Topology Recognition

Automatic topology recognition is a world first which DResearch has developed especially for a recurring problem in the railway sector. A train that consists of multiple railcars and is secured by video has a recorder in every railcar. These recorders must correspond to each other in a way so that the driver in the front of the train can easily allocate the video images on his monitor at any time: left front door in the third railcar, rear seating area in the second, etc. The technical problem arises from the fact that tram or light rail trains are usually newly configured, for example. So the railcars operate in different train positions and directions.

Now if any railcars are coupled together randomly in the depot, the participating HydraIP systems automatically form a master-slave configuration depending on the vehicle signals – travel direction and coupling state. The overall system recognises which unit travels in the front, and assigns the master function to it. This unit then processes the video from all the cameras on the train, record them and displays four of them on the monitor in the driver’s cab (multi-view technology).

The benefits of this solution are obvious: Although neither technicians nor the driver have to worry about the video systems or the monitor display when the trip starts, the driver can assign the video streams on his monitor immediately, because they always appear in the same order – regardless in what sequence the railcars of his train have been connected.