Abstract
Accurate measurement of the railway track geometry is a task of fundamental importance to ensure the track quality in both the construction phase and the regular maintenance stage. Conventional track geometry measuring trolleys (TGMTs) in combination with classical geodetic surveying apparatus such as total stations alone cannot meet the requirements of measurement accuracy and surveying efficiency at the same time. Accurate and fast track geometry surveying applications call for an innovative surveying method that can measure all or most of the track geometric parameters in short time without interrupting the railway traffic. We provide a novel solution to this problem by integrating an inertial navigation system (INS) with a geodetic surveying apparatus, and design a modular TGMT system based on aided INS, which can be configured according to different surveying tasks including precise adjustment of slab track, providing tamping measurements, measuring track deformation and irregularities, and determination of the track axis. TGMT based on aided INS can operate in mobile surveying mode to significantly improve the surveying efficiency. Key points in the design of the TGMT’s architecture and the data processing concept and workflow are introduced in details, which should benefit subsequent research and provide a reference for the implementation of this kind of TGMT. The surveying performance of proposed TGMT with different configurations is assessed in the track geometry surveying experiments and actual projects.
Highlights
Railway track geometry quality has a decisive influence on the dynamic performance of the vehicle [1], and railway operating safety and passenger comfort depend to a large extent on the smoothness of the railway track, especially for high-speed railways
The track geometry measuring trolleys (TGMTs) based on aided inertial navigation system (INS) is designed to capture accurate 3D position coordinates, gauge, and event signals simultaneously, based on which all railway track geometric parameters can be and event signals simultaneously, based on which all railway track geometric parameters can be derived and track quality can be evaluated and associate the precise localization information to the derived and track quality can be evaluated and associate the precise localization information to the measured data
The TGMT based on aided INS is a multisensory surveying system which integrates several units including track trolley platform, inertial measurement unit, absolute positioning module such as total station or global navigation satellite system (GNSS), gauge measuring sensor, odometer, sleeper recognizer, data recording system
Summary
Qijin Chen 1 , Xiaoji Niu 1,2 , Lili Zuo 3 , Tisheng Zhang 1, *, Fuqin Xiao 3 , Yi Liu 4 and Jingnan Liu 1,2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Geospatial Technology, Wuhan University, No 129 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430079, China. Received: 8 January 2018; Accepted: 7 February 2018; Published: 10 February 2018
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