Enhanced safety and reliability for trains through fault tolerant control

EPSRC/RRUK grant. Principle Investigator – Professor T X Mei

Active controls for railway vehicles can provide much better performance, improve operation efficiency and reduce track damages. However the introduction of additional control system and associated electronics into the traditional mechanical system will have to meet the demanding requirements for safety and reliability in rail industry.

This project seeks to investigate fault tolerant control methods that will be able to ensure the safety and improve the overall reliability of rail vehicles, paving the way for an increased industrial acceptance and a wider application of advanced active systems. A key research objective is to develop practical solutions that do not demand a high level of redundancy and hence reduce the system costs.

The project is a natural extension of the leading research work at Salford University in the areas of high-integrity actuation and fault detection methods.

This project is funded by EPSRC (UK) via Rail Research UK grant.