OptaSense

OptaSense delivers decision-ready data directly into its customers’ hands, enabling real-time information to monitor and protect rail infrastructure. Its Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) technology turns standard fibre-optic cable into thousands of virtual microphones; enabling full monitoring of physical assets and helping prevent cable theft and other intrusions on transport networks.

Rail monitoring systems for operations and security

OptaSense enables timely decision making to keep these assets safe and operating cost effectively. Real-time acoustic sensing can actually help prevent incidents before they occur, and, through using pre-laid fibre, does so at considerably reduced cost.

Comprehensive rail monitoring solutions

By turning fibre-optic cables into highly sensitive virtual microphone arrays over long distances, capable of distinguishing between human footsteps and animal tracks, OptaSense provides centralised information, creating immediate alerts, improved responses and informed decision making. As a comprehensive, discrete and pervasive security and operational monitoring solution OptaSense offers:

• Immediate response to identified threats and operating issues
• 100% alert coverage along an entire track or roadway
• Low cost installation and whole life costs management
• Improved security effectiveness and reduced operator burden
• Low false and nuisance alarm rates
• Improved regulatory compliance with enhanced risk mitigation
• Day and night all-weather resilience and operation
• Increased tunnel situational awareness and full management of fixed and moving asset
• Improved operator safety track record and reduced interruptions

Simultaneous monitoring of entire railway networks

OptaSense is a single sensing system that provides simultaneous monitoring over complete rail or road networks enabling:

• Rail traffic monitoring and control: tracking and locating moving assets in real time
• Safety and security: managing and monitoring authorised and unauthorised movement
• Asset condition monitoring: status of wheel flats, generators, pumps and machines
• Infrastructure monitoring: managing rock falls, landslips, tunnel and bridge collapse scenarios

By using a client’s existing fibre core, OptaSense removes the need to add extra track-side infrastructure such as power, copper cables and resource attendance. The system does not use trackside equipment and power, which means that there is even less need for maintenance. A rail network that uses two OptaSense interrogator system units can monitor and protect 100km of rail network. Furthermore, individual sites and systems can be easily included in the network.

Systems to remotely monitor and protect transport networks

The OptaSense system produces real-time alerts, which work with trend-linking analysis to provide access to precursor activity to actual incidents. This means that it can be used to protect against future problems. Clients can interact with the system from their own control hub, or even from web-connected devices anywhere in the world. Training requirements for the operations, technical and maintenance sides are also cut down thanks to this multifunctional single sensing system.