The railroad industry has been monitoring various aspects of rail vehicle health for decades using wayside detectors. These detectors have improved the operational safety and efficiency of the North American rail network, but there are drawbacks: Wayside detectors must be strategically placed to maximize traffic coverage, for example. What if, rather than getting an "inspection" once every eventual passing of a wayside detector, it was possible to continually monitor rail vehicle health in operations? Enter "Motes," an abbreviation for Remote Onboard Sensors. Motes are small, self-contained sensor and communications devices affixed to a railcar component. They allow for continual, near-real-time collection and processing of data regarding critical components of a rail vehicle such as roller bearings and wheels. This data is off-boarded to the vehicle owner and may be used to prioritize maintenance, conduct trending of component health, and provide alerts to train operators regarding components that have failed, or are likely to fail, so that action can be taken. There are two primary technical challenges associated with Motes technologies: power and communications. Motes must provide their own power in such a way to avoid an unacceptable maintenance burden on the car owner or operating railroad. In response to this requirement, suppliers have developed some rather novel approaches to overcome this problem. From the inclusion of small solar panels to energy harvesting to the use of low-power devices coupled to high-energy-density batteries (such as lithium ion), Motes suppliers continue to innovate to overcome the challenge of self-contained, long-lasting power.
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