BAA 2020IRS Appendix C_final_ 4_13_2020.pdf

FRA BAA 2020IRS – April 2020

Federal Railroad Administration Office of Research, Development, and Technology

Broad Agency Announcement – BAA 2020IRS

Appendix C – Research Topics

Note: Concept papers may be submitted at any time, through the closing date of the research topic.

Topic Title Closing Date for

Concept Papers

FRA-IRS-001 Research in Response to Strategic Research Focus (see BAA Section 2)

July 31, 2020

FRA-IRS-002 Connected Vehicle Technology Demonstrations June 26, 2020

FRA-IRS-003 Automated Train Technology – System Safety Research June 26, 2020

FRA-IRS-004

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS, Drones) – Research to Enable Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operation (BVLOS) on

Railroad Tracks June 26, 2020

FRA-IRS-005 Research to Maximize the Utility of Positive Train Control Systems and Data for Railroad and Road Vehicle Applications

June 26, 2020

FRA-IRS-006 Automated and Autonomous Rolling Stock Technologies June 26, 2020

FRA-IRS-007 Non-Contact Rail and Track Measurement and Defect Detection Technologies

June 26, 2020

FRA-IRS-008 Automated Railway Ground Hazard Risk Mitigation June 26, 2020

Intelligent Railroad System Research

Topic: FRA-IRS-001

Title: Research in Response to Strategic Research Focus (see BAA Section 2)

This topic is reserved for research projects that do not respond directly to one of the following topics, but are responsive to the strategic priorities detailed in BAA Section 2.

Topic: FRA-IRS-002

Title: Connected Vehicle Grade Crossing Violation Warning Application Demonstration

FRA has funded development of a Rail Crossing Violation Warning (RCVW) system based on established Connected Vehicle (CV) standards and protocols. Engineering documentation can be accessed at the following link. This system is a reference application that seeks to showcase the potential safety benefits of CV technology and serve as a platform for engagement of rail and highway industry stakeholders. RCVW has been field tested and is a candidate for pilot deployment, but many stakeholders have yet to witness its capabilities. Reaching these stakeholders is critical to progressing the transfer of this technology from research to implementation.

The objective of this work topic is to plan, promote, and execute a comprehensive demonstration of the RCVW system. The target audience should be railroad industry stakeholders, automotive industry stakeholders, federal and state level DOT personnel, politicians, suppliers, and developers. Concepts should include:

• At least two, but not more than four venues to hold demonstrations that target key stakeholders. One must be in the Washington DC metro area. Consider leveraging existing Rail/Automotive industry conferences/symposia/etc.

• Designs to compellingly demonstrate the key RCVW functions (advance alert, violation warning, and intersection clearance warning).

• Data logging and analysis of all demo runs to quantify observed RCVW performance.

• Development of media and display materials which describe RCVW architecture and design, and general CV technology information.

• Access to, or a plan to provide suitable test vehicles and professional drivers.

Offerors must demonstrate prior experience in the planning and execution of public connected vehicle system tests or demonstrations.

https://github.com/OSADP/RCVW

Topic: FRA-IRS-003

Title: Automated Train Technology – System Safety Research

This topic seeks research to better understand and quantify the safety impacts of operating fully automated trains. This research should be focused on the system safety aspects of automated train operations, as opposed to developing the underlying technologies necessary to execute automated train operations. Projects shall include research of new roles, processes and procedures for human interfaces in fully automated systems operation. The goal is to provide a technical foundation to support a safety assessment of full automation. Researchers may leverage advanced modeling tools in addition to traditional safety assurance methods.

Offerors are encouraged to develop relationships with industry organizations that are directly involved with developing and testing automated train technologies.

Topic: FRA-IRS-004

Title: Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS, or drones) – Research to Enable Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operation (BVLOS) on Railroads

FRA seeks research to develop the underlying mission concepts and technologies, including the human-machine interface, necessary to obtain Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for widespread, very low level (VLL) altitude (< 200 feet above ground level) operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), over railroad track.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), or drones, can provide a direct benefit to railroad safety assurance activities. Drones may be suitable surrogates for physical inspections of track conditions, thus reducing the safety risks associated with personnel on track. Many railroads are using drones to inspect bridges, main line, and yard tracks, to conduct security surveillance, to inspect rail cars, and for many other applications. These applications are useful, but are limited by current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations for visual line of sight (VLOS) operations. Railroads are long, continuous infrastructure systems. To maximize the potential of drones as a tool for rail safety will require Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

Under 14 CFR § 107 – Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, operation BVLOS of the pilot-in-command and any visual observers, enabled by technological means will require waiver approvals to the following subparts:

14 CFR § 107.31 - Visual line of sight aircraft operation (https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CFR-2017-title14-vol2/CFR-2017-title14-vol2-sec107-31) https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CFR-2017-title14-vol2/CFR-2017-title14-vol2-sec107-31 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CFR-2017-title14-vol2/CFR-2017-title14-vol2-sec107-31

14 CFR § 107.33 - Visual observer (https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CFR-2018-title14-vol2/CFR-2018-title14-vol2-sec107-33)

Successful waivers for these regulations will require a systems approach to demonstrate safety risk avoidance/mitigation and operational capabilities in the following areas:

• Strategic (pre-flight) risk management and mitigation – includes and is not limited to assessing safety risk associated with VLL operations; selecting viable drone platforms, appropriate mission duration and locations

• Tactical (in-flight) risk management and mitigation – includes and is not limited to assessing drone flight capabilities, command and control between drone and human operators, and geo-fencing capabilities.

• Testing to support operational capabilities – including flight path planning reliability, contingency and emergency mitigation procedures, and situational awareness capabilities, including detection and avoidance of manned aircraft.

FRA seeks a university or university-led team to conduct a comprehensive research program that yields a technical solution set supporting BVLOS operations on railroads that can be demonstrated to FAA and other interested parties. FRA support for this program is expected to exceed $1M, subject to the availability of funds. Solution testing may be performed at the DOT Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado. Collaboration with the U.S. Department of Transportation, John A. Volpe National Transportation Center will be available for this program.

Topic: FRA-IRS-005

Title: Research to Maximize the Utility of Positive Train Control Data

This topic seeks forward-looking research that leverages utility and value of PTC data for the benefit of railroads and other transportation modes that interact with the railroad environment. The objective is to explore additional use cases for PTC data beyond train control. One area of research could be the use of PTC data for blocked crossing enunciation through commercial mapping applications. Offerors are encouraged to investigate alternative uses that provide value to the overall transportation network.

Topic: FRA-IRS-006

Title: Automated and Autonomous Rolling Stock Technologies

This topic seeks research of advanced, automated and/or autonomous technologies to track and inspect rolling stock. FRA’s objective is to advance the state of the industry to reliably identify and track railroad rolling stock assets and to inspect these assets to ensure safe https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CFR-2018-title14-vol2/CFR-2018-title14-vol2-sec107-33 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CFR-2018-title14-vol2/CFR-2018-title14-vol2-sec107-33 performance. Research projects to investigate improved sensor technologies and inspection platforms to assess rolling stock in motion are encouraged. Advanced technologies that supplement manual inspection, or completely remove humans from hazardous environments are desired. Such technologies shall automatically and/or autonomously identify safety risks, including missing, damaged, or deteriorating components, and report these findings to stakeholders.

Topic: FRA-IRS-007

Title: Non-Contact Rail and Track Measurement and Defect Detection Technologies

Non-contact rail and track measurement technologies are essential elements for autonomous inspection systems. Such technologies enable critical safety measurements from revenue service equipment. An example is FRA’s autonomous track geometry measurement technology that leverages non-contact sensors deployed on standard rail vehicles running in revenue service. This topic seeks research to explore the application of non-contact sensors for other railroad safety applications, including internal rail defects, rail head damage, and tie and fastener condition assessment. Sensor research shall be focused on studying the technical feasibility of new sensor technologies that are:

• effective at detecting rail/track defects and/or measuring critical rail/track parameters.

• reliable and have a low “false-positive” detection potential.

• innovative and/or build upon previous research in a significant way.

• suitable for autonomous operation on revenue service equipment.

Topic: FRA-IRS-008

Title: Automated Railway Ground Hazard Risk Mitigation

Ground hazards such as slope failures, washouts, floods, rockfalls, landslides and similar failures affect rail safety by compromising track structure integrity and/or obstructing the right-of-way. In addition to safety, the economic viability of the rail industry is affected by ground hazards since emerging operational scenarios such as precision scheduled railroading depend on predictable infrastructure conditions to deliver the intended train schedule to allow the rail industry to address the growing demand for shipment of time sensitive goods. Ground hazards are particularly important for intelligent train operations where even greater infrastructure reliability would be required. Ground hazards can result in both minor disruptions that affect a single train to major disruptions that affect an entire territory, like flooding. The goal of this research is to develop an advanced ground hazard database that combines ground hazard information with appropriate condition monitoring data and other existing data sources. Condition monitoring data could include track geometry, clearance measurements, or new drone or satellite remote sensing data. Data sources that are applicable to ground hazards include environmental conditions such as precipitation, river level, and ground saturation and geological conditions such as surficial soil conditions and bedrock maps, among others. The advanced ground hazard database must support risk assessment and help identify potential hazards. The research should identify at least one ground hazard type and develop a demonstrated methodology to implement an automated risk assessment that could be linked to a real-time hazard warning system.