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Sense
Non-intrusive sensing

IN-SIGHT's first step: giving legacy rolling stock a voice. Acoustic and vibrational IoT pods capture the vehicle's real condition from the bogie and the doors, without modifying the train or accessing the TCMS.

What "Sense" is

Sense is IN-SIGHT's acquisition layer: the set of sensors that turn the vehicle's physical behaviour —vibration, temperature and acoustic signature— into measurable data. It is the starting point of all predictive monitoring: without a signal faithful to the asset's real condition, no downstream algorithm can anticipate a failure.

The challenge with legacy fleets is that these vehicles have no TCMS or accessible data bus. IN-SIGHT solves this with self-contained add-on sensors: each Pod measures at the point of interest and transmits over its own channel, without relying on the train's electronics.

Non-intrusive by design: Installation in under 4 hours per vehicle, with no special tools, no cut wiring and without touching any control circuit. The train stays certified and in service.

How IN-SIGHT does it

Sensing is split between two specialised units, placed where the most frequent failures of short- and medium-distance fleets originate:

  • Pod A — Bogie: 6-axis MEMS IMU and temperature sensor on the frame, axle or axle box. It captures triaxial acceleration up to 6,667 kHz to monitor bearings, wheels and running dynamics.
  • Pod B — Doors: Vibration and acoustics on the door mechanism, the leading cause of operational incidents in metro and commuter rail.
  • Autonomous power: 24 V auxiliary bus via an isolated DC/DC converter or a LiFePO₄ battery, without intervening in the vehicle's electrical network.
  • Reversible mounting: Magnetic base plus M6 screw; removable without leaving a mark, suitable for rented or leased fleets.

In railway practice

In a real workshop, instrumenting a vehicle with Sense means a half-shift intervention: the technician fixes the Pods at the points defined by the instrumentation plan, checks the signal and returns the train to service the same day. There is no on-board software homologation and no risk to operational safety, because the system is completely passive with respect to the train.

From that moment on, the vehicle emits a continuous stream of condition data. What used to be a blind spot —a bogie or a door whose state was only known at scheduled overhaul— becomes permanently monitored.