India: This was reported by deputy general director at NIIAS, the RZD research and technology institute, Pavel Popov, in an interview with RZD TV during the PRO//Motion.Expo trade fair. The system has been installed on a WAP-7 electric locomotive produced by national operator Indian Railways.
The range for recognising infrastructure objects and detecting obstacles is up to 1,100 metres. As Mr Popov told ROLLINGSTOCK, only the Russian system is currently capable of “seeing” at such a distance. “In the summer, we supplied and carried out the first trial in India. In fact, we are now training the system to adapt to Indian conditions, since they differ (from Russian ones – Ed.)”, he also said in his interview with RZD TV.
Pavel Popov noted that in India NIIAS faces competition from small Israeli start-ups. However, their technical solutions failed to meet the requirements of Indian Railways and testing was continued. “The only period they are waiting for is the winter season, when fog makes it almost impossible to see. And for them, the main indicator will be how we perform in the winter”, he added.
The NIIAS computer vision system has also been installed on five TEM7A shunting locomotives at Luzhskaya station. In addition, a TEM23 shunter equipped with the Avtomashinist, an automatic driving system with an obstacle detection module, was recently delivered to Chelyabinsk-Glavny station. Furthermore, for more than a year, the Lastochka EMU fitted with NIIAS’ GoA3-level automation has been in trial passenger operation on the Moscow Central Circle.
