Metro railway networks provide a critical layer of transportation for some of the world’s most important metropolitan areas. But metro systems throughout the world are showing their age. Outdated infrastructure is causing disruptions and delays for the commuters they serve. Many urban areas are facing unprecedented population growth which contributes further strain to the system. Transit authorities struggle to keep enough operators on staff and trained to be able to manage day-to-day activities. When systems cannot keep up, there is real potential to adversely impact local businesses and by extension, the regional economy. Traditionally, PLC and PAC-based industrial control systems operate within a closed loop, gathering data, performing analysis, and managing controllers with limited support for interconnectivity throughout disparate processes. Also, processor limitations such as speed and lack of partitioning have made it difficult to create sophisticated, data-driven models and perform process optimization in real-time, unnecessarily complicating analytical processes. Emerson helps metro and rail applications overcome these limitations with network-integrated, outcome optimizing edge controllers and switches that can be accessed from anywhere and dynamically improve process operations based on both external and internal data.
Operating a metro involves managing many thousands of pieces of equipment functioning in synchronization, often distributed over an extremely large area, including elevators, escalators, energy distribution and management, telecommunications, hydraulic pumps, ticketing, and turnstiles. The distances between metro stations, as well as the general congestion of a city, can make it difficult and costly to deal with equipment failures and problems. To avoid excess cost and mitigate downtime, it’s imperative to take measures to deploy an integrated system that allows trends to be identified before they turn into real problems, and makes it possible to quickly gather critical data, make adjustments, and improve outcomes in real time (Figure 1).
Especially in the case of large-scale, highly synchronized and distributed infrastructure such as a metro, the most valuable natural resource is the data coming off the systems. Outcome optimizing edge control allows operators to obtain dynamic, actionable intelligence through continuous data-driven feedback to optimize processes, reduce downtime, and improve costs. Augmenting real-time deterministic control with edge analytic capability makes it possible to achieve flexible and intelligent, highly-available systems to help ensure maximum uptime and an overall improved total cost of ownership, all while optimizing business processes and outcomes (Figure 2). The most effective strategy a metro operator can employ is one that utilizes smart controls equipment combined with a tightly integrated monitoring network that allows them to quickly identify, diagnose and fix problems as soon as they occur. Emerson’s edge control combines a network of smart equipment controllers, automated industrial asset management systems and browser-based monitoring interfaces that allows an operator to reduce operating and maintenance costs as well as obtain real time, dynamic, actionable intelligence on the performance of their infrastructure anywhere they are.
The same capabilities that enable edge controllers to rescue complex metro systems, make the outcome optimizing systems ideal for a wide range of industrial automation challenges.
More information on Emerson’s industrial edge computing and control solutions can be found here.