rail network
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PurposeThe need to examine the integrity of infrastructure in the rail industry in order to improve its reliability and reduce the chances of breakdown due to defects has brought about development of an inspection and diagnostic robot.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, an inspection robot was designed for detecting crack, corrosion, missing clips and wear on rail track facilities. The robot is designed to use infrared and ultrasonic sensors for obstacles avoidance and crack detection, two 3D-profilometer for wear detection as well as cameras with high resolution to capture real time images and colour sensors for corrosion detection. The robot is also designed with cameras placed in front of it with colour sensors at each side to assist in the detection of corrosion in the rail track. The image processing capability of the robot will permit the analysis of the type and depth of the crack and corrosion captured in the track. The computer aided design and modeling of the robot was carried out using the Solidworks software version 2018 while the simulation of the proposed system was carried out in the MATLAB 2020b environment.FindingsThe results obtained present three frameworks for wear, corrosion and missing clips as well as crack detection. In addition, the design data for the development of the integrated robotic system is also presented in the work. The confusion matrix resulting from the simulation of the proposed system indicates significant sensitivity and accuracy of the system to the presence and detection of fault respectively. Hence, the work provides a design framework for detecting and analysing the presence of defects on the rail track.Practical implicationsThe development and the implementation of the designed robot will bring about a more proactive way to monitor rail track conditions and detect rail track defects so that effort can be geared towards its restoration before it becomes a major problem thus increasing the rail network capacity and availability.Originality/valueThe novelty of this work is based on the fact that the system is designed to work autonomously to avoid obstacles and check for cracks, missing clips, wear and corrosion in the rail tracks with a system of integrated and coordinated components.

Trains can be optimally spread over the period of the cyclic timetable. By integrating sequencing issue with headway time together, this paper studies the structure optimization of mixed-speed train traffic for a cyclic timetable. Firstly, by taking it as a job-shop problem with sequence-dependent setup times on one machine, in the type of infinite capacity resource with headway (ICR + H), the problem is transformed to alternative graph (AG) and then recast to the mixed-speed train traffic planning (MSTTP) model. For the multiobjective in MSTTP, three indicators are optimized, i.e., heterogeneity, cycle time, and buffer time, which correspond to diversity of train service toward passenger, capacity consumption of rail network, and stability of train operation, respectively. Secondly, the random-key genetic algorithm (RKGA) is proposed to tackle the sequence and headway simultaneously. Finally, RKGA is coded with visual studio C# and the proposed method is validated with a case study. The rail system considered is a line section encompassing a territory of 180 km with 15 mixed-speed trains in each cycle of the timetable. Results indicate the comprehensively balanced train plan for all stakeholders from random variations of train sequence and headway time. Both the quantitative proportion of heterogeneity/homogeneity (e.g., 2.5) about the optimized distribution of the mixed train traffic and the link between train headway time and the sequence for each traffic scenario are found. All the findings can be used to arrange the mixed-speed train traffic more scientifically.

Since the new century, countries in Africa have started a new round of rail network planning and construction which brings the completed different features together with the spatial organization of the railway network during the colonial period. Along with the strategic layout of “going out” with China’s railways, the organizational structure of the African railway network will make a tremendous change for the construction market, network organization, and gauge structure of the African railways. Based on the literature reviews, we analyzed and forecasted the evolution of railway network in Africa and discussed the spatial differentiation of the future construction market of the railways from the view of country and enterprise. The results show that the development of the African railway networks will experience three stages: 1850–1960, 1960–2010 and 2010–2050, and that the organization pattern of the African railway network has evolved from the “Hinterland-Port” model to the “Continental Integration” model. The development of railway technical standards tends to be integrated, the gauge type is changed from complicated to single, the gauge distribution is changed from broken to uniform. The contractor countries of the railway changed from English-French dominated to China dominated. The application of railway technical standards is influenced by technology dependence and path dependence and is mainly reflected in the two characteristics of “Chinese standard implantation” and “local standard retention”. The contractor enterprises of railway have a monopoly on the market of a country, CCECC and CRCC are leading, and the contractor enterprises are spatially characterized by four spatial distribution modes: single, continuous, jumping and comprehensive.

<p>Being the most common mental disorder, anxiety is especially co-related with busy urban environments. The rise of urbanisation and modern technology has created a world that has significantly heightened our levels of stress and anxiety. In this context, our social responsibility and accountability as architects is increasing. How can we design with peoples’ health and wellbeing in mind? Through iterative design processes, I will create an emotional experience that connects the body with architecture, heightens the occupant’s self-awareness, and engages with site, creating a place of calm and belonging. Sensory design will be used to model the four levels of anxiety (mild, moderate, severe, panic level). The final design will create a narrative journey that stimulates a transition from anxiousness to calming.  The research proposition will be tested on a site located in a highly developed area on the corner of Elliott, Albert and Victoria Streets in Auckland’s business hub. This site was chosen not only for its central location but because it is the site of a new metro station (predicted to be the busiest station in the Auckland rail network) as well as a linear park connecting Victoria and Albert Parks. Together these infrastructural additions will increase pressure on an already over-stimulated environment. The station (Aotea station) will be incorporated into the design, creating an urban park that provides access from the concourse level to street level, drawing people up into a protected landscape area intended to relieve anxiety and provide a place of respite.</p>

<p>Being the most common mental disorder, anxiety is especially co-related with busy urban environments. The rise of urbanisation and modern technology has created a world that has significantly heightened our levels of stress and anxiety. In this context, our social responsibility and accountability as architects is increasing. How can we design with peoples’ health and wellbeing in mind? Through iterative design processes, I will create an emotional experience that connects the body with architecture, heightens the occupant’s self-awareness, and engages with site, creating a place of calm and belonging. Sensory design will be used to model the four levels of anxiety (mild, moderate, severe, panic level). The final design will create a narrative journey that stimulates a transition from anxiousness to calming.  The research proposition will be tested on a site located in a highly developed area on the corner of Elliott, Albert and Victoria Streets in Auckland’s business hub. This site was chosen not only for its central location but because it is the site of a new metro station (predicted to be the busiest station in the Auckland rail network) as well as a linear park connecting Victoria and Albert Parks. Together these infrastructural additions will increase pressure on an already over-stimulated environment. The station (Aotea station) will be incorporated into the design, creating an urban park that provides access from the concourse level to street level, drawing people up into a protected landscape area intended to relieve anxiety and provide a place of respite.</p>

Abstract The article synthesizes a simulation model of a section of a traction rail network, analyzes the norms of permissible asymmetry current, at which a choke-transformer is able to function with a set quality. The simulation of the current distribution process that occurs in the traction rail network during the movement of trains of increased weight and length has been carried out. The graphs of the dependence of the asymmetry current on the traction current consumed by the electric rolling stock have been obtained, and the simulation of the dynamics of changes in the traction current in each of the rail lines has been carried out when the train was moving along a section of the traction rail network. Conclusions about the need to monitor the state of traction rail network elements, the service life of which in heavy traffic conditions is significantly reduced both due to dynamic loads and due to overheating due to the passage of increased traction currents have been made.