UK: Sensonic has opened an ‘Innovation Farm’ test facility to help it develop optic fibre cable distributed acoustic sensing technologies without the need for lineside access to a live railway.
DAS utilises existing optic fibre cables to detect and analyse vibrations which can provide real-time data on rockfalls, landslides and changes in track condition without the need for extra lineside infrastructure. It can also be used to detect and locate trespassers; Indian Railways has commissioned Sensonic to deploy an elephant detection system.
The test facility in Hampshire has 12 km of buried optical fibres of several types to enable researchers, engineers and industry partners to simulate real-world conditions in typical lineside environments. These include open ground, hedgerows, woodland and alongside fences and roadways.
‘Today marks a significant milestone for Sensonic and hopefully the railway industry as a whole’ said Shawn Phillips, Managing Director of Sensonic in the UK, on November 26. ‘Our new Innovation Farm test facility not only streamlines the development process for new and existing DAS applications but also enables us to work closely with our partners and provides an environment to train teams to ensure they get the best insights from commissioned fibre sensing systems.’
