Article: KONUX
Smart switches increase rail network availability
a Munich-based IoT startup that offers a smart maintenance solution for switches, was one of the first startups to work with Deutsche Bahn, back in 2015. At the end of 2020, the two companies signed a long-term framework agreement to provide condition monitoring of switches. The system developed by KONUX makes the railway network more digital and continuously and autonomously monitors the health of key switch components such as the track bed and frog. The KONUX system predicts how the condition of switches will develop over time, which allows track infrastructure operators to prevent failures and optimize maintenance scheduling. It is an end-to-end solution that uses Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices and artificial intelligence to improve network capacity and reliability and reduce costs.
Initially, 1,300 switches are to be equipped with the system, 650 by KONUX and 650 by Breuer Nachrichtentechnik, to improve the reliability of passenger transport on congested routes. The cloud-based software-as-a-service solution by KONUX complements the diagnostics and analytics platform (DIANA) developed by Deutsche Bahn, which already monitors more than 30,000 switches with the help of current sensors.
KONUX was founded in 2014 and has its roots in the Technical University of Munich. The company is now expanding into ten countries in Europe and Asia and was selected by the World Economic Forum as one of the world's 30 most innovative startups.