ACOUSTIC MONITORING OF RAILCAR RUNNING GEAR AND RAILCARS

摘要

Methods and devices are provided for monitoring the condition of the running gear of a railcar utilizing acoustic/motion/vibration sensors mounted on the railcar while the railcar is underway. For some embodiments, utilizing this sensor data, defects in the running gear may be detected, and this information may be used to alert an operator to the defective condition. Operated in conjunction with a GPS or similar location detection device, a plurality of sensors mounted on a plurality of railcars may also be used to identify damaged or worn sections of track.