Paving the way for operational intelligence in the railway industry
Barcelona, June 2018
As part of Worldsensing’s aim to constantly grow and evolutionize its product and solution portfolio, the IoT pioneer and operational intelligence provider is part of BEA, Intelligent Supervision Systems for Predictive Maintenance of Bogies based on Acoustic Emission, an innovation initiative for the railway industry which is co-financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economics.
A real-time performance monitoring and maintenance system for railway bogies
With the support of the BEA consortium, Worldsensing just hosted a plenary meeting of the BEA group to plan and organize the next steps and actions. The innovation project focuses on studying, designing and developing a system which can monitor the performance and evaluate and predict the use of railway bogies. These small, hardly noticeable parts are essential for a train’s drive system and guidance mechanism. While standard railway carriages usually have two bogies located near the end of the vehicle, they guide the train along the track and provide cushioning against the shocks transmitted from the track.
The BEA initiative is focused on studying, designing and developing a system allowing to monitor, diagnoze and structurally forecast bogies. The aim is to roll out two products:
- a bogie pick-up, processing and communication module aka intelligent bogie monitoring sensor SIMBA, which allows obtaining information on the mechanical degradation of critical bogie elements such as axles and wheels in real time
- a bogie analysis software called SABAnA which helps operators identify needs and predict failures and supports their data-informed decision-making. The solution displays real-time performance information of monitored elements and can integrate application and maintenance schedules to help estimate the remaining life time.
Train tracks and a heat map of a bogie.
BEA member meeting at Worldsensing headquarters in May 2018.
The BEA innovation project was launched in 2017 and is scheduled to finish by the end of 2020.
About BEA
The innovation initiative “Intelligent Supervision Systems for Predictive Maintenance of Bogies based on Acoustic Emission (BEA)” with reference number RTC-2016-5410-4 is co-financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness within the framework of the 2016 RETOS Collaboration.
Spanish version
En mayo de 2018, Worldsensing ha organizado con el apoyo del consorcio, una reunión plenaria del proyecto BEA para seguir trabajando sobre esta iniciativa y organizar las futuras actividades que se deben llevar a cabo en esta anualidad.
El proyecto BEA plantea el estudio, diseño y desarrollo de un sistema de monitorización, diagnóstico y pronóstico estructural para bogies, compuesto por dos productos: (i) un módulo de captación, procesado y comunicación embarcado en bogie, denominado sensor inteligente de monitorización de bogie automático, SIMBA, que permita generar información sobre el estado de degradación mecánica de elementos críticos del bogie, como son los ejes y las ruedas, y (ii) un paquete software de diagnóstico, pronóstico y soporte a la decisión, integrado en el sistema de gestión propio del operador ferroviario, denominado software de análisis de bogie para la anticipación a averías, SABAnA, que permita presentar información aumentada sobre la condición y evolución de los elementos monitorizados, así como la correlación con las planificaciones de solicitud y calendarios de mantenimiento para la estimación del tiempo de vida remanente.
La actuación “Sistemas de Supervisión Inteligente para el Mantenimiento Predictivo de Bogies basado en Emisión Acústica (BEA)” con número de referencia RTC-2016-5410-4 está cofinanciado por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad en el marco de la convocatoria RETOS Colaboración 2016.
About Worldsensing
Worldsensing is a widely recognized global IoT pioneer. Founded in 2008, the Barcelona-based technology provider delivers Operational Intelligence to traditional industries and cities. With over 80 employees in Barcelona, London and Los Angeles, Worldsensing is globally active and has customers in over 50 countries across 5 continents.
Press contact:
Jennifer Harth
[email protected]