ASC Sensors
Smart Rail: High-Accuracy ASC Inertial Sensors Ensure Safe and Comfortable Train Operation
- This article first appeared in the Railway-News magazine Issue 3 2022.
Without inertial sensors, modern rail transport would be inconceivable. They detect the position of trains, monitor the state of the tracks and ensure optimum travel comfort. ASC’s new smart sensor technology can even monitor infrastructure in real time and detect damage early on, so that network operators can plan their maintenance activities even more efficiently in the future.
Inertial sensors perform numerous important tasks in the development and operation of trains. One of them is high-precision measurement of oscillations and vibrations on rolling stock, tracks and bridges. The data obtained from these measurements form the basis for safe, comfortable rail transport. Engineers can draw valuable information from them for train design and infrastructure maintenance. Sensors also ensure that the train dispatchers at the Deutsche Bahn railway control centres always know the exact location of any given train. Satellite navigation alone is not enough, because the signals are susceptible to interference.
ASC is specialised in measurement technology and manufactures a wide range of highly sensitive accelerometers and gyroscopes, as well as inertial measurement units (IMU) for rail transport testing and monitoring. The sensors collect data in a wide variety of applications – not only in rolling stock, but also on tracks.
