ARDANUY INGENIERÍA PARTICIPATES IN THE EUROPEAN PROJECT ENTITLED “ETALON”, WHICH WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF TRAINS’ FUNCTIONALITY AND REMOTE CONTROL OF TRACK
OBJECTS IN ORDER TO FACILITATE THE ADOPTION OF ERTMS L3.
The European R&D projects geared towards energy harvesting and storage for railway applications such as ETALON are of major significance for the train of the future as they seek out new solutions that optimise its performance while increasing safety.
ETALON will provide improvements to the train’s functional aspects, by offering an alternative energy supply and sturdy radio communications system between vehicles that will form the basis for the verification of train integrity, once ground detection systems have been removed (track circuits, for example). Furthermore, a solution has been proposed whereby energy and field communications cabling will be reduced, thus providing an independent energy source and radio communications operating via remote wayside objects.
This initiative has been managed under the auspice of the UNIFE (Union Des Industries Ferroviaires Europeennes),
which is formed by nine partners and boasts the participation of the Spanish firm Ardanuy Ingeniería.
Ardanuy Ingeniería works, alongside the rest of the participants, in the development of solutions for energy hharvesting and storage that can power controllers of remote wayside objects and on-board train integrity detection systems. These must be suitable for their installation in areas where energy supply is troublesome (remote areas and those with difficult access, freight lines and trains etc). In addition, the aim is to submit a solution that allows for the minimisation of energy and communications cabling.
The project includes the identification of technological candidates, the creation of technical specifications and functioning requirements, the development of prototypes along with the integration, testing and validation in a simulated environment running in real time.
The final aim, as well as providing a technically feasible solution, is to reduce the cost of the installation, testing, service start-up and commercialisation stages.