Trolleybus Checkpoint
With the help of the fully-automated Trolleybus Checkpoint inspection unit, the condition of your sliding contacts is analysed using a 3D laser scan. This allows you to keep your fleet under control at all times. Save yourself and your employees the effort of manual inspection!
Public transportation needs to be reliable and meet highest quality requirements. In particular, the high level of responsibility towards passengers should never be ignored. When it comes to trolleybuses, the majority of quality assurance depends on the sliding contacts touching the overhead contact line. If these are worn or broken, the bus can no longer be operated and the sliding elements must be laboriously replaced along the route. Up to now, these sliding contacts were checked daily and replaced when required. This process is time-consuming, dangerous and non-ideal.
Automatic maintenance demand detection
We have taken on this challenge and developed a unique system. Our fully automated inspection unit (=Checkpoint) inspects the sliding contacts’ condition by means of 3D laser scanning technology and provides information on whether contacts are damaged or worn. Even hairline cracks too small to be seen are being detected.
The measurements are taken at defined checkpoints during each passage – for instance when entering the company’s parking area. There, our units decide on the basis of defined limits and fully automatically whether the sliding contact is fit to be used further or whether maintenance is required. This analysis can, for instance, be communicated to the driver by means of a clearance light system (e.g. green=park, red=maintain) or sent via e-mail to the maintenance officer.
Thanks to our system, you no longer need to perform manual daily checks of your fleet. It increases labour safety in your fleet and improves quality. Furthermore, it returns analyses on your buses’ condition faster and more precisely than manual checks.
Long-term records and improved efficiency
Via a cloud-based website, you can access and analyse the measured values at any time. With these long-term records, our system helps you make decisions on investments or general fleet management. You receive well-founded key figures on quality deviations between the various sliding contact providers and can control your purchasing accordingly.
At the same time, our system helps you draw conclusions on possible overhead contact line damage on certain routes or investigate the weather’s precise effect on wear behaviour.
Technical details
KRUCH’s Trolleybus Checkpoints consist of several modular components and can be upgraded in a variable manner. As standard, every Checkpoint consists of the following parts:
- An optical camera system that identifies the vehicle through the number plate or vehicle ID or, optionally, via RFID scan incl. RFID tags.
- A 3D laser unit that records the sliding contact surface.
- A cloud-based website on which all data collected is stored and analysed.
The following upgrades are available:
- A force sensor that measures the pantograph’s contact pressure.
- A clearance light system system that provides quick first information on the trolleybus’s condition.