Precisely on the day that you have an important meeting with your company, the train you are in gets stuck on the track due to some ‘technical issues’. Karma is a bitch… But maybe not forever. Strukton Rail and Semiotic Labs have joined forces to develop software that will tell us beforehand when machines and systems will fail.
Algorithms
The software is called smart condition monitoring services. It supplies instructions in the form of algorithms to convert data into information about when and why a system fails. Then the experts come into play: they analyze the data and determine which failure or breakdown is about to occur. With this information they can determine which actions we have to take to prevent or to solve the problem.
Award nominations
Who are the experts behind this new software? Strukton Rail is an international organization focusing on the improvement of train trails and is in the Netherlands responsible for maintenance of 40% of the railroad tracks . Semiotic Labs is a company in Amsterdam developing software that predicts technical failures. Although it is a small company with no more than six employees, it is nominated for the Innovation top 100 of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, as well as for the Accenture Innovation Award. The cooperation between the two companies emerged from the CAMINO-project, an initiative of the World Class Maintenance to improve the maintenance of infrastructure.
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Minimizing technical failures
The aim of the smart condition monitoring services is to minimize technical failures. According to Semiotic Labs’ website, the software “predicts when and why equipment fails”. This will allow systems to run more smoothly, and should prevent a lot of inconvenience that unexpected technical problems cause. The service will focus on systems and machines that are driven by an electromotor. Think about train rails, but also public services on train stations, such as elevators and escalators. Everyone using these public services will therefore benefit from the service.