Power harvesting for railroad track safety enhancement using vertical track displacement

摘要: A significant portion of railroad infrastructure exists in areas that are relatively remote. Railroad crossings these areas are typically only marked with reflective signage and do not have warning light systems or crossbars due to the cost of electrical infrastructure. Distributed sensor networks used for track health monitoring applications would be useful areas, but same limitation regarding electrical exists. This motivates search a long-term, low-maintenance power supply solution remote deployment. paper describes the development a mechanical device harvesting from passing railcar traffic can be to supply at sensors via rechargeable batteries. The is mounted spans two rail ties such it directly harnesses vertical displacement the rail attached translates linear motion into rotational motion. amplified and mechanically rectified rotate PMDC generator charges system batteries. prototype was built tested in a laboratory setting verifying functionality design. Results indicate production capabilities on order of 10 W per its current form. sufficient illuminating high-efficiency LED lights railroad crossing powering track-health networks.