Nedap AVI

Rail yard automation

Ansaldo Trasporti s.p.a. is implementing rail yard automation system for the Italian railways to regulate the trains on the rail yard.

The organisation decided to implement AVI to identify their rolling stock in order to monitor and control the movement of railway carriages on the rail yard. The system enables tracking & tracing of trains and carriages in order to distribute the loaded wagons. The purpose of the rail yard automation is the identification of wagons entering and leaving the yard in order to guide the wagons to the right track for further distribution. In the past the organisation has tried to realise the applications with inductive RFID systems, however these seemed to operate unreliable in the environmental conditions encountered in the railway industry.

Every railway carriage is equipped with a Heavy Duty Tags, which are mounted onto the carriage. The Heavy Duty Tag is developed for harsh environmental conditions. Additionally the tag is weatherproof protected and shock resistant.

As soon as the carriage enters the identification area of the TRANSIT reader the carriage will be identified without stopping. The system registers the exact route a train has followed and provides the data concerning the location of the wagons on the rail yard. When the wagon is identified the system will automatically control the switch that will guide the wagon to the right track for further distribution of the loaded materials. The system enables correct processing of the loaded wagons.