Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 33

Sustainable Wireless Sensor
Networks for Railway Systems
Powered by Energy Harvesting
from Vibration
Olfa Kanoun, Ghada Bouattour, Sabrine Khriji, Kholoud Hamza,
Abdallah Adawy, and Sonia Bradai
T
he railroad is a particularly efficient means of transporting
passengers and goods. In this field, safety,
reliability, and punctuality are of great importance,
despite harsh environmental conditions and variable loads.
Predictive maintenance of train wagons, rails, and stations is
becoming increasingly essential [1] and requires massive use
of sensors for measuring relevant quantities, such as acceleration,
temperature, pressure, strain, and changes in railroad
tracks and train wheels.
Potential of Wireless Sensors
The deployment of wireless sensor networks (WSN) and Internet
of Things (IoT) technologies can significantly contribute
to improving the interoperability and flexibility of railroad
systems by enabling real-time, in-place measurements without
the need for cabling or extensive installation, and this
significantly reduces maintenance costs. It has the potential
to achieve significant advances
in real-time data
collection and transmission
of relevant data on
the condition of the infrastructure,
the weight load
present, and the predictive
maintenance of wagons,
equipment, and infrastructure
(Fig. 1). The integration
of WSNs into the railroad
on the train side enables
intelligent monitoring,
decision support, and realization
of various services
that ensure cost-effective
maintenance, comfort,
safety, and sustainability.
In case of train wagon separation,
enforced speed, and
train collisions, early alerts
should be triggered. WSNs
May 2023
can provide critical information about the infrastructure elements
of the rail system, such as rail flexure due to heat, track
ballast disturbance due to groundwater level rise, or reduction
in soil and rail slope that may be affected by heavy loads or environmental
factors [2].
WSNs for the railway sector can be realized as battery-powered
WSNs with smart energy management, by implementing
energy-saving techniques and low-power communication
protocols [3]. However, the node lifetime would be thereby
strongly restricted by the battery capacity. Changing batteries
or deploying new devices is difficult to implement and
costly, as sensors are not always accessible. Energy harvesting
(EH) is therefore a promising approach, which can solve
these problems by recovering energy from the surrounding
rail environment to power the WSNs and make them more autonomous.
WSNs and WSNs with EH are getting more interest
in research and the market of railway systems is continuously
Fig. 1. Autonomous WSN in the railway sector.
IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine
1094-6969/23/$25.00©2023IEEE
33

Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3

Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - Cover1
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - Cover2
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 1
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 2
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 3
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 4
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 5
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 6
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 7
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 8
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 9
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 10
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 11
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 12
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 13
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 14
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 15
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 16
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 17
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 18
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 19
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 20
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 21
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 22
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 23
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 24
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 25
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 26
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 27
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 28
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 29
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 30
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 31
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 32
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 33
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 34
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 35
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 36
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 37
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 38
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 39
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 40
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 41
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 42
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 43
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 44
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 45
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 46
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 47
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 48
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 49
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 50
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 51
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 52
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 53
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 54
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 55
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 56
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 57
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 58
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 59
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 60
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - 61
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - Cover3
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 26-3 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/26-6
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/26-5
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/26-4
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/26-3
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/26-2
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/26-1
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/25-9
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/25-8
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/25-7
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/25-6
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/25-5
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/25-4
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/25-3
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/instrumentation-measurement-magazine-25-2
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/25-1
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/24-9
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/24-7
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/24-8
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/24-6
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/24-5
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/24-4
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/24-3
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/24-2
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/24-1
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/23-9
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/23-8
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/23-6
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/23-5
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/23-2
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/23-3
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/iamm/23-4
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com