Black redundant speed supply unit with multiple Ethernet ports and indicator LEDs for power and network status.

Bohr Built

RSS

Redundant Speed Supply

SKUs:

  • F2401

  • F2400

The RSS is an LDARS Ethernet-enabled axle-probe multiplexing device that bridges any locomotive axle type to PTC and cab-signal safety systems, supporting both passive and active probes.

LDARS Appliance
As an LDARS appliance, the RSS supports full visibility of axle probe health monitoring by ITCSM or customer-defined messaging, enabling bad-probe detection. Upon isolation of a bad probe, the RSS can be configured to seamlessly switch over to an alternate probe, enabling true redundant operation while the RSS can broadcast bad probe status to the customer network supporting almost any customer-defined maintenance portal or database. As an additional safety feature, the RSS also optionally integrates pass-through relays that allow the RSS to bridge select inputs to select outputs, allowing a "failover" mode if power is lost to the unit.

RSS Applications
Within the data flows of modern locomotives, speed can be derived simultaneously from the combination of traditional locomotive axle probes and wheel size, as well as from GPS-derived speed or speed from PTC-derived wheel size. Similarly, other types of locomotive safety systems require more than one independent axle tachometer connection to work together to establish speed. While these systems have evolved to work together to improve overall safety, even minor differences in reported telemetries can cause problems in the cab and on the road.

Operation Improvements
The RSS can adapt to a wide range of axle tachometer applications to:

  • Reduce safety system enforcements caused by wheel slip or other types of transient traction events.
  • Normalize safety system speed signals with locomotive speedometers and recorders by using PTC-calculated wheel size corrections real-time.
  • Scale existing or new axle tachometer equipment pulse-per-rotation (PPR) ratios to the ratios required by other equipment.
  • The RSS can downscale a new 120PPR optical probe output to the 20PPR or 60PPR requirements of existing speedometer heads and other safety systems.
  • The RSS can upscale existing 20PPR passive axle probe outputs to the bipolar 60PPR inputs required by on-board safety systems.
  • Provide network-based messages to customer-defined endpoints that include: Bad probe detection, including redundant probe switchover notifications. Active probe fault detection, including power supply short circuit detection.

Design

Designed as a bolt-in replacement for legacy QUIP® devices; supports frequency scaling across a wide range of applications and reduces false safety-system enforcements from wheel slip or transient traction events.

RSS Detailed Characteristics

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