ASC SENSORS MAKE RAILWAY MONITORING SIMPLE & SMART

Sensors used in the monitoring of railway stock and infrastructure management are typically developed to meet the toughest technical criteria while resisting the hardest shocks, vibrations, and a range of other forces and environmental conditions.

Enhancing railway capacity, safety and productivity
The digital ASC DiSens ECO-Rail-3325 with CAN interface has been specially developed to detect, monitor and help prevent subtle yet damaging vibrations impacting railroad construction and maintenance machines over time. It smoothly integrates with rail infrastructure operators’ hard and software standards, ensures the comprehensive tracking of all parameters determining a machine’s ‘health’ and helps reduce the cost of maintenance, repair, breakdown and service disruptions.

To install electronic equipment on a train or other rolling stock, it must comply with EN 50155 (IEC 60571) standards for environmental, shock, vibration, power supply, EMC, power surge, ESD and transient factors that could occur when in use.

Benefits for rail and infrastructure operators
Galvanic isolated sensors offer enhanced protection to railway electronics against harmful voltage transients and electrical noise, commonly arising from traction systems, motors and other onboard equipment. These sensors effectively break ground loops, eliminating unwanted current flows and ensuring accurate measurements. Additionally, they seamlessly interface between varying voltage levels within a train’s subsystems, promoting efficient communication without direct electrical connections. This ensures optimal performance and prolongs onboard electronics’ lifespan, leading to reduced maintenance and costs.

Sensor control made simple
In addition, the ASC DiSens ECO-Rail comes with integrated ‘Micro Control’ firmware. Flexible parameters including measurement ranges, frequencies or various filter settings are now under the direct control of the rail operator.

Integration in the train’s digital network via the digital CAN interface and compatibility with the 24-volt power system are additional features that make this latest digital accelerometer from the ASC range particularly suitable for rail applications. It had been developed for a project in partnership with the Digital Railway Solutions Alliance.




Solutions for a ‘digital railway future’
In May 2022, at the International Railway Forum (IAF) in Münster, Germany, 15 leading European rail infrastructure technology companies launched a new collaboration: the Digital Railway Solutions (DRS) Alliance. Through an open innovation platform, the manufacturers and service providers of diverse high-tech solutions collaborate to improve the safety, efficiency and capacity of the world’s railway networks.

From digital to smart
The smart ASC AiSys ECO-Rail sensor, too, adheres to EN 50155 standards. With that, it is as easily embedded in rolling stock as its digital relative. For this smart sensor range, ASC has further optimized its firmware to support a wide range of applications and market specifics. Sensor parameters can be set to align with individual client preferences and needs. Algorithms for FFT and the computation of velocity and displacement can be implemented directly at the sensor; which means that data evaluation and analysis happen in the sensor, which then ‘communicates’ the resulting guidance to the operator to act upon.

Learn more here.

www.asc-sensors.de