OCEANIT LABORATORIES INC — Department of Transportation SBIR Phase II: 20-FR4

Description

Crushed aggregate is used as railroad ballast, drainage and stabilization material. Fouling of this aggregate reduces its performance: it loses its ability to drain water resulting in reduced strength. Substructure failure is a leading cause of rail accidents and it is a strategic priority to develop new methods for monitoring ballast condition. The challenge is that aggregate fouling does not present itself at the surface and current non-contact subsurface investigation methods require prior knowledge, specific conditions, can be difficult to interpret. and involve expensive equipment, setup and labor.Oceanit proposes a portable, scalable machine-vision based aggregate inspection technology – AIM-Rail –that improves the efficiency and effectiveness of field inspections, will influence industry best practices, and benefits economic competitiveness in addition to improving safety. AIM-Rail will utilize deep learning computer vision techniques to analyze aggregate grading and void space, in real time in the field, from single images.Ultimately AIM-Rail will help develop objective criteria for both railroads and FRA inspectors to use for identifying and managing fouled ballast conditions leading to improved railroad safety and maintenance operations.