AutomatedTrain - Automated trains need intelligent diagnostic concepts
As the rail system becomes increasingly digitalised and automated, the demands on the technical monitoring of vehicles and components are also growing. Modern diagnostic concepts are an important building block for ensuring the long-term availability and reliability of automated trains.
The automation of rail operations opens up new opportunities for more efficient, stable and cost-effective rail transport. At the same time, the use of additional digital and software-based systems increases the complexity of modern rail vehicles. This also highlights the growing importance of powerful diagnostic systems that can continuously monitor technical conditions, detect faults at an early stage and support the necessary measures.
New approaches are particularly needed for automated vehicles with high levels of automation (ATO GoA 3–4). As traditional tasks performed by the driver are eliminated, diagnostic and monitoring systems need to play a greater role in assessing the vehicle’s condition and ensuring stable operations. At the same time, large volumes of data from a wide range of systems need to be processed efficiently and made usable across different manufacturers.
As part of the AutomatedTrain research and development project, researchers are investigating how open and standardised diagnostic concepts can be used for automated rail vehicles. A key approach is Service-Oriented Vehicle Diagnostics (SOVD) – a standard established in the automotive industry that enables diagnostic data and functions to be provided as services via standardised interfaces.
The use of open standards enables a modular and scalable diagnostic concept that facilitates the integration of different components and systems. This provides the basis for reliably monitoring complex software-based functions – such as perception systems for automated vehicles – and making diagnostic information available for operations, maintenance and other applications.
The potential of the SOVD approach for use in the rail sector and how a corresponding diagnostic concept can be implemented technically are explored in greater detail in a specialist article published in EI- Der Eisenbahningenieur.
Article “AutomatedTrain – Integration of a scalable diagnostic concept”
(only in German)
