A set of elements made of special materials and electronics can make a regular railway track "smart" in a few tens of minutes. The joint project of the Czech companies ALIS Tech, Czech Railway Inspection Association and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of BUT was originally intended to help with the maintenance of hazardous places on the railway tracks or to serve as an early warning system. In addition to track condition diagnostics, the team's experts are now also focusing on developing a solution that would help detect damages to passing trains and reduce repair costs or prevent an accident.

In the spring of 2021, experts presented smart sensors for railways that can help maintain hazardous areas on the track or serve as an early warning system, for example in the event of a landslide on the track. "Two years of testing have confirmed that the technology works reliably. We have put the system into test operation on a private track of a large industrial company in the Czech Republic and on a regional track in Taiwan," said Zdeněk Hadaš from the Institute of Body Mechanics, Mechatronics and Biomechanics of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of BUT.

Thanks to the long-term testing, researchers have already obtained an extensive data set of recorded train passages. Artificial intelligence looks for track parameters, with which algorithms now monitor the track condition and compare data to ensure timely intervention, for example, in the event of a change in the condition of the subsoil, impending defects or excessive wear of the equipment. "This is the so-called predictive maintenance, for which the system was originally designed. Using special sensors, we can turn an ordinary rail into a smart one," says Pavel Stachiv of the Czech Railway Inspection Association.

"Through additional electronics, we upload data to the cloud storage via the Internet of Things and the data are then processed. We have tested that the system works without problems, both in winter and summer. Sharing data from Taiwan is also functional, we get the data from the local track in the cloud in a fraction of a second," adds Michal Růžička from ALIS Tech.

During the development, the Czech team came across another way to use the system, namely for monitoring passing rolling stock. The sensors are very sensitive, so they can detect even if parameters of one of the passing trains deviate from the normal technical standard. The goal now is to create a solution that automates the diagnostics. The use of such diagnostics is important not only for trains, but also in cities using tramways, because damaged rolling stock destroys the tracks and vice versa, damaged tracks cause damage to rolling stock.

The sensors can find many other uses, and the research team believes that there will be great interest in this globally unique system. Further development and testing of the algorithm will take another two to three years. The team is currently looking for new partners who would be interested in participating in the development of the sensor system. Because the speed deployment of high-tech solutions in practice in Taiwan is at a much higher level than in Europe, the project was also presented within the part of the official Czech mission to Taiwan, led by the President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. Currently, the team is applying for a research grant from the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic to help them with further development.

The project called Affordable Smart Sensing System for Railways 4.0, project number TM01000016 was co-financed with state support by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic under the DELTA 2 Programme for the Support of Applied Research, Experimental Development and Innovation.