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General Info

LiDAR and TOF Obstacle Detection

Piper’s SAFEGRADE system provides remote monitoring of grade crossings to detect occupancy and alert rail system operators to potential hazards. 

This integrated system is designed to capture the presence of vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, and objects within the crossing quadrant with high resolution. The system interfaces with gates and signals to provide advanced warnings to approaching trains as well as triggering warning strobes and alarms in the area. SAFEGRADE is the smart solution for transit and freight rail operators seeking to protect their grade crossing and enhance public safety.

In the last 5 years, there have been more than 10,525 railroad crossing incidents resulting in 1,279 deaths.

US Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)

Grade Crossing Safety Solutions

SAFEGRADE Safety Solution

SAFEGRADE integrates Piper’s proprietary Time of Flight (TOF) cameras and Piper’s patented TrackSight™ LiDAR to continually scan grade crossings to detect obstacles and intrusions.

The high definition TOF cameras and LiDAR are installed at the corners of the grade crossing. Using a database image as reference, they can detect any changes to the fouling area in real-time – and reliably discern animate from inanimate objects. Piper’s public address system can play voice commands to intruders and the system is capable of storing all video and telematic data for training and forensic analysis.

According to the FRA, every four hours in the USA, a person or vehicle is struck by a train at a grade crossing.

Piper TrackSight™ LiDAR
Piper Time-of-Flight (TOF) Camera

Piper TrackSight™ LiDAR

Piper Time-of-Flight (TOF) Camera

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A communications system is used for alerting operators to the presence of obstacles and for delivering the data to Rail Control Center (RCC) operators.

SAFEGRADE has multiple options for wayside-to-train communications for alerting approaching rolling stock including: LTE/5G, WiFi, 220MHZ, and UWB. Using a model of the track territory, Piper’s SAFEGRADE expands the distances for alerting to ensure safe stopping even at high speeds. The system is also expandable to integrate with train control operations to make calculations based on train speed and braking curves.  A systems administration control management platform monitors the health and safe operations of all components. SAFEGRADE can operate as a standalone solution or be integrated into other controlled systems.

Protective zone at grade crossings using SafeGrade

Benefits

Benefits of SAFEGRADE

Object Detection

Detects the presence of pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles, and objects within grade crossing quadrants that represent a hazard to both the public and the rail operator.

Secure Communications

Communications with control centers and train operators ensure that approaching trains are alerted instantly to any hazards.

Systems Integrator

Piper is an experienced systems integrator and can integrate into existing systems. OTA remote management software available for system health monitoring and maintenance. 

All Weather Durable

Piper’s multi-sensor design ensures that the system works in all lighting and weather conditions.

Meets Standards

Meets stringent standards incl: CENELEC, AREMA, IEEE etc. and the highest regulatory standards for cybersecurity.

Variety of Alerts

Pedestrians receive urgent warnings of the impending danger through audible/visual alerts.

Challenges in Rail and Transit

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Other Solutions

Reliably Innovative Transit Solutions

Piper has an existing suite of real-time location systems (RTLS) solutions that utilize various technologies, including: UWB, BLE, GPS-RTK, LTE, RFID, HD Cameras and LiDAR.

Maintenance of Way Safety

Maintenance of Way Safety

Piper’s multi-sensor MOW safety solution provides limits compliance, collision avoidance and detection, and greatly improves track worker safety.

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Train Navigation

Train Navigation

Determine the location of trains with unmatched positional certainty, even underground or on elevated tracks in the city.

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ATP-Overlay

ATP-Overlay

Automatic Train Protection for localization, safe separation, rollback protection, end-of-train, and more.

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Our single platform is not only designed to communicate seamlessly with your existing systems, but they can also be interoperable with your legacy equipment. Use Piper’s proven solutions to improve efficiencies and safety, or contact us to develop something specific to your requirements.

Station Safety & PIDS

Station Safety & PIDS

Calculate train arrival/departure times to improve rider experience, and keep them safe on the platforms with special track intrusion cameras.

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