Date added: 2021-08-19
Is it possible to anticipate a failure? Researchers are working on a tram diagnostic system
Machines operate until their components begin to gradually deteriorate. They then lose their operating parameters, which ultimately leads to a failure. In the case of a tram, the vehicle simply stops and cannot function.
– Our intention is to connect to the system, observe its selected parameters of the tram in order to notice disturbing changes in their values and warn against an impending failure – says PhD, Eng. Jacek Czyżewicz from the Institute of Mechanics and Machine Design at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Ship Technology at Gdańsk Tech. – We would like to indicate in advance the moments when the machine should be serviced or repaired. Unforeseen failures of a tram and an immediate need for repairs are always very expensive, take a long time and happen at the wrong time. It is much cheaper to repair a component before it fails.
To create a tram diagnostics system, the team from Gdańsk University of Technology uses the XTrack telematics platform.
The project is carried out in cooperation with the company Gdańskie Autobusy i Tramwaje (Gdańsk Buses and Trams). The team from our university is working on the diagnostic system on N8C vehicles, so-called “dortmunds” - used trams imported from Germany, which are modernized in Poland.
A system of 50 sensors
– We installed our system on the tram No. 1176. It is based on the XT4, and the main CAN bus is also routed. There are six hubs on it. They are all connected with each other and with the central unit, which sends properly configured reports to the traffic dispatcher via the GSM network, showing warnings about irregularities – explains PhD, Eng. Jacek Czyżewicz.
To each concentrator researchers connected a number of sensors monitoring various components, such as temperature, suspension and hydraulic pressure in the brakes. In total, about 50 sensors were installed in the tram. For example, the displacement sensor tracks the height of the suspension in the tram, and thanks to these measurements it will be possible to predict in how many kilometers the tram should leave the track for inspection or adjustment of suspension elements.
The researchers emphasize that this is the first such extensive diagnostic system for a tram in Poland. Newer trams do not have such extensive diagnostic systems either.
Project team: PhD, Eng. Jacek Czyżewicz, PhD, DSc, Eng. Artur Olszewski, professor at Gdańsk Tech, prof. Michał Wasilczuk, PhD, Eng. Oskar Wysocki and MSc. Eng. Dominik Olszewski.
The project, under which the system was implemented in tram No. 1176, was carried out as part of the e-Pionier program, implemented by the Gdańsk Tech special purpose vehicle Excento. There are plans to establish a spin-off company with the participation of Gdańsk Tech.
