Economy

BizNS

Developing ‘intelligent’ wayside track detectors

December 2020



>> Jamie Williams, senior director mechanical operations and support, has led his team in collaborations with NS’ advanced analytics group to develop technology-driven rail car inspections.

NS’ USE OF AI TO INSPECT RAIL CARS ENHANCES SAFETY AND REDUCES BUSINESS COSTS

At around 6 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14, Mabby Amouie got out of bed and checked his overnight email. Scanning a series of messages, he learned that his team’s work very likely had helped prevent a train derailment earlier that morning on our busy Chicago Line, just west of Elkhart, Indiana. ... “It was fantastic. I was really happy,” said Amouie, Norfolk Southern’s director of advanced analytics and chief data scientist. ... Even while they’re sleeping, Amouie and his team of data scientists produce results. Call it the power of artificial intelligence.

In close collaboration with NS’ mechanical operations forces, Amouie’s analytics team has been developing deep learning algorithms that enable wayside detectors to intelligently inspect passing rail cars for defects that could derail a train. Having started with a focus on car coupler systems, the team now is making progress on algorithms to identify defects in air hoses, wheels, bearings, and trucks. ... “With our deep-learning algorithms, we are embedding human intelligence into machines,” Amouie said. “Essentially, we’re training the machine to look for certain things, and the machine learns as it applies this knowledge to the world.”



>> Mabby Amouie, director advanced analytics and chief data scientist, is leading the effort to develop intelligent wayside detectors to inspect passing rail cars.

Advancing toward technology-driven inspections

Combining cameras and artificial intelligence, these wayside machine vision detectors capture images and data, analyze them in real time, and send alerts when potential defects are identified. The email alerts are issued automatically, without human involvement, going to the mechanical wayside desk in Atlanta’s Network Operations Center – no matter the time of day or night. ... As work advances, the goal in the years ahead is to develop a series of detectors capable of performing automated train inspections at track speed, with no need to slow or stop the train.

“With the work that Mabby and his team are doing, we’re setting the stage and pushing this dynamic train inspection in the right way, both for NS and the entire industry,” said Jamie Williams, senior director mechanical operations and support, whose team provides the business intelligence that our advanced analytics group uses to develop the algorithms.

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