Train Brake Testing Time Cut by a Third
Windmill Software have designed a multi-car brake testing system for Alstom Transport which reduces the time Alstom takes to test the brakes from 36 to 12 hours.
When the brakes are applied the Windmill system measures pressure waveforms, looking for delays and making sure the equipment reaches the correct pressure. The multi-car system uses eight single-car boxes communicating over RS485. It can control airbag pressure and adjust for the weight of the people in the train.
The system is set up and run through customised Windmill software. The engineer selects from a menu of tests and chooses the thresholds on each measurement. He can use the software to access the train control system, switching various relays etc.
A similar single-car system uses our standard Streamer software. This collects data at up 100 000 samples per second and continually stores it to disk.
At the end of the tests reports are automatically generated that provide a permanent record of the procedures and results.
For more on the Streamer data collection software see https://www.windmill.co.uk/streamer.html. For more on testing trains contact Windmill Software at sales@biodataltd.com
