Journal of Advanced Research in Embedded System

Volume 5, Issue 1&2 - 2018, Pg. No. 8-13

Peer Review Journal
Research Article

Implosion of Railway Sleepers and

Propounded Antidote
S.Dhanalakshmi1, R.S.Bhavya2, C.Jackulin3
4 year, B.E - Computer Science and Engineering, Panimalar Engineering College India.
1,2 th

3
Associate Professor, Panimalar Engineering College India.

Abstract
In Indian railway the detection of cracks in the rail structure is a manual inspection and this process is
very tedious which consumes lot of time and human resource. This project aims in designing railway track
crack detection autonomous vehicle using Microcontroller, ultrasonic Sensors which detects the cracks
along its path. The ultrasonic sensor senses the crack in the railway track and sends the information to the
microcontroller. Based on the response of microcontroller, motor driver slows down the speed of the train.
Driver is intimated with the buzzer sound to stop the vehicle. The exact location of crack is determined
using GPS module. After detecting the crack, message is send to nearest station with location of crack.
This communication is done through GSM technique. Thus the proposed railway track crack identification
system automatically detects the faulty railway track without any intervention of human. This system is
simple in operation and is more advantageous over both day and night crack detection. There are several
different techniques to detect the cracks but this technique of crack detection has less costing and gives
more accurate result. It is optimized by less cost, low power consumption and less analysis time. By this
planned system the exact location of the misplaced rail track can easily be identified and determined so
that many lives could be saved.

Keywords: Ultrasonic Sensor, Crack, GPS, GSM, Detect, Optimized, Train

Introduction
Transportation plays an important role in our day to
day life used to transfer the goods and passengers from
one place to another. As the railway is essential part of
our life, the proper maintenance should be there. Train
derailment , cracks in tracks, Improper maintenance of
the train tracks leads to railway accidents. On analysis of
the factors that cause these rail accidents, recent statistics
reveal that approximately 90% are due to cracks on the
rails either due to natural causes like high expansion due
to heat, water floods or due to antisocial elements.The
Railways have to look after 80,352 km of tracks all over
the country. In addition, there are loop lines. On a stretch
of one kilometer of a track, there could be hundreds of
hairline cracks.In Indian railway the detection of cracks
involves manual Inspection.It is very tedious process
and consumes lot of time and human resource[3]. Hence
it is difficult to detect and replace the tracks, especially
when trains are constantly on the move. Our system is to
design railway track crack detection autonomous vehicle
using Microcontroller, GSM,GPS ultrasonic Sensors[12]
which detects the cracks along its path.The ultrasonic
sensor senses the crack in the railway track and sends
the information to the microcontroller by the help of
microcontroller .Exact location of the crack is detected
using GPS and the message is sent to the near by station

Corresponding Author: S. Dhanalakshmi, 4th year, B.E Computer Science and Engineering, Panimalar Engineering College India.
E-mail Id: dhanalakshmisivaraman20@gmail.com
Orcid Id: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2471-8805
How to cite this article: Dhanalakshmi S, Bhavya RS, Jackulin C. Implosion of Railway Sleepers and Propounded Antidote. J Adv Res
Embed Sys 2018; 5(1&2): 8-13.

Copyright (c) 2018 Journal of Advanced Research in Embedded System (ISSN: 2395-3802)
 Dhanalakshmi S et al.
9 J. Adv. Res. Embed. Sys. 2018; 5(1&2)

Figure 1.Crack in Railway Track Figure 2.Manual Detection

using GSM ,the motor driver is used to stop the engine the safety of line. Bridges and their approaches should be
motor of the train. especially watched.

So in this proposed model system automatically detects Since India has one of the largest railway networks, which
the faulty railway track without any human intervention utilizes the task of manual Inspection to detect the cracks
in a cost effective way [10]. which is a tedious process.

Literature Survey Proposed System

Indian Railways have a system of scheduled inspections The proposed setup would make the detection and
and patrolling by Railway officials. It includes Keyman’s maintenance of railways tracks easier and help them to
daily patrol, Gang patrol during abnormal rainfall or monitor efficiently by replacing the human inspection which
storm, Night patrolling at the time of monsoon, Security is currently followed. This System includes Ultrasonic Sensor,
patrolling during civil disturbances and for movement of microcontroller, Global System for Mobile Communication
VIP patrols, Hot weather patrolling for long and continuous (GSM),Global Positioning System(GPS),Buzzer, motor
welded trains and Watchman at vulnerable locations [2]. driver, LCD display.[1] This system identifies the cracks
In Keyman’s daily patrol every portion of the permanent and notifies 9to the driver by buzzer sound and to nearest
way shall be inspected daily on foot by the keyman of the station through SMS. In this system, Ultrasonic sensors are
beat in which the portion of the track falls. Provided that attached at the either sides of the engine[9]. It measures
the layoff between such inspections may, under special the distance between the train and track .Whenever any
instructions, which is notified and instructed by Chief
surveyor be increased to once in two days for the case
of specified section of lines with light and sparse traffic.
Whereas in gang patrol during day or night, the mate
should, initiate and start organize patrollingon his own over
the length concerned, independently of other patrolling, if
any being done. This garrison should, confine its supervision
to known points of danger, at the time of excessive rainfall
such as cutting or culverts likely to scour, banks affected
by tanks likely to breach and bridge approaches. In case
of high winds, the patrolman should inspect the length of
track likely to be fouled by falling of tree etc., At the time
of monsoon, certain section of the railway line, which may
be specified, shall be patrolled to detect catastrophe by
flood, such as breaches, settlements, slips and scours and
prompt action taken to protect trains, when so warranted
and assured. Generally patrolling will be carried out by a
single patrolman, but in areas where danger from wild
animals, dacoits and other risks as in ghat sections exist,
patrolling in pairs may be introduced with the consent of Figure 3.Architecture diagram
the Chief Engineer. The main duty of Patrolmen is to walk crack occurs in rail track ,constant distance measured by the
to and fro over the beat in accordance with the chart sensor varies and sensor sends signal to the microcontroller
pertaining to his “patrol-section” looking out for subsidence about presence of crack .
i.e. abatement, slips, signs of erosion, trees blown across
the track during storms or any other causes likely to expose Microcontroller sends signal to motor driver which slows

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Dhanalakshmi S et al.
J. Adv. Res. Embed. Sys. 2018; 5(1&2)
down the engine motor of the train and driver applies
brake in response to the buzzer sound. Exact location of
the crack is identified by Global Positioning System (GPS)
and sent to the nearby station via Global System for Mobile
Communication (GSM). It include less cost, low power
consumption, no manual intervention and less analysis
time. By this proposed system the exact location of the
faulty rail track can easily be located so that many lives
can be saved by avoiding accidents due to track failures.
Building Blocks of the System
Ultrasonic sensor
Ultrasonic is a special sonic transmitter and receiver(trans-
ducer) used for ultrasonic proximity sensors, which provide
way for alternate transmission and reception of sound
waves[4]. These waves produced by the transducer are
reflected by an object and received back by the transduc-
Figure 4.Working of Ultrasonic Sensor
er. After emitting the sound waves, the ultrasonic sensor
switches to receive mode. The time interval between
emitting and receiving is proportional to the distance of
the object from the sensor.
The basic principle of how ultrasonic sensor works:
• About 10us high level signal on trigger pin of sensor
using digital pin
• The Module automatically then sends eight 40 kHz
and detect whether there is a pulse signal back[8].
Figure 5.Principle of Sensor
• If the signal comes back, then the total time is the
duration for which the echo pin was high which is taken
by sonar waves from sending ultrasonic to returning
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back after bouncing on a object. So we need to first
divide time by 2.
We know, Distance=Speed * Time;
• In this case, Object distance = (high level Echo time/2)
×velocity of sound (340M/S).
• The range of the sensor is from 2-500cm.
• Velocity of sound (in m/s) = 340
• Since the duration for which the echo pin remains high
is in microseconds
• Therefore, Velocity of sound (in cm/us) = (340 *
100)/1000000 = 1/29
• Therefore, Object distance = (high level Echo time in
us/2) x (1/29 cm/us)
• i.e., High level Echo time/58 cm.
GPS(Global Positioning System)
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a navigation system.
It is a network of about 30 satellites orbiting the Earth at
Figure 6.Working of GPS
an altitude of 20,000 km.The Global Positioning System
satellites transmit signals to GPS receivers on the ground.
GPS receivers passively receive satellite signals; they do
not transmit. GPS receivers require an unobstructed view
of the sky, GPS receiver can pinpoint exact location using
a process called trilateration..
In geometry, trilateration is the process of calculating
absolute or relative locations of points by measuring
distances, using the geometry of circles, spheres or triangles
GSM(Global System for Mobile Communication)
For transmitting mobile voice and data services an open
and digital cellular technology called GSM (Global System
for Mobile Communication)is used [13].GSM  originally

11
Figure 7.Working of GSM
Groupe Special Mobile which is later changed as Global
System for mobile Communication developed by the
European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
which determines the protocols for second-generation
digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such as
tablets for transmitting voice data services first deployed
in Finland .
The technology behind the Global Positioning System (GPS)
uses Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK) modulation
a variant of Phase Shift Keying (PSK) with Time Division
Multiple Access (TDMA) signaling over Frequency Division
Duplex(FDD) carriers.
Buzzer
Anelectronic device mostly used to produce sound in
response to the input signal .It is Light weight, simple
operation and low cost makes it usable in various
applications like reversing indicator, computers, call
bells etc. The inverse principle of piezo electricity effect
is the basis for piezo buzzer. Piezo electric materials are
certain material that generates electricity when applied
to mechanical stress [11].
Figure 8.Buzzer
Dhanalakshmi S et al.
J. Adv. Res. Embed. Sys. 2018; 5(1&2)
Piezo electric materials are either naturally available or
manmade. Piezo ceramic (lead zirconate nitrate) is class
of manmade material, which poses piezo electric effect
and is widely used to make disc, the heart of piezo buzzer.
Types of Buzzers
There are several different kinds of buzzers. In Future
Electronics most of the buzzers are categorized by Type,
Sound Level, Frequency level, Rated Voltage, Dimension
and Packaging Type.Sound Levels such as 80 dB, 85 dB, 90
dB and 95 dB are most common types in buzzers. Buzzers
with Sound Level up to 105 dB, Acoustic, Electromagnetic,
Electro mechanic, Magnetic and Piezo buzzers are available.
Microcontroller
One of the most advanced microcontroller is PIC 16F877
that forms Microchip. Because of its low price, wide range of
applications, high quality, and ease of availability this is most
widely used for experimental and modern applications[6].
Figure 9.PIC 16F877
For applications such as machine control applications,
measurement devices, study purpose, mainly PIC 16F877
microcontroller is used . It posses all the applications that
modern microcontrollers have.
LCD Display
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other
electronically modulated optical device. It uses the light-
modulating properties of liquid crystals. It is combination of
two states of matter, the solid and the liquid. To produce a
visible image liquid crystal is used by the LCD. Displays used
in laptop computer screen, TVs, cell phones and portable
video games uses super-thin technology display screen (LCD
display). When compared to display’s in cathode ray tube
(CRT) technology display’s in LCD are thinner[7]. Several
layers in liquid crystal display includes two polarized panel
filters and electrodes. For displaying the image in notebook
or electronic devices like mini computers most widely used
technology is LCD. Light is projected on a layer of liquid
crystal from lens of LCD. The colored image is formed by the
combination of light with the grayscale image of the crystal
(formed as electric current flows through the crystal). This
colored image is then displayed on the screen.
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J. Adv. Res. Embed. Sys. 2018; 5(1&2)
Figure 10.LCD Display
An LCD is either made up of an active matrix display grid or
a passive display grid. Most of the Smartphone’s with LCD
display technology uses active matrix display, but some of
the older displays still make use of the passive display grid
designs. When compared to LED or cathode ray tube the
liquid in LCD has a unique advantage of having low power
consumption.LCD screen works on the doctrine of blocking
light instead of emitting light. LCD’s requires backlight as
they do not emit light by them. We always use devices
made up of LCD’s displays which are replacing the use of
cathode ray tube.  Cathode ray tube consumes more power
compared to LCD’s which are heavier and bigger.
Motor Drivers
A motor driver is a small current amplifier. The objective of
motor driver is to take a low-current control salient signal
and then convert it into a higher-current signal that can
drive a motor.
Types of motor Drivers
There are various different types of motor drivers. At Future
Electronics the most common types classified by maximum
supply voltage, output current which is maximum, power
dissipation(rated), load voltage, packaging type and number
of outputs[15].
Figure 11.Motor Driver
The most common values for maximum supply voltage
are 36 V and 52 V. It also includes motor drivers with
supply voltage up to 450 V. The number of outputs can
be in between 1 and 12, where the most prevalent motor
drivers are having 1, 2 or 4 outputs.
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Working of Proposed System
The presented system helps to detect the flaws in the rail
track using optimistic and best method. Here the ultrasonic
sensors are fixed at the either sides of the train in a tilted
manner. Microcontroller used here acts as a computer
which controls and monitors the overall process. Whenever
the sensor observes crack in track, the microcontroller
receives indication about it. In response to the signal
received, microcontroller sends the signal to the motor
driver whose function is to slow down the engine motor of
the train. In addition buzzer sound is also produced so that
driver applies brake and stops the vehicle. Now the exact
location of the crack is identified by using GPS. The Latitude
and Longitude coordinates received byGPS are converted
into a text message which is done byPIC microcontroller.
The converted text message is sent to the nearby station
using GSM technology.
Figure 12.Flowchart of Crack Detection
Conclusion
Thus it willhave a great impact in preventing train accidents
to a verylarge extentwithout intervention of humans[5].
The regions where manual inspection is not possible, like
in deep coal mines, mountain regions and dense thick
forest regions, train accidents could be easily avoided
and prevented by this methodology. The idea can be
implemented in large scale to facilitate better safety
standardsin future. The main advantage is that, crack is
detected with high accuracy. This also reduces the costof
manual surveying using railway employees. Moreover

13
system detects the crack and inform it to the control
stationimmediately which avoids derailing of the Train
and accident, which saves the plenty of lives.
Future Enhancement
This type of Crack detection in railway tracks used by the
Railways in future will reduce the cost of manual surveying
and also efficiently monitors the health of the Railway bed
24X7. This in turn reduces the human effort using wireless
module. In this implementation we have used Ultrasonic
sensor to detect cracks and obstacles in the track. In future
we can also use CCTV systems with IP based camera for
monitoring the track [14]. It increases the security for both
rails and passengers from terrorism, crimes, etc., Instead
of manual crack detection method the more advanced
technology which are compatible could be used. This
technology is helpful for domestic purpose and can also
be used commercially with this future vision.
References
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Date of Submission: 2018-04-18
Date of Acceptance: 2018-06-05
ISSN: 2395-3802