Treviso, ITALY - Between 2007 and 2008 Tecnogamma has been developing a research project for TTCI (Transportation Technology Center, Inc.) called ASAIS (Automated Safety Appliance Inspection System), for the inspection of the safety appliances on railcars. The prototype developed during the project has been installed in the test facility centre of TTCI in Colorado (USA).
After this first experience, at present Tecnogamma is going to install a further system for the Norfolk Southern Railways in Ironto, Virginia (USA).
This system allows an automatic identification of the railcar safety appliance to detect if they are damaged or absent; in the images the TTCI installation, an acquisition of one side and the elaboration of one view. This research project was characterized by a deep “on field” experience. At the moment the research activity is focused on the redefinition of the video analysis system limits, in order to permit its application in further sectors; in fact, one target of the project is also to develop a “base algorithm” that could be used for the 3D reconstruction of any general object from a calibrated multi-view acquisition. The ASAIS system installed in TTCI is still used for further research activities. One of these activities regards the integration of an "add-on" module for the analysis of rail car structure: the inspection would be made with acquisitions called "Automated Inspection of Structural Components" (AISC) coming from railcar bottom.
