Brotherhood Of Railroad Signalmen

THE PROJECT WILL ENHANCE RAILWAY SAFETY BY PROACTIVELY PREVENTING TRAIN DERAILMENTS CAUSED BY WHEEL AND BEARING FAILURE THROUGH THE DEPLOYMENT OF NEW ONBOARD SENSORS, PTC CONNECTIVITY AND WORKFORCE TRAINING AND DEPLOYMENT. THE RECIPIENT (IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A TECHNOLOGY PROVIDER, A UNIVERSITY RAILWAY CENTER AND A RAILWAY TESTING FACILITY) WILL RESEARCH, PLAN, AND IMPLEMENT A WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY TO DEPLOY THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY AS A SUPPLEMENT TO THE CURRENT WAYSIDE HOT BOX DETECTORS (HBDS). THE TECHNOLOGY WILL PROVIDE THE ABILITY FOR CARRIERS TO IDENTIFY AND DETECT A POTENTIAL FAILURE WELL IN ADVANCE OF A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE WHILE RAILCARS ARE IN SERVICE. THIS PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON THE APPLICATION OF WIRELESS ONBOARD SENSORS, WHICH MEASURE TEMPERATURE, VIBRATION AND OTHER METRICS OF RAILCAR BEARINGS AND WHEELS, TO ENHANCE THE SAFETY AND EFFICACY OF RAILROAD OPERATIONS. ACTIVITIES INCLUDE: 1) PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN; 2) SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE DESIGN; 3) TECHNOLOGY, PATENT, PRIOR ART REVIEW; 4) TEST PLAN; 5) RESEARCH INSTALLATION TECHNIQUES; 6) RESEARCH PATHS FOR PTC INTEGRATION; 7) FINANCIAL ANALYSIS; 8) COMMERCIALIZATION PLANNING; 9) SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT; 10) SPECIFICATIONS FOR PTC INTEGRATION; 11) HARDWARE PROTOTYPE - WAYSIDE TRANSCEIVER; 12) HARDWARE PROTOTYPE - MINI VERSION OF SENSOR PLATFORM; 13) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY; 14) EXPAND BEARING TESTING CAPABILITY; 15) PREPARATION FOR RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) TESTING; 16) FABRICATE DEVICE AND GATEWAY COMPONENTS; 17) ENHANCE BACK-END SOFTWARE; 18) DETERMINE INGRESS PROTECTION RATING; 19) DEVELOP AI MODELS; 20) IMPLEMENT LABORATORY TESTING; 21) ENSCO CAPABILITY ENHANCEMENT; 22) EQUIP RAILCARS; 23) CONDUCT TESTS; 24) DATA ANALYSIS; 25) POST-INSPECTION OF BEARINGS, WHEELS, AND TRACK; 26) REVISE HARDWARE; 27) REVISE SOFTWARE; 28) TEST PTC INTEGRATION; 29) TRAIN FIELD PERSONNEL DELIVERABLES/EXPECTED OUTCOMES: IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS TECHNOLOGY, AND COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE RAILROAD WILL DRAMATICALLY INCREASE SAFETY AND FURTHER REDUCE AND/OR ELIMINATE THE RISK OF A FAILURE CAUSING AN ON-ROAD (TRACK) DERAILMENT WHILE ENHANCING CONDITION-BASED MAINTENANCE PRACTICES. BENEFICIARIES: THE PUBLIC (DIRECT), RAILROADS (DIRECT), SUPPLIERS AND INDUSTRY (INDIRECT).