Behind the scenes of the Paris metro, maintenance is changing methods. Eventually, no more fixed-date inspections carried out “just in case”. Make way for continuous, finer, and above all more discreet monitoring. This is the whole point of the partnership launched between RATP and the start-up Touch Sensity, which has been testing its Sensity Tech technology for several weeks on a train on line 13, as reported The Parisian.
An essential piece that no one sees
The idea can be summed up simply: monitor the actual condition of components while the train is moving, rather than waiting for a problem to manifest or a scheduled check to arrive. The star of this experiment is called the bogie. It is the trolley installed under the train, the one which carries the wheels, motors and brakes.
« It allows you to drive, brake and pull at the same time. It’s a major, essential part for the train that no one ever sees », summarizes Éric Lohier, technical manager of railway rolling stock engineering at RATP. On an MF77 train, Touch Sensity covered this bogie with a coating not quite like the others. To the naked eye, nothing distinguishes it from a classic painting. However, it acts like a giant sensor.
« This paint is able to detect the entire area it covers », Explains Mehdi El Hafed, general director of the start-up. Pressures, tractions, deformations, cracks or impacts: everything is recorded. Connected to a box, the paint “feeds back” data several times a day, without dismantling parts and without stopping the train. It is a “sensitive” paint whose functional properties change when an event occurs.
For RATP, the interest is very concrete because it will allow technicians to monitor the equipment when the train is in operation, and to know exactly when it should be sent for maintenance. In other words: avoid blocking a train and monopolizing a workshop track “for nothing”. Another advantage highlighted by the management: ease of use. The data is stored in the on-board box, then retrieved when the train is stopped.
The experiment is expected to last one year and end in December. During this period, the teams will analyze the robustness of the system in real conditions, its compatibility with existing procedures and the quality of the information provided. The expected benefits are known: fewer unplanned interventions, better train availability and, potentially, savings of several weeks on certain inspection cycles.
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