Design and Operational Assessment of a Railroad Track Robot for Railcar Undercarriage Condition Inspection

The operational effectiveness of a railroad track robot that is designed for railcar undercarriage inspection is provided. Beyond describing the robot’s design details and onboard imaging
system, the paper analyzes the recorded video images and offers design improvements to increase
their clarity. The robot is designed to be deployed trackside, traverse over the rails, and then maneuver in between the rails beneath a stopped train in a siding or a railyard. The under-carriage
conditions are documented by onboard video cameras for automated or manual postprocessing. The
intent is to inspect the components that are not visible to the conductor or train inspector during
a walk-along inspection of a stationary train. An assessment of the existing design, followed by
modification and validation, is presented. The results from a prototype unit developed by the Railway
Technologies Laboratory at Virginia Tech (RTL) indicate that with proper positioning of off-the-shelf
imaging systems such as cameras manufactured by GoPro® in San Mateo, CA, USA and appropriate
lighting, it is possible to capture videos that are sufficiently clear for manual (by a railroad engineer),
semi-automated, or fully automated (using Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning methods)
inspections of rolling stock undercarriages. Additionally, improvements to the control, mobility, and
reliability of the system are documented, although reliability throughout operation and the ability to
consistently climb out of the track bed remain points of future investigation.