Our Automatic Selective Door Operation (ASDO) solution has been designed and developed harnessing decades of industry expertise to maximise fleet availability, minimise dwell time, and increase rail safety.
What is the Petards Rail ASDO?
The Petards Rail ASDO is not just a door system; it’s a smart solution that anticipates and adapts to the unique characteristics of each station platform – helping train operators ensure the safe operation of passenger doors at short platforms.
By harnessing advanced Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), odometry technologies and real-time data analysis, ASDO ensures that the correct door pattern is released at each platform. This precision in-door control enhances overall efficiency during boarding, and alighting, ensuring the safety of passengers.
In essence, ASDO is the key to harmonising the variation between train door positions and station platforms, offering a level of automation that goes beyond traditional door systems.
There are different ways to develop ASDO functionality. Most utilise a balise to determine when a train is passing through a station, from what direction and the platform it is arriving at. Petards Rail’s system does not require physical balise, so no trackside equipment is required. Using multiple sources of GPS and odometry readouts the position can be determined accurately and meet Safety Integrity Level 2 (SIL 2) requirements. As part of our configurable offering, Petards Rail’s retains the functionality to utilise existing trackside equipment within our system. Connecting to ETCS or TCMS outputs.
View our ASDO brochure here to find out more about its components and how it works.
What is Safety Integrity Level and why is it important?
The overarching standard is IEC 61508 which is a general SIL standard designed to cover critical safety systems. For the rail industry a series of sub standards were produced based off the original IEC 61508.
- EN 50126 – Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety (known as RAMS).
- EN 50128/EN 50716 – SIL requirements for software.
- EN 50129 – SIL requirements for hardware, installation and overall system.
By meeting the above rail standards the IEC 61508 standard is also met.
SIL is identified for critical safety functions. For train operations a wide range of SIL levels can be identified from SIL 1 to SIL 4 where a level 4 is given to only the highest critical to safety functions. SIL 2 results in a function availability of 99 to 99.9%. In all cases, a comprehensive risk analysis should be performed to identify the correct level for the application. In the case of ASDO/CSDE systems these are classified as a SIL 2 level requirement.
Why use the Petards Rail ASDO solution?
Our SIL 2 approved ASDO system offers a solution which requires minimal to no human input to function, or additional on track equipment. It enables you to maximise the availability of your rolling stock, reduce dwell time and optimise your operations.
Here are just some of the many benefits of our system…
- Fully configurable – Remote configurations are available through Petards Rail’s back-office system to update train routes.
- Shorter installation times – No trackside installations and minimal on-train equipment is required.
- Cost-effective – The lack of trackside installations and on-train equipment make this an economical solution.
- Improved operations – Reduce your dwell time at stations.
- Increased safety – ASDO is an autonomous solution which reduces the risk of human error.
- Adaptable – Our ASDO solution can be installed modular and is adaptable to existing technology on your train or route geography. What’s more, functionality can be expanded with Correct Side Door Enable to automatically prevent wrong side door enable incidents.
- Certified solution – SIL 2 approved system.
- Greater route viability – Allows for existing train configurations to safely operate on any station or platform. It is not restricted by availability of station guards for door operation.
- Independent or connected to the train Train Control & Management System (TCMS) – Suitable for new and retrofit projects.
- Shared system technology – Secure your future fleet development roadmap by using our modular ASDO system which shares hardware between Petards CSDE, CCTV, Driver Controlled Operation (DCO), and other Petards systems.
Contact our team to find out how our Automatic Selective Door Operation solution can enhance your rail operations.
