Smartphone app to measure ride quality

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International Railway Journal --> Smartphone app to measure ride quality

SCIENTISTS at the University of Birmingham, Britain, have developed application which enables passengers to measure ride comfort using their smart phones.

Data collected through the app will give operators instant feedback from passengers about bumps and vibrations on their journeys.

The study claims to be the first to use artificial neural networks to map data gathered from smartphones to evaluate the quality of a journey. It reveals that accelerometers found in smartphones are accurate enough to be used in measuring ride comfort.

"There is also potential for this technology to be used to detect track faults and indicate which sections of track are in need of maintenance, possibly saving on maintenance costs and improving the safety of the railway," says Dr Sakdirat Kaewunruen, senior lecturer in railway and civil engineering at the University of Birmingham.

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University of Birmingham

--> http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2017/02/Passengers-take-mobile-measure-of-comfort-for-railway-companies.aspx