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Robust Railway Crack Detection Scheme (RRCDS) Using LED-LDR Assembly

Abstract:
In India, most of the commercial transport is being carried out by the railway network and therefore, any problems in the same has the capacity to induce major damage to the economy-notwithstanding the societal impact of loss of life or limb. This paper proposes a cost effective yet robust solution to the problem of railway crack detection utilizing a method that is unique in the sense that while it is simple, the idea is completely novel and hitherto untested. The paper discusses the technical, design aspects in detail, and provides the proposed robust crack detection algorithm. The paper also presents the details of the implementation results of the RRCDS utilizing simple components inclusive of a GPS module, GSM Modem and LED-LDR based crack detector assembly. The proposed scheme has been modeled for robust implementation in the Indian scenario.

Existing System:
The finding of cracks in railways tracks takes time consumption due to manual checking. It reduces the accuracy too. This method of design is having limited intelligence and time consuming.

Proposed System:
The core of the proposed crack detection scheme consists of a Light Emitting Diode (LED)-Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) assembly that functions as the rail crack detector. The principle involved in crack detection is the concept of LDR. In the proposed design, the LED will be attached to one side of the rails and the LDR to the opposite side. During normal operation, when there are no cracks, the LED light does not fall on the LDR and hence the LDR resistance is high. Subsequently, when the LED light falls on the LDR, the resistance of the LDR gets reduced and the amount of reduction will be approximately proportional to the intensity of the incident light. Therefore, when light from the LED deviates from its path due to the presence

of a crack or a break, a sudden decrease in the resistance value of the LDR ensues. This change in resistance indicates the presence of a crack or some other similar structural defect in the rails. In order to detect the current location of the device in case of detection of a crack, a GPS receiver whose function is to receive the current latitude and longitude data is used. To communicate the received information, a GSM modem has been utilized. The function of the GSM module being used is to send the current latitude and longitude data to the relevant authority as an SMS. The aforementioned functionality has been achieved by interfacing the GSM module, GPS module and LED-LDR arrangement with a microcontroller. DC motors drive the robot and relays were used to control the motors.

Block Diagram:

Power supply

Max232 Signal Conditioning Circuit

GPS Receiver

GSM Modem

LDR LCD Microcontroller AT89C51 LED Motor Driver Robot Mechanism

Motor Driver

Motor Driver

Hardware Requirements:
AT89C51 Microcontroller with Power Supply LDR and LED LCD Max232 GSM Modem GPS Receiver

Robot Mechanism

Software Requirements:
Embedded C Keil Compiler

Advantages:
Exact location of crack in railway track is detected. Inspection time and error rate is very less. Easy to implement and low cost technique

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