LITHUANIA: The national railway’s freight business LTG Cargo is testing the use of a robot dog which autonomously walks around a train and uses artificial intelligence to search for wagon faults.
The company’s rolling stock operation experts are ‘teaching’ the robot to capture images of wagon components so that a specially developed system can identify defects. The robot will walk along trains up to 800 m long to check the condition of parts including bogies, axle boxes, brakes and automatic couplers.
After the capabilities and effectiveness of the robot dog are assessed, the operator will decide whether to deploy them more widely at major freight terminals.
‘This pilot project, in which we use a robot and artificial intelligence to automate part of the process of inspecting wagons, will show how we can streamline our daily operations and thus ensure reliable freight transport by rail’, said LTG Cargo CEO Eglė Šimė.
