MPC
Bridgelall and Chia Present at SPIE Conference

Posted: May 24, 2019

UGPTI researcher Raj Bridgelall and NDSU transportation and logistics doctoral student Leonard Chia presented papers at the SPIE 26th Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Material Systems + Nondestructive Evaluation in Denver, CO, in March.

Bridgelall presented "Sensor System Benefits and Costs for Positive Train Control." Positive train control (PTC) is an electronic system designed to stop a train automatically before certain types of accidents occur. Analysis of accident data for the five years prior to the 2018 installation deadline found that accidents due to human factors or failures in signaling and communication systems accounted for 31.6% of the accumulated financial loss. If PTC could have prevented those accidents, then direct benefits to Class I railroads would have averaged $92 million annually. Authors were R. Bridgelall, B. King, Y Huang, D. Tolliver and P. Lu.

Chia presented "Train Speed Estimation Using Low-Cost GPS Sensors." Railroads us train speed measurements to assess operational efficiency and safety. The recent availability of low-cost GPS receivers presents an opportunity for massive cost reductions in monitoring continuously the speed and position of equipment across a rail network. The authors describe the data collected, the data processing algorithm developed to estimate speed, and the error quantification by comparing speed estimates to vehicle speedometer measurements reported by hi-rail vehicle operators. Authors were L. Chia, B. Bhardwaj, R. Bridgelall, P. Lu and D. Tolliver.

Bridgelall also chaired a session at the conference called "Control and Actuation of Dynamic Systems. The Symposium covered all aspects of the evolving fields of materials, enabling technologies, sensor/actuator design, and applications of these technologies to cover the whole spectrum of life including commercial, medical, aerospace, and military fields. The meeting was a showcase for multidisciplinary research.