Smart Rail Cargo
A competitive freight transport system requires, on the vehicle side, not only modern mechanical components to achieve the 5L objectives (low-noise, lightweight, long-life, logistics-capable, and life-cycle-cost-oriented), but also suitable sensor technology to acquire vehicle and cargo data and transmit them to the relevant parties. The following stakeholders benefit from data acquisition:
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Cargo customers – Where is my cargo located?
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Operators – Where is my vehicle and what is its current loading condition?
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Maintenance providers – What is the overall condition of the vehicle? Is maintenance required in the near future, or does the vehicle need to be taken out of service prematurely due to a wheel flat or an overheated axle bearing?
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Infrastructure managers – Is the vehicle, in its current condition, permitted to operate on the route?
To meet these requirements, the equipping of freight wagons with simple, battery-powered sensor technology is being tested in cooperation with the Chair of Information Technology for Transport Systems at TU Dresden. In this context, GPS-based condition monitoring is carried out via mobile communications.
The objective is to provide a compact, autonomous, and universal sensor unit for retrofitting freight wagons, enabling the detection of loading condition, overheated axle bearings, wheel flat spots, and vehicle position coordinates.
