Innovative rotor technology for more functionality and safety with rail vehicles

Baumer's BPIV encoder is the culmination of the company's extensive experience in rail vehicle solutions and technological progress. The BPIV's innovative rotor technology is impressive with its high availability and the fact that it offers four completely independent, galvanically separated sensing systems. This allows wheelset speed information to be simultaneously provided to separate subsystems, such as slide protection and speed/slip control as well as door locking and running board control.

The pulse rate of every sensing system can be flexibly adjusted from 50 to 1,600 for precise control, which corresponds to a maximum of 6,400 steps per revolution. The integrated function monitoring system plays a significant role in the high level of operational safety by constantly monitoring all encoder functions and even detecting cable ruptures.

The requirements placed on encoders for rail vehicles are tremendous. Encoders must remain unaffected by extreme environmental factors such as dirt, oil, grease, splash water, condensation, large temperature differences and incredibly high or low temperatures. The fact that they are subjected to significant shock and vibrations loads because they are mounted directly on the unsuspended bogies is also a special challenge. Baumer's encoders for rail vehicles are based on robust, magnetic sensing so they are exceptionally reliable and completely unaffected by all of the loads that they might be exposed to in rail traffic. The innovative rotor technology also ensures excellent signal quality even at high speeds. In addition to complying with all railway standards such as EN50128, EN50129 and ETCS, the BPIV also offers the possibility of an SIL 2 certification if required. The encoder is mechanically compatible with existing vehicles and is suitable for original equipment as well as retrofitting.