Automate the railway operations through IT
Project Summary
The locking arrangements provided on level crossing gates for the protection are all manual yet which sometimes leads to hampering of the situation. It can lead to a human detriment as well as impairment of assigned machinery sometimes. This is the main reason we wanted to go for something that can automate the process to simplify it
Technology Stack
- AI
- IoT
Challenges
As the saying goes, “You can not achieve something without facing the predicaments” we also faced a lot of challenges whilst approaching this issue which are :
- Unavailability of Hardware: To automate the process we needed a special kind of hardware that can support the AI system as well and also help in processing the whole requirements of the procedure, but they were unavailable. It was so difficult to find the material that can hold up the whole system.
- Unavailability of Motors: After the requirement of hardware, we needed proper motors that can support the system and make it more efficient, but that was a huge task in itself. Motors make an important role in the whole procedure of an automated system, and to find out the exact and correct material for that was a huge challenge.
- Connectivity Issues: Now that we tried to resolve the aforesaid challenges, the next main hurdle was to set up the connectivity between the AI system, Camera & Motors. Connecting all of them in one circuit so that they can work properly was one thing that made the biggest obstacle of all.
- Unwanted scenarios of the circuit: After all this, the icing on the cake was the breaking circuits, shortage of connection, and much more. There were a lot of scenarios that we faced while making a correctly working circuit.
Solutions
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Our main approach was to design a system that can handle all the manual work and make it much more convenient for the organization to use. So, we took the approach of installing a system with cameras and sensors, which is the base of an automatic system.
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While working on modifying our approach, we realized that this can be a better way to proceed with. So, we went ahead with this procedure to make an automated system with two cameras and sensors on both pillars at the sides of the level crossing. It made it easier to track any vehicle activity and then control the gates accordingly. We made it strong enough to track the data around 65 meters from the level gates. As soon as it senses any activity around it, it will stop midway before closing, which makes it safe enough to use without any human interaction.
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We have solved accidental edge cases by checking the positioning movement of vehicles, like whether they are moving or stationary at the moment. So, in case if a vehicle is stationary for too long it will send intimations to rescue team and the sirens will be activated. Also, if there is no electricity or the barrier is damaged, in that case also the system will automatically intimate the rescue team to make things easier for the organization.
Our main approach was to design a system that can handle all the manual work and make it much more convenient for the organization to use. So, we took the approach of installing a system with cameras and sensors, which is the base of an automatic system.
While working on modifying our approach, we realized that this can be a better way to proceed with. So, we went ahead with this procedure to make an automated system with two cameras and sensors on both pillars at the sides of the level crossing. It made it easier to track any vehicle activity and then control the gates accordingly. We made it strong enough to track the data around 65 meters from the level gates. As soon as it senses any activity around it, it will stop midway before closing, which makes it safe enough to use without any human interaction.
We have solved accidental edge cases by checking the positioning movement of vehicles, like whether they are moving or stationary at the moment. So, in case if a vehicle is stationary for too long it will send intimations to rescue team and the sirens will be activated. Also, if there is no electricity or the barrier is damaged, in that case also the system will automatically intimate the rescue team to make things easier for the organization.
“The sole motive of this system was to make the manual work less and reduce the chances of accidents that can happen in a single moment of negligence. All in all, it is an automated version of level crossing gates to ensure safety and reduce human intervention in the lifeline of the nation..”
