Autonomous trains are capable of gathering data about their surroundings, detect obstacles and drive safely without human intervention.
Trains equipped with autonomous technology use artificial intelligence to “analyse”, “think” and “move” itselves with the help of advanced sensors, cameras, RADARs, LIDARs and core embedded software.
Such system allow autonomous trains to state their exact positions, review their speeds at any time, and to take appropriate actions according to detected signals located along the tracks, or even in case of detected obstacles on the tracks themselves.
Autonomous Mobility or Automatic Train Operation (“ATO”) is an operational and safety enhancement in rail applications. It takes the approximate guesswork, human error factors, and variables out of railways, making them more efficient, accurate, reliable and safer than ever.
At Leroy Automation, we are excited to be working on such cutting-edge projects! We do support major rolling stock manufacturers such as ALSTOM to implement key remote I/O modules and solid-state power controller components in autonomous passenger trains. First experiments on-board Regio2N regional train prototypes demonstrated successful automation processes during acceleration and braking of the trains.
Now after semi-autonomous operations, full autonomy is expected to be achieved by 2023. Such highly automated train driving with “ATO over ETCS” has also been successfully completed in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn on-board SIEMENS’ trains in Hamburg as part of the “Digital S-Bahn Hamburg” pilot project.