Handhelds

Specific faults on tracks found by ultrasonic inspection vehicles have to be double-checked on site by hand-held testing equipment.

The previous approach was timeconsuming and prone to input and transmission errors. The results of the manual testing of faults on tracks collected by the inspection train would be handwritten, these notes would then be put in order and faxed to the office.

At the office, the data would be collated into a report and passed on to both the maintenance provider and the railway network operator.

Eurailscout automates this procedure:

Since 2002, Eurailscout has been working on the development and refinement of automatic data processing. In 2006, further progress was made with the introduction of an automatic reporting system for manual testing: a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), specifically designed for this application.

In one instrument, the PDAs unite GPS navigation, digital reporting and GPRS/UMTS data transmission. The GPS navigation system provides a swift location of faults in rails and their documentation; the digital reporting helps to input the faults that have been found directly into form sheets, and the data transmission makes sure that the maintenance provider has swift access to this data.

The manual inspection report is entered directly into the PDA and e-mailed to the customer. There are now significantly fewer steps necessary in reporting, thus eliminating sources of error and enhancing efficiency and quality.

A few minutes after the re-checking of faults, the maintenance provider already receives a report giving him extensive information on the type and extent of the fault.

Thus offering more efficient fault reporting and avoiding errors in transmission.

Thanks to this development Eurailscout able to improve its services at no extra cost to customers and accelerate significantly.