ECE 480 TEAM # 8 Trackside Systems for Sensing/Responding to Changing Conditions (Norfolk Southern) George Ballios Michael Dow Nicholas Vogtmann Craig Zofchak Facilitator: Professor Virginia Ayres © 2008 Ballios Dow Vogtmann Zofchak

Overview Introduction Project Description Sponsor Specifications Design Solutions Integration and Communication Summary © 2008 Ballios Dow Vogtmann Zofchak

Introduction Sponsored by Norfolk Southern Corporation Class one railway system operator 21,000 route miles in 22 eastern states Serves all major eastern ports Comprehensive logistic services Most extensive intermodal network in the east © 2008 Ballios Dow Vogtmann Zofchak

Introduction (Cont.) Wayside Top of Rail System (TOR) Current System: 100 Gallon Tank Mechanical Pump Battery and Solar Panel © 2008 Ballios Dow Vogtmann Zofchak

Project Description Detect the amount of liquid inside the TOR system Disable the pump at critical level Report level locally and potentially remotely Utilize low power consumption © 2008 Ballios Dow Vogtmann Zofchak

Liquid Reservoir Pump Inlets Low Level Limit

Sponsor Specifications Non evasive measurement Sensor may not be placed inside tank Communication of status (additional feature) Power consumption: mW Status display screen © 2008 Ballios Dow Vogtmann Zofchak

Design Solution Current State of the Art: Ultrasonic level detection Team 8: Audio pick-up device using cavity modes Team 8: Dual integration => Robust detection Long-range communication © 2008 Ballios Dow Vogtmann Zofchak

Design Solution

Electronics Cabinet Wall on which low level sensors will be located. Low Level Limit

Ultrasound Transducer PIC decoder/filters © 2008 Ballios Dow Vogtmann Zofchak

Audio Pick-up Audio emitting device Resonate frequencies determined by cavity modes Digital Audio Receiver Filters © 2008 Ballios Dow Vogtmann Zofchak

Integration and Communication Multiplexor for dual signal processing Long-range antenna for status transmission Filters Source:

Summary Project Description Sponsor Specifications Design Solutions Integration and Communication © 2008 Ballios Dow Vogtmann Zofchak

Questions? © 2008 Ballios Dow Vogtmann Zofchak