Page 16 - ASME JRC 2019 Program
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Grand Challenge Competition
JOINT RAIL CONFERENCE 2019 - GRAND CHALLENGE 41 percent from 2000; the employee injury rate in 2017
COMPETITION was down 43 percent from 2000, and the grade crossing
THURSDAY, APRIL 11 collision rate in 2017 was down 38 percent from 2000.
12:00PM–1:00PM America’s railroads today have lower employee injury rates
BALLROOM 1, LOWER LEVEL than most other major industries. Nevertheless, railroads
are always looking for ways to break the plateaus and make
This year the JRC will host the 3rd Annual JRC Grand tomorrow safer than today.
Challenge Competition open to all conference attendees.
We invite registered participants to propose an idea to the Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) present significant potential
below Grand Challenge Question and present that idea in the process of inspecting and monitoring the railroad safer,
to a panel of industry experts using a 3-minute “shark tank cheaper, and faster. Railroad inspection work is both remote
pitch.” The goal of this competition is to spark new ideas, and demanding. UAV-based inspections may provide a
innovations, and approaches to solving a relevant issue substantial improvement in labor efficiency and worker safety.
affecting the railroad industry.
UAVs could provide benefits and save lives beyond
The 2019 JRC Grand Challenge Question: inspecting the track. Hundreds of people are killed every
year while trespassing on railroad property—many times
The railroad industry’s commitment to safety is reflected more than are killed while traveling on passenger rail.
in annual statistics published by the Federal Railroad Aerial drones could be significantly useful in detecting, and
Administration. The train accident rate in 2017 was down perhaps even warning, trespassers.
A few challenges still face the technology though. For
example, multi-rotor copters are able to hover for close
inspection of areas of concern. Such an ability would make
them highly desirable in a railroad’s UAV fleet, yet the range
of rotor UAVs is generally quite limited. The flight range for
commonly used drones is often less than five miles on a
charge.
The equipment payloads for drones are evolving and
expanding. While typical visible-spectrum cameras could
detect some obvious obstructions, vital railway defects are
often invisible to the naked eye. For example, inspection
teams today use ultrasound equipment weighing up to
hundreds of pounds—vastly more than what even a large
drone could carry. However, emerging sensor technology
shows promise to detect anything from soil moisture content
to track alignment issues and cracks in the rails themselves.
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