Crack In Railway Track Detection and Alerting

Likhith Y S 1, Nishanth J 2, Parthiban M 3, Pavan B M 4

Dept. of Electronics and communication,
Vemana Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India

Manasa Charitha
Assistant Professor
Dept. Electronics and communication,
Vemana institute of technology
Bangalore, India
[email protected]

Abstract— The Indian Railways that is considered to be as problems faced are the improper maintenance of tracks which
leading public transport systems all over the world with have ended in the development of cracks in between tracks and
route length over 68,103 KM. However, regarding facilities, other related issues caused by anti-social elements. The study
services and safety of people is not yet reached the global
shows that the accidents occurring in railways are due to
standards. Other factors include gaps in between tracks,
irregular checks in detecting faults and improper improper maintenance and disjoints on rail track. Railways still
maintenance. The previously occurring incidents that were use manual checks for detecting faults on the tracks, which is
taking place show that the accidents taking place are due to time consuming. To overcome all those problems an automatic
improper maintenance of tracks. But manual checks are still crack or gaps detection system is designed using the various
the method used on railways which are time consuming. The components with its advanced features. The Suggested system
proposed system was designed to overcome the above which helps the railway officials to not only in detecting cracks
problems by developing a preprogrammed railway track
on the tracks but also sending position through the alert
detection system which is an effective method implemented
using Raspberry Pi Pico as a Processor. The IR sensors were information that is sent in Telegram. So, the necessary steps are
used in detecting gaps between railway track and an alert taken to avoid accidents and save many lives of people.
message is sent through Telegram Application along with
Ⅱ. LITERATURE SURVEY
locality of the fault so the railway department can take
necessary steps to avoid accidents and many lives of people. The Literature review provides motivation in developing a new
system of crack detection on railway tracks. In the existing
Keywords—Raspberry pi Pico, IR sensor, ESP8266,
system, techniques such as visual inspection, video
L296D IC, GPS module.
transmission and various methods are used in detecting faults
on railway tracks to avoid accidents occurring to those faults.
I. INTRODUCTION
Manual checks or visual inspection is the widely used technique
which indicates the process of visually inspecting the tracks by
In today’s world transportation plays a key role in carrying
trained person to identify and locate cracks or other forms of
human beings, animals, and commodities starting at one point damage. During the inspection the person should walk along
and ending at different places travelling across different areas. the tracks, visually examining them for any signs of cracks,
The different modes of transportation include air, water, and breaks or other faults that could pose safety risk. Although
land. It is necessary for day-day business activities which manual inspection is the widely used method it is time
allows in exporting large amount of goods to different consuming, limited coverage, human error etc.
locations. Right from evolution of man transport has been an
Using various automotive techniques to avoid collisions
impulsive in expansion of trade. But the fundamental facilities between trains which is implemented using RF and lasers in
and running cost of shipping have a major impact on business. automating signals. A Bluetooth technology device is fixed at
Railways occupies the first position in transportation all over front and backside of compartments once the signal between
the world. Railways are a means of transportation which uses the compartments is lost. Automatic brakes are applied to avoid
steel tracks to transport from one place to another. The derailments. To detect cracks on tracks UV transmitter and
receiver are used in locating and sending an alert message is to
invention of railways revolutionized transportation and made it
the nearest station to take necessary actions and avoid accidents
possible to move large quantities of goods and people across [2] Using Arduino Uno in processing the data, an automatic
vast distances easily and effectively. India is going to be a robot is designed in which an IR sensor is used in detecting
largest railway network everywhere in the world, but it has not cracks on tracks in which it is fixed at either the ends of wheel.
reached the global standard yet. Although it has many The GPS and GSM module are also connected with the
advantages such as the ability to carry large amounts of weight processor that were used in identification of location and
with less energy compared to other modes of transportation. transmitting an alert message to the nearby station and other
sensors such as ultrasonic sensor, PIR sensor is used in
However, railways require a significant amount of
detecting movement of human and animals on track. An eddy
infrastructure and maintenance which is expensive [1]. The current method in crack detection is an excitation coil induces
 an alternating magnetic field in the rail, which interacts with
metal and generates eddy current in which presence of crack
alters the flow of these current as soon crack is detected a
notification is sent to pilot with the help of device [3].

Table 1: Comparative table representing different methods

SL.NO TITLE AUTHORS COMPONENTS DRAWBACKS

USED
1. Railway Track Crack • Mohammed Rafi • Node MCU • Processing speed
Detection Robot [1] • H Kerur • Ultrasonic Sensor is less.
• M N Dinesh • DC motor
• Muhamad Nawazpeer • GPS module
• Manjunath Elavi
• Manoj H
• Muhammad Ayan M K
2. Railway Track Crack • Arun Kumar R • Arduino • Processing speed
Detection [2] • Vanishree K • Ultrasonic Sensor is less than
• Shweta K • GPS module 20MHz.
• Nandini C • GSM module • Cost is high.
• Shweta G • DC motor
3. Railway Track Crack • Gokul Ramamoorthy • Arduino • Cost is High
Detection Using Arduino • Tushar Karthikeyan • Ultrasonic Sensor • Processing speed
[3] • Ganesh Yenugudati • IR Sensor is less.
• GSM module
• GPS module
• DC motor
• LCD display
4. Railway Track Crack • Dr. Nanda Kishore • Arduino • Memory is less.
Detection using GPS and • Aishwarya K S V • IR Sensor • Processing speed
GSM [4] • Pallavi • GSM module is less.
• Ruchejadhav J • GPS module
• LCD display
5. Railway Route Crack • Laxmi Goswami • Microcontroller • Microcontroller
Detection System [5] • IR Sensor cannot be
• LCD Display reprogrammed.
• DC motor • Speed is less.

6. Railway Track Crack • Benitta N • Arduino • Processing speed

Detection and Obstacle • Belfiya J V • IR Sensor is less.
Detection using Arduino • Jancy J • Ultrasonic Sensor • Cost is high.
[6] • Prof. Shrisaranya • GPS module
• GSM module
• DC motor
7. Railway Track Crack • D Naresh Kumar • Microcontroller • Microcontroller
Detection System [7] • M Udhay • IR sensor cannot be
• G Brahmini • PIR sensor reprogrammed.
• M Sagar Kumar • GPS • Memory is less.
• GSM module • Cost is high.
• DC motor
8. Implementation of • Prof. N Karthik • Microcontroller • Processing speed
Railway Crack Detection • Prof. R Nagarajan • IR sensor of microcontroller
and Protection • Prof. S Suresh • GSM is less.
• Prof. R Prabhu • LED
• Buzzer
 Ⅲ. METHODOLOGY Steps involving in finding cracks and alerting.

A. Existing System 1. Initially ESP8266 gets connected to Wi-Fi and the GPS
starts blinking to locate the accurate location with
In Existing System of automatic crack detection to avoid latitude and longitude.
accidents occurring and save many lives. Fig 3.1 describes the
data flow between different blocks of the existing system in 2. The signals sent with the aid of GPS unit are processed
which ultrasonic sensors were used to locate cracks on railway by Raspberry Pi Pico and triggers motor driver.
track. The signal received from the sensor is processed by 3. The DC motor starts moving on rail track and the sensor
Arduino and an alert message is sent through GSM module to continuously monitors the track.
the authorized person. But these techniques take lot of
processing power and longtime in detecting that was a drawback. 4. Whenever the cracks are detected using a sensor the
system stops moving.
5. An alert message is sent to railway authorities with the
Power
supply accurate location of crack through Telegram.
6. As soon as an alert message is delivered the system
starts moving again to monitor the tracks and finding
LCD cracks.
Display
Ultrasonic C. Requirement Analysis
Sensor Arduino
1. Raspberry Pi Pico: The Pico is built around the RP2040
GSM microcontroller chip, which is designed by Raspberry
Pi as detailed in Fig 3.3. The RP2040 chip features a
dual core ARM cortex M0+ processor running at
133MHz, 264KB of RAM, and a variety of I/O options.
It provides a collection of GPIO pins that are connected
Motor DC motor
Driver with other components such as sensors, actuators,
displays, and more.
Fig 3.1 Existing System.

B. Proposed system

The suggested system overthrow limitation of existing system

which were implemented in crack detecting in railway track. The
suggested system consists of Raspberry Pi Pico as an open-
source microcontroller board that is used and ESP8266 board is
connected to Pico that is used as a Wi-Fi module. Two IR sensors
are fitted before wheels and GPS module is employed in locating
latitude and longitude. Fig 3.2 represents the diagram of the
suggested system. Here, Motor driver that are connected to Fig 3.3 Raspberry Pi Pico pin configuration
motor to drive in front or backward direction.
2. ESP8266: The NodeMCU development board comes
with an in-built WIFI unit designed for embedded
POWER SUPPLY projects It consists different GPIO pins and other pins
in which each pins have its own function. Fig 3.4
represents ESP8266, and it operates at 80MHz and low
cost 32-bit microprocessor.
ESP8266
IR SENSOR-2

RASPBERRY PI PICO

IR SENSOR-1 GPS MODULE

DRIVER DC MOTOR

Fig 3.4 ESP8266

Fig 3.2 suggested system
3. Infrared ray (IR) sensor: It is device used to detect and
 measure infrared radiation in its surroundings
environment. It includes emitter and receiver as pointed
in Fig 3.5 in which it transmits radiation light and
receives and measures the intensity. The sensitivity can
be changed to measure required distance.

Fig 3.8 Motor Driver

7. Power Supply: DC-DC powering unit is a multi-voltage

output conversion also known as Buck converter as in
Fig 3.9. The module is powered by 6V to 12V input and
provides three fixed DC outputs 3.3V, 5V and third
output is direct connection to DC input. Perfect for
providing support power for electronic design, and DIY
Fig 3.5 IR sensor projects.

4. GPS Module: NEO-6M V2 is a GPS module used in

tracking the location and sending data which is latitude
and longitude of its position. It features an integrated
ceramic patch antenna and rechargeable backup battery
as in Fig 3.6.

Fig 3.9 Power Supply

8. Software: Arduino IDE is a software platform used for

writing, compiling, and uploading code to Arduino
microcontrollers. Th features of open-source integrated
software which is used in coding various Arduino
Fig 3.6 GPS module boards.

5. DC Motor: Fig 3.7 represents DC (Direct current) IV RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

motor that used to perform mechanical energy from
electric energy. It is generally used in toys,
applications, including industrial machinery, robotics,
and household appliances.

Fig 3.7 DC Motor

Fig 4.1 Model on Detecting Crack in railway track.

6. Motor Driver: Fig 3.8 uses L293 which is a popular
integrated circuit which serves as a motor driver, The crack in railway track detection model is designed
designed to control the speed and direction of DC and to automatically identify the cracks on railway track.
stepper motor. The L293 IC can drive two motors
simultaneously and is capable of handling high voltage
loads.
 “International Journal of Innovative Science and Research
Technology, Volume-5, Issue -4, April 2020.
[5] Laxmi Goswami “Railway Route Crack Detection System”
International Journal of Innovative Technology and
Exploring Engineering (IJITEE) ISSN: 2278-3075,
Volume-8, Issue-12, October 2020
[6] Benitta N, Belfiya J V, Jancy J, Prof ShriSaranya. “Railway
Track Crack and Obstacle Detection Using Arduino”
International Research Journal of Engineering &
Technology (IRJET), Volume -6, Issue -2, Feb -2019
[7] D Naresh Kumar, M Uday, G Brahmini, M Sagar Kumar.
“Railway Track Crack Detection System” Internation
Journal of Science and Research (IJSDR) Volume -2, Issue
-4, April 2017.
[8] Prof N Karthick, Prof R Nagarajan, Prof S Suresh, Prof R
Prabhu “Implementation of Railway Track Crack Detection
and Protection” International Journal of Engineering and
Computer Science, Volume-6, Issue-5, June 2017.

Fig 4.2 Telegram Notification

Fig 4.1 represents the designed model crack in railway track

detection and Fig 4.2 represents an alert notification sent
through Telegram as soon as crack on Railway track.

CONCLUSION

The latest research shows that the systems require more

time, attention, effort, and expense in crack detection. In
conclusion, the developed automated system for crack in railway
track detection and alerting using Raspberry Pi Pico, ESP8266,
IR sensor and GPS device is a promising application of Internet
of Things (IoT) technology and a cost-effective and reliable
solution for track monitoring systems. By detecting cracks in the
railway track, the system helps in preventing accidents and
ensure safe transportation. The system operates by measuring
changes in IR reflectance caused by small gaps in the tracks. The
data collected is processed using Raspberry Pi Pico as a unit and
triggers ESP8266 which sends an alert message to railway
officials through Telegram application pointing meridians and
parallels of the fault. The results shown by the system are
effective in enhancing the safety and efficiency of railway
transportation.

REFERENCES

[1] Mohammed Rafi. H. Kerur, M N Dinesh, Mahamad

Nawazpeer, Manjunath Elavi, Manoj H, Mohammad Ayaan
M K, “Railway Track Crack Detection Robot”,
International Journal of Engineering Research &
Technology (IJERT), 2022.
[2] Arun kumar R, Vanishree K, Shweta K, Nandhini C, Shweta
G “Railway Track Crack Detection” International Journal
of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT), Volume-
8, Issue-15, 2020.
[3] Gokul Ramamoorthy, Tushar Karthikeyan, Ganesh
Yenugudati, “Railway Track Crack Detection Using
Arduino”. International Journal of Engineering Science &
Computer (IJESC), Volume -10, Issue -5, May - 2020.
[4] Dr Nanda Kishore, Aishwarya K S V, Pallavi, Ruhejadhav
J “Railway Track Crack Detection Using GPS and GSM