Soon, robots will make train journeys safer

With the help of USTAAD, engineers can easily see and examine areas which are hard to see and hard to approach such as cramped or narrow spaces between under-gear parts

To make trains safer by eliminating human errors, Central Railway has developed an AI-powered robot which would click pictures and record videos of the under-gears of trains and send them to engineers for repairs and maintenance.

The mechanical branch of Central Railway's Nagpur division has developed the robot named USTAAD (Undergear Surveillance Through Artificial Intelligence Assisted Droid), which examines parts of the coach in real time with a HD camera and transmits them over WiFi.

"It captures video and still photographs of the under-gear parts of the coaches in real time and transmit them over WiFi.

"The engineers can see these videos on big screen as well as record them. The camera of the robot can be rotated in any direction as per command given by the engineers," Central Railway spokesperson Sunil Udasi said.

"He can also zoom on the spot in case of any doubt. It is equipped with LED flood light and able to capture the videos in low light as well as in dark mode.

“By use of this robot the chances of mistake and any deficiency overlooked by human eye can be eliminated thus reducing chances of human error," he added.

With the help of USTAAD, engineers can easily see and examine areas which are hard to see and hard to approach such as cramped or narrow spaces between under-gear parts, he said.

Railways is now considering using USTAAD across zones, once tested more minutely, the official said.

Photograph: PTI Photo