IIT Roorkee develops technology to monitor railway track health

Researchers at IIT Roorkee have developed a technology to inspect train tracks using drones and satellite data to help the Indian Railways with “a fast, accurate and cost-effective way of detecting various anomalies”.

“Computer Vision Approach for the Drone data is a good alternative to monitor the railway track health in less time and it is also a very cost-effective system,” Dharmendra Singh, a professor in the department of electronics and communication engineering, said.

“Some modules have already been developed which are giving quite satisfactory results and in some other modules like crack detection and all work is in progress and hopefully it will be completed soon,” Singh, who is also the coordinator of RailTel and IIT Roorkee’s Centre of Excellence in Telecommunication, said.

The inspection of rail track is done by applying image processing and Computer Vision techniques to the images sent by the drone. The images and generated data obtained are then analysed which gives useful information about the health of the rail tracks.

The institute said in a statement that the existing system of monitoring tracks, one of the major tasks in the railway’s inspection system to maintain safety and security, “is expensive, time-consuming, involves human inspection, and automated vehicle-based system that needs proper track engagement for inspection”.

“Automated computer vision mechanism for railway inspection system provides a fast, accurate and cost-effective way of detecting various anomalies present in the railway track,” it said.

“Drone data has proven much more effective as it provides high-quality images that contain large information for monitoring and analysis. Inspection through drone does not require dedicated track for inspection, hence, it does not affect the smooth running of trains. The calculation of gauge gives the highly accurate results,” it added.