Virtual reality to support the training of train drivers, drones capable of improving inspections within construction sites, sensors capable of preventing breakdowns and helping manage emergencies. Here are the innovations that will increase efficiency on board.
from Berlin
InnoTrans, the Berlin biennial dedicated to the future of transport, is more congested than a station at rush hour of a great exodus: over 175 thousand visitors from 128 countries they crowd the pavilions of the fair and the endless outdoor spaces, where locomotives, carriages, first fruits and visions of the trains of tomorrow parade.
The recurring theme, consistent with this time handed over to artificial intelligence, it’s automation: the convoy that repairs itself, gets cleaned (by diligent robot cleaners), drives itself. More than fascinating, it is as jarring as a sudden braking: the perspective seems to reduce the human factor to an accessoryto a superfluous element to be marginalized or even eliminated as soon as possible. The large stand set up by the FS Group, on the other hand, almost seems like a free zone. It carries forward a completely opposite philosophy: the innovations of the Italian railways they will keep people at the center and improve operational efficiency. They will make life easier for the company’s workers to increase the final level of service for passengers and cargo. In short, in the coming years we will have more punctual and safer trains.
The simulator inside the helmet
The first example is the virtual reality viewer which, in a small portable helmet, condenses the large and expensive railway simulators. Developed by Trenitalia with the contribution of FSTechnology and in collaboration with Leonardo, will digitally transport thousands of train drivers into the cockpitputting under their noses a control desk identical to the original and, before their eyes, the reproduction of the landscape in the most disparate weather conditions, including violent storms and exaggerated snowfalls.
It will be a protected environment to learn how to deal with dangerous situationstrain your reflexes and skills to make decisions quickly, to the point of reflecting on your mistakes without them having any practical consequences. Rather than considering replacing the driving staff, the FS Group is gearing up to prepare them as best as possible. For now the system is a prototype under development, French, Greek and Spanish people like it who asked for an identical one for themselves.
The network inspector
Tino (shortened form of Train for inspection of railway lines) it travels without a pilot, but as a matter of common sense: he will travel the high-speed routes first in the early morning; through its numerous sensors, it will make sure that everything is in order, that there are no faults to repair or dangers to traffic. He is a sentinel and a shield: he takes risks on his sheet metal body.
At InnoTrans, thanks to its bright colors and futuristic shape, the absence of windows and the abundance of cameras on the front, Tino was among the most photographed. It is an intuition of RFi e it could enter into operation in 2028. Meanwhile, he roams freely on the Bologna San Donato railway test circuit, a rail laboratory of over 5 kilometers where the FS Group perfects its cutting-edge ideas. The 20 Fs Engineering drones which, one flight after another, accurately digitize the construction site areas and follow the progress of the works, are already operational. They can carry out inspections in areas that are difficult to analyze, such as bridges, viaducts and tunnels. Thus execution times are shortened and adherence to the original project is guaranteed.
The Berlin fair is the mirror of a precise and evolving strategy: «At FS we are in a phase of great transformation, with the definition of a new industrial plan by the end of the yearwhich will have innovation among its focuses”, confirms a Panorama Gianpiero StrisciuglioCEO and general manager of the Fs Group.
«We will focus in particular», he adds, «on investments in technologies to support maintenance processes. All this with a clear priority, safety, which fuels all our choices on a daily basis and of those who work on our construction sites. We will only deal with railways, which is our core business, and we will only develop projects that go in this direction.”
Evolved freight transport
In addition to passenger traffic, the railway network is also crucial for goods. In this context, Fs Logistix, another company of the group, told InnoTrans its story smart trainwhich again does not drive itself, but it provides valuable information to those who have to take it from one port of call to another.
The challenge won was to make a very long piece of iron technological which, in the past, was not connected. Giving a language to what was silent, innervating it with a lexicon of sensors, electronic units and wireless communication systems. Now he can talk to the train driver via a tabletwhere useful data for predictive maintenance flows, instructions on how to act to prevent a failure before it occurs. Even more crucial is the monitoring of the braking system, the reporting of anomalies, the timely detection of events attributable to a derailment. Always leaving the command to man, the final decision to make, but supporting him so that it is the most sensible one. «Technology is an essential lever to make rail freight transport more efficient, safe and competitive», he comments Sabrina De FilippisCEO and general manager of Fs Logistix.
«With solutions already being tested on the tracks», explains De Filippis, «we transform data, automation and connectivity into concrete benefits for convoy management and for customers. Innovating logistics means supporting production chains and supporting the competitiveness of European industry.” That same industry which, with its excellence in transport, met in Berlin for a rail journey into the future. And where Italy has demonstrated that it has not been left behind.
