Railyard Worker Safety through innovative Mobile Active Train Detection and Risk Localization
| University | University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) |
| Principal Investigators | Dr. Hamid Sharif, Ph.D., Telecommunication and Computer Engineering (PI) Dr. Michael Hempel, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor (Co-PI) |
| PI Contact Information | PKI 200C Omaha/PKI Lincoln, NE 68583-0851 Office (402) 554-3628 hsharif@unl.edu |
| Funding Source(s) and Amounts Provided (by each agency or organization) | UTCRS (US DOT UTC Program): $109, 952 Union Pacific Railroad: $100,000 Advanced TEL Lab: $77,465 |
| Total Project Cost | $287,417 |
| Agency ID or Contract Number | DTRT13-G-UTC59 |
| Start and End Dates | July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2018 |
| Brief Description of Research Project | This project aimed at improving the safety of railyard workers by increasing overall situational awareness. To accomplish this we research sensing technologies that can be used to detect objects, classify them, and localize them. Once localized, proximity of dangerous objects to railyard workers can be detected and alerts can be triggered. This project explored the use of vision-based systems as well as Software-Defined RADAR, in combination with each other, to provide observations reliably under a wide range of weather conditions. We conducted a large number of field tests using Software Defined RADAR at the Union Pacific Yard which the results have shown the tremendous potential in this approach. We also developed several signal processing approaches as part of the project effort. We look forward to further exploring this application, as well as other related applications for this technology. We would like to thank Union Pacific for all their assistance with this project. |
| Keywords | train approach detection, railyard worker safety, warning system, multi-sensory, wearable, wireless body area sensor networks, wireless integration |
| Describe Implementation of Research Outcomes (or why not implemented) Place Any Photos Here | See Report. |
| Impacts/Benefits of Implementation (actual, not anticipated) | See Report. |
| Report | http://www.utrgv.edu/railwaysafety/_files/documents/research/operations/utcrs_sharif_railyard-worker-safety_final-report.pdf |
| Project Website | http://www.utrgv.edu/railwaysafety/research/operations/railyard-worker-safety-mobile-active-train-detection/index.htm |