Inspection of crane rails with use of monorail mobile platform

Abstract

Ensuring adequate technical and operational safety of the crane requires, among others, periodic track survey. The inspection of the crane track is to detect defects in the shape of the rail head resulting from plastic deformation and the surface wear as well as cracks in the structure of the rail. An important issue is the possibility of recording and archiving the results of periodic measurements in order to assess the wear of the rails during operation. The developed inspection system enables the determination of the rail profile using the laser scanning method, as well as the assessment of the condition of the rail head surface on the basis of the image recorded by the vision system. The stand-alone inspection system was installed on a mobile platform that traverses the rail. The article presents the developed inspection system and the results of the experimental tests.