Dsp-based Dynamic Railway Diagnostic System

The Dynamic Railway Diagnostic System (DRD) is a DSP-based measurement system that measures and stores the deformation signal of the rail caused by an in-motion train. The DRD is an intelligent sensor system, where the DSP-based sensor units preprocess and store the deformation signal, and a HOST PC collects the results and performs a second level of signal processing. This architecture makes the system capable to perform also other signal processing algorithms, e.g. faulty wheels can be detected. The DSP-based measurement method is a new approach in the field of in-motion weighing, with numerous advantages. Precise measurements can be performed on trains traveling up to 160 km/h. The visualization possibility of the deformation signals can be used to perform diagnostics on the wheels. In the paper, the DRD system and the DSP-based Measurement Units are presented. In addition to the theoretical considerations, measurement results of a built DRD system are presented, as well.