Troy, N.Y.-based International Electronic Machines Corporation (IEM Corp.) has attained “Substantial Completion” status for its installation of a state-of-the art Vibration Monitoring System for Sound Transit’s light rail system in Seattle, Wash.
Substantial Completion is a status indicating that the customer has certified that the installed system along with its related software operates in a manner that meets all design performance specifications.
The system was designed to achieve two goals, IEM says:
• Monitor all vibrations emanating from the Sound Transit operations under the University of Washington campus to ensure that there is zero impact on research taking place on the campus.
• Provide system operators with real-time information about any light rail vehicle that has a wheel flat spot creating an unacceptable amount of noise. The affected LRV can be issued a slow order or be taken out of service prior to entering the tunnels beneath the campus.
IEM’s system consists of three components, all described as “innovative”:
• A Vibration Monitoring System (VMS) that monitors all vibrations emanating from Sound Transit rail operations.
• A next-generation Wheel Flat Detection System (WFDS) that uses “sophisticated signal processing” to identify small flat spots at low speeds before they reach the point of generating an unacceptable level of vibration or damaging the wheel, the rail, and the suspension system.
• The Smart Infrastructure Monitoring System (SIMS™), a “robust and redundant” industrial communications system that monitors all the sensors in the entire system and “intelligently” generates reports and alarms to train operators, maintenance supervisors, and University of Washington monitors in real time as necessary, according to Sound Transit-determined alarm levels.
“This is the first real-time remote asset monitoring system currently operating in any rail system in the world,” according to IEM President Zack Mian, “By taking an entirely new technological approach to the identification of wheel flat spots, we have created an easy to install, easy to operate system that can identify flat spots inaudible to the human ear at speeds as low as 8 mph. Virtually any transit agency, no matter how small, can afford this system, and we believe that the savings in wheel wear, rail wear, damage to truck components, and improvements in ride quality and fuel economy will provide enormous benefits to transit systems throughout the world.”