ARIIS automated track monitoring machine

The brief:

To coordinate the design and build of the first ARIIS automated track monitoring vehicle. The vehicle is intended to be the first in a product range of track monitoring machines designed to integrate high end custom measurement systems such as lidar, optical lasers, inertial sensors and visual camera systems to record, detect and report railway infrastructure defects. The first version of the vehicle is towable with intended iterations to include self-navigation and propulsion. The works included in-house structural and mechanical designs with coordinated electrical, robotic, drafting and manufacturing services.

The solution:

ARIIS is a standard gauge vehicle, designed to be towed along the track at speeds up to 25km/h. The vehicle has the following dimensions:

• L x W x H = 5.7m x 2.25m x 1.6m

• Wheelbase = 4.5m

• Mass = 3 tonnes

The vehicle has an all steel chassis with a marine grade aluminium exterior skin. It travels along the rail by means of 4x custom designed wheels and is braked using a fail-safe pneumatic/hydraulic disc brake system. In the centre of the vehicle is a large, sealed and climate controlled electrical cabinet housing a main computer, PLC, network gear and a host of other control circuits/systems. An array of sensors including 6x laser scanners, 2x optical line scanners, 1x environmental camera, 1x INS inertial sensor, GPS and cellular antennas are provided to perform the necessary track monitoring requirements. The entire system is powered by a bank of onboard batteries, housed within the main steel structure.