Novel method to measure track irregularity based on multiple MEMS-IMU and geometric constraint

Abstract The track regularity with high accuracy is crucial important to protect the dynamic safety in high speed and heavy haul railways, normally, the inertial measurement unit (IMU)is capable to provide the precise solution for track irregularity measurement. However, to achieve high accuracy, th...

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Main Authors: Yan Wang, Shibin Wei, Lin Li, Jiyou Fei, Fei Yang, Peng Dai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
Series:Scientific Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-93151-w
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author Yan Wang
Shibin Wei
Lin Li
Jiyou Fei
Fei Yang
Peng Dai
author_facet Yan Wang
Shibin Wei
Lin Li
Jiyou Fei
Fei Yang
Peng Dai
author_sort Yan Wang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The track regularity with high accuracy is crucial important to protect the dynamic safety in high speed and heavy haul railways, normally, the inertial measurement unit (IMU)is capable to provide the precise solution for track irregularity measurement. However, to achieve high accuracy, the most existing track irregularity measurement methods seriously depended on the fiber-optic IMU, it is very expensive, also with larger size and weight, while the growing availability of low-cost and small size MEMS-IMU can yield acceptable accuracy for track irregularity by using multiple MEMS-IMUs fusion and particular geometric constraints. For these reasons, this paper proposes an accurate measurement method for track irregularity that combines the multiple MEMS-IMUs and special geometric constraints, which can be obtained noticeable measuring performances compared with fiber-optic IMU. To achieve this, we first construct the geometric constraint models for multiple MEMS-IMUs and establish their optimal installation configuration. Subsequently, an adaptive federal Kalman filter (AFKF) is developed to fuse the multiple local MEMS-IMUs information into the global filter, which can adaptive adjustment each MEMS-IMU sub-filter fusion factor and feedforward factor to obtain the highly estimation accuracy for track irregularity. Finally, the test results from both laboratory and field environment prove that the measurement accuracy of track irregularity using our proposed method are very close to the fiber-optic IMU method, and indicate a significant step forward in the track irregularity with the low-cost and small size MEMS-IMU.
format Article
id doaj-art-69cd27a0c8dc4e8fb686b549ae3a6c97
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issn 2045-2322
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publishDate 2025-03-01
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spelling doaj-art-69cd27a0c8dc4e8fb686b549ae3a6c972025-08-20T03:01:23ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-03-0115111310.1038/s41598-025-93151-wNovel method to measure track irregularity based on multiple MEMS-IMU and geometric constraintYan Wang0Shibin Wei1Lin Li2Jiyou Fei3Fei Yang4Peng Dai5Zhan Tianyou Honors College (College of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation), Dalian Jiaotong UniversityInfrastructure Inspection Research Institute, China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation LimitedZhan Tianyou Honors College (College of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation), Dalian Jiaotong UniversityZhan Tianyou Honors College (College of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation), Dalian Jiaotong UniversityInfrastructure Inspection Research Institute, China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation LimitedInfrastructure Inspection Research Institute, China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation LimitedAbstract The track regularity with high accuracy is crucial important to protect the dynamic safety in high speed and heavy haul railways, normally, the inertial measurement unit (IMU)is capable to provide the precise solution for track irregularity measurement. However, to achieve high accuracy, the most existing track irregularity measurement methods seriously depended on the fiber-optic IMU, it is very expensive, also with larger size and weight, while the growing availability of low-cost and small size MEMS-IMU can yield acceptable accuracy for track irregularity by using multiple MEMS-IMUs fusion and particular geometric constraints. For these reasons, this paper proposes an accurate measurement method for track irregularity that combines the multiple MEMS-IMUs and special geometric constraints, which can be obtained noticeable measuring performances compared with fiber-optic IMU. To achieve this, we first construct the geometric constraint models for multiple MEMS-IMUs and establish their optimal installation configuration. Subsequently, an adaptive federal Kalman filter (AFKF) is developed to fuse the multiple local MEMS-IMUs information into the global filter, which can adaptive adjustment each MEMS-IMU sub-filter fusion factor and feedforward factor to obtain the highly estimation accuracy for track irregularity. Finally, the test results from both laboratory and field environment prove that the measurement accuracy of track irregularity using our proposed method are very close to the fiber-optic IMU method, and indicate a significant step forward in the track irregularity with the low-cost and small size MEMS-IMU.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-93151-wHigh speed and heavy haul railwaysTrack irregularityMultiple MEMS-IMUGeometric constraintAdaptive federal Kalman filter
spellingShingle Yan Wang
Shibin Wei
Lin Li
Jiyou Fei
Fei Yang
Peng Dai
Novel method to measure track irregularity based on multiple MEMS-IMU and geometric constraint
Scientific Reports
High speed and heavy haul railways
Track irregularity
Multiple MEMS-IMU
Geometric constraint
Adaptive federal Kalman filter
title Novel method to measure track irregularity based on multiple MEMS-IMU and geometric constraint
title_full Novel method to measure track irregularity based on multiple MEMS-IMU and geometric constraint
title_fullStr Novel method to measure track irregularity based on multiple MEMS-IMU and geometric constraint
title_full_unstemmed Novel method to measure track irregularity based on multiple MEMS-IMU and geometric constraint
title_short Novel method to measure track irregularity based on multiple MEMS-IMU and geometric constraint
title_sort novel method to measure track irregularity based on multiple mems imu and geometric constraint
topic High speed and heavy haul railways
Track irregularity
Multiple MEMS-IMU
Geometric constraint
Adaptive federal Kalman filter
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-93151-w
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AT linli novelmethodtomeasuretrackirregularitybasedonmultiplememsimuandgeometricconstraint
AT jiyoufei novelmethodtomeasuretrackirregularitybasedonmultiplememsimuandgeometricconstraint
AT feiyang novelmethodtomeasuretrackirregularitybasedonmultiplememsimuandgeometricconstraint
AT pengdai novelmethodtomeasuretrackirregularitybasedonmultiplememsimuandgeometricconstraint