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On 28th of August, Digital Transit went to Siemens train depot in Manchester to take measurements for installation of our FAST system on a train.

The aim of the project is to scan environment of the train for any left or stolen bags, in order to improve personal security and safety of the passengers. This is due to a potential risks that any left, unattended luggage is posing. This week, we are going to perform final tests and get the system ready for deployment.

The solution that we have developed involves analysing the footage from CCTV cameras, which provide a real-time view of the inside and outside of the train. The processing of the videos is done by an on-board computer which is capable of simultaneously combining and analysing several camera inputs at the same time.

The system recognises individuals that enter the train, takes a note of bags, suitcases or any pieces of luggage and tracks them throughout the journey. On an event of a person getting off the train with an incorrect number of baggage, the system raises an alert which is being sent to a member of staff, who then can then deal with the situation.

The alert is sent to a mobile app, which was developed specifically to receive real-time push notifications. It displays the relevant information about the event, alongside snapshot photos taken by the system, which will assist the staff with identifying a threatening situation.

We are excited to announce that Digital Transit is getting ready to perform a first official demonstration of the system soon.

Here, we are taking the measurements of the mounting points for cameras.

Cameras will be installed both inside and outside of the train. This is to track passenger as they enter with their and recognise them as they leave without their luggage or if they have taken any extra luggage.

Cameras will be mounted at correct angles to maximise the visibility. This is the view the system will be getting from the inside:

For the demo, an output will be displayed on a monitor, that connects with the rest of the equipment (PoE switch, processing unit, router), these can be mounted inside the train near the door, where they can be visible and close enough to the cameras.

We are excited to test our system on a real train, once this is done we will be one step closer to deploying it in a real-life scenario. We can’t wait to share it with the world, we hope to see you soon at the demonstration.

Remember to take your bags with you!

Digital Rail and it’s collaborators have been awarded £348,000 as part of the Innovate UK funding competition First of a Kind: Demonstrating tomorrow’s stations and a greener railway. Working in a collaboration with DW Windsor, Urban Control and the University of Nottingham, Digital Rail are going to create ‘Personalised Accessibility and Wayfinding at Stations’ (PAWS). The team will develop and integrate dynamic lighting technology with a vision system to create a new autonomous solution for improving customer experience at stations. PAWS will alert station staff when customers who need assistance enter the station.

PAWS will use lighting to help customers who need to use a lift, as they have a bike, pushchair or heavy luggage, by showing the route through the station using intuitive, temporary light projection. Once on the platform, we will use lighting to help customers to find the correct carriage. The project is working with key rail industry partners: First Group, Great Western Railway, High Speed 2 and Network Rail. The new technology will be
installed at a busy trial station. The project will be developing technology which has been developed for different use case under previous rail
innovation projects. The University of Nottingham will undertake an evaluation of the project. PAWS will seek to improve the part of the door-to-door journey which has the lowest level of satisfaction from customers. Other benefits include: Improving accessibility, dynamic wayfinding without making stations more complicated to navigate through, improving passenger flow and reducing train boarding time and safety by encourage better segregation of customers.

Digital Rail has just begun a new project in applying AI in systems engineering. Johnny Beardsmore will be working with Digital Rail and Lancaster University for the next two years undertaking a Master by Research. He will be supervised by Dr Paul Rayson, an NLP expert at Lancaster University.

The project is being part sponsored by the European Union through the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation. The idea behind the project is that resilient railways will be an excellent means to lower carbon usage.

We know that systems engineering helps keep the project on track and this works well until humans get involved. The AI tools will work in the background ensuring the project stays on track and meets the requirements set. NLP techniques will be used to analyse the production of systems engineering artefacts and produce quality metrics that will inform management as to the health of the project.

ISO 9001 is recognised worldwide as the international benchmark for quality within an organisation.

By achieving our ISO 9001 certification, Digital Rail are able to demonstrate to customers and suppliers that the systems we have in place meet the high standards set out by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

To gain the ISO 9001 certification, Digital Rail had to demonstrate our dedication and commitment to meeting our customers’ needs, operating efficient management processes and delivering consistent, good quality products and services.

Each year, an external Audit is carried out by a third party to ensure our systems are maintained and any non-conformances are noted for correction.

If you would like to check the validity of our ISO 9001 certification or find out more about the ISO 9001 principles we follow please get in touch today, we would be delighted to speak with you.

An intelligent vision system currently being developed by Digital Rail was featured in the Economist this week. Digital Rail has been working with Lancaster University for the last two years on an smart video analytics system to reduce train delays and increase passenger safety. The article focuses on the how the system can reduce train delays by using CCTV cameras to accurately predict the busyness of each train carriage. This information is then transmitted wirelessly to the platform, where the it can be displayed to passengers awaiting the incoming train.

The story was also featured in The Economist podcast, which you can listen to online. The feature begins 15 minutes in.

Last week, Digital Rail Limited hosted a demonstration afternoon at Lancaster University to launch their Intelligent Vision System for the Platform Train Interface. The Intelligent Vision System is designed to both improve passenger safety and increase efficiency of trains. The passenger safety system quickly alerts train staff to dangerous scenarios at doors, mitigating potential injuries.  The passenger experience system “nudges” passengers awaiting trains towards the less busy carriages.

The purpose of the day was to introduce and demonstrate the Intelligent Vision System and explore the opportunities this presents within the rail industry. There were representatives from TOCS, ROSCOs, Network Rail, TfL, Metrolink and RSSB.  Following the live demonstration, there was a wide ranging and stimulating discussion regarding the opportunities and challenges in the route to implementation. This concluded with a SWOT analysis. The analysis highlighted the potential for humans to become reliant on such safety systems. This emphasised the importance of ensuring that the Intelligence Vision System supports human decision making, but doesn’t replace it.

Read more about the Intelligent Vision System, or get in touch if you would like a personalised demonstration.

I’m excited to announce that I will be running a special session next week, on Thursday 6th September in Barcelona- SS20 – Using Big Data to Increase Railway Resilience. This is part of the Fourth International Conference on Railway Technology, Railways 2018.

http://www.railwaysconference.com/resources/updateable/pdf/Oral%20Programme_6Aug.pdf

Our own contribution will be “Predicting wheels slides; traditional and future methods”.

See you in Barcelona folks!

#digitalrail #RAIL2018

Digital Rail Ltd are delighted to announce the  appointments of:

Dr Rhian Davies

We are pleased to say that Dr Rhian Davies has joined Digital Rail Ltd, as a Data Scientist . Rhian has worked as a data scientist for the last 3 years having graduated with a PhD in Statistics from Lancaster University from where she also obtained a first class degree Maths and Statistics.

Dr Rhian Davies

Damian Borowiec

Damian is a computer scientist graduate from Lancaster University. Damian won the Chancellors medal for exceptional performance as an undergraduate, a highly prestigious award.

Damian Borowiec

They will both we working on a data analytics project which is seeking to optimise train maintenance by scheduling the maintenance each night based upon the health of the train. We are happy about these appointments as the railway has to attract new young talent and soon!

Using Natural Language Processing to Empower Data Democratization