Design of a smart, survivable sensor system for enhancing the safe and secure transportation of hazardous or high-value cargo on railroads

An application of smart sensor technology developed by Sandia National Laboratories for use in the safe and secure transportation of high value or hazardous materials is proposed for a railroad application. The Green Box would be capable of surviving most typical railroad accidents. In an accident, the system would send a distress signal notifying authorities of the location and condition of the cargo; permitting them to respond in the most effective manner. The concept proposes a strap-on sensor package. the Green Box, that could be attached to any railroad car or cargo container. Its primary purpose is to minimize the number, severity and consequences of accidents and to reduce losses due to theft. The system would also be capable of recognizing component failure conditions, notifying the operators and logging sensor data for use in directing preventative maintenance. The modular implementation, which facilitates system integration in a number of applications including the Advanced Train Control System (ACTS), is discussed. The methodology for determining the environmental specification for accident survivability is presented. A test plan for evaluating hardware performance in both normal operating and accident conditions is described