The innovative depot-based technology that remotely and safely monitors passing rolling stock.
Trailblazing Remote Rolling Stock Inspection Technology
DepotMATE (Multi-sensor Automated Train Examination) captures critical data of passing vehicles, enabling precise detection of train components to significantly enhance the efficiency and accuracy of vehicle inspections.
Developed with rail experts, DepotMATE helps to tackle safety and efficiency challenges in depot and siding inspections, providing train controllers, engineers, managers and control controllers with up-to-date and historical rolling stock assessments to streamline inspections.
The outcome is an industry endorsed lightweight and cost-effective rolling stock inspection system that provides:
- Visible Data – Assess vehicle cleanliness, record historical data, and detect missing or faulty assets.
- Thermal Data – Identify overheating components such as wheel bearings, axle boxes, handbrakes, and blocked radiators.
Visible Imagery
Thermographic Imagery
Inspect your Rolling Stock on the DepotMATE Platform
The DepotMATE platform provides a powerful and standalone interface for users to analyse captured vehicle data efficiently.
Key Features on the User Interface:
- Search by vehicle identifier such as RFID, session data, or filter by date, depot location, EVN and unit numbers.
- Access rapid, comprehensive data to assess rolling stock condition changes.
- View both visible and thermographic in near real-time for immediate analysis and decision making.
- Centralised review of sensor data for individual vehicles.
- Automatic data upload to the correct depot workspace.
- Suite of digital tools for detailed reporting and easy data export for team collaboration.
Make Data-Driven Decisions
DepotMATE’s platform provides a structured library of rolling stock inspections, enabling condition assessments over time. This facilitates remote reviews, enhances data-driven decision making, and streamlines the inspection process.
AI-Powered Fault Detections
Machine learning and AI is automatically applied to the data captured to identify:
- Potential fault conditions and non-visible defects using thermographic data.
- Key Vehicle indicators such as radiators, fuel caps and CET caps.
Capture Rolling Stock Data using DepotMATE
The DepotMATE system features bespoke hardware and a suite of sensors housed in a lightweight, easily configurable unit. Designed for effortless installation in lineside environments, the system is:
- Automatically triggered by passing vehicles
- Capable of capturing and transmitting visible, thermographic and tested acoustic data for online analysis.
Proven in the Rail Industry - DepotMATE in Action
Applicable to Other Transport Environments
Building on its success in the rail industry, DepotMATE is in early-stage development for other transport vehicles. Its capabilities are fully transferable to other modes of transportation, offering the same benefits of enhanced safety, efficiency, and automated inspection.
The DepotMATE project, developed in partnership with Colas Rail UK, East Midlands Railway, and Transport for London, was the winner of the ‘First of a Kind’ (FOAK) competition for ‘Reliable and Maintainable Assets Rail Demonstrations’, funded by the Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.