T.E.

Mini Project Report

On

Railway Track Crack Detection

Vehicle

Submitted by-
Vaishnavi Patil (T150383096)
Srishti Shetty(T1508383124)

Project Guide:
Prof.Sanjay Kinge (Internal Guide)

TE Div : B
Year: 2018-2019

MAEER’S MIT COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,

Pune – 38.

Department of Electronics and Telecommunication

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 CERTIFICATE
MAEER’s
MIT COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, PUNE.

This is to certify that TE mini project

entitled

Automatic Railway Track Crack

Detection Vehicle

has been carried out successfully by

Vaishnavi Patil(T150383096)
Srishti Shetty (T150383124)

during the Academic Year 2018-2019 in partial fulfillment of their

course of study for third year in Electronics and
Telecommunication as per the syllabus prescribed by the
University of Pune.

Internal guide Project Co-ordinator Head of Department

Prof. S R Kinge Prof. R D Komati Prof. Dr. V V Shete

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We student of class TE E&TC owe a great thanks to a great many

people who helped and supported us during the writing of this seminar.
My deepest thanks to Project guide Prof. Sanjay Kinge for guiding us
tin making synopsis and selecting idea. Special Thanks to Prof. Deepa
Nath for Guiding and helping us at various stages.

He has been helpful to go through the seminar and make

necessary correction as and when required. I express my thanks to the
principal for extending his support in letting me take this opportunity.

My thanks and appreciation also goes to my seminar group members

and people who have willingly helped me out with their abilities.

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 INDEX
TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Chapter Sr.no Title Page

Chapter 1 1. Introduction

Chapter 2 2. Literature Survey

2.1 Problem identification
2.2Proposed system
2.3Objective
Chapter 3 3. System design
3.1. Block diagram
3.2. Block diagram description
3.3. Circuit diagram

Chapter 4 4 Working:
. Selection of components:
1. Arduino Uno Microcontroller
2. Ultrasonic Sensor
3. GSM Module
4. Motor Driver IC
5. Less rpm geared DC Motor
Chapter 5 5. Project making of System
Photos & PCB screenshots.

Chapter 6 6. Performance Evaluation

5.1. Advantages
5.2. Application

Chapter 7 7. Conclusion
References

Chapter 8 8. Component list and billing

Appendix

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 11. Datasheet

12. Circuit diagram on imperial graph

 List of the figures:

Figure no. Title of Figure Page no.

1. Block diagram of system

2. Circuit diagram

3. Flow chart

4. Arduino UNO

5. Pin diagram of Atmega328 Arduino IC

6. Ultrasonic Sensor

7. Pin diagram of Ultrasonic sensor

8. GSM SIM 900A module

9. Motor driver IC

10. DC Motor

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 List of the Tables:

Table Title of Page no.

no. Table
1. Pin description of Atmega328 Arduino IC

2. Ultrasonic sensor pin description

3. Component list and bill

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 ABSTRACT

The Indian Railways has one of the largest railway networks in the world, criss-
crossing over 1,15,000km in distance, all over India. However, with regard to reliability
and passenger safety Indian Railways is not up to global standards. Among other factors,
cracks developed on the rails due to absence of timely detection and the associated
maintenance possess serious questions on the security of operation of rail transport. A
recent study revealed that over 25% of the track length is in need of replacement due to the
development of cracks on it. Manual detection of tracks is cumbersome and not fully
effective owing to much time consumption and requirement of skilled technicians.
This project work is aimed towards addressing the issue by developing an
automatic railway track crack detection system. This work introduces a project that aims in
designing robust railway crack detection scheme using Ultrasonic sensor assembly system
which avoids the train accidents by detecting the cracks on railway tracks. And also
capable of alerting the authorities in the form of SMS messages with GSM modules. It
reduces human efforts due to automation. In the present of days, we are using the
measurement of track distance by using high cost LVDT with less accuracy, but we use the
less cost ultrasonic sensor for above process with high accuracy. The importance of this
project is applicable both day and night time detection purpose. The advantages include
less cost, low power consumption and less analysis time. By this proposed system the exact
location of the faulty rail track can easily be located which will mended immediately so
that many lives can be saved.

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 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION:

The Indian railway network is the fourth largest railway network in the world.
Indian rail network is still on the growth trajectory trying to fuel the economic needs
of our nation. Though rail transport in India growing at a rapid pace, the associated
safety infrastructure facilities are still not up to the mark.
As a result, there have been frequent derailments that have resulted in severe
loss of valuable human lives and property as well. On further analysis of the factors
that cause these rail accidents, recent statistics reveal that approximately 60% of all
the rail accidents have derailments as their cause, of which about 90% are due to gaps
on the rails either due to natural causes (like excessive expansion due to heat) or
due to antisocial elements.

This project deals with one of the efficient method to avoid train accidents.

This project work is aimed towards addressing the issue by developing

an automatic railway track crack detection system. This work introduces a
project that aims in designing robust railway crack detection scheme using
Ultrasonic sensor assembly system which avoids the train accidents by
detecting the cracks on railway tracks. And also capable of alerting the
authorities in the form of SMS messages along with location by using GPS
and GSM modules.

Transport is a key necessity for specialization that allows production

and consumption of products to occur at different locations. Transport has
throughout history been a spur to expansion as better transport leads to
more trade. Economic prosperity has always been dependent on increasing
the capacity and rationality of transport. But the infrastructure and
operation of transport has a great impact on the land and is the largest
drainer of energy, making transport sustainability and safety a major issue.
In India, we find that rail transport occupies a prominent position in
providing the necessary transport infrastructure to sustain and quench the
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 ever-burgeoning needs of a rapidly growing economy. Today, India
possesses the fourth largest railway network in the world. However, in
terms of the reliability and safety parameters, we have not yet reached truly
global standards.

OBJECTIVES:

The project aims in designing railway track gap detection

autonomous vehicle using Microcontroller, ultrasonic sensors, which
detects the gap along its path.
Our main objective of this project is:
 Avoid railway accidents and safeguard people
 Reduce labor cost and human efforts.
 Detection of railway track crack.
 Easy surveying and with less delay the information can be
acquired
 Works on renewable free source of energy i.e. solar energy
 Also serves as a transport vehicle in remote locations

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 CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE SURVEY:

Cracks in rails have been identified to be the main cause of

derailments in the past, yet there have been no cheap automated
solutions available for testing purposes. First LVDT was used
instead of ultrasonic, but LVDT was costly and sensitive to
temperature. Due to disadvantages of LVDT next it was
implemented using IR [1]. IR sensor is sensitive to sunlight it
supports shorter range and hence its performance degrades with
longer distance[2]. In our project we used highly efficient
ultrasonic sensor for crack detection.

PROPOSED SYSTEM:
This system involves the design of crack finding robot for finding
cracks in railway tracks. This system uses controller for
interfacing the robotic vehicle and crack detection sensor. The
sensing device senses the voltage variations from the crack sensor
and then it gives the signal to the microcontroller. The
microcontroller checks the voltage variations between measured
value and threshold value and controls the robot according to it.
The robotic model is interfaced with the microcontroller with the
help of motor driver circuit. If any crack occurs in the rail, the
robot will be stopped and then a SMS will be send.
 CHAPTER 3

3.1 BLOCK DIAGRAM:

Power Supply
{5V}

Power Supply
Ultras Sensor
Ultrasonic
onic
Module
Senso
r
Atmega328 controller GSM900A
MODULE

Motor driver
PHONE

Motor
3.2 BLOCK DIAGRAM DESCRIPTION:
Above diagram shows the block diagram of the proposed “Railway
Track Crack Detection System”. In this system we are using Arduino Uno
microcontroller, which acts as a brain of the system. This microcontroller
controls the circuit function. Various components are interfaced with this
microcontroller to perform desired operation of the system. The hardware
components used in this system requires regulated power supply for the
operation.
In this system we have interfaced two Ultrasonic sensors with the
microcontroller for the distance and detection of the crack present in the
track of the railway line. To communicate the received information, we
used a GSM modem. It send message when crack is detected along with the
distance from where the vehicle started . So we get the distance at where
the crack is located.The GSM send message to the control room. Immediate
crack reparing can be done with this automatic vehicle.
Two DC motors are used to move the robot in forward direction. These
motors are interfaced and controlled through the microcontroller with the help
of driver circuit . We used L293D driver IC , it starts and stops the motor as
and when required.

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3.3 CIRCUIT DIAGRAM:

Figure 2: Circuit Diagram

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3.4 WORKING:
The hardware is provided with a 240V power supply from source. This
supply is converted into 5V for the controller IC. At this instant, the dc
motors start rotating at 10 rpm initiating forward, movement of the vehicle.
The GSM module is powered on by 12V. The ultrasonic sensor which is
attached on one side of the vehicle, starts sensing and measuring the
distance between the track and the sensor. If this distance is greater than the
threshold value set for the sensor, crack is detected.
At this point, the vehicle stops for a brief period of time. During this time,
the controller signals crack detected through the GSM module.
After the message is received by the concerned authority, the motor starts
again and moves the robot in forward direction.
If there is no crack detected, that means the distance between the sensor
and the track is below or equal to the threshold value set, the vehicle
continues to move along the track.

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 3.5 FLOW CHART
Start

Locking of GSM

Forward movement of vehicle

No
Crack Yes
Detection
If>threshold

Robot Stops

GSM message

Stop

Figure 3: Flow chart of system

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 CHAPTER 4
4.1. SELECTION OF COMPONENTS:

1. Arduino Uno Microcontroller:

The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328

(datasheet). It has 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as
PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs,16MHz ceramic resonator, a USB
connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and reset button. The Uno differs
from all preceding boards in that it does not use the FTDI USB-to-serial
driver chip. Instead, it features the Atmega16U2 (Atmega8U2 up to version
R2) programmed as a USB-to-serial convertor.

Figure 4: Arduino Uno

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 a. Features:

 Microcontroller- ATmega328
 Operating Voltage- 5V
 Input Voltage (recommended) -7-12V
 Digital I/O Pins- 14 (of which 6 provide PWM output)
 Analog Input Pins- 6
 DC Current per I/O Pin- 40 mA
 DC Current for 3.3V Pin- 50 mA
 Flash Memory -32 KB (ATmega328) of which 0.5 KB used by bootloader
 SRAM -2 KB (ATmega328)
 EEPROM -1 KB (ATmega328)
 Clock Speed -16 MHz

Power Supply:

The Arduino Uno can be powered via the USB connection or with an
external power supply. The power source is selected automatically.
External (non-USB) power can come either from an AC-to-DC adapter
(wall-wart) battery. The board can operate on an external supply of 5 v . If
more than 12Vis used then the voltage regulator may overheat and damage
the board. The recommended range is 7 to 12 volts.

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a. Atmega328 Pin Diagram:

Figure 5: Pin Diagram of Atmega 328 Arduino IC

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2. Ultrasonic Sensor:

Figure 8: Ultrasonic Sensor HC-SR04

a. General Description:
HC-SR04 distance sensor is commonly The current consumed by the
sensor is less than 15mA and hence can be directly powered by the on
board 5V pins (If available). The Trigger and the Echo pins are both I/O
pins and hence they can be connected to I/O pins of the microcontroller. To
start the measurement, the trigger pin has to be made high for 10uS and
then turned off. This action will trigger an ultrasonic wave at frequency of
40Hz from the transmitter and the receiver will wait for the wave to return.
Once the wave is returned after it getting reflected by any object the Echo
pin goes high for a particular amount of time which will be equal to the
time taken for the wave to return back to the sensor.

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The amount of time during which the Echo pin stays high is measured by the
MCU/MPU as it gives the information about the time taken for the wave to
return back to the Sensor. Using this information, the distance is measured as
explained in the above heading.

b. Pin Diagram:

Figure 9: Pin Diagram of Ultrasonic Sensor

b. Ultrasonic Sensor Pin Configuration

Pin Number Pin Name Description

1 Vcc The Vcc pin powers the sensor, typically with +5V

2 Trigger Trigger pin is an Input pin. This pin has to be kept high for
10us to initialize measurement by sending US wave.

3 Echo Echo pin is an Output pin. This pin goes high for a period of
time which will be equal to the time taken for the US wave
to return back to the sensor.

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 4 Ground This pin is connected to the Ground of the system.
c HC-SR04 Sensor Features:

 Operating voltage: +5V

 Theoretical Measuring Distance: 2cm to 450cm
 Practical Measuring Distance: 2cm to 80cm
 Accuracy: 3mm
 Measuring angle covered: <15°
 Operating Current: <15mA
 Operating Frequency: 40Hz

3. GSM Module:

Figure 10: GSM SIM900A

a. General Description:
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This is an ultra compact and reliable wireless module. The SIM900A is a complete Dual-
band GSM/GPRS solution in a SMT module which can be embedded in the customer
applications allowing you to benefit from small dimensions and cost-effective solutions.
Featuring an industry-standard interface, the SIM900A delivers GSM/GPRS
900/1800MHz performance for voice, SMS, Data, and Fax in a small form factor and with
low power consumption. With a tiny configuration of 24mm x 24mm x 3 mm, SIM900A
can fit almost all the space requirements in your applications, especially for slim and
compact demand of design.

b. SIM900A General features:

 Dual-Band 900/ 1800 MHz

 GPRS multi-slot class 10/8
 GPRS mobile station class B
 Compliant to GSM phase 2/2+
 Dimensions: 24x24x3mm
 Weight: 3.4g
 Control via AT commands (GSM 07.07 ,07.05 and SIMCOM enhanced AT
Commands)
 SIM application toolkit
 Supply voltage range: 3.2 ... 4.8V
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  Low power consumption: 1.0mA (sleep mode)
 Operation temperature: -40°C to +85 °C
 Fax: Group 3, Class 1
 SMS
o Point to point MO and MT
o SMS cell broadcast
o Text and PDU mode
 Other features
o 0710 MUX protocol
o Embedded TCP/UDP protocol
o FTP/HTTP
 Compatibility: AT cellular command interface

4.Motor Driver IC L293d:

A motor driver is an integrated circuit chip which is usually used to control
motors in autonomous robots. Motor driver act as an interface between
Arduino and the motors. The most commonly used motor driver IC’s are from
the L293 series such as L293D, L293NE, etc. These ICs are designed to
control 2 DC motors simultaneously. L293D consist of two H-bridge. H-
bridge is the simplest circuit for controlling a low current rated motor. We
will be referring the motor driver IC as L293D only. L293D has 16 pins.

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 Figure 12: Motor Driver IC

4. DC Motor:
High Torque 10 RPM DC geared motor. Motor with less RPM is preferred for precise
result.

 Features
 10RPM 12V DC motors with Metal Gearbox and Metal Gears
 18000 RPM base motor
 6mm Día shaft with M3 thread hole
 Gearbox diameter 37 mm.
 Motor Diameter 28.5 mm
 Length 63 mm without shaft
 Shaft length 30mm
 180gm weight
 120kgcm torque
 No-load current = 800 mA, Load current = upto 7.5 A(Max)
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 Recommended to be used with DC Motor Driver 20A or Dual DC Motor Driver
20A

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 CHAPTER 5

PHOTOS & PCB Screenshot:

VEHICLE PHOTO:

PCB PRINTING AND SOLDERING:

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 SCHAMETIC OD DEVELOPMENT BOARD: (EAGLE SCHEMATIC )

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM OF LINEAR POWER SUPPLY(5V):

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SCHAMETIC OF LINER POWER SUPPLY:

PIN DIAGRAM OF L293D:

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SCHAMETIC OF L293D:

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SCREEN SHOTS OF MESSAGES RECEIVED THROUGH GSM:

FINAL VEHICLE:

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 CHAPTER 6

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION:

6.1. Advantages:
 Highly efficient and user-friendly design.

 Easy to operate.

 Low power consumption.

 Location of the vehicle can be known using GPS.

 To detect the crack using Ultrasonic sensors

 GSM based tracking details sending SMS

 To avoid the accidents at a single track.

 Efficient design.

 Works anywhere in the world (GSM availability).

6.2. Applications:
 Can also be used as a vehicle for transport in rural Areas by the people.
 Used to detect cracks on the track

 Wireless applications.

 Industrial and access control.

 Other remote-control system.

 Navigation systems.
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 CHAPTER 7

7.1. COMPONENT LIST:

Component list with ratings

Component Quantity Price
AtMega328 IC 1 250
Ultrasonic sensor 1 175
Power Supply 1 200
GSM module 1 1100
PCB development board 1 150
L293D motor driver IC 1 125
Single strand wires(4m) 20 80
LPS PCB 1 125
Vehicle 1 400
Motor 2 300
Electronic Equipments 100
(R,C,D,etc)
Total:3105

Table 3: Bill of materials

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 CONCLUSION:

By using this automatic vehicle for purpose of railway track
inspection and crack detection, it will have a great impact in the
maintenance of the tracks which will help in preventing train accidents to
a very large extent. The regions where manual inspection is not possible,
like in deep coal mines, mountain regions and dense thick forest regions
can be easily done using this vehicle. By using this vehicle for the purpose
of railway track inspection and crack detection and automated SMS will
be sent to pre-defined phone number whenever the vehicle sensors detect
any crack or deformation This will help in maintenance and monitoring
the condition of railway tracks without any errors and thereby maintaining
the tracks in good condition, preventing train accidents to very large
extent railway track crack detection autonomous vehicle is designed in
such a way that it detects the cracks or deformities on the track which
when rectified in time will reduce train accidents.

FUTURE SCOPE:

Although work can be done in order to provide a better speed to the

automated vehicle robot. Also, enhancement can be done to get better
accuracy about the location of the place where the fault had occurred. Also,
the robot can be made large so that by using its weight track shiftiness i.e.
stress and strain parameters of the track can be determined so as to make
this system more effective. A Zigbee module can also be incorporated for
low cost short distance scrutinizing mechanism in order to provide good
connectivity at a low input cost. It can be powered using Solar Supply. As
solar energy is green and can available widely.

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REFERENCES:

1. Parrilla M, Nevado P., Ibanez A., Camacho J., Brizuela J., Fritsch C., 2008.
Ultrasonic imaging of solid railway wheels. IEEE
2. Rao M., Jaswanth B. R., 2014. Crack Sensing Scheme in Rail Tracking System.
IJERA4 (1)s
3. Rao M., Jaswanth B. R., 2014. Crack Sensing Scheme in Rail Tracking System.
IJERA4 (1)
4. https://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/ATmega328
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino
6. https://www.itead.cc/wiki/SIM900/SIM900A_GSM/GPRS_Minimum_Syste
m_Module
7. https://www.ieee.org/about/ieee-projects.html
8. http://www.hackathon.io/projects
9. Atmega328 and Arduino datasheet.

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