Track checking interval and back protection distance detection method

Abstract

The invention provides a track checking interval and back protection distance detection method, which comprises a positioning extraction step, a contour combination step, a track piece identification step, a checking interval acquisition step and a back protection distance acquisition step, according to the method, a predetermined detection position is automatically positioned through profile data collected by a high-precision line laser sensor and corresponding mileage data, profile data of the position are extracted, then the profile data of the multiple line laser sensors are combined, profiles of the heads of the multiple rail pieces are automatically recognized and extracted from combined profile lines, and the accuracy of detection is improved. Due to the fact that the arrangement of the rail pieces at the preset detection position is fixed, the profiles of the guard rail head, the guard rail pair side wing rail head and the point rail can be conveniently and rapidly obtained, then the accurate checking interval value and the back protection distance value are rapidly obtained based on profile analysis and calculation, operation is convenient, detection precision is high, the calculation amount is small, and the detection accuracy is high. And a detection result can be quickly obtained on a track detection site.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of track detection, and in particular relates to a method for detecting a track inspection interval and a back protection distance. Background Art

[0002] Track geometry is an important indicator for measuring the quality and operation safety of railway lines, and is directly related to the smoothness, comfort and driving safety of trains. There are many types of rail parts in the turnout area, including base rails, point rails, heart rails, guard rails, wing rails, etc. There are also many geometric dimension inspection items in the turnout area, and the specific inspection items and locations of each type of rail parts are also different, making automated inspection very difficult.

[0003] Among them, the geometric dimension detection items of the turnout area include the detection of the inspection interval and the guardrail distance. The inspection interval refers to the distance from the effective edge of the frog heart rail to the outer side of the guardrail head. The inspection interval needs to be large enough to ensure that the wheel set can restrain the guardrail on one side under the most unfavorable conditions, so that the wheel on the other side does not impact the frog heart, but the inspection interval cannot be too large, otherwise the guardrail groove width will be too small or the track gauge will be too large, affecting the smooth passage of the train. The guardrail distance refers to the distance from the effective edge of the frog wing rail to the outer side of the guardrail head. The guardrail distance needs to be small enough to ensure that the wheel set will not be stuck by the wing rail and the guardrail under the most unfavorable conditions, but it cannot be too small, otherwise it will reduce the contact area between the wheel tread and the top surface of the wing rail, and increase the harmful space. As mentioned above, in order to ensure that the train can pass through the turnout area safely and smoothly, these two geometric dimensions need to be strictly kept within the designed size range, so their detection also has high accuracy requirements.

[0004] At present, the inspection of the inspection interval and the back protection distance is mainly carried out manually. The inspectors go to the corresponding inspection location and use the track gauge to inspect according to the requirements, and manually record various information including the inspection value, track number, sequence, etc. The manual inspection method is time-consuming and labor-intensive, inefficient, and the inspection accuracy is greatly affected by human operation. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present invention is made to solve the above problems, and aims to provide a detection method that can automatically detect the inspection interval and the back protection distance with high detection accuracy. The present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] The present invention provides a method for detecting a track inspection interval and a back guard distance. The method has the following characteristics: the inspection interval and the back guard distance of a frog are calculated based on the contour data collected by multiple line laser sensors and the mileage data collected by a mileage detector, and the method comprises the following steps: a positioning and extraction step, extracting the contour data of the predetermined detection position from the contour data according to the contour data and the track structure characteristics at the predetermined detection position; a contour merging step, processing the contour data of the predetermined detection position, merging the contour data of multiple line laser sensors to obtain a merged contour line; a rail component identification step, extracting the contours of multiple rail component heads from the merged contour line, and identifying the contours of the guard rail head, the heart rail, and the head of the wing rail on the opposite side of the guard rail according to the arrangement of the rail components at the predetermined detection position; a inspection interval acquisition step, calculating the inspection interval based on the identified contours of the guard rail head and the heart rail; and a back guard distance acquisition step, calculating the back guard distance based on the identified contours of the guard rail head and the head of the wing rail on the opposite side of the guard rail.

[0007] The track inspection interval and guardrail distance detection method provided by the present invention may also have such a technical feature, wherein the rail identification step includes the following sub-steps: filtering the merged contour line to remove certain clutter; taking the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the filtered merged contour line to obtain multiple rectangles that respectively surround the heads of each rail component; extracting the contours of multiple rail component heads from the filtered merged contour line based on the multiple rectangles, and generating a detection contour line based on these contours; sorting the multiple-part contours in the detection contour line according to their positions; and identifying and extracting the contours of the guardrail head, the heart rail, and the head of the wing rail on the opposite side of the guardrail from the detection contour line based on the sorting and the arrangement of the multiple rail components at the predetermined detection position.

[0008] The track inspection interval and back protection distance detection method provided by the present invention may also have such a technical feature, wherein, after taking the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the filtered merged contour line, the coordinates of the lower right corner point of each circumscribed rectangle are obtained respectively, and the coordinate values ​​of the coordinates are added to the corresponding predetermined values ​​to generate a new rectangle, and the corresponding contour of the rail head is extracted using the new rectangle, and then a picture is generated, and the extracted contour of the rail head is placed in the picture, thereby generating the contour line for detection.

[0009] The track inspection interval and back guard distance detection method provided by the present invention may also have such a technical feature, wherein, after the outline of each rail component head is identified, the outline area of ​​each rail component head is extracted from the detection outline line through a target selection algorithm, and then the minimum circumscribed rectangle of each outline area is taken, and the original outline in the minimum circumscribed rectangle is separately segmented through a shape selection algorithm, thereby obtaining the outline of each rail component head.

[0010] The track inspection interval and guardrail distance detection method provided by the present invention may also have such a technical feature, wherein the line laser sensor collects tuple point data, and the contour merging step includes the following sub-steps: converting the tuple point data collected by each of the line laser sensors into corresponding contour lines; filtering each of the contour lines to remove certain clutter; processing the contour line of the outermost line laser sensor corresponding to the guardrail, calculating the position of the guardrail tread and the position of the guardrail effective edge therefrom, and merging the contour lines of multiple line laser sensors according to the positions and the calibration parameters of multiple line laser sensors to obtain the merged contour line.

[0011] The track inspection interval and guardrail distance detection method provided by the present invention may also have such a technical feature, wherein, in the inspection interval acquisition step, based on the outline of the guardrail head, the top surface of the guardrail is found according to the coordinates, and then the point on the effective edge of the guardrail 16 mm below the top surface of the guardrail is found, and the x-axis coordinate value X of the point is obtained, and the point on the effective edge of the heart rail 16 mm below the top surface of the guardrail is found, and the x-axis coordinate value X2 of the point is obtained, and X-X2 is calculated as the inspection interval.

[0012] The track inspection interval and guardrail distance detection method provided by the present invention may also have such a technical feature, wherein, in the guardrail distance acquisition step, based on the profile of the guardrail head, the top surface of the guardrail is found according to the coordinates, and then the point on the effective edge of the guardrail 16 mm below the top surface of the guardrail is found, and the x-axis coordinate value X of the point is obtained; the top surface of the wing rail on the opposite side of the guardrail is found according to the coordinates, and then the point on the effective edge of the wing rail 16 mm below the top surface of the wing rail is found, and the x-axis coordinate value X1 of the point is obtained, and X-X1 is calculated as the guardrail distance.

[0013] The track inspection interval and back protection distance detection method provided by the present invention may also have such a technical feature, before the positioning and extraction step, it also includes: a data acquisition step, in which data of the fork area track is acquired by a track detection device, wherein a plurality of the line laser sensors and the mileage detectors are arranged in the track detection device, and the plurality of the line laser sensors are used to acquire contour data of the same section of the track.

[0014] The track inspection interval and guardrail distance detection method provided by the present invention may also have such a technical feature, wherein there are four line laser sensors, and two of the line laser sensors are respectively arranged on both sides of the track detection device. When the track detection device is on the track in the frog area, the outermost line laser sensor is located on the outer side of the guardrail and the basic rail on one side, and is inclined toward the guardrail and the basic rail. In the contour merging step, the contour line of the outermost line laser sensor is processed, and the position of the guardrail tread and the guardrail action edge is calculated therefrom, and the contour lines of the four line laser sensors are merged according to the position and the calibration parameters of the four line laser sensors, thereby obtaining the merged contour line.

[0015] The track inspection interval and back protection distance detection method provided by the present invention may also have such a technical feature, before the data collection step, it also includes: a preparation step, jointly calibrating the multiple line laser sensors of the track detection device, and time synchronizing the multiple line laser sensors and the mileage detector.

[0016] Functions and Effects of the Invention

[0017] The method for detecting the track inspection interval and back guard distance provided by the present invention comprises a positioning and extraction step, a contour merging step, a rail identification step, a inspection interval acquisition step and a back guard distance acquisition step, wherein the predetermined detection position is automatically positioned by using the profile data collected by the high-precision line laser sensor and the corresponding mileage data, the profile data of the position is extracted, and then the profile data of the multi-line laser sensor is merged, and the profiles of the heads of multiple rail members are automatically identified and extracted from the merged profile lines. Since the arrangement of the multiple rail members at the predetermined detection position is fixed, the profiles of the head of the guardrail, the head of the wing rail opposite the guardrail, and the heart rail can be obtained conveniently and quickly, and then the accurate inspection interval value and back guard distance value can be quickly obtained based on the profile analysis calculation. The operation is convenient and the detection accuracy is high. Moreover, since only one frame of the profile at the predetermined detection position is extracted for subsequent calculation and analysis, and there is no need to perform three-dimensional modeling, three-dimensional model comparison and other operations based on the profile data, the amount of calculation is very small, which is conducive to quickly obtaining the detection results at the track detection site. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 is a flow chart of a method for detecting a track inspection interval and a back protection distance in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 is a three-dimensional diagram of a track detection device in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 3is a schematic diagram of the distribution of internal detection components of a track detection device in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 4 yes Figure 2 An enlarged view of the portion within the middle frame A;

[0022] Figure 5 is a flow chart of step S4 in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 6 is a flow chart of step S5 in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 7 is an example diagram of a detection profile line in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 8 is an example diagram of the profile of each rail member head identified in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Fig. 9 This is an example of calculating the inspection interval in an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 ;

[0027] Fig.10 This is an example of calculating the inspection interval in an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 ;

[0028] Fig.11 is an example diagram of calculating the back protection distance in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Fig.12 The present invention is a schematic diagram of the structure of wheel-rail contact at the frog in the prior art.

[0030] Reference numerals:

[0031] Track detection device 100; device body 10; main unit 11; unit housing 112; shading assembly 113; shading plate 1131; line laser sensors 1411~1146; moving mechanism 20; wheel frame 21; running wheel assembly 22; running wheel 222; auxiliary cone wheel 223; fixed side wheel assembly 23; detector assembly 25; pushing mechanism 30; basic rail 9; pointed rail 8. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] In order to make the technical means, creative features, objectives and effects achieved by the present invention easy to understand, the track inspection interval and back protection distance detection method of the present invention are specifically described below in combination with embodiments and drawings.

[0033] <Example>

[0034] This embodiment provides a method for detecting a track inspection interval and a back protection distance, which is used to automatically detect the inspection interval and the back protection distance in a turnout area. To facilitate the description of the method of this embodiment, the detection positions of these two geometric dimensions will be briefly described below.

[0035] Fig.12 The present invention is a schematic diagram of the structure of wheel-rail contact at the frog in the prior art.

[0036] like Fig.12 As shown, a section of the frog includes a base rail, a guard rail arranged inside the base rail, a wing rail arranged on the opposite side of the guard rail, and a heart rail arranged between the wing rails on both sides. The figure also indicates the inspection interval and the back guard distance.

[0037] The base rail and the guard rail are similar I-shaped rails, and there is a certain gap between the rail heads. The sides of the base rail and the guard rail facing each other are their active sides, that is, the side of the guard rail head facing the base rail is its rail head active side.

[0038] The wing rail has a square rail head, the heart rail has a gradual cross-sectional shape, and there is a certain gap between the wing rail and the heart rail. The side of the wing rail facing the heart rail is its active side, and the side of the heart rail facing the guard rail is its active side.

[0039] In this embodiment, a track detection device is used to collect track data in the turnout area, and a guardrail key dimension detection method is used to automatically obtain the above key dimensions. The method requires that the track detection device has at least two line laser sensors on each side, that is, at least four in total, and a mileage detector (mileage encoder). To facilitate the description of the method of the present invention, a track detection device will be exemplarily shown below.

[0040] Figure 2 is a three-dimensional diagram of the track detection device in this embodiment, Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the distribution of internal detection components of the track detection device in this embodiment.

[0041] like Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the track detection device 100 is an H-type comprehensive track detection device (detection vehicle), which includes a device body 10, a moving mechanism 20, and a pushing mechanism 30.

[0042] The device body 10 is roughly in the shape of a long rectangular parallelepiped as a whole, and includes two main units 11. Each main unit 11 is also roughly in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, including a unit frame, a unit shell 112, a shading component 113, and a plurality of detection components. The unit frame is a metal part and has a triangular grid structure. The unit shell 112 covers the three side surfaces and the top surface of the unit frame, and the two main units 11 are connected to each other on the side that is not covered. The shading component 113 includes a plurality of shading plates 1131 that are roughly in the shape of rounded rectangular plates, which are respectively installed under the three side surfaces of the unit shell 112 and are slightly inclined outward from the unit shell 112. In an alternative embodiment, the shading component can also be in the shape of a skirt with an opening on one side, and the shape is roughly the shape formed by connecting the gaps between the three shading plates 1131 in the figure.

[0043] Multiple detection components are fixed in the unit frame through corresponding mounting parts, that is, placed in the unit housing 112. The detection components of one main unit 11 include three line laser sensors 1411-1143, and the detection components of another main unit 11 include three line laser sensors 1144-1146. For the convenience of description, they are respectively recorded as line lasers No. 1 to No. 6 below.

[0044] like Figure 3 As shown, in a main body unit 11, three line laser sensors are arranged near the top of the main body unit 11, wherein the line laser sensor 1411 is fixed at the outer end of the unit body 11 in the length direction and is arranged obliquely, the line laser sensor 1412 is fixed at the middle of the unit body 11 in the length direction and is arranged obliquely, and the inclination angle is smaller than that of the line laser sensor 1141, and the line laser sensor 1143 is fixed at the inner end of the unit body 11 in the length direction and is arranged obliquely, and the inclination direction is different from that of the other two line laser sensors. When the device is placed on the track in the turnout area, the line laser sensor 1411 is fixed at the inner end of the unit body 11 in the length direction and is arranged obliquely, and the inclination direction is different from that of the other two line laser sensors. The laser sensor 1411 is tilted toward the outside of the basic rail, and can cover part of the outer side surface and top surface of the basic rail, as well as part of the outer side surface and top surface of the rail member outside the basic rail (if any, the same below); the line laser sensor 1412 is slightly tilted toward the top surface of the rail, and can completely cover the top surface and part of the inner side surface of the basic rail, as well as part of the top surface of the rail member outside the basic rail, and the top surface of the rail member inside the basic rail; the line laser sensor 1143 is tilted toward the inside of the rail, and can basically completely cover the top surface and part of the inner side surface of the basic rail, as well as the top surface and part of the inner side surface of the rail member inside the basic rail.

[0045] The three line laser sensors in the other main body unit 11 are arranged similarly, with the only difference being that the line laser sensors in the two main body units 11 are arranged in mirror symmetry along the center line of the device body 10 .

[0046] Optionally, an inclinometer, a gyroscope, a two-dimensional camera, etc. may be further provided in the main unit 11 so that the device can cover more track detection items.

[0047] The shading component 113 is used to block external light to reduce the impact of changes in external ambient light on the line laser sensor, and the brightness of the collected contour data is more uniform and there are fewer missing points.

[0048] In order to cover various inspection items at the main line track and the switch, the comprehensive track inspection device of this embodiment is provided with three line laser sensors in each main unit. If it is a device only for measuring the inspection interval and the back protection distance, or a device covering the inspection of this embodiment and other small items, only two of them may be provided. At the switch, the line lasers projected by the two line laser sensors need to be able to cover the basic rail on one side and the track components outside the basic rail. For example, only the above-mentioned line laser sensors 1141, 1142, 1145, 1146 may be provided.

[0049] Figure 4 yes Figure 2 An enlarged view of the portion within frame A.

[0050] like Figure 2 and Figure 4 As shown, the mobile mechanism 20 includes two wheel frames 21, four walking wheel assemblies 22, four fixed side wheel assemblies 23, a floating connection assembly (not shown in the figure), and at least one detector assembly 25.

[0051] The wheel frame 21 is a metal frame, and its overall shape is similar to the top and two sides of a trapezoid, and it also has a triangular grid structure. Its two ends are semi-enclosed shell-shaped and have mounting holes for mounting the travel wheel assembly 22. A pair of square mounting holes are provided on the two opposing sides of the above-mentioned unit housing 112, and the middle section of the wheel frame 21 passes through the pair of mounting holes to be connected to the device body 10. The size of the square mounting hole on one of the unit housings 112 is slightly larger than the cross-sectional size of the middle part of the wheel frame 21. The wheel frame 21 passes through the mounting hole on the unit housing 112 and is connected to the main unit 11 through a floating connection assembly. It can rotate slightly along the length direction of the device body 10, and its rotation is limited by the mounting holes. With such a design, the four travel wheels can be kept in contact with the rails as much as possible in places where the track is uneven, so that the overall movement of the device is more stable.

[0052] Two running wheel assemblies 22 are respectively arranged on the two ends of the wheel frame 21. The running wheel assembly 22 includes a rotating shaft, a bearing shaft, a running wheel 222, and an auxiliary cone wheel 223. The running wheel 222 is rotatably arranged on the wheel frame 21 through the rotating shaft and the bearing shaft. The running wheel 222 is cylindrical and is used to contact the top surface of the rail; the auxiliary cone wheel 223 is in the shape of a truncated cone and is coaxially arranged on one side of the running wheel 222, and its large end faces the running wheel 222. When the device is placed on the track, the auxiliary cone wheel 223 is located on the outside of the rail, and is used to avoid and assist the stability of the device at the positions of the point rail, the heart rail, etc. when the device enters the turnout.

[0053] The relatively large shading plate 1131 in the shading assembly 113 extends obliquely from the lower end of the main shell to the end of the wheel frame 21 (above the running wheel), that is, the distance between the lower end of the shading plate 1311 and the rail is very small, so it can effectively block most of the external light.

[0054] The four fixed side wheel assemblies 23 are respectively arranged on the ends of the wheel frame 21 next to the four walking wheel assemblies 22. The fixed side wheel assemblies 23 include a side wheel bracket extending downward from the end of the wheel frame 21 and a side wheel installed at the lower part of the side wheel bracket. The side wheels are mainly used to enable the device to pass through the switch center rail more stably.

[0055] The detector assembly 25 includes a detector housing and a mileage detector (mileage encoder). The detector housing is fixed to the outside of one end of the wheel frame 21 and is arranged corresponding to the running wheel 222. The mileage detector is installed in the housing and is coaxially arranged with the running wheel 222. When the running wheel 222 contacts the track and rolls along the track, the mileage detector can obtain corresponding mileage data.

[0056] The pushing mechanism 30 includes a T-shaped push rod and an angle adjustment assembly, and is used to allow the inspector to push the device.

[0057] In addition, the device also has an electronic control component, including a battery, a data collector, a data calculation analyzer (such as a laptop computer), etc.

[0058] In addition, it is worth mentioning that, considering the movement and detection needs of the device at the turnout, the device does not have spring side wheels, but only fixed side wheels. After modeling analysis and repeated test adjustments, a suitable installation position is designed for the four fixed side wheels so that the device can pass through the center rail area normally. The installation of spring side wheels will affect the walking and detection accuracy of the device at the turnout. The following are a few examples to illustrate this:

[0059] For example, due to the gap between the wing rail and the center rail, when passing through this position, the gap may cause the spring side wheel to lose support, causing the device to deviate or jam.

[0060] In the front area of ​​the heart rail, there is a certain height difference between the top surface of the base rail and the top surface of the heart rail. The spring side wheels may not be able to adapt to the change in height difference due to elastic force limitations, causing the overall center of gravity of the device to shift or jump, thus affecting the detection accuracy; it may also cause the overall instability of the device and make it unable to continue moving along the track.

[0061] The width of the tip of the heart rail gradually narrows. When the spring side wheels are used to press the track components on both sides, the spring side wheels or fixed side wheels may interfere with the track components near the gauge point, resulting in unstable walking and affecting the detection accuracy.

[0062] Since the tip of the heart rail is relatively sharp, the side wheels will not be in sufficient contact with the track. Therefore, the spring side wheels cannot apply uniform pressure when passing through the pointed rail part, causing the entire device to drift or misalign relative to the track, thereby affecting the detection accuracy.

[0063] In the discontinuous area where the point rail and the heart rail transition, the side wheels become suspended or lose support, causing the device to be unable to maintain a stable posture.

[0064] Therefore, the device of this embodiment does not have spring side wheels, and the device can move stably and smoothly in the turnout area through the fixed side wheels with modeled and designed installation positions.

[0065] The method of this embodiment will be described in detail below in conjunction with the above device structure.

[0066] Figure 1 Flow chart of the track inspection interval and back protection distance detection method in this embodiment.

[0067] like Figure 1 As shown, the method comprises the following steps:

[0068] Step S1 (preparation step), before starting data collection, multiple line laser sensors of the track detection device are jointly calibrated, and multiple line laser sensors and mileage encoders are time synchronized.

[0069] Step S2 (data collection step), data collection is performed on the frog area through the track detection device, wherein the contour data on both sides of the track are respectively obtained through multiple line laser sensors, and the mileage data of the device moving along the track is obtained through the mileage detector.

[0070] Step S3 (positioning extraction step), extracting the contour data of the predetermined detection position from the contour data according to the contour data and the track structure characteristics at the predetermined detection position.

[0071] Step S4 (contour merging step), processing the contour data of the predetermined detection position, merging the contour data of multiple line laser sensors, and obtaining a merged contour line.

[0072] Step S5 (rail identification step), extracting the outlines of multiple rail head parts from the merged outline line through the circumscribed rectangle, and identifying the outlines of the guardrail head, the heart rail, and the wing rail head on the opposite side of the guardrail according to the arrangement of the rail parts at the predetermined detection position.

[0073] In step S6 (the step of obtaining the inspection interval), the inspection interval is calculated based on the recognized profiles of the guard rail head and the center rail.

[0074] In step S7 (back guard distance acquisition step), the back guard distance is calculated based on the recognized profile of the guard rail head and the profile of the head of the wing rail on the opposite side of the guard rail.

[0075] The above steps will be described in detail below.

[0076] Step S1 (preparation step), before starting data collection, multiple line laser sensors of the track detection device are jointly calibrated, and multiple line laser sensors and mileage encoders are time synchronized.

[0077] Among them, by designing and carefully adjusting the installation positions of multiple line laser sensors so that their projected line lasers are basically collinear, it is possible to collect contour data of the same cross-section of the track, and use a calibration plate with multiple square columnar teeth and triangular pointed columnar teeth to jointly calibrate multiple line laser sensors, so that the measured contour data can be subsequently integrated into a unified coordinate space, and the correspondence between the contour data measured by the line laser sensor and the actual physical scale can be obtained.

[0078] Time synchronization is the premise of multi-source sensor data fusion, which can avoid the accumulation of errors caused by asynchrony and provide accurate basic data for subsequent horizontal value calculation. For example, multiple line laser sensors, inclinometers and mileage detectors can be connected to the same system-on-chip (such as the system-on-chip of a data collector). Before starting to collect data, when starting the system-on-chip, or when sending corresponding instructions to it, the system-on-chip performs time synchronization operations on all line laser sensors and mileage detectors through local time and timer values ​​in the timer core.

[0079] Step S2 (data collection step), data collection is performed on the frog area through the track detection device, wherein the contour data on both sides of the track are respectively obtained through multiple line laser sensors, and the mileage data of the device moving along the track is obtained through the mileage detector.

[0080] Among them, the inspector places the device on the track, places its four running wheels on the top surfaces of the two rails respectively, and pushes the device to move along the track. During the movement, the data collector controls multiple sensors to synchronously collect data, thereby collecting the profile data of a certain cross section of the track. The data collection of the line laser sensor can be triggered at a predetermined distance according to a predetermined mileage interval; the data of the line laser sensor can also be triggered at a predetermined time interval according to a predetermined time interval. In this case, the inspector needs to push the track inspection device relatively evenly.

[0081] The contour data obtained by the line laser sensor scanning the track is tuple point data, including multiple data points, each of which includes the point space coordinate value, ray reflection intensity (brightness value) and the corresponding mileage value.

[0082] In this embodiment, the contour data collected by the above-mentioned No. 1, No. 2, No. 5, and No. 6 line lasers are used.

[0083] Step S3 (positioning extraction step), extracting the contour data of the predetermined detection position from the contour data according to the contour data and the track structure characteristics at the predetermined detection position.

[0084] For example, taking turnout No. 9 as an example, measurement should be carried out between the cross-sectional width of 20mm and 50mm on the top surface of the center rail. This is a relatively long measurement range. Therefore, in the data acquisition step, the track detection device is pushed into the measurement range for detection, and then a frame of contour data in the middle of the mileage is extracted according to the mileage value as the contour data at the predetermined detection position.

[0085] For turnout No. 12, the measurement should be carried out between the cross-sectional width of 20mm and 30mm on the top surface of the heart rail. The measuring range is relatively much smaller. In the data acquisition step, the track detection device can be pushed to the vicinity of the measuring range, and the track detection device can be pushed to move to cover the entire measuring range to obtain multiple frames of contour data; then, a part of the contour data is extracted from it according to the mileage value and the predetermined extraction ratio (for example, extracting multiple frames of contour data of the middle 1 / 3 to 1 / 2 of the mileage); then, according to the mileage value, each frame of contour data is taken in turn, and after converting it into a corresponding contour line, the heart rail contour line is identified in the contour line through template matching or a circumscribed rectangle, and the heart rail cross-sectional width is calculated based on the heart rail contour line. When the calculated cross-sectional width is a specified value (for example, 22mm to 28mm), the frame contour data is extracted as the contour data at the predetermined detection position.

[0086] Step S4 (contour merging step), processing the contour data of the predetermined detection position, merging the contour data of multiple line laser sensors, and obtaining a merged contour line.

[0087] Figure 5It is a flow chart of step S4 in this embodiment.

[0088] like Figure 5 As shown, step S4 specifically includes the following sub-steps:

[0089] Step S4-1, converting the tuple point data collected by each line laser sensor into corresponding profile lines through corresponding algorithms, and the profile lines still retain the coordinate values, brightness values ​​and mileage values ​​of each point.

[0090] Step S4-2, filtering each contour line to preliminarily remove certain clutter.

[0091] Step S4-3, move each contour line to the center of the window to facilitate subsequent calculation and processing.

[0092] Step S4-4, processes the profile line of the laser sensor of Line 1, calculates the position of the guardrail tread and the guardrail action edge, and merges the profile lines of the laser sensors of Lines 1, 2, 5, and 6 according to the position and calibration parameters (profile line splicing), and removes some miscellaneous edges after merging to obtain a merged profile line.

[0093] Step S5 (rail identification step), extracting the outlines of multiple rail head parts from the merged outline line through the circumscribed rectangle, and identifying the outlines of the guardrail head, the heart rail, and the wing rail head on the opposite side of the guardrail according to the arrangement of the rail parts at the predetermined detection position.

[0094] Figure 6 is a flow chart of step S5 in this embodiment.

[0095] like Figure 6 As shown, step S5 specifically includes the following sub-steps:

[0096] Step S5-1, filtering the merged contour line to further remove certain clutter.

[0097] Step S5-2, taking the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the filtered merged outline line to obtain a plurality of rectangles respectively surrounding the heads of the rail members.

[0098] Step S5-3: extracting the outlines of multiple rail head portions from the merged outline line according to multiple circumscribed rectangles, and generating an outline line for detection.

[0099] Among them, after taking the minimum circumscribed rectangle, the coordinates of the four corner points of each circumscribed rectangle are obtained, the coordinates of the lower right corner point are taken, and the coordinate values ​​of the coordinates are added with corresponding predetermined values ​​(for example, +100 respectively) to generate a new rectangle, and the outline of the corresponding rail head is extracted using the new rectangle. Then, an image is generated, and the outlines of the rail heads are placed in the image to generate the outline lines for detection.

[0100] Step S5-4, sorting the multiple parts of the contour line for detection according to their positions.

[0101] Figure 7 This is an example diagram of the detection profile line in this embodiment.

[0102] like Figure 7 As shown, for example, in the generated image (profile line for detection), the center rail is on the left and the guard rail is on the right. According to the actual track structure at the predetermined detection position, there are only three profile areas on the left side of the image and only two profile areas on the right side of the image. The operator sort_region can be used to sort the profile areas on the left and right sides of the image, and then the profiles of each rail component can be automatically identified based on the sorting and the sorting of the rail components in the actual track structure.

[0103] Step S5-5, according to the arrangement of the multi-part profiles and the arrangement of multiple rail members at the predetermined detection position, the profiles of the guardrail head, the heart rail, and the head of the wing rail on the opposite side of the guardrail are identified from the detection profile line.

[0104] Among them, after the outline of each rail head is automatically identified, each outline area can be taken out through the operator select_obj; then the minimum circumscribed rectangle of each outline area is taken, and the original outline in the minimum circumscribed rectangle is separately segmented through the operator select_shape_xld to obtain the outline of each rail head.

[0105] Figure 8 2 is an example diagram of the profile of each rail head identified in this embodiment.

[0106] like Figure 8 As shown, according to the arrangement order of multiple rail members at the predetermined detection positions, the contours of the heart rail, the wing rail on the opposite side of the guard rail, the guard rail, and the rail head of the stock rail can be respectively identified from the detection profile line.

[0107] In step S6 (the step of obtaining the inspection interval), the inspection interval is calculated based on the recognized profiles of the guard rail head and the center rail.

[0108] Fig. 9 This is an example of calculating the search interval in this embodiment. Figure 1 , Fig.10 This is an example of calculating the search interval in this embodiment. Figure 2 .

[0109] like Fig. 9 and Fig.10As shown, based on the profile of the segmented guardrail head, the top surface of the guardrail is found according to the coordinates, and then the point on the guardrail action edge 16 mm below the top surface of the guardrail is found to obtain the x-axis coordinate value X of the point. Then, the point on the center rail action edge 16 mm below the top surface of the guardrail is found to obtain the x-axis coordinate value X2 of the point, and X-X2 is calculated to obtain the inspection interval.

[0110] In step S7 (back guard distance acquisition step), the back guard distance is calculated based on the recognized profile of the guard rail head and the profile of the head of the wing rail on the opposite side of the guard rail.

[0111] Fig.11 This is an example diagram of calculating the back protection distance in this embodiment.

[0112] like Fig. 9 and Fig.11 As shown, based on the segmented profile of the guardrail head, the top surface of the guardrail is found according to the coordinates, and then the point on the effective edge of the guardrail 16 mm below the top surface of the guardrail is found to obtain the x-axis coordinate value X of the point. Then, the top surface of the wing rail on the opposite side of the guardrail is found according to the coordinates, and then the point on the effective edge of the wing rail 16 mm below the top surface of the wing rail is found to obtain the x-axis coordinate value X1 of the point, and X-X1 is calculated to obtain the back guard distance.

[0113] Through the above steps, the inspection interval and the back protection distance can be obtained, and in actual inspection, the inspection personnel only need to push the track inspection device to move once at the predetermined inspection position in the frog area, and then the result can be automatically obtained.

[0114] The above method can be run as a corresponding program on the data calculation and analysis device (laptop computer) of the device, or as a corresponding program on a remote data calculation and analysis device, and the device only collects data and transmits the data to the remote device.

[0115] For the device and method of this embodiment, the inventor used it to perform multiple inspections of the inspection interval and back protection distance of the actual turnout frog area, and also used a 0-level track gauge to detect the inspection interval and back protection distance of the frog area to verify the effectiveness of the method of the present invention. Through multiple measurements and comparisons, it was proved that the inspection interval and back protection distance measured by the track detection device and method of this embodiment are highly consistent with the values ​​measured by the 0-level track gauge.

[0116] Furthermore, the track detection device shown in this embodiment is only an exemplary structure. The method of the present invention only requires the track detection device to have four line laser sensors and a mileage detector, and does not depend on a specific vehicle body structure. Therefore, it can also be used for track detection devices of other structures.

[0117] Functions and Effects of the Embodiments

[0118] The method for detecting the track inspection interval and guardrail distance provided by the present embodiment includes a positioning and extraction step, a contour merging step, a rail identification step, a inspection interval acquisition step and a guardrail distance acquisition step, wherein the predetermined detection position is automatically positioned by using the profile data collected by the high-precision line laser sensor and the corresponding mileage data, and the profile data of the position is extracted, and then the profile data of the multi-line laser sensor is merged, and the profiles of the heads of multiple rail members are automatically identified and extracted from the merged profile lines. Since the arrangement of multiple rail members at the predetermined detection position is fixed, the profiles of the guardrail head, the head of the wing rail opposite the guardrail, and the heart rail can be obtained conveniently and quickly, and then the accurate inspection interval value and guardrail distance value can be quickly obtained based on the profile analysis calculation. The operation is convenient and the detection accuracy is high. Moreover, since only one frame of the profile at the predetermined detection position is extracted for subsequent calculation and analysis, and there is no need to perform three-dimensional modeling, three-dimensional model comparison and other operations based on the profile data, the amount of calculation is very small, which is conducive to quickly obtaining the detection results at the track detection site.

[0119] In the embodiment, the outline of each rail head is automatically identified and extracted by taking the minimum circumscribed rectangle, which can well fit the contour shape and reduce the blank area, thereby obtaining a more accurate inspection interval value and back protection distance value.

[0120] Furthermore, after extracting the profile of each rail head, it is only necessary to find the corresponding inspection points in the profile and calculate the coordinate difference according to the inspection requirements. The subsequent calculation and analysis is relatively simple and intuitive, with small amount of calculation and high calculation accuracy, which can avoid the problem of cumulative errors caused by algorithms such as multiple profile matching.

[0121] Furthermore, the method of the embodiment can automatically locate, extract the corresponding profile and automatically identify the corresponding rail parts, and then automatically calculate the inspection interval value and the back protection distance value. The degree of automation is high. During the inspection, the inspection personnel only need to push the track inspection device to walk in the switch area once, and basically no human intervention is required afterwards, which can greatly reduce the burden on the inspection personnel, and will not cause differences in inspection accuracy due to the inspection personnel's experience, operation differences, etc.

[0122] Furthermore, before starting data collection, multiple line laser sensors were jointly calibrated, so that the data collected by multiple line laser sensors can be easily merged later and the profile lines can be made to correspond to the real physical scale. In addition, all sensors were time synchronized before data collection to avoid error accumulation caused by multi-sensor time asynchrony during data collection, providing accurate basic data for subsequent calculation and analysis.

[0123] Furthermore, the line laser sensors are all arranged inside a semi-enclosed device casing, and the device is also equipped with a light-shielding blocker extending above the walking wheel, which can effectively block most of the external ambient light and avoid the influence of excessive or changing external ambient light on the line laser sensor, making the sensor data more accurate and also helping to improve the accuracy of the key dimensions of the guardrail.

[0124] Furthermore, the track detection device is an H-type integrated track detection device, which can cover multiple items of detection in the mainline track and turnout area. After adopting the above method, the integrated track detection device does not need to be equipped with spring side wheels, which can avoid the problems of multiple walking and detection in the turnout area caused by the installation of spring side wheels, so that the integrated track detection device can detect accurate key dimensions of the guardrail while also being able to stably move in the turnout area and measure more accurate data. Furthermore, the device is equipped with auxiliary cone wheels, and its multiple fixed side wheels have been modeled, designed, and carefully tested and adjusted, so that it can move more stably and smoothly in the turnout area.

[0125] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the specific implementation of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the description scope of the above embodiments. Those skilled in the art should understand that the present invention is not limited by the above embodiments. The above embodiments and descriptions are only to illustrate the principles of the present invention. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, the present invention may have various changes and improvements, and these changes and improvements fall within the scope of the present invention to be protected. The scope of protection of the present invention is defined by the attached claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for detecting track inspection interval and back protection distance, characterized in that: The method calculates the search interval and back protection distance of the frog based on the profile data collected by multiple line laser sensors and the mileage data collected by the mileage detector, and comprises the following steps: a positioning and extraction step, extracting the contour data of the predetermined detection position from the contour data according to the contour data and the track structure characteristics at the predetermined detection position; A contour merging step, processing the contour data of the predetermined detection position, merging the contour data of a plurality of the line laser sensors to obtain a merged contour line; A rail component identification step, extracting the profiles of multiple rail component heads from the combined profile line, and identifying the profiles of the guard rail head, the heart rail, and the wing rail head on the opposite side of the guard rail according to the arrangement of the rail components at the predetermined detection position; A checking interval acquisition step, calculating the checking interval based on the identified profile of the guard rail head and the profile of the heart rail; The back guard distance acquisition step calculates the back guard distance based on the recognized profile of the guard rail head and the profile of the head of the wing rail on the opposite side of the guard rail.

2. The method for detecting the track inspection interval and back protection distance according to claim 1, Features: The rail identification step includes the following sub-steps: Filtering the combined profile line to remove certain clutter; Taking the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the filtered merged outline line to obtain a plurality of rectangles respectively surrounding the heads of the rail members; extracting multiple profiles of the rail head from the filtered merged profile line according to the multiple rectangles, and generating a profile line for detection based on these profiles; sorting the multiple-part profiles in the detection profile line according to their positions; According to the arrangement of the plurality of rail members at the predetermined detection positions, the profile of the guardrail head, the profile of the center rail, and the profile of the head of the wing rail opposite to the guardrail are identified and extracted from the detection profile line.

3. The method for detecting track inspection interval and back protection distance according to claim 2, characterized in that: in, After taking the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the filtered merged contour line, the coordinates of the lower right corner point of each circumscribed rectangle are obtained respectively, and the coordinate values ​​of the coordinates are added to the corresponding predetermined values ​​to generate a new rectangle, and the corresponding contour of the rail head is extracted using the new rectangle, and then a picture is generated, and the extracted contour of the rail head is placed in the picture to generate the contour line for detection.

4. The method for detecting track inspection interval and back protection distance according to claim 2, characterized in that: in, After identifying the outline of each rail head, the outline area of ​​each rail head is extracted from the detection outline line through the target selection algorithm, and then the minimum circumscribed rectangle of each outline area is taken, and the original outline in the minimum circumscribed rectangle is separately segmented through the shape selection algorithm to obtain the outline of each rail head.

5. The method for detecting track inspection interval and back protection distance according to claim 1, characterized in that: in, The line laser sensor collects tuple point data. The outline merging step includes the following sub-steps: Convert the tuple point data collected by each of the line laser sensors into corresponding profile lines respectively; Filtering each of the contour lines to remove certain clutter; The profile line of the outermost line laser sensor corresponding to the guardrail is processed, and the position of the guardrail tread and the position of the guardrail effective edge are calculated therefrom, and the profile lines of multiple line laser sensors are merged according to the positions and calibration parameters of multiple line laser sensors to obtain the merged profile line.

6. The method for detecting track inspection interval and back protection distance according to claim 1, characterized in that: in, In the checking interval acquisition step, based on the outline of the guardrail head, the top surface of the guardrail is found according to the coordinates, and then a point on the effective edge of the guardrail 16 mm below the top surface of the guardrail is found, and the x-axis coordinate value X of the point is obtained. Then a point on the effective edge of the center rail 16 mm below the top surface of the guardrail is found, and the x-axis coordinate value X2 of the point is obtained, and X-X2 is calculated as the checking interval.

7. The method for detecting track inspection interval and back protection distance according to claim 1, characterized in that: in, In the step of obtaining the back guard distance, based on the profile of the guardrail head, the top surface of the guardrail is found according to the coordinates, and then a point on the effective edge of the guardrail 16 mm below the top surface of the guardrail is found to obtain the x-axis coordinate value X of the point; the top surface of the wing rail on the opposite side of the guardrail is found according to the coordinates, and then a point on the effective edge of the wing rail 16 mm below the top surface of the wing rail is found to obtain the x-axis coordinate value X1 of the point, and X-X1 is calculated as the back guard distance.

8. The method for detecting track inspection interval and back protection distance according to claim 1, characterized in that: Before the positioning extraction step, the method further includes: Data collection step: collect data on the track in the frog area through the track detection device. Wherein, the plurality of line laser sensors and the mileage detectors are arranged in the track detection device, and the plurality of line laser sensors correspond to both sides of the track respectively, and are used to collect contour data of the same section of the track.

9. The method for detecting track inspection interval and back protection distance according to claim 8, characterized in that: in, There are at least four line laser sensors, and at least two line laser sensors are respectively arranged on both sides of the track detection device. When the track detection device is arranged on the track in the frog area, the outermost line laser sensor is located outside the guard rail and the stock rail on one side and is tilted toward the guard rail and the stock rail. In the contour merging step, the contour line of the outermost line laser sensor is processed, and the positions of the guardrail tread and the guardrail action edge are calculated therefrom. The contour lines of at least four line laser sensors are merged according to the position and the calibration parameters of at least four line laser sensors to obtain the merged contour line.

10. The method for detecting track inspection interval and back protection distance according to claim 8, characterized in that: Before the data collection step, the method further includes: The preparation step is to jointly calibrate the multiple line laser sensors of the track detection device and to time synchronize the multiple line laser sensors and the mileage detector.

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