Machine Vision: You CAN Fix What You Can't See - Railway Age

RAILWAY AGE, SEPTEMBER 2020 ISSUE: Whether it's the track structure or the equipment that operates on it, there are many things that the naked eye cannot readily see. Increasingly, machine vision technology is becoming the best way to identify potential flaws before they lead to failures. "The various machine vision technologies deployed detect thousands of conditions each year that could potentially lead to accidents," says Robert Coakley, Director of Business Development, ENSCO Rail. Compared to manual visual inspections, he says, autonomous machine vision offers advantages of speed, reduced track occupancy, inspection frequency and consistency. The equipment is installed on revenue service trains, can perform inspections at track speed and does not require the additional occupancy of a hi-rail vehicle.