© 2018 IJSRSET | Volume 4 | Issue 4 | Print ISSN: 2395-1990 | Online ISSN : 2394-4099

Themed Section : Engineering and Technology

An Arduino based Method for Detecting Cracks and

Obstacles in Railway Tracks
Prof. Shyam Agrawal1, Pritam Bharane2, Danish Khan2, Sneha Fundkar2, Sapna More2, Akshay
Khande2, Sarika Ghait2, Shrikant Vairale2
1Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Siddhivinayak Technical Campus Shegaon,

Maharashtra, India
2Student, Department of Electrical Engineering, Siddhivinayak Technical Campus, Shegaon, Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT

Indian railways is the fourth largest railway community inside the international. despite the fact that there may
be a outstanding boom in Indian railways, this machine remains plagued via some of issues which require
immediately interest. on this paper we are thinking about the important problems that lead to injuries. primary
issues encompass obstacles access on to the music and cracks at the tracks. to conquer this have proposed a
checking out educate which uses ultrasonic sensor with a range of 100cms and put off is 30 cm. primarily based
on the gap among impediment and the train, the train slows down. while the train is at a distance of 20cm we
growth the delay so that you can sluggish down the educate and subsequently while it reaches to a distance of
15cm the teach automatically stops at some point of summer and iciness seasons the tracks may additionally
expand and contract due to which cracks may additionally arise. the led and photodiode setup is located to
trying out educate to hit upon cracks. here we're using arduino microcontroller. after crack detection the
testing teach stops and the longitudinal and latitudinal positions are sent thru SMS to GSM and GPS.
Keywords: GPS Module, GSM Modem, IR Sensor, PIR Sensor, Ultrosonic Distance Meter.

I. INTRODUCTION

In these days world, shipping, being one in all the

largest drainers of strength, its sustainability and
safety are issues of paramount importance. in india,
rail transport occupies a outstanding function in
quenching the ever burge owing needs of a hastily
growing financial system. however, in terms of the
reliability and safety parameters, international Figure 1. Cracks in Railway tracks
standards have now not yet been virtually reached.
even though rail delivery in india is growing at a fast Figure 1 indicates the cracks going on in railway
tempo, the related safety infrastructure facilities have tracks due to expansion and contraction. the right
no longer saved up with the cited proliferation. the operation and renovation of shipping infrastructure
major hassle is the shortage of green and cost has a top notch impact at the economic system. in this
powerful technology to locate issues inside the rail paper we've proposed a proto type of checking out
tracks and the dearth of proper preservation. teach for detecting barriers and cracks, that's just like

IJSRSET1841288 | Received : 25 March | Accepted : 10 April 2018 | March-April-2018 [(4) 4 : 945-951 ]

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that of line following checking out educate. the trying II. IMPLEMENTATION
out educate, gets records from surrounding area
through set up sensors on the trying out train. the A. Block diagram
sensors used for obstacle detection are bump sensor,
infrared sensor and ultrasonic sensor. the ultrasonic
sensor may be very compact and has a totally
excessive performance. the testing train uses
ultrasonic sensors with microcontroller for its
movements. ultrasonic sensor is maximum
appropriate for obstacle detection because of its
excessive ranging capability and occasional price[1]. it
is connected to the the front part of the trying out
train. whenever the checking out automobile is going
on the desired direction the ultrasonic sensor
transmits the ultrasonic waves constantly from its
sensor head. on every occasion an obstacle comes
ahead of it, the ultrasonic waves are reflected lower Figure 2. Block diagram
back from an item and that facts is passed to the
microcontroller. the microcontroller controls the Figure 2 represents the block diagram description of
automobiles left, right, returned, front, based totally the trying out automobile. the trying out automobile
on ultrasonic indicators. as a way to control the rate consists of four vehicles pushed by using a motor
of each motor, pulse width modulation is used (pwm) driving force [1]. the IR led, photodiode and
[10]. the basic components utilized in crack detection ultrasonic sensor which is related to the arduino
are ir led and photodiode. on this layout, the ir led which in turn linked to motor driver runs and stops
and photodiode can be attached to the same facet of the motor. when the music is in non-stop with none
the tune to suggest the situation of the song. if any cracks then output of ir led and photodiode may be
default is located it's going to ship the records to the high. while this output is excessive then ultrasonic
nearby station. the proposed trying out educate is cost sensor sends a cause pulse. this ultrasonic sensor
powerful, power intake is low and evaluation time is constantly offers pulses till echo is obtained i.e., the
much less [2]. with this proposed machine the exact teach stops progressively when the echo is acquired.
vicinity of the faulty rail sound may be easily placed, the time this is received from the echo thru PWM
so that many lives can be saved. objectives of the counter is transformed into centimetres. the vehicle
paper stops based totally on the duration that we've given.
 to detect the cracks present on the railway as an instance if the duration is less than 15 and
tracks. greater than 10 then we set a delay of 20secs and
 to detect the obstacles entry on to the railway while the automobile is at a period much less than 10
tracks. and greater five then we a set of approximately
100secs. if the period exceeds above 5cm then the
automobile forestall routinely. those three conditions
will be satisfied simplest when the item is present in
its path in a stand nonetheless mode. the other
situation is whilst there may be crack, then output of
ir led and photodiode will be low and educate stops

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robotically and a message is generated the usage of

GSM and GPS and might be sent to the nearby station. C. ULTRASONIC SENSOR
by way of the usage of GPS we are able to determine The arduino ultrasonic variety detection sensor with
range and longitudinal places. by means of this we are arduino calculates distance from gadgets. the output
able to show the info of the location to the driving of an led alters with PWM according to how near an
force through liquid crystal display show. object is to the sensor. so closer the object the
brighter the led [5]. this sensor works with the aid of
B. ARDUINO UNO MICROCONTROLLER sending an ultrasound pulse at around forty khz. it
The arduino uno is a microcontroller board primarily then receives the echo again and calculates the time
based on the atmega328.arduino is an open-source taken in µsec. we are able to trigger a pulse as rapid as
electronics prototyping platform and it's miles 20 instances a second and it is able to determine
supposed for designing, developing interactive gadgets objects up to a few meters away and as near as 3cm. it
or environments [3].arduino forums are noticeably desires a 5v strength deliver to run. arduino may be
inexpensive in comparison to different delivered to ultrasonic variety detection sensor the
microcontroller systems. a simple arduinouno board use of most effective 4 pins energy, ground, cause and
has been proven in Figure 3 echo. because it wishes 5v and arduino gives 5v, we
Technical Specification will use this to electricity it. there are 2 units of five
1. move-platform the arduino software runs on pins, 1 set we are able to use, the opposite is for
windows, macintoshosx, and linux operating programming the percent chip. supply module with
structures. 5v, the output could be 5v at the same time as
2. easy, clean programming surroundings the arduino impediment in variety, or 0v if not. the out pin of this
programming surroundings is straightforward-to-use module is used as a switching output when anti-
for novices and flexible enough for the superior robbery module [4].
customers.
3. source and extensible software programthe arduino
software program is posted as open supply open
equipment, to be had for extension by experienced
programmers. the language may be expanded through
c++ libraries.
4. open source and extensible hardware

Figure 4.Ultrasonic sensor

Specifications
Working Voltage: 5V (DC)
Working Current: max 15 ma
Operating frequency: 40HZ
Output Signal: 0-5V (Output high when obstacle in
Figure 3. Basic Arduino UNO board range)
Sentry Angle: max 15 degree
Sentry Distance : 2cm - 500cm

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High-accuracy: 0.3cm terminal for use as a GSM modem due to stability, and
Input trigger signal: 10us TTL impulse reliability [8]. requirements are
Echo signal: output TTL PWL signal  SMS gateway this is to send and get hold of SMS
Size: 45*20*15mm  telemetric this is to collect data from remote
MODULE RUNNING PRINCIPLE terminals
1. Adopt io trigger through presenting at the least  call-lower back service for voip
10µs sequence of high level sign,  SMS utility, SMS solution, or SMS programme.
2. The module routinely sends eight 40 khz  automated reloading of pre-paid account with
rectangular wave and routinely detect whether stkapi device to gadget conversation
receive the  sending SMS from laptop
Returning pulse sign,  automating business process
3. If there are signals returning via outputting  vehicle monitoring with cellular broadcast
excessive level and the time of high level continuing feature or with incorporated GPS terminal.
is the time of that from the ultrasonic transmitting to Key Features
receiving. check distance = (excessive level time *  GSM model
sound velocity (340m/s) / 2.  dual band GSM 900/1800 mhz
 160 characters SMS
D. WORLDWIDE GADGET FOR CELL (GSM)  highly reliable for 24x7 operation with matched
A GSM modem is dedicated modem with a serial, USB, antenna
Bluetooth connection, or it may be cellular telephone  status of modem indicated by led
that presents GSM modem skills. a GSM modem  simple to use & low cost
exposes an interface that permits software which
includes now SMS to ship and receive message over Technical Specifications
the modem interface. the cell operated expenses for Microcontroller : Atmega328
this message acquire and sending as though it was Operating Voltage : 5v
carried out without delay on a cellular telephone. to Input Voltage (Recommended) : 7-12v
perform this assignment, a GSM modem need to assist Digital I/O Pins 14 :Pwmo/P
an “prolonged at command set” for sending/receiving Analog Input Pins : 6
SMS messages [6]. a GSM modem is specialised type of Dc Current Per I/O Pin : 40 Ma
modem which accepts a SIM card, and operates over a Dc Current For 3.3v Pin : 50 Ma
subscription to a mobile operator, similar to a mobile Flash Memory :32 Kb
Smartphone [7]. from the cellular operator angle, a Sram : 2 Kb
GSM modem seems just like a mobile Cellphone.GSM EPROM : 1 Kb
modem comes with various interfaces, consisting of Clock Speed : 16 Mhz
pcmcia kind 2USB, and serial. GSM modem is wi-fi,
even as dial-up modem is stressed. a few GSM F. GEARED DC MOTOR
modems additionally has GPRS characteristic that the dc motor works over a fair range of voltage. the
allows transmission of information over TCP/IP .to higher the input voltage more is the rpm of the
transmit records the use of GSM modem, there are motor.in terms of voltage, we can write the equation
various methods can be used, inclusive OF as
SMS,CSD,GPRS/UMTS despite the fact that a normal rpm= k1 * v, where,
cellular telephone can be used as GSM modem, it is k1= induced voltage constant
relatively encouraged that a unique industrial grade

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v=voltage applied gears are used to growth the torque the common sense in order that it is able to be run off
of dc motor on the rate of its pace. the tools a decrease voltage to lessen dissipation. additionally
mechanism works on the principle of conservation of the l293d consists of the output clamping diodes in
angular momentum. the gear having smaller radius the ic for entire interfacing with inductive masses.
will cowl extra rpm than the only with larger radius. each devices is available in 16-pin batwing dip
but, the bigger equipment will give greater torque to programs. they're additionally to be had in power s0ic
the smaller tools than vice versa. the assessment of and hermetic DIL programs.
angular pace among input gear (the only that transfers
energy) to output equipment gives the gear ratio. Features
while multiple gears are linked together, conservation  output current 1a per channel (600ma for l293d)
of power is also followed.  peak output current 2a per channel (1.2a for
l293d)
 inhibit facility
 high noise immunity
 separate logic supply
 over-temperature protection

H. MOTOR DRIVER
motor driver ics are ordinarily utilized in self
sustaining robotics best. also maximum
microprocessors function at low voltages and require
a small quantity of current to operate even as the cars
Figure 5. Gear mechanism to dc motor require a relatively higher voltages and current. as a
consequence modern can not be furnished to the cars
G. PUSH-PULL FOUR CHANNEL DRIVER from the microprocessor. that is the primary want for
the motor driver ic. while the motor is implemented
superb voltage on both sides then the voltage from
both the perimeters brings the motor shaft to a
halt.depending upon the values of the input and
enable the vehicles will rotate in both clockwise or
anticlockwise direction with complete velocity (when
enable is excessive) or with much less velocity (when
allow is supplied with pwm). Let us count on for left
motor whilst enable is excessive and enter 1 and enter
2 are high and coffee respectively then the motor will
Figure 6. Block diagram of load driver L293
pass in clockwise route. so the behaviour of the motor
depending at the input situations are shown in table 1
Each channel is managed by means of a ttl-well
matched common sense enter and each pair of drivers
(a the l293 and l293d are quad push-pull drivers able
to turning in full bridge) is ready with an inhibit
enter which turns off all 4 transistors. output
contemporary is 1a or 600ma in step with channel
respectively. a separate deliver enter is furnished for
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Table 1

Figure 8. Circuit diagram

Circuit Diagram
The circuit diagram of interfacing LCD to arduino for III. CONCLUSION
displaying a text message is shown in Figure 8. RS pin on this paper we've got designed a cost effective, low-
of the LCD module is hooked up to digital pin 12 of energy embedded system, which facilitate better
the arduino. r/w pin of the LCD is grounded. enable protection standards for rail tracks for stopping
pin of the LCD module is attached to digital pin railway injuries because of cracks and barriers on
eleven of the arduino. the LCD module and arduino railway tracks. The prototype of checking out vehicle
are interfaced in the 4-bit mode. that means simplest can efficaciously hit upon cracks and limitations on
four of the digital enter lines (db4 to db7 of the liquid railway tracks. the result shows that this new modern
crystal display are used). this method is quite simple, technology will increase the reliability of protection
requires much less connections and you can nearly systems in railway shipping. by enforcing those
make use of the whole potential of the liquid crystal features in real time application, we will keep away
display module. digital lines db4, db5, db6 and db7 from injuries as much as about 70%.
are interfaced to virtual pins 5, 4, three and a pair of IV. REFERENCES
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