Railway Track Monitoring using WSSN and Cloud Networking
Now a days the tools that are used to monitor railway tracks specially at crossings are ineffective. Routine inspections of the railway tracks are still being performed manually or by specially designed inspection vehicle which creates higher expenditure and make
2025-06-28 16:34:40 - Adil Khan
Railway Track Monitoring using WSSN and Cloud Networking
Project Area of Specialization Internet of ThingsProject SummaryNow a days the tools that are used to monitor railway tracks specially at crossings are ineffective. Routine inspections of the railway tracks are still being performed manually or by specially designed inspection vehicle which creates higher expenditure and makes infrastructure difficult to maintain. This project aims to design a real time system based on acceleration measurements (IMU sensors). With the help of wireless sensor network (WSN), data will be logged from the sensors and will be send over the cloud platform where the data processing will be performed. The data will be processed in such a manner that it can detect any abnormality including squats and frogs if found on track.This projects will be cost effective with accurate and precise measurements which results in good performance. Hence it will help the railway industries to monitor the railway track efficiently and accurately.
The flow chart below described an overview of project:-
The main objective of our project is to overcome the accidents such as derail caused by malfunctioning of Railway track.
To achieve the main objective we have sub divided into three objectives which are listed below:-
Objective #1: To measure the necessary parameters of track which are responsible for railway accidents.
Objective # 2: After measuring the track parameters we will process that data in such an enhanced way that it can be easily send over cloud platform.
Objective # 3: To visualize the condition of track graphically using Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Project Implementation MethodAs we have set three main objectives of this project the implementation method for each objective is described below:-
- We will use three accelerometer sensors (ADXL335) in cantilever structure to detect cracks in rail, inclination sensor to detect inclination of track and Ultrasonic sensors to detect missing sleepers in between two rails all these sensors will be connected to Raspberry Pi, here raspberry pi will act as base station as shown in fig below :-
- We will set a threshold level to check healthy and unhealthy vibrations, Kalman filter and fast Fourier transform will be used to process the data. Raspberry pi will be connected to internet so that processed data can be send.
- We will use kinesis module of Amazon Web Services a cloud platform to visualize the condition of track.
We will place the prototype consisting of raspberry pi and sensors discussed above on a inspection vehicle and will be tested on railway track to ensure the working of project.
Benefits of the ProjectThe primary benefits of this project are the time and labor saved when compared to doing manual inspections of track,the manual inspection which is done by human can lead to human error this project can help eradicating with this issue with a lot of time saved as well. This autonomous inspection vehicle can measure the track in depth which a human is not capable of doing. We can commercialize this project as well because presently in our country there is no such method for a proper inspection of railway track.
Technical Details of Final DeliverableThe final deliverable of this project would be a prototype consisting of different sensors attached in a cantilever system, the prototype will be placed on a inspection like vehicle along with an artificial railway like structure with some defects to show the working of project. Apart from this a PC connected wirelessly with the vehicle to show the status of the track. A video containing the testing of project on railway track.
Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemCore Industry TransportationOther Industries IT Core Technology Internet of Things (IoT)Other Technologies Artificial Intelligence(AI)Sustainable Development Goals Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Sustainable Cities and CommunitiesRequired Resources| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 39635 | |||
| Raspberry Pi 4 | Equipment | 1 | 15000 | 15000 |
| Arduino Uno | Equipment | 1 | 850 | 850 |
| 64 GB Micro SD card | Equipment | 1 | 1250 | 1250 |
| LCD Monitor | Equipment | 1 | 5000 | 5000 |
| Keyboard | Equipment | 1 | 650 | 650 |
| Mouse | Equipment | 1 | 350 | 350 |
| Pi camera | Equipment | 1 | 900 | 900 |
| VGA to HDMI Converter | Equipment | 1 | 550 | 550 |
| Accelerometer (ADXL335) | Equipment | 5 | 500 | 2500 |
| IR Sensor | Equipment | 3 | 145 | 435 |
| Ultrasonic Sensor | Equipment | 3 | 150 | 450 |
| Tilt sensor | Equipment | 2 | 200 | 400 |
| Jumper wire | Equipment | 30 | 10 | 300 |
| Power Bank for Raspberry Pi | Equipment | 1 | 1500 | 1500 |
| Transport Cost for visiting railway station | Miscellaneous | 1 | 2500 | 2500 |
| Wooden work for designing Cantilever system | Miscellaneous | 1 | 2000 | 2000 |
| Stationery | Miscellaneous | 1 | 500 | 500 |
| Steel work for designing artificial rail | Miscellaneous | 1 | 1500 | 1500 |
| Cost for designing Inspection Vehicle | Miscellaneous | 1 | 3000 | 3000 |