Here is a television technician, who has developed an early warning system for unmanned railway level crossings.
S. Senguttuvan, from Tamil Nadu, settled in Visakhapatnam, was moved by the accident in which over 20 school students travelling in a bus were mowed down by a train at an unmanned level crossing in Masaipet village of Medak districton July 24. He has developed an early warning system that works on radio frequency. Explaining the project he said, there are two different types of warning systems. One that works on GPS technology and the other is a wired signal system.” I have developed a system that works on radio frequency, he said.
All that is needed is to install a radio antenna and a transmitter in the engine of the trains and link it up to a receiver and warning system, be it a blinker or an audio system, at the level crossings.
“There are antennas that can transmit signals from a distance of 6 to 10 km. The moment the train comes in that range, the signal will be automatically transmitted to the receiver, and a special circuit will relay the signal to the warning system. It will stop after the train crosses the level crossing. The reaction time could vary between 3 to 5 minutes depending on the speed of the train,” he said.
But, “The government has to allot a dedicated radio frequency to the railways for this purpose,” he said. Mr. Senguttuvan had earlier designed a warning system for gas leak .