Digital Solutions for Third Rail Assessment

KLD Labs offers an automated machine vision systems for the evaluation of the third rail for both top and bottom contact third rail shoes. The system standard configuration measures the positional geometry of the third rail relative to the running rails. In addition for top contact applications the system can measure third rail temperature and third rail wear.

KLD Labs’ system incorporates the latest machine vision technology to collect and analyze high resolution images of the running and third rail and evaluate the relative vertical and lateral positions while traveling at track speeds. Due to changes in the track structure the third rail positional geometry can change over time impacting the third rail shoe interface.

The third rail sensor heads are mounted beneath a railway vehicle. The central computer and peripherals are housed inside the vehicle. As the vehicle travels down the track, high-resolution images of the running section are processed and stored on the central computer. This information is displayed to the operator for immediate feedback as well as stored internally. The data stored can then be transferred off the vehicle to enable data playback and analysis.

For further information on third rail measurement and for technical assistance contact KLD Labs here.