Infrastructure monitoring DVTs
AS this decade began, Network Rail and its partners were well on the way to developing a new method of carrying out track inspections. Dubbed plain line pattern recognition (PLPR), the system utilised an array of cameras mounted beneath a coach to produce high definition images of continuously-welded plain track in different planes at speeds up to 125mph.
These images were then processed by pattern recognition software to identify missing, misaligned or damaged track components, such as Pandrol clips. Any defects would be flagged for correction with their location pinpointed using a mix of systems, including global positioning satellite co-ordinates and tachographs.
The idea of PLPR was to significantly improve the quality of track
