GNSS-Based Sensor Fusion for Telematic Applications in Railway Traffic

S. Bedrich and S. Müncheberg

Abstract:	The continuous position, time and integrity data satellite navigation systems can provide, namely GPS+EGNOS and in the near future Galileo, will trigger a revolution in terms of operations of modern railway traffic. Today, autonomous GNSS receivers combined with a communication system, so-called telematics systems, can be found in a vast variety of land transport applications. The railway sector was more reluctant in the past, but becomes more and more convinced of the benefits of this technology. During the last five years, efforts have been undertaken at Kayser-Threde to find and promote solutions for the demanding train control and signalling sector, thus to cover safety-related and/or high-precision applications. In this area it is required to group complementary sensors (e.g. accelerometers, digital track maps) around the GNSS receiver and the communication subsystem which today is GSM in most cases. In close cooperation with various partner companies and institutes, three prototype sensor fusion systems for train positioning with different core features have recently been developed by Kayser-Threde: RadioCompass, ARTES and INTEGRAIL. Several demonstration tests have been carried out in 2003/4 with all systems running on various commercial railway lines. The selected tracks provided varying terrain features such as forests, tunnels or hills. These “in-the-field” tests allowed to assess the systems’ performances in terms of accuracy, integrity and availability in day-to-day scenarios, and hence to prove the feasibility of GNSS-based sensor fusion for use in train navigation and signalling control. The paper reports about the development, test campaigns and individual benefits of all three prototype systems. Main focus are the performance test results on the rail track lines and the assessment of the systems’ suitability as onboard train positioning subsystems.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2004) September 21 - 24, 2004 Long Beach Convention Center Long Beach, CA
Pages:	681 - 691
Cite this article:	Bedrich, S., Müncheberg, S., "GNSS-Based Sensor Fusion for Telematic Applications in Railway Traffic," Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2004), Long Beach, CA, September 2004, pp. 681-691.
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