Design and Operational Assessment of a Mobile Robot for Undercarriage Inspection of Railcars

Details

• Creators:
  Ahmadian, Mehdi ; Kasch, James M
• Corporate Creators:
  Virginia Tech University. Mechanical Engineering Department ; Virginia Tech. Center for Vehicle Systems and Safety Railway Technologies Laboratory
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Department of Transportation. University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program ; United States. Department of Transportation. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Railroad tracks
  • Robot vision
  • Branch lines
  • Main lines
• Publication/ Report Number:
  RailTEAM VT-9
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  Virginia Tech. Center for Vehicle Systems and Safety Railway Technologies Laboratory
• Abstract:
  This research assesses the design and track operation of a track crawler robot (TCR) for practical and easy inspection of stationary railcars’ undercarriages in an effort to detect any pending failures or assess any security risk of out-of-sight objects. The TCR includes a drive system consisting of two AC motors that operate a track (like tank tracks). It further includes two GoPro® cameras, light system, and onboard power for approximately one hour of maximum power operation. The details of the TCR design are introduced through its operational requirements, which guided its initial design. The specific design configurations are used to derive the applicable parameters essential for track operation of the robot. The TCR’s subsystems are evaluated individually to assess their strengths and weaknesses, which are then used to guide the specific tasks in improving the overall system’s performance. The details of the required modifications are included for the imaging, lighting, control, frame structure, and mobility subsystems.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  69A3551747132
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/80863/dot_80863_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.29 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:004db0bcacc2d4ed7cc96a719a0cd3d449eb553a7f1dadf3b95b817985d81a97bd502dfe2cd53b58b416e659f5ab97fc9c0a1ac331216a3c7f41a0419377a216