OUR SOLUTION
“TEDS”, (Train Early Detection System) is an App developed by DataMotive that is designed to deploy mobile technology for motorists who are approaching railway level crossings, and to alert them from within the vehicle, of the approaching train in real time.
TEDS is a mission critical App that is focused on motorists’ safety and aims to dramatically improve the safety of our highways and roadways at level crossings.
The idea of TEDS) emanated from the OC/Transpo Bus and VIA Rail accident in Ottawa, Ontario in 2013 and the Federal Express and passenger train accident in Salt Lake City in 2017. The tragic accident in Ottawa resulted in six fatalities, and thirty-four injured (some very seriously), despite the fact that the level crossing was equipped with an automatic gate, and flashing lights and bells.
TEDS GOAL and CHALLENGES
We believe that the TEDS App will make a significant contribution to public safety; as the App can reduce and eliminate train and car/bus/truck collisions and help prevent fatalities, as well as reduce cost and downtime resulting from such accidents. With your help, we will strive to eradicate level crossing accidents from our roads and transportation networks.
TEDS DESIGN APPROACH
The TEDS App was designed as a mission critical service application which requires a dedicated design in order to serve simultaneously thousands of vehicles at a large number of railway crossings across the country. The App employs an API (Application Program Interface) which is able to receive signals from the on-coming trains to level crossings and distribute the alert to all motorists at their current location.
The TEDS App is ready to load as part of the "Connected Car" operating system and can be integrated in it.
There are many reasons why we have chosen to focus on this issue, but first and foremost, the TEDS app represents a very simple and affordable solution to a huge problem that faces the railway industry, which is the loss of life that can occur when drivers are involved in a collision with trains on level crossings. There are also the associated delays, fines, insurance costs, and impact on supply chains and manufacturing schedules that are also affected when train accidents happen. This is unfortunately an all too frequent occurrence and is usually the result of distracted driving, which is increasing on our roads and becoming a huge societal problem.
TEDS TECHNOLOGY
Below are some of the core technologies that have been integrated into the TEDS App:
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Geofencing: The core of TEDS design is based on the use of the Geofencing methodology. A geofence is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area. A geo-fence can be dynamically generated or can match a predefined set of boundaries. The use of a geofence is adopted to locate level crossings coordinates at fixed locations. Geofencing can be used as a location-based service user entering or exiting a geo-fence perimeter.
Mission Critical: Since TEDS is a mission critical system by its very nature, detailed attention has been given to the architectural design and the methodology employed, as well as the in-depth research that has been used to achieve a reliable and dependable system that will keep vehicles and trains safe while in motion.
Test Load: DataMotive has teamed up with a third-party railway industry supplier company that provides railroads services to a large number of train companies in North America on multiple levels, from tracks maintenance, software services and equipment to a turnkey signal system, rail traffic control and SCADA systems.
DataMotive has tested its software along with this industry supplier company, by using a geared testbench simulating “schedule” that approximates a real Railway Company, publicly published schedule to drive real time indications to DataMotive.
TEDS Back-End: Our infrastructure is based on the use of cloud servers clusters, handled and managed by AWS (Amazon Web Server). The auto scaling by AWS, monitors the APP performance and provides with added resources on-the-fly as demand increases. The auto Scaling by AWS monitors the APP performance and provides with added resources on-the-fly as demand increases.
AWS Auto-Scaling: makes scaling simple with recommendations that allow to optimize performance, costs, or balance between them.
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TEDS Front-End: ‘Load-and-Ramp’ technique was tested to build the level crossing database on the phone as you go. The App on the phone communicates its location to the Server and in turn, the server downloads a small data set of level crossings Geo-Locations coordinates onto the phone in the vicinity to up to 50 km around the user location to build the local database on the phone.
SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
Geofences in action: The Red Geofence circle indicates the train is CURRENTLY at the gate proximity and that the driver should be prepared to come to a full stop. A message appears on the screen and a loud audio message is heard inside the vehicle.
Operational Requirement: In order for the APP to be fully functional, it requires a signal from the oncoming train. The signal may be a GPS location signal in nature, or be a signal from the track’ switch sensing the approaching train.
Train Acquired Signal: As was mentioned earlier, the TEDS App has gone through an exhaustive and rigorous set of testing of a real local train company schedule. The test was carried out and accomplished by employing industry supplier company, using a geared testbench simulating “schedule” that approximated a real Railway company. The test ran for a few days around the clock with a very high score and no failures.
Our project team is currently in the process of securing the signal from the Canadian authorities and train companies for further testing in real time of existing live schedules.
Industry Opportunity: To the best of our knowledge and experience, a service of this nature, affordable and readily achievable, doesn’t exist elsewhere and if testing results prove successful, the TEDS App could mark and establish a new standard of in-vehicle alert that can add a new level to public safety.
Collaboration: DataMotive would like to explore possibilities and opportunities with the help of AAR about the feasibility of the TEDS App being tested on the railway network in the United States. We are hopeful to be able to connect with a local Railway company that would be interested and willing to participate in the test and share the GPS signal for a limited amount of time for the duration of the test. A real time test of this nature will open new opportunities and start further discussions and offer more options to the railway industry. It will also help evaluate and determine the efficacy of the App for a real time high volume of traffic.
We would like to engage with you on the TEDS project development and seek your collaboration in exploring potential opportunities.