A Miniature Non-Contact Rail Temperature Sensor

The Phase I SBIRproject will evaluate the feasibility of utilizing a low cost sensor to obtain rail temperatures from a moving train. The two innovative parts of the proposed sensor are (1) a rugged four wavelenght high frequency sensor that accurately measures the natural radiation emitted by the rails, and (2) an advanced algorithm that provides a emissivity compensated temperature from these measurements. There are three tasks that are planned for the Phase I research. The three tasks are: (1) design and fabircation of a high frequency and multiple wavelength detector, (2) development of a rapid and robust temperature estimation algorith, and (3) a rigorous evaluation of the temperature sensor. It is anticipated that the feasibility of the sensor will be demonstrated during the Phase I work. A prototype sensor will be developed and evaluated during the Phae II work. At the end of Phase II work, the sensor will be ready for commercialization.