Railway Infrastructure Monitoring by Drones
Francesco Flammini1, Concetta Pragliola1, Giovanni Smarra1
1
Ansaldo STS
Via Argine 425, Naples, Italy
{francesco.flammini, concetta.pragliola, giovanni.smarra.ext}@ansaldo-sts.com
Abstract-In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in
the adoption of drones for monitoring a variety of
infrastructures. Infrastructure monitoring systems are widely
adopted to detect faults before they can lead to severe failures.
They can be found in a number of civil structures, including
bridges and viaducts, and also in many other applications of
smart-maintenance, prognostics, health and security monitoring.
This paper explores the usage of drones in railways for early
warning, situation assessment and decision support applications.
It leverages already available technological and research
achievements for drone-based surveillance. The aim of the study
is to preliminarily evaluate drone capabilities in a railway
monitoring framework including structural faults and security
threat detection as well as investigation on the consequences of
natural hazards and intentional attacks.
Keywords-Situation assessment, physical security, structural
health, diagnostics, maintenance, mass-transit
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, the global drones market has had a
meaningful growth and it is expected to have a worth of $91
billion over the next decade [23]. This means that there has
been an increasing trust to adopt this technology within
several contexts [17] and also an emerging interest to
research new areas of applications. For example, Drones are
employed within a variety of infrastructure systems, e.g. in
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) applications, in which
reliable data concerning the integrity of structures are
collected in order to evaluate repair or retirement needs.
Furthermore, modern railway security systems used in
infrastructure protection applications include a set of different
sensing technologies integrated by appropriate management
systems. Such systems are still highly dependent from human
operators for supervision and intervention. One of the
challenging goals of the research community in this field is
the automatic detection of both natural and malicious threats
scenarios.
This paper presents a preliminary study about a drone-
based railway monitoring system. Since wireless sensor
network technologies have begun to be considered as
substitutes of traditional tethered monitoring systems in
structural engineering and critical infrastructure surveillance
fields [4][12][6], drones perfectly fit in such a context adding
the unique feature of sensor/camera mobility. Drones enable
detailed monitoring of large physical structures with few units
and promise ease and flexibility of deployment (extensive
978-1-5090-0814-8/16/$31.00 2016 IEEE
commissioning is no longer required), as well as low
maintenance and instrumentation costs. Due to some current
drone limitations (e.g. flying autonomy, payload weight),
developing real sensing applications is not yet an easy task.
However, due to the middleware platforms that are already
available for WSN, the software integration of sensed data
should not be an issue [20].
The aim of this study is to leverage on the already available
research results, frameworks and tools for drone-based
monitoring and control with the aim of frequently and
automatically checking railway infrastructure parameters to
provide an early warning system to detect faults and security
threats, including natural hazards and intentional attacks. The
idea is to use wireless interconnected Drones and their
sensing payloads to communicate events to remote control
centers using mobile terminals (GSM-R/GPRS and others).
In the past years, we have developed frameworks allowing
for the integration of heterogeneous sensor networks and the
detection of events [22]. The integration of those technologies
with drones potential addresses the growing interest in
intelligent maintenance strategies, as also underlined by the
recent calls of the European Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking
[25]. In fact, integrated and remotely controlled smart-drones
can become very attractive for infrastructure managers and
other customers due to their cost-effectiveness, easy
installation and maintenance. All these factors contribute to
keep low the time-to-market as well as the acquisition and
operational costs for the end users. Furthermore, drones can
be used where there is no power source or wired
telecommunication facilities (which is rather frequent on
railway lines), since the system can be powered by batteries
and/or solar cells and it exploits wireless transmission for
both drone-to-drone and drone-to-control center
communications.
BACKGROUND
The main elements of an Unmanned Aircraft System are:
the aircraft (UA), the control station (CS) and the
communication link. There are several ways to classify the
UAVs with reference to the main parameters: maximum take-
off weight (MTOW), operating conditions (altitude and
range), autonomy and size [17]. In many civil applications,
especially for professional purposes, there is an interest for
vertical take-off UAVs (VTOL, vertical take-off and
 Figure 1 - Reference drone-based railway surveillance architecture
landing), rotor-wing, with MTOW less than 25 kg. They are
commonly denoted like small drones[7].
The basic architecture of a small drone consists of: frame,
brushless motors, electronics speed control (ESC), flight
control board, Inertial Navigation System (INS), power
source, gimbal, payload, landing gear [17]. The frame is the
load-bearing structure designed to be strong and lightweight
and the most used for professional drones is the carbon fiber
frame for its physical strength, specific toughness, light
weight. Some frame configurations are reported in [16].
The brushless motors provide the mechanical energy
necessary to the propellers rotation [17]. The ESC controls
the propellers angular velocity of the drone. It is driven by a
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal. In fact, by varying
the duty cycle value, it is possible to increase and to reduce
the propeller rotation. In this way, the drone performs yaw,
roll, pitch and throttle movements and shifts along the
longitudinal and lateral axis. The flight control board
represents the intelligence of a drone since it manages the
commands received from the CS transforming them into
actions towards the sensors or others controller on board. The
INS consists of 3-axial accelerometer, 3-axial gyroscope and
3-axial magnetometer for measuring accelerations, angular
rates and magnetic values respectively. Acquiring the
measurements provided by the INS, it is possible to evaluate
the 3-axis Euler angle measurements. These angles then are
used for the aircraft orientation control during the flight.
Since drone orientation measurements are affected by noise,
specific algorithms for a good estimation are used [17]. Most
drones are powered with Lithium-polymer batteries (Li-Po)
which guarantee better performance in terms of lightweight,
safety and flexible form factor. The gimbal is the structure
which holds the camera on board. It is based on the same
concept of the gyroscope since it decouples the axis of a
camera from the movement of the aircraft. Moreover it is
made up of brushless motors to adjust the position of the
camera in all directions: up/down, left/right,
forward/backward [27].
The Payload is the load added to the frame. It is upper-
bounded by the MTOW and its value is determined by
subtracting the weight of all the fixed elements (such as
frame, motor, battery, etc.) to the MTOW. Typical payload
values range from 0.5 kg for the most commercial drones and
2.5kg for professional ones. In general, landing gear is used
to protect the drone during landing phase and to balance the
load of the aircrafts fuselage. In fact, the vertical load due to
the weight is distributed along the landing gear structure.
There are many applications in which drone-based sensor
networks can improve human abilities of perception and
control. Relevant examples are automation, industrial and
commercial building monitoring for safety and security, etc
In particular, as for railway line security monitoring, though
considered a need by the operators, that is rarely performed in
railway systems due to the length of the lines and the
difficulties in providing lineside power supplies and
telecommunication facilities in an affordable way
Presently, conventional methods for railway infrastructure
surveillance employ analogic or IP cameras, wired intrusion
detection and other structural monitoring sensors (i.e.
piezoelectric accelerometers). While fixed wired sensors
provide a very reliable source of information, they are time
consuming to install and quite expensive to operate and
maintain. Each installed sensor/camera can cost thousands of
Euros and that makes extensive surveillance unfeasible when
there is the need to cover very large geographical areas, as in
the case of railways. Therefore, in recent years many research
efforts have been devoted to the development of new
technology sensors, including Wi-Fi cameras, WSN smart-
sensors (also known as motes or smart-dust) and Optical
Fiber Bragg Grating (OFBG) [22][21].
In Table 1 we show a comparison between fixed sensor
networks (both traditional and WSN) and drone-based sensor
networks.
 DRONE-BASED RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE MONITORING
TABLE I The aim of drone-based railway surveillance is to perform
COMPARISON BETWEEN SENSOR NETWORKS AND DRONES-BASED SENSORS
an extensive monitoring of (a part of) a railway infrastructure
Fixed Sensor Drone-based Sensor system against common threats (see Figure 1 - Reference
Characteristics
Networks Networks
drone-based railway surveillance architecture). In railway
sensing unit fixed variable environments, drones are suitable for three main applications:
installation capability limited unlimited
sensors number few to many very few
sensor distribution sparse to dense semi-continuous 1. Structural monitoring, especially for critical assets
node maintainability low to average very high
node redundancy low to high very high
like bridges and tunnels, for fault detection (i.e.
diagnostics/prognostics).
sensing capability nearly full limited 2. Environmental security monitoring, that is fire,
sensing compatibility nearly full limited
node accuracy low to high low explosions, earthquakes, floods and landslides
node reliability low to high low to average detection along the track.
node cost low to high high
3. Physical security monitoring, that is detection of
transmitted data raw or processed raw or processed intrusions, objects stolen or moved, graffiti, etc.
transmission accuracy low to high low to high
transmission reliability low to high low to high 4. Safety monitoring, e.g. to early detect failures on
transmission range low to high low to high track elements/devices or obstacles on the track.
transmission BW low to high low to high
network topology fixed or changing fixed or changing
5. Situation assessment and emergency/crisis
management, that is to monitor accident scenarios
and coordinate the intervention of first responders.
As mentioned above, conventional monitoring systems 6. Forensics, to investigate about the causes of
consisting of a large amount of sensors are either high-priced accidents and safely detect the presence of
or made-up of cheap sensors (WSN). On that regards, drone- dangerous substances in case of CBRN (Chemical
based monitoring has the potential of adopting more Biological Radiological Nuclear) terrorist attacks.
reliable/expensive sensors without the need for buying and
installing a large amount of them. Hence, drone-based Drone payload can integrate sensors of different nature to
surveillance can be the perfect trade-off between traditional provide diverse functionalities, depending on energy
sensing and WSN smart-motes in all those applications where consumption and maximum allowed weight (e.g. temperature
suitable sensors are available. The basic principle lies in a sensors, intelligent cameras, etc.). For instance, self-powered
multi-drone architecture that is able to collect data locally on chemical sensors could be mounted on-board to provide quick
a specific point of the infrastructure and send relevant data and safe analyses of incident field earth samples. Another
(measures environmental parameters, events, alarms) to possible application is the graffiti detection on perimeter
remote control centers for online and/or offline analysis. walls or trains stored in depots, as introduced by the railway
Figure 1 shows a possible overall hardware architecture of company Deutsche Bahn by equipping drones with infrared
drone-based surveillance. Fixed distributed smart-sensors are cameras to individuate people during the night responsible of
installed along the railway line both in fixed (e.g. bridges, these acts [9]. Regardless of the specific application and
tunnels, stations, etc.) and mobile (passenger trains, freight payload, both the hardware and the middleware can be reused
cars, etc.) locations [4]. They are integrated locally using to fit new monitoring applications.
local wireless infrastructures (e.g. Wi-Fi, ZigBee, etc.) and
then data is collected by WSN gateway nodes to be
Track assets and depot monitoring
transmitted remotely by means of WAN (Wide Area
Network) infrastructures, like the 2G,3G cellular networks,
A further drones limitation, in addition to weather
satellite links, or Fiber Optics geographic networks along the
conditions and payload weight, is the remote control range
line. With the availability of large bandwidth (in the Gb/s
via Wi-Fi or in general through a radio link provided by a
range) provided for example by fiber optics link, it is possible
hand-held radio transmitter and a receiver module on-board.
to transmit high-resolution videos at very high frame-rates
However, these ones are much easier to overcome in railway
(e.g. 25 FPS) for a superior situational awareness at the
applications.
control rooms. In case of drones, those links could be In fact, it can be assumed that railway systems [2] are
leveraged by fixed drone stations to quickly download large always equipped with wireless MAN (Metropolitan Area
amount of on-board recorded data Network) or WAN (Wide Area Networks), based on Wi-Fi,
GSM-R GPRS or any other commercial infrastructure like
UMTS and LTE. Low bandwidth networks like GPRS are
strictly required to control drones and transmit alarms to the
control center; if high-quality video streams from cameras
need to be shown to the operators in order to verify the alarm
and/or supervise the situation, higher bandwidth is required
that can be provided by Wi-Fi or UMTS/LTE.
In order to achieve extensive coverage in railway
applications, let us refer to the following specification and
implications associated to one of the most widespread
professional drone, DJI Phantom 4 [19]:
Max Speed 20 m/s = 72 km/h
Approx. Max Flight Time = 30 = 0.5h
Consequently, Max Distance = 36 km
Figure 2 - Railway line monitored by drones: a typical scenario
The max distance covered at full speed is such to allow the
drone to land on wireless recharging pods [15], located
approximately on GSM-R Base Transceiver Station (BTS),
since (see Figure 2 - Railway line monitored by drones: a
typical scenario):
GSM-R inter-BTS distance = 6-17 km
Train depot perimeter fence (see Figure 3 - Example railway
depot layout.) is also in the same range, depending on the
specific depot size; however, depot coverage is less
challenging than full line, since power supply and telecom
points are much easier to reach and therefore a radius-based
rather than longitudinal flying time evaluation can be
performed.
Therefore, the research challenge is to design fast sensing
applications including video content analytics and motion
tracking algorithms that are able to work reliably on (quickly)
moving and possibly vibrating cameras. Robust algorithms
for simple recorded video footage frame-to-frame comparison
Figure 3 - Example railway depot layout.
could be appropriate to detect changes in scenes (e.g.
obstacles, stolen objects, damages, etc.) in reasonably fixed,
automatic and periodic patrolling routes, without even
running motion tracking software [24]. Such an analysis can
be also performed off-line on more powerful computers, after
the drone on-board recorded video has been downloaded on
drone smart-parking stations, like the Dronebox [1]. Such a
VCA (Video Content Analytics) change detection application
is not much different from the one already developed for
indoor applications like Empty Vehicle Detection [3].
On-board laser measurement units featuring precision of less
than 1cm could also be investigated to monitor structural
integrity of critical assets like catenary, electrical substations,
track lines, tunnels, rail bridges and viaducts.
Chemical Warfare Agent (CWA) detection
With reference to the typical payload values aforementioned,
the drones are able to carry several types of sensors. The
CBRN industry produces lightweight, portable and battery
powered detectors that were designed for military battlefield
applications but are nowadays commercially available for
civil applications. For instance, let us consider the following
Smith Detection LCD 3.3 CWA Detector relevant
Specifications [26] (see Figure 4 - Battery-powered, portable
and lightweight CWA detector).
Size: 10.54 x 17.93 x 4.65 cm
Weight: 0.65 kg including batteries
Batteries: Alkaline/Lithium type 40/75 hours
An object of this kind does not need any electrical
connection, due to being self-powered. The sensor could be
freely picked up and released among larger toolsets to be
possibly added automatically to drone payloads (e.g. using
mechanically operated systems like pliers or electrically
operated system like electro-magnets). Therefore, the main
effort would be to integrate this sensor with drone hardware
to implement advanced functions. In fact, it would be useful
to read data measured by the instrument in real time instead
of waiting that the drone comes back to the landing pad. This
could imply for example the customization of the most
common linux-based board equipped with analog-digital I/O
and with low-cost commercially available wireless
communication modules based on the modern technology like
Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.1), NFC, RFID. We have explored in
previous works the motivation and possibilities of real-time
CBRNE detection in rail-based infrastructures [8]. In case of
drones, since the extensive coverage requirement for real-
time detection would not be fulfilled, and due to the attractive
possibility of free movement, a much more promising
application is related to the aforementioned post-incident
assessment. In such a scenario, the nearest drone would be
equipped with the appropriate on-board sensor from the drone
station and remotely operated to land in specific points of the
disaster area in order to analyze the substances spread on the retrieval processes hard tasks to achieve. Such a scenario is
field and possibly pickup samples for further laboratory quite realistic in the context of railway infrastructures where
analysis. If a CBRNE contamination is detected, then first different kind of sensor systems are adopted for security and
responders will be advised to wear appropriate protections to diagnostic purposes (e.g. temperature sensors, CBRN sensors,
reduce the risk of intoxication. intelligent cameras, etc.).
After smart-sensor information is integrated in a cohesive
and easily to access repository, then a reasoning about
detected events could be automatically performed (decision
fusion) either on-the-fly or offline. In order to achieve that
objective, the DETECT framework could be employed [5].
The basic assumption behind the DETECT framework is
that threats can be detected by predicting the set of basic
Figure 4 - Battery-powered, portable and lightweight CWA detector events (i.e. the patterns) which constitute their signature.
Threat scenarios must be precisely identified during
Vulnerability Assessment and Risk Analysis. DETECT
operates by performing a model-based logical, spatial and
Multi-drone/sensor information fusion
temporal correlation of basic events detected by different
sensor subsystems, in order to recognize sequence of events
Like for other networked sensors, drone sensors would
which indicate the likelihood of threats. DETECT is based on
benefit from appropriate integration platforms for
a real-time detection engine which implements the concept of
heterogeneous sensor systems allowing for multi-sensor
cognitive reasoning by means of soft computing approaches.
information fusion. Those integration platforms are not just
The framework can be interfaced with or integrated in
middleware for sensor networks, but software architectures
existing Physical Security Information Management (PSIM)
enabling the deployment of applications based on multiple
systems. It can serve to generate warnings or even to
diverse drones/sensors, allowing applications to easily access
automatically trigger appropriate responses for emergency
data sensed by a network [12]. Drone sensors plus fixed
management. The correlation among events detected by both
sensors information fusion would allow increasing the
drone-based and fixed sensors could further contribute to
dependability and trustworthiness of measures data or
lower the number of false alarms, thus improving the overall
detected events. It would also allow the design and automated
PSIM reliability [8].
detection of more complex threat scenarios based on multiple
Threats are described in DETECT using a specific Event
drones/sensors [5].
Description Language (EDL) and stored in a Scenario
Furthermore, the synergy of WSN and drone technologies
Repository. Starting from the Scenario Repository, one or
can be leveraged in scenarios in which clusters of light WSN
more detection models are automatically generated using a
motes (weighting few hundreds grams at most) are loaded on
suitable formalism (e.g. Event Graphs, Bayesian Networks,
drones and spread on appropriate areas by precise positioning
Neural Networks, etc.). In the operational phase, a model
or air launched in case of parachute-equipped motes [18].
manager macro-module has the responsibility of performing
Drone can then host (or serve as) master-nodes or mobile
queries on the Event History database for the real-time
gateways to collect WSN sensed data [11]. In such a context
feeding of detection model according to predetermined
where there is also the possibility of an on-air
policies. When a composite event is recognized, the output of
communications among drones creating a sort of Net-Drones
DETECT consists of: the identifier(s) of the
[14], there are several studies to optimize handover problems
detected/suspected scenario(s); an alarm level, associated to
and new algorithms have been developed to better manage
scenario evolution (used as a progress indicator); a likelihood
the coverage problems avoiding numerous energy-consuming
of threat, expressed in terms of probability (used as a
handover attempts. After some time, motes whose battery is
threshold in heuristic detection).
exhausted could be automatically picked up by drones to
In case of drone-sensor decision fusion, it is essential to
bring them to maintenance facilities.
complete the description of primitive events with further
For sensor network information fusion, the SeNsIM
information like sensor position and orientation in 3D-space
platform could be employed [6]. It provides a unique
(for fixed sensors, the positioning information is obviously
interface for local networks that allow a generic user to
embedded in sensor-id) and possibly event detection
express queries by means of an intuitive query visual
trustworthiness index, given by dynamic environmental
language. It was conceived with the aim to bridge the gap
parameters possibly impacting sensor reliability, like
between heterogeneous sensor systems and to provide a
temperature, vibration, presence of smog/fog/rain, etc. The
generic user/application with a unique way to manage, query
latter information is already supported by the latest
and interact with them. The major issue of an integrating
framework developments.
system lies in the heterogeneity of the hardware to sense data
and of the repositories, these make data management and
 CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, emerging applications of drones in the
railway domain have been investigated. Even considering the
constraints of legacy requirements used to guarantee railway
safety and security, drones could represent a promising
technology to efficiently monitor railway and mass transit
infrastructures. It has been shown that drone research and
technology advancement are increasingly providing new
means supporting the integration of hardware and software
features, including synergies with WSN. In fact, drone-based
sensors can be advantageously integrated in existing security
surveillance systems by appropriate sensor integration
platforms, middleware and frameworks like the mentioned
SeNsIM and DETECT frameworks [4]. In such a context, it is
worth continuing to investigate drone-based monitoring
especially from the viewpoint of the definition of a reference
WSN-drone architecture and flexible standard interfaces
(NFC, Bluetooth, etc.) to seamlessly recognized and integrate
new payloads (devices, sensors). In the meantime, the
presence of built-in PTZ on-board cameras allows to easily
experiment functional scenarios, e.g. providing a rough (i.e.
visual) integration of existing portable detector displays for
preliminary testing purposes.
With the ongoing enhancement of drones endurance and
allowed payloads, the challenge will be to increase the level
of automation (with the help of VCA [7]) to reduce the need
for human interventions, even in critical situations. In other
words, the number of scenarios in which railway drones
would be useful will be proportional to the performance
growth of drones. Therefore, the research will move towards
a tighter integration with railway components, also following
the advancements in the fields of intelligent/smart-
maintenance and the IoT (Internet of Things) [25].
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