Business profile
Get ready now
The overall picture is becoming clear. The boundaries between rail and road will be eroded and co-operative systems will enable an integrated multimode transport infrastructure. Data analytics skills will be in great demand to achieve networked situational awareness for improved asset utilisation and reduced congestion, but local intelligence will also be needed to maintain safety systems in each vehicle. Phil Williams, co-ordinator of the
Robotics and Autonomous Vehicles Special Interest Group, emphasises the need for a joined-up strategy in this vision of the future: ‘Autonomous vehicles promise to deliver safer, more efficient and more productive journeys. When these vehicles are connected to each other and to
Today’s cars also include many automated
sub-systems – such as ABS and traction control – which compensate for the driver’s limitations. By comparison, most main line rail systems have been relatively conservative in maintaining a man in the loop in full control. London Underground, however, can point to more than 45 years of experience in automatic train operation, ever since the Victoria Line first opened in 1967. There is a driver on the loop in case of emergency, but the train movement is automated. Similarly, Transport for London’s fully driverless Docklands Light Railway which opened in 1987 with one of the most advanced ATC systems in the world. As we move to more complex driverless
networks, as already deployed in the metros of Dubai and Shanghai, this on the loop responsibility will sit with control room staff, who will nevertheless sometimes need to make fast decisions with the best available information. However, most of the time the traffic will be regulated by automated systems which have the capacity to process the complexity of the ‘system of systems’ operational environment and deliver improved punctuality, availability, reliability and safety. This is the equivalent of aerospace fly by wire systems which are simply too complex to be flown by an un- assisted pilot. Trains may have fewer degrees of freedom than planes, but they operate in more complex networks with many more interconnections. Moving away from blocking and visual signalling is perhaps the most significant step change. High powered computing will be increasingly needed to orchestrate train movements, especially to support the moving block safety systems anticipated in level 3 of the European Railway Traffic Management System.
Skills required
The biggest challenge here is systems development, but the human factors issues are also significant for those who sit on the loop. Supervision of autonomous systems demands an unnatural state of passive
alertness, whether remotely or on board moving vehicles. Most people would prefer to have a series of tasks and complete them rather than to be vigilant and yet do nothing. The ideal on the loop skill set requires hybrid expertise across systems engineering, data analytics and mechanical engineering. All three of these disciplines are in short supply in an increasingly competitive skills market.
(UK government report Seizing the data opportunity 28 October 2013
https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/uk-data-capability-strategy) Autonomous systems will require system engineers and analysts who also understand the mechanical reality of the rail network. This will probably require a combination of customised vocational, graduate and post- graduate training plus a hybrid career path. These hybrid skill sets will also be
needed in the fields of engineering and maintenance. Remote condition monitoring will allow systems to provide data which previously required direct human inspection. It is a logical step to automate the maintenance interventions using robotic systems.
intelligent, autonomous systems for traffic and asset management, flexible scheduling and multimode journey planning, we will finally be able to address the issues of congestion on our roads and in our trains. Only then can we deliver the full benefits of autonomous vehicles in terms of less waiting, greater journey certainty and more pleasant travel environments. But one final word of caution. While
acknowledging the undoubted potential of autonomous systems, not least in creating less labour-intensive working environments and safer, more efficient operating conditions, we must not lose sight of the need for balancing these gains with the human interface and need for employment. With population growth set to dramatically increase we have a duty to ensure that our technological solutions can meaningfully employ our future generations and also mitigate the risk of creating a ‘two-stream’ society, those who are technology-enabled and those who are unavoidably technology agnostic.
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Tel: + 44 (0) 1344 773131 Visit:
www.trl.co.uk
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