Hitachi Rail Leverages NVIDIA AI for Enhanced Real-Time Railway Analysis

Hitachi Rail, a global transportation leader operating in over 50 countries, is harnessing NVIDIA AI technology to revolutionize railway maintenance and operations. This integration aims to significantly reduce maintenance costs, minimize train idling time, and enhance transit reliability for passengers, according to the NVIDIA Blog.

Enhanced Real-Time Data Processing

Hitachi Rail is adopting the NVIDIA IGX platform, an industrial-grade solution designed for high-bandwidth sensor processing and powerful AI compute. The platform also offers functional safety capabilities and enterprise security. By integrating this technology into its new HMAX platform, Hitachi Rail will be able to process sensor and camera data in real time, eliminating the lag between data collection and analysis.

This real-time capability will enable faster detection of issues such as track repairs, overhead power line degradation, and the health of trains and signaling equipment. The proactive maintenance approach is estimated to cost around seven times less than emergency repairs, providing substantial savings for railway operators.

Significant Operational Savings

Current AI monitoring systems deployed by Hitachi Rail have already led to notable reductions in service delays and maintenance costs. These systems have decreased service delays by up to 20%, reduced train maintenance costs by up to 15%, and cut energy consumption at train depots by up to 40% by lowering fuel costs.

By leveraging NVIDIA IGX and the NVIDIA Holoscan platform for sensor processing, Hitachi Rail aims to further enhance these savings. The company’s executive director and CTO of rail vehicles, Koji Agatsuma, emphasized that real-time prediction using NVIDIA technology helps avoid service disruptions and significantly improves safety, reliability, and operating costs.

NVIDIA IGX Powers Real-Time AI Engine

Hitachi Rail has utilized NVIDIA IGX and the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform to develop new accelerated AI applications. These applications help operators monitor train fleets and infrastructure more efficiently. NVIDIA AI Enterprise provides tools, pretrained models, and application frameworks to streamline the development and deployment of production-grade AI applications.

The HMAX platform, which processes data from 8,000 train cars on 2,000 trains, will soon offer these new applications to Hitachi Rail’s international customer base. These applications can handle vast quantities of data streaming from onboard sensors, existing systems, or third-party software.

Broader Applications and Future Prospects

Beyond monitoring trains and tracks, the technology can also be used to oversee overhead power lines. By mounting cameras atop trains, Hitachi Rail can identify degrading electric cables and prevent failures. Traditionally, processing one day’s worth of video data could take up to 10 days. However, with NVIDIA-accelerated sensor processing, this data is now processed in real time, sending only relevant information back to operational control centers for analysis and action.

Overall, the integration of NVIDIA AI technology into Hitachi Rail’s operations offers a promising future for railway management, enhancing both efficiency and reliability.