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GPS System To Boost Accuracy: Track Geometry Measurement

A GPS aided location synchronization system has been developed to improve the accuracy of track geometry measurement beyond existing methods. The system, called GALS, uses a global positioning system and inertial measurement unit on the measurement vehicle along with a database of reference locations. It provides continuous positioning without manual input. Compared to other methods, GALS offers the most reliable and accurate synchronization without additional hardware required along the track.

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Suciu Florin
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67 views

GPS System To Boost Accuracy: Track Geometry Measurement

A GPS aided location synchronization system has been developed to improve the accuracy of track geometry measurement beyond existing methods. The system, called GALS, uses a global positioning system and inertial measurement unit on the measurement vehicle along with a database of reference locations. It provides continuous positioning without manual input. Compared to other methods, GALS offers the most reliable and accurate synchronization without additional hardware required along the track.

Uploaded by

Suciu Florin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Track Geometry Measurement

eliminating the need for the operator to


press the synchronisation button.

GPS System To In most cases this approach works sat-


isfactorily, but it does not guarantee full
reliability of detection because the de-
vices may be out of detection distance or

Boost Accuracy may have been moved from their correct


locations. Also, the operator still has the
responsibility of entering the correct
location and the associated header in-
formation for the generation of the ex-
A global positioning system (GPS) aided location synchronisation sys- ception reports.
tem has been developed which should improve even further the accu- A better approach to location synchro-
racy of track geometry measurement. nisation is the use of smart-coded Auto-
matic Location Detectors. Each one

DATA FLOW IN GALS PROCESSING


Dr Günther Oberlechner and
Bernhard Metzger
Plasser American Corporation, Location Synchronisation
United States
Jan Zywiel Latitude
Longitude Latitude
Applanix Corporation, Canada Longitude
Velocity north
Velocity east Location ID
ODERN technically-advanced
M track geometry measuring sys-
tems offer high accuracy and
repeatability covering a wide array of
Database Main Measure Program Applanix POS/TG
track geometry and track related meas-
urement parameters. This accuracy can Data packet
be maintained, at measuring speeds of Latitude
more than 250km/h, enabling identifica- Location
Longitude
tion of even the smallest irregularities. Synchronisation
Synchronised Location
Yet, while it is important to maintain Velocity east
the accuracy and the repeatability of the
geometry measurements, it is equally
Network Data
important to refer these measurements
accurately to the correct location. Hardwired
Traditionally, the location synchroni-
sation of track geometry parameters has The data flow in GPS Aided Location Synchronization (GALS) processing in
been achieved by having the operator of the illustration above is as follows:
the track geometry car enter the exact • Applanix POS/TG continuously sends passes them to Applanix POS/TG.
location (in terms of the running dis- the current position of the car (latitude • Applanix POS/TG verifies the location
tance from a predefined zero-point) and and longitude) and the velocity vector synchronization data and discards inva-
then press the synchronisation button at (north and east components) to the Main lid sets.
the correct time. However, it is a very
difficult, if not impossible, for the opera-
Measure Program. • When POS/TG establishes that the car
• Once every 100m of the distance trav- is approaching the synchronization loca-
tor to enter the location and press the eled, the Main Measure Program sends
synchronisation button at the correct tion and that it is in close proximity of
these data to the Database Processing the synchronization location, it sends the
instant, especially at higher speeds. Program.
With manual location synchronisation corresponding location ID back to the
• The Database Processing Program Main Measure Program.
at speeds above 150km/h, repeatable
location accuracies of only 5m can be
searches the facility database, extracts • When the car reaches the synchroniza-
all the location synchronization entries tion location, a synchronization message
accomplished. Since the manual loca-
that are in a half circle of a predefined and a synchronization pulse are gener-
tion synchronisation is so inaccurate and
radius ahead of the geometry car, and ated by the Applanix POS/TG system.
error prone, devices such as magnets or
so-called "crocodiles" are often em-
sends them to the Main Measure Pro- • The Main Measure Program resets the
gram. location and the header information to
ployed. These devices are fixed to the
• The Main Measure Program attaches the entry corresponding to the location
track and their locations are known.
unique identification numbers to the ID.
When the car passes over such a device,
location synchronisation entries and
an automatic trigger pulse is issued,

Reprinted from the September 2000 issue of International Railway Journal www.railjournal.com
Track Geometry Measurement
along the track stores either its unique Worldwide Coverage GPS position noise to be smoothed out.
identification number, which corre- Compared with the other methods, we
sponds to an entry in a database contain- GPS is a service that was originally believe that GALS processing is the
ing the location and header information, developed for the US military and is most advanced and reliable location syn-
or it contains the complete location and now available to the public. With its 24 chronisation method currently available.
header information, which it sends to the satellites orbiting the Earth, GPS pro- It combines all the advantages and
host. vides users with worldwide coverage eliminates all the disadvantages of other
As the car drives by a coded automatic and position accuracy to within a few existing synchronisation methods.
location detector, the location and meters. The hardware required for GALS proc-
header are automatically updated to the If a better position accuracy is required, essing is comprised the Plasser Com-
correct values. However, a disadvantage as is the case for the location synchroni- puter System, the Applanix POS/TG
of this method is that it is costly to in- sation, differential GPS is used. Differ- track geometry measuring system (with
stall the transponders across the rail ential GPS’ accuracy to within a few embedded GPS receiver) and a differen-
network. Track maintenance machines decimeters or better can be achieved in tial GPS receiver. It is not necessary to
can also easily damage or dislocate the real time operation. install any hardware devices along the
detectors. There are several advantages of using railway.
To overcome the disadvantages of the blended GPS-inertial position from Reference (synchronisation) locations
these location synchronisation ap- POS/TG compared with using the posi- can be determined from track surveying
proaches, Plasser American Corporation tion from the GPS receiver. First and using POS/TG (with enhanced accuracy,
and Applanix Corporation, Canada, have most important is data integrity. GPS if needed, provided by post-processing
developed and deployed a GPS-aided position may not always be available of recorded data). The procedure is
Location Synchronisation (GALS) proc- due to outages typically caused by the automatic and accurate and eliminates
ess. obstruction of the line of sight between the need for manual surveying. Alter-
GALS’ functionality is implemented the GPS antenna and the satellites. nately, the synchronisation points can be
in the Applanix position and orientation This often happens when bridges, tun- derived from a geographic information
system for track geometry (POS/TG) nels and other infrastructure prevents the system (GIS), if available.
measuring system. satellite signals from reaching the GPS The standard Plasser American Corpo-
The GALS approach is to first store antenna. Unlike the GPS, POS/TG posi- ration facility database incorporates syn-
the geographic locations (latitude and tion is available continuously, as the chronisation points in addition to way-
longitude) of the points of interest - the inertial component of the integrated iner- side events and header information for
synchronisation points - in a database. tial navigation provides the position data the entire rail network. This draws an
Then, during a measurement run, GALS even when the GPS signal is unavailable association between each synchronisa-
continuously minimises the distance (with some degradation of accuracy dur- tion point and the corresponding header
between the current location of the car ing long outages). and it enables extraction of the header
and the appropriate synchronisation lo- The second advantage is the band- information when the car passes a syn-
cations. Once the minimum is reached, width of the position output. Most GPS chronisation point.
GALS issues a synchronisation message receivers provide position samples every GALS is currently employed by Aus-
and a synchronisation signal. The proc- second. For example, if the car speed is trian Federal railways (ÖBB), which has
ess is fully automatic and reliable. 80km/h (or approximately 22m/second), been using the system since the begin-
Using the Integrated Inertial Naviga- then GPS provides a position sample ning of the year. This operation on a
tion algorithm, the Applanix POS/TG every 22m. POS/TG computes its navi- daily basis has proved that GALS is a
computes the current location of the car. gation data 200 times/second. At valuable tool for maintaining location
Integrated Inertial Navigation optimally 80km/h, the car’s position is thus sam- and header information, and dependably
blends the inertial data with the data pled every 11cm. The third advantage is referencing the geometry data and track
from the aiding sensors, such as the GPS the attenuation of the noise, as blending related measurement parameters to their
receiver. of GPS data with inertial data causes the locations of validity. IRJ

Reprinted from the September 2000 issue of International Railway Journal www.railjournal.com

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