Severe weather conditions—such as dense fog, heavy rain, and snowstorms—pose persistent safety challenges and financial burdens for the transport and mining sectors. In response, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, in collaboration with Finnish technology and Indian industrial engineering firm Tooltech, has developed a cutting-edge environmental monitoring system designed to detect obstacles effectively even in near-zero visibility.
The system integrates a sensor unit mounted on the front of a vehicle—such as a train—and advanced software that fuses data from radar, thermal imaging, satellite positioning, and artificial intelligence. This multi-sensor setup enables the detection of both humans and animals at distances greater than 200 metres, providing instant alerts to the vehicle’s operator.
Field tests on Indian railways, where track intrusions by people and animals like dogs, cows, and elephants are frequent, have shown promising results. These tracks are particularly hazardous during the fog-heavy months from January to March, when trains are typically forced to reduce speed to just 20 km/h. The new system has the potential to significantly improve both safety and operational efficiency under such conditions.
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