RAIL SURVEYING
on infrastructure
“Our systems are accurate to a tenth of a millimetre for the applications they are used for”
“The laser systems are far more reliable because there is essentially nothing to go wrong with them”
in very low light and almost only at night, so more recently we moved onto a laser-based system. This has reduced the size of the measuring system for a
full train to something the size of a small black dustbin.
“This uses very similar methods of measurement, in that we
illuminate a profi le of the object which we are measuring, but rather we do it at certain points using lasers. Cameras then train in on the image and we get a
similar output, only we can operate in much higher levels of light and record at much higher speeds.
“This is why lasers offer us such an advantage, because they are much less affected by environmental conditions.
“The lasers are also integrated into very accurate measurement equipment, with perimeters of a millimetre representing a very big margin. In fact our systems are accurate to a tenth of a millimetre for the applications they are used for.”
The laser systems also offer Network Rail a more effi cient way of measuring the network.
“The laser systems are far more reliable because there is essentially nothing to go wrong with them. As long as the lenses are clean and can produce a clear image or point - depending on what you’re trying to use them for - then they should work perfectly. They are also really tolerant of different sorts of weather and generally offer a greater reliability than the methods we’ve used in the past.”
Network Rail uses ten individual laser systems which each carry around two lasers per system.
“The operators are a team of on-train technicians who don’t manipulate the lasers in any sense, but operate the equipment which takes the measurement. In terms of safety, there is also no chance of the team becoming exposed to the lasers because our systems have speed interlocks on them which quite heavily shroud them as well. There is no chance of the team even accidentally being exposed to them.”
rail technology magazine Dec/Jan 11 | 61
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