Inspection of railway tracks is an instrumental ask. The lives of thousands of passengers depend on it. These inspections are carried out when trains are not around. But this is about to change; the new rail-riding Staaker BG-300 Railway Drone is about to change this field forever. It can inspect the railway tracks and has the ability to fly away just as the train approaches.
The BG-300 is a fuel-cell-powered multicopter drone. This unconventional drone has four motorized rail wheels, and it can pace up to an average speed of 20 km/h (12 mph), reportedly travelling up to 200 km (124 miles) at a time. The Norwegian tech company Nordic Unmanned boasts the drone as its manufacturers.
While cruising over the tracks using its motorized wheels, the drone inspects the usability of the track bringing in to use cameras and other sensors installed on the drone for the very same purpose. In addition to merely inspecting the drone can lubricate rail switches where deemed necessary. What is the marquee feature of this drone? It can operate with railway traffic nearby and can escape into the skies when it needs to avoid collision with an oncoming train. This function is not only used to avoid trains but is equally important in changing tracks during the inspection.
The breakthrough that this drone is set to make is that the inspection can go on without closing the railway lines. The same is unheard of in the traditional method of inspecting railway lines.
Nordic Unmanned stated that the BG-300 was developed in partnership with “a large European national railway infrastructure owner.”
You can see it in action in the video below.
