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VAE ROADMASTER 2000
Sensors with covers installed in a turnout
Due to the economic and technical changes in railway and infrastructure enterprises, there are increasing requirements for track availability. As a result, maintenance and diagnostic systems are valued more than ever.
The conversion to condition-oriented maintenance, continuous remote diagnostics and mechanism to detect localised point failures instantaneously and safely will be the crucial parameters for the economically conscious enterprise in the future. Maintenance and diagnostic systems are indispensable instruments for use as saving potentials.
In order to optimise respective applications, decisions must be made to which sections of the infrastructure network should be monitored in accordance to the usage type and demand of supervision.
Modularly developed diagnostic systems are capable of dealing with every situation to find the best solution.
Trough the combination and/or integration of modular systems in superordinated maintenance and management systems the optimisation of the cost-use relationship is easy to realise.
VAE Eisenbahnsysteme GmbH since the early 80's dealt intensively with the topic of remote diagnostics of stationary controls with the emphasis of switch diagnosis. The goal of the development was to improve and optimise track availability, early recognition and predictability of failures as well as the reduction of the Life Cycle Costs.
The collected know-how during this development process led to a modular, intelligent diagnostic system VAE ROADMASTER 2000.
This system is captivated by its expandable structure and possibilities for adjustments to fulfil all customized or installation-specific needs.
Availability and Maintenance Costs
Reasons to use VAE ROADMASTER 2000:
increased availability
- early recognition of disturbances
- reduction of operational failures
- exact error analysis
reduced maintenance expenditures
- conversion from period-oriented to condition-oriented maintenance cycle
- ideal instrument for planning the necessary maintenance tasks - enormous relief of maintenance work on services with limited access (e.g. tunnels)
- decreased installation expenditure due to exact information from the system
contribution to environmental protection - lubrication only if needed
reduction of the Life Cycle Costs (LCC)
protection of the maintenance personnel
- reduction of entering into danger areas
- decreased duration of stopover time in the danger area by giving precise information about the conditions of the switch
Electronic evaluation module
VAE ROADMASTER 2000 SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
Every individual section face special challenges and its weighting are determined by the local situation, economic base conditions and operational characteristics. The range of variation necessitates a modular system structure.
The VAE ROADMASTER 2000 is individually developed from a basic version up to a fully developed distance monitoring.
Depending on the special conditions and customer's request, each switch can be equipped with the economical version (VAE ROADMASTER 2000 Light) or extension of several parameters to a more comprehensive diagnosis (VAE ROADMASTER 2000 Advanced/Pro). The system’s versatility makes optimisation of cost/use relationship a reality for the infrastructure operator.
The function of the VAE ROADMASTER 2000 is based on the evaluation of measured data. This takes place in conjunction with the operation of intelligent software, which recognises errors at the switch before a disturbance occurs by comparing the data with reference values. According to the output values error messages are generated automatically and transferred to the skilled personnel.
In order to increase the accuracy of error recognition and avoid unnecessary alarms, the reference values are based on a highly developed algorithm which considers local conditions and weather-related changes.
By many years of experience and know-how that forms the evaluation software, it is guaranteed that the system recognizes all initiating errors. This allows the infrastructure operators to plan for repairs before disturbances even occur.
Current Sensor in Operation Room
Principle of early failure recognition
Advantages of the VAE ROADMASTER 2000 system
- modular system structure - adaptable to every customer needs and easily expandable at any time
- intelligent evaluation software
- automatically generate error messages
- integration into superordinated maintenance management systems possible
- no effect on existing supervised switches
- continous data acquisition
- applicable from suburban traffic to high-speed lines
- data access directly at the switch possible by several mobile solutions (GPRS, UMTS, laptop, Handheld...)
- additional alarm directly to your mobile phone
- transfer and network integration of the collated data to a control station can be customised to the adapted format
- data evaluation directly for the customer on a locally installed server - exclusivity of all data
- remote support of VAE specialists – if required
- simple integration of already existing monitoring and diagnostic information
- simple control surface
Inductive Sensor
Depending on the special requirements and conditions the VAE ROADMASTER 2000 system can be offered in three development stages.
VAE ROADMASTER 2000 Light
This version the diagnostic system evaluates the current flow during switch operation.
The data are economically collected in a central signalling centre for several turnouts. However if necessary the collection can also take place directly at the switch.
VAE ROADMASTER 2000 Advanced
With this adaptation a variety of different parameters are supervised. For this purpose various sensors are installed directly at the turnout and connected to integrated electronic components in the diagnostic network
Current Sensor installed in Termination Box of Switch Point Machine next to the turnout
VAE ROADMASTER 2000 Pro
In addition to switch diagnosis, most stationary installations can be integrated into the system.
This allows a wide range of monitoring functions possible by a system which is developed individually for smaller sections and/or entire railway lines.
The combination of the different versions is possible and permits optimum design of the system for the individual requirements of a modern railway company. The individual stages of development can be extended at any time by additional measuring points. The modular structure ensures an optimal cost/use relationship with the use of the diagnostic system VAE ROADMASTER 2000.
