The 5th edition of the “DITECFER Railway Innovation Contest”, organised in partnership with EXPO Ferroviaria, has named its winners for 2019. Each winner comes from different parts of Italy and they are all SME’s with a maximum of 23 employees, confirming the vitality of small companies and their potential. This is represented both by the steady improvement of the national railway sector and by the positive outlook of domestic and international markets.
ETS S.r.l. from Latina has developed “ARCHITA – ETS MOBILE MAPPING SYSTEM”, a high-tech modular and dynamic mobile detection system for civil engineering surveys to support the decision-making processes inherent in new infrastructure, for example the preliminary economic assessment, maintenance estimates, terrain stability evaluation, etc. Bringing together various technologies such as laser scanners, geo-radar, thermography, high resolution imaging and positioning sensors, the system enables surveys to be conducted – with data acquisition engineering – reducing impact on the lines and without turning off power, at an average, steady speed of about 30 km/hr which minimises the interruption of railway traffic by up to 60% and significantly reduces cost by up to four times. ETS will be at EXPO Ferroviaria on stand B118.
IVM S.r.l. from Naples has developed “POWERVE – POrtable WEigher for Railway VEhicles”, a portable static weighing device for railway carriages that can determine how the weight of a carriage is distributed between each wheel at the point of interface with the rail; measuring exactly what happens when the carriage is runs the track and doing so without the need for the carriage to be transported to a weighing device . It can be operated by just one person and the measurement takes less than ten minutes. POWERVE allows up to six wheel sets to be measured at the same time. The system is patented and complies with the new EN 15654-2:2019 standard. It also automatically produces a measurement report – available in the cloud – that contains all the information needed by the technician to make their assessment. IVM will be at EXPO Ferroviaria on stand B60.
Z Lab S.r.l. from Verona has developed “Multi-functional and acoustic panel for Railway interiors”, a high-tech “honeycomb sandwich” panel using aero-space technology that takes into account air-conditioning, lighting, acoustic cabin comfort and at the same time, lightness and structural strength. The high versatility of the panel is its multi-functionality, being able to be used as flooring, ceiling and walls without affecting the weight or internal structure of the carriage. Passengers will benefit from improved comfort and a better on-board experience, whilst manufacturers will see an economic benefit alongside reduced installation times and environmental impact. Z Lab will be at EXPO Ferroviaria on stand A119.
All three projects have been developed in collaboration with other companies, including research institutes and other SME’s. The assessment criteria included the standard of innovation in terms of its technological advancement; the economic benefit obtained for customers; the competitive advantage generated for the candidate company; the positive rewards generated with regards to social and competitive challenges that the sector sets at a European level; the implementation in collaboration with other companies and/or research institutes and the potential benefit in terms of development opportunities in the industry. The innovations considered for candidature had to have a TRL [Technology Readiness Level] greater than six so as to ensure assessed projects had the capacity to be brought to the industry as innovative solutions.
The three projects have now been submitted to the ERCI Innovation Award European competition 2019. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 2nd October at 5pm) at EXPO Ferroviaria, on the DITECFER stand (A119). The award recognises the best European innovations in 2019 developed within the Railway Technologies Areas of ERCI by a large company, amongst whom the European finalists cited are Bombardier, Siemens, SNCF and Capgemini, as well as by an SME and the “Coup de Cœur” Award by a European Jury.
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The EXPO Ferroviaria 2019 team
Tel.: +44 (0)1727 814 400
Email: expoferroviaria@mackbrooks.co.uk
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