systems, which can accurately provide such readings are really expensive and the total cost of ownership is unbearable for SLR. The train safety has been an issue with the increasing number of incidents being reported that has caused death and injury. Majority of deaths on the railway involve third parties with the incursion onto the level crossings. Average train accident would cost billions of Indian rupees and these can be avoided if there is a mechanism to track the train location and speed and warn the locomotive drivers about possible safety issues. Additionally, the train commuters also face difficulties due to frequent
train delays, as the administration is unable to provide accurate schedules based on train’s location and speed.
The solution is a comprehensive GPS based train tracking system, which provides accurate, dependable and timely information to the controller. The inbuilt GPS module identifies the train location with a highest accuracy and transfers the information to the central system via WIRELESS. The availability of this information allows the Train Controller to take accurate decisions as for the train location. Location data can be further processed to provide visual positioning using maps granting a wholesome view on train location. Positioning data along with train speed helps the administration to identify the possible safety issues and react to them effectively using the communication methods provided by the system. Additionally, the location information can be used to facilitate accurate scheduling with regard to train arrival and departure on each station. This information can also be made available for the commuters to identify any train delay in advance making this service more reliable.
Railway Today
In 2008, railway losses amounted to INR 4,553 billion and state bus transport losses amounted to INR 3,554 billion, giving a total of INR 8,107 billion losses on state transport. This is not just a one- time phenomenon, but has been the trend for the last few decades. The total losses from the railway alone since 1999 have been INR 28,052 billion. That means, on average, the railway lost INR 234 billion every month over the past ten years; or, to make it even more graphic, INR 7.79 billion every single day for the last ten years [1]. This depicts the current state of the railways system in India as for the efficiency and general acceptance of the service. Reliability matters to the railway’s customers and to the economy at large. Train delay, a common phenomenon in India is considered to be inevitable and an acceptable scenario. A train delay might wary from 15mins to many hours. There are occasions where this has caused disputes among the commuters
and the administration but the problem still remains unresolved. Railways department maintains a fixed schedule on train arrival and departure but does not pre-update based on potential delays. As a result the commuters face many problems and waste time and energy that can be used more productively. The provision of safe and reliable services is a fundamental requirement of
the railway as thousands rely on this service as their prime mode of transportation. The railway accidents accounts to death, injury and a large cost to the government. Most of the accidents are in form of derailments, which occur infrequently but have the potential to result in a large number of casualties. The most significant contributors of these accidents involve track and signaling faults. Lack of communication between the controllers and the drivers might prevent the preliminary precautionary actions being taken to avoid such accidents. Additionally, the danger relies on the fact that there would be no mechanism to identify the potential safety issues as for the unawareness of trains speed and location.
The railways department has set itself several objectives to address this situation through a quantitative improvement of its services. It is planned to increase railway share of passenger transport from percent 5% to 10% and Modal share of freight transport from 2% to 10% by 2010[2]. Additionally, the department has identified the importance of improving the safety and efficiency of the service and has set the following objectives in its strategic plan;
• Improve cleanliness & quality of coachers / stations
• Reduce train delays by 25 % and accidents/ derailment by 50%
• Remove all speed restrictions less than 8 Km Ph
• Establish management structure based on performance evaluation and monitoring process
• Enhance the percentage of efficiency
• Put in place a methodology for utilization of public funds corresponding to specific services to make the present negative contribution in to a positive one
There’re several constraints that needs to be addressed in order to achieve these objectives as this might even require complete reengineering of certain technological aspects of the current system. The main constraint of course is the lack of funding. Railways are suffering from historic under-investment stretching back for decades that could be assumed to be so for the foreseeable future as well. However, it’s possible to develop effective solution that is economically feasible to the government. This would only be possible with the appropriate introduction of new technological solutions that achieve both performance and cost goals.
Provisions for the future
Setting objectives won’t be adequate for the development of the railway service in India. There should be effective and appropriate steps taken with a vision on addressing future demands and expansion. These steps should involve further planning, extensive designing, implementation of solutions and maintaining such systems in order to sustain the service. There are several potential steps that can be taken in order to address most of the aforementioned issues associated with the railway service that in turn would assist the Railways department in achieving its strategic goals.
Improving Safety
The Railway department of India carries about 150 billion passengers per annum and the safety of such service can never be taken for granted. Passengers are entitled to expect to travel in safety throughout their journey and the government should be committed to protect the passengers and employers form any safety issue that might rise during the journey. Effective safety planning requires a detailed understanding of key risk areas; the activities or circumstances where the safety risk to passengers, the workforce and the public is greatest. This allows resources and effort to be concentrated where they will have the greatest impact. Following are the main security issues identified in India;
• Infrastructure engineering issues – derailment, signaling, points and crossings
• Public behavior – Assault, objects on line, objects thrown at trains, accidents at level crossings
• Passenger behavior – Struck against fixed objects, falling from train in running
• Workforce issues – maintenance error, control errors
The main safety issues are in the form of accidents that mostly involve third parties other than the passengers and the employers. However, infrastructure and workforce issues accounts to a considerable amount safety threats identified in India. Most of the infrastructure issues are associated with signaling and accident. This can be addressed by developing a communication
channel between the train and the control center. The control center should be able to identify the train’s location and speed to recognize possible safety threats; such as collision domains, speeding and noncompliance to signals. The control center should also be able to notify the locomotive drivers of the security threat. This will allow the drivers to avoid or at least minimize the harmful consequences. New system-management technology combined with accurate
knowledge of train position will give the opportunity to present drivers with advisory speeds as well as safety-critical speeds, aimed at maintaining the flow of traffic by regulating trains in advance of points of conflict so as to avoid or minimize the need to stop trains to await paths. Human intervention at control centers can lead to accidents due to human error or negligence. For an instance if the cross point calculation is done manually it can lead to accidents if an
erroneous value is communicated. These problems can only be solved via an automated system, which will handle these tasks and would consequently avoid human error.
Improving Reliability & Availability
The trust on the railway as a reliable service has degraded over the last few decades due to poor provision of services to the general public. This is mainly due to the frequent delays experienced specially in long distance services. A reliable railway is the single most important requirement of passengers. Delays are an unproductive use of people’s time, and serious delays might disrupt their travel plans. The initial cause of a delay can be:
• An infrastructure problem for which railway department is responsible (for example, a signaling problem or a speed restriction imposed in response to a track defect);
• An operational problem for which a train operator is responsible (for example, the breakdown of a train); and
• An incident that is largely beyond the railway’s control (for example, an accident involving a third party)
The signaling problems and accidents involving third parties can be minimized using a communication channel between the drivers and the control centers. The control center should be informed of the train’s current position and speed that should be based on an accurate, dependable source of data. Delays can be minimized with driver advisory speeds, improved platform departure times, backed by predictive routing algorithms and supporting regulation of train movements through junctions, can ensure presentation of trains just in time to utilize a free path, rather than stopping and starting from rest when a path becomes available. None of these solutions will be possible unless the current tracking system is replaced by a dependable and a more informative system that is capable of providing accurate train position and speeds
of the entire network.
The cost of train control should fall rapidly once real-time train location systems that are suitable to the local context is identified and are implemented. It is likely that operations on most regional lines will be controlled from an operations centre, through low-cost wireless technology such as WIRELESS, the future development of which will allow increased capacity for train control systems,
regulation, and improved passenger safety services.
Improving Communication and Public Awareness
Lack of information regarding train schedules, delays, and low accuracy of the schedules are to become worse within the context of expansions and would only result in more time spent on the platform, consequently resulting in public dissatisfaction and frustration. There are several constraints identified that would prevent the railways from providing accurate schedules and other information. • The static nature of the information sources (ex: static web pages and
notifications at stations)
• Deficiencies of the current tracking system General public is made aware of the train schedules using notifications at train stations and via the official web site of the railways department. However, none of these methods will provide accurate data as for the static nature of the
web site and the notifications at the station. Additionally, the deficiencies of the current tracking system impose constraints on providing accurate, dependable and timely information to the user. The switched based tracking system used by the railways department is yet to cover the entire network but would cost a considerable amount for expansion and maintenance thus, emphasizes the need of an alternative that would be more accurate and cost effective. This limits effective decision-making due to inaccuracy and would also lead to accidents.
Additional train capacity and better service performance will be the key for success, but the coherent use of technology to deliver information on train status in real time will not only improve utilization, but also offer seamless planning as well as accurate information on availability of passenger services. Further enhancements of such system would even grant passengers capabilities such as text messages informing accurate arrival and departure times and even the seating capacity of the train.
GPS/WIRELESS Based Train Tracking System
We strongly believe that the correct combination of latest information and communication technologies can provide an effective and feasible solution for the requirement of a reliable and accurate train tracking system to improve the efficiency and productivity of India Railways.
The solution we propose encompasses a powerful combination of mobile computing, Global System for Mobile Communication (WIRELESS), Global Positioning System (GPS), Geographical Information System (GIS) technologies and software to provide an intelligent train tracking and management system to improve the existing railway transport service.