Novel method to measure track irregularity based on multiple MEMS-IMU and geometric constraint

Area of Science:

• Railway Engineering
• Geospatial Measurement
• Sensor Fusion

Background:

• Accurate track regularity measurement is vital for high-speed and heavy-haul railway safety.
• Traditional methods rely on expensive, bulky fiber-optic IMUs.
• Low-cost MEMS-IMUs offer potential but require advanced processing for accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an accurate and cost-effective method for measuring track irregularity.
• To leverage multiple MEMS-IMUs and geometric constraints for improved performance.
• To validate the proposed method against traditional fiber-optic IMU systems.

Main Methods:

• Constructing geometric constraint models for multiple MEMS-IMUs.
• Optimizing the installation configuration of MEMS-IMU sensors.
• Developing an adaptive federal Kalman filter (AFKF) for sensor fusion.
• Implementing adaptive adjustment of sub-filter fusion and feedforward factors.

Main Results:

• The proposed method achieves measurement accuracy comparable to fiber-optic IMUs.
• Noticeable improvements in measuring performance were observed.
• Laboratory and field tests confirmed the effectiveness of the approach.

Conclusions:

• The developed method offers a significant advancement for track irregularity measurement using low-cost MEMS-IMUs.
• This approach provides a viable alternative to expensive fiber-optic systems.
• Enhanced accuracy and reduced cost pave the way for wider adoption in railway monitoring.