sensors Article Visual Measurement System for Wheel–Rail Lateral Position Evaluation Viktor Skrickij 1 , Eldar Šabanoviˇc 1,* , Dachuan Shi 2, Stefano Ricci 3 , Luca Rizzetto 3 and Gintautas Bureika 1 1 Transport and Logistics Competence Centre, Transport Engineering Faculty, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Sauletekio˙ al. 11, 10223 Vilnius, Lithuania;
[email protected] (V.S.);
[email protected] (G.B.) 2 Institute of Land and Sea Transport Systems, Technical University of Berlin, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany;
[email protected] 3 Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Edile e Ambientale (DICEA), Sapienza Università di Roma, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Roma, Italy;
[email protected] (S.R.);
[email protected] (L.R.) * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +370-5-274-4805 Abstract: Railway infrastructure must meet safety requirements concerning its construction and op- eration. Track geometry monitoring is one of the most important activities in maintaining the steady technical conditions of rail infrastructure. Commonly, it is performed using complex measurement equipment installed on track-recording coaches. Existing low-cost inertial sensor-based measurement systems provide reliable measurements of track geometry in vertical directions. However, solutions are needed for track geometry parameter measurement in the lateral direction. In this research, the authors developed a visual measurement system for track gauge evaluation. It involves the detection of measurement points and the visual measurement of the distance between them. The accuracy of the visual measurement system was evaluated in the laboratory and showed promising results. The initial field test was performed in the Vilnius railway station yard, driving at low velocity on the straight track section.