Revitalising Rail in the UK continues apace. In this session attendees will learn about a novel drone based system to capture sub-5mm photogrammetric data of rail infrastructure. How a raft of advanced and emerging technologies have been trialled or used on the Crossrail tunnelling project; and how low-cost imaging and data analytics can be used for inspection and management of civil infrastructure.
Session Programme:
14:15 Tue 22 Theatre 2
Vogel R3D – Future of rail surveying
Stephen Wolski, Vogel Technical Consultant, Plowman Craven
A revolutionary new service from the surveying experts at Plowman Craven, Vogel R3D is a unique, UAV-based system which enables the comprehensive surveying of rail infrastructure to a sub-5mm accuracy in a fraction of the time of a traditional survey.
Stephen joined Plowman Craven at the end of 2017, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge and experience from roles in the Aerospace and UAV sectors back home in Toronto, Canada. As an Aerospace Engineer with a Masters in Engineering Design, Stephen pursued his flying passion with global leader United Technologies, going on to co-found and develop The Sky Guys, Canada’s leading Aerial Survey provider. His role at Plowman Craven reinforces the company’s commitment to the use of hi-spec UAVs in the infrastructure and geotechnical fields – combining state-of-the-art aircraft and technical expertise to extract accurate measurement data and an array of programme efficiencies across inaccessible, hazardous or large scale sites.
14:35 Tue 22 Theatre 2
High accuracy train borne surveying of the railway using multiple sensors
Bryce Lane, Commercial Director, Omnicom Balfour Beatty
Dr Jonathan Owen, Expert Engineer, Omnicom Balfour Beatty
Traditional surveying techniques on the railway are costly and dangerous. To perform surveys safely, lines must be closed or the survey must take place during other works. Vehicle-borne surveying systems mitigate these risks and constraints by operating at line-speed on rail vehicles. This allows infrastructure owners to manage their assets and perform measurements without the need for personnel lineside.
Omnicom Balfour Beatty have developed such a survey system, OmniCapture3D, consisting of two high resolution lasers, a calibrated HD camera and a highly accurate inertial positioning system cable of delivering sub-centimetre absolute accuracy. We have sought improvements in the video timing system so that OmniCapture3D video data could be used for performing accurate measurements.
The solution leverages Precision Time Protocol, a time synchronisation mechanism capable of under 1µs accuracy. The use of PTP allowed us to achieve excellent synchronisation with few physical design changes, as well as allowing for multiple cameras if required. The resulting system achieved a synchronisation accuracy of 7µs, a movement of under 0.3mm at 90 mph.
Bryce has nearly 20 years experience in the rail industry including roles in finance, construction, safety and systems engineering and information management. He has worked on numerous asset implementation, surveying and inspection projects from both client and supplier side and has worked for Omnicom Balfour Beatty since 2012 in a Business Develop and Account Management role.
Dr Jonathan Owen began working for Omnicom Engineering in 2001 after completing his PHD in Applied Mathematics. He has been instrumental in developing Omnicom’s world class surveying and positioning systems. As part of a team he has developed a set of geospatial mapping tools sitting above an Oracle database which allow network infrastructure owners to view and manipulate their linear and fixed asset data as well as manage services provisioned over these assets.
14:55 Tue 22 Theatre 2
Innovations in a tunnel environment
Ravi Kugananthan, Project Engineer - Tunnels and Platforms , Liverpool Street, Crossrail , Laing O'Rourke
The presentation explains the cutting edge technologies that were employed to assist construction of the platforms at Crossrail Liverpool Street Station. From 3D printing that provided a scale prototype of the platform installation which was used to brief the workforce to high-resolution video drones that were used to record visual surveys of inaccessible locations. The Platform and Tunnels team also trialed augmented-reality headsets with a view to streamline provision of quality assurance.
Ravi is a Project Engineer for Laing O’Rourke working on Crossrail , Europe’s largest infrastructure construction project . With 14 years career experience in construction including landmark projects as London Heathrow Terminal 5 & Terminal 2 . Is a specialist in design and implantations of bespoke lifting solutions for (DfMA) Design for Manufacture and Assembly Precast concrete components . Heavily involved in innovative construction methodology and technologies including augmented reality. Recently conceptualised and initiated trial of drone technology within the tunnel environment focusing on visual high level inspection and high resolution point cloud surveying.
15:15 Tue 22 Theatre 2
Smart inspection and asset management of civil infrastructure – Deep learning in computer vision
Yung Loo, Senior Engineer, Arup
Arup, in collaboration with University College London (UCL), is investing in research and development of low cost photographic inspection systems, image processing and data analytics. The use of computer vision and deep learning as accessible imaging technology has enabled significant quality, cost and safety improvements to be made to conventional routines of inspection and management of civil infrastructure assets. This talk will identify the range of new services being utilised by Arup in this area, provide case studies across tunnelling projects, and current research as part of an Arup-UCL PhD studentship. Significant benefits in understanding and maintaining assets can be passed onto stakeholders.
Yung Loo is a senior engineer in Arup’s London Infrastructure Group. He leads Arup’s global tunnels digital skills network and is a chartered engineer with experience developed across the design, planning and management of major underground civil infrastructure projects.
15:35 Tue 22 Theatre 2
TBC