WSN based on accelerometer, GPS and RSSI measurements for train integrity monitoring

Train integrity monitoring is one of the key aspects to enable cheaper, safer and more reliable modern railway signaling system. The proposed Train Integrity Monitoring System is based on a WSN, which consist of the WSN Nodes (deployed on each wagon), the Coordinator and the Serial Gateway (both deployed on a locomotive). Each WSN Node measures accelerometer and GPS data, which are further send to the Coordinator, which holds the accelerometer and GPS reference measurements against which the measurements from each node are compared to detect the train integrity. In addition, the Coordinator is also measuring the value of RSSI from all nodes, thereby the decision on whether the train is complete or not is made based on three distinct measurements. If train integrity is lost, an alert message from the Coordinator is send to the Serial Gateway node, which is connected to the PC with a dedicated GUI. The proposed WSN is tested both in a WSN TestBed as well as on a real-life train. Experimental results show that the proposed method is feasible and can be used for train integrity monitoring.