Celebrating Innovation: One Big Circle Host the Railway Innovation Group’s Summer BBQ

The event commenced at 3:30 PM, where guests were warmly welcomed with refreshments and, in true Rail Innovation Group fashion, an abundance of Monster Munch.The event featured engaging presentations from the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE), and various members within One Big Circle team.

Emily, Co Founder at One Big Circle, opened the presentations by sharing how the Rail Innovation Group had played such a helpful role in One Big Circle’s entry into rail in 2019. Then how much progress had been made since then working with innovative people across Network Rail, Operators and the wider supply chain and some of the key factors they learnt on that journey.

Following Emily, Cate, our Head of Business Development, shared updates on our exciting projects at One Big Circle. She emphasised that AIVR is far more than just Forward Facing Video, detailing our extensive range of data capture capabilities that support various industry disciplines, with special mentions to DepotMATE – our Remote Monitoring of Rolling Stock capability.

We were honoured to have Andrew Johnson from the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) talk through their adventures with their exciting new world class facility for rail and mobility research, testing and innovation in South Wales. Andrew provided us with some interesting background to the Global Centre of Rail Excellence, how they found the site suitable for their needs, and spoke through plans over the next few years, and what we should expect to see from the exciting new project as they hope to secure further investment.

Two of our brilliant software developers, Euan and Jake, then showcased several of our cutting-edge projects. Euan discussed the AIVR Infrastructure Monitoring by Satellite project, part of the UK Space Agency’s “Unlocking Space for Business” scheme, a project that focuses on rail-specific applications of satellite-derived data, including Vegetation Encroachment, Vegetation Density, Flood Risk Monitoring, and Land Movement. He also covered AIVR’s Troughing Monitoring under the Cable Route Automated Video Examination (CRAVE) initiative with Network Rail’s Telecom Team, and the Scrap Rail Detection solution in collaboration with Network Rail.

Jake followed with a presentation on our new Thermal Hotspot capability, which allows for the visual differentiation of very small temperature ranges. This technology is crucial for identifying potential issues before they become significant problems. Jake also covered our advancements in detections on rail, where our machine learning models can identify and classify various track conditions, including joints, conduits, crossings, switches, thermite welds, contamination, and defective clamps.

The event concluded with a delicious BBQ, as the sun finally made its appearance, providing a perfect setting for continued discussions. Attendees enjoyed engaging conversations about AIVR, GCRE, and the exciting future of our collaborations.

We extend our thanks to everyone who attended and contributed to the success of the event. We look forward to future meet-ups and continued partnerships, as we collectively work towards advancing innovation in the rail industry!