Wireless sensor network for derailment detection in freight trains powered from vibrations

Abstract

We present a network of wireless ultra-low-power sensors with the main purpose of detecting the derailment of a freight car and alerting the engineer in the cab of the leading locomotive. Due to the lack of a power supply in freight cars, we plan to rely on energy scavenging from vibrations. This implies that the energy requirements of the system must be minimized, choosing ultra-low-power hardware and operating it in active mode only for a small fraction of the time. We discuss the approach that we are currently pursuing, focusing, in particular, on the choice of hardware and the communication protocol.