Austria | Germany | France | Sweden | India | USA | China | Singapore
Cloud-based Railway Bridge Monitoring with Solar Powered Q.series DAQ
News | 2 minutes Reading Time |

Cloud-based Railway Bridge Monitoring with Solar Powered Q.series DAQ

For a large railway operator, Gantner Instruments continuously monitors a railway bridge using displacement transducers to detect deflection in bridge support elements.

Bridge movement is measured with every passing train and data is transferred to a Gantner Cloud system via 4G modem. In the case of unwanted bridge movement, an alarm is generated and the Railway Operations Center is notified by Email. For every passing train, data is acquired at 500Hz with high resolution to ensure precise measurement of bridge movements for further evaluation.

The challenge was the tight schedule to provide a solution with no possibility to power the measurement system from any local grid. In combination with the demand to generate fast and precise measurement data with every passing train, the power supply system had to be designed with great care. After analysis of the local region’s weather data from the past 5 years, two solar panels were selected along with a high-quality Lithium-Ion battery. This carefully selected combination of products guarantees several days of measurement autonomy, even under harsh environmental conditions including low temperature and solar radiation during the winter season.

The entire process from first customer interaction to the installation and commissioning of the off-grid measurement system took only 3 months. Gantner Instruments was responsible for the complete system design of the measurement cabinet as well as the simulation and design of the solar powered off-grid system. After 2 weeks of full-scale testing at Gantner Instruments’ headquarters located in Schruns, the complete measurement system was delivered on-site.

Thanks to close cooperation with the customer during all project phases, both the installation and commissioning of the complete measurement system were executed within one day. With the Gantner Cloud system now in operation, data is collected with every passing train while live measurement values and system status information is accessible for railway crew with just a few mouse clicks. With a web browser-based fleet monitoring system such as the Gantner Cloud, it is possible to manage any number of constructions, regardless if on-site grid power is available.

More articles

News

Innovation in Alpine Solar: Overcoming Winter Energy Challenges

Switzerland is investing in the untapped potential of Alpine photovoltaic (PV) generation and making strides toward a sustainable future. This blog explores the innovative Sedrun Solar project, a pioneering high-altitude PV initiative to fill the winter energy gap. Uncover how rigorous testing and insightful data collection, facilitated by Gantner Instruments, are paving the way for optimizing this renewable energy source.

Read more...
Products & Services

Measurement Data in the Cloud and IT Security Aspects

The GI.cloud concept acquires and stores data of many decentralized data acquisition systems like Gantner Instrument’s Q.Station. IT Security is an increasingly important aspect to secure the communication and data transfer between the acquisition system and the cloud server.

Read more...
Tips & Trends

8 Tips to Consider When Buying a Strain Gage Amplifier

The strain gage is one of the most important tools of the electrical measurement technique applied to the measurement of mechanical quantities. As their name indicates, they are used for the measurement of strain.

Read more...
Events

China International Battery Fair 2024

Gantner Instruments at China International Battery Fair at the Chongqing International Expo Center, from April 27th to 29th, 2024.

Read more...