Pantograph-Monitoring

Automatic recognition of defective wearing strips

For the operators of train infrastructures its important to have constant surveillance of all current collectors of the entire railsystem. Worn or spent contact strips lead to defects of the current collector as well as contact wires.


The system "CONTACT Check" developed by ASE GmbH takes over all monitoring tasks fully automatically and autonomously. The measuring and recognition system is mounted in the middle above the railway on bridges or supports and can even be integrated into the multi sensor concept of ASE Checkpoint facilities.

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Contact-Strip Analysis:

Damage prevention due to worn or broken off coal layers with the contact wire

Measuring of force on the contact wire:

Optimization of contact wire pressure avoids fast wear

Optical recording:

  • Pantograph position
  • Wear and defects on contact strips

The system delivers all necessary parameters for assessment:

  • Position of strip relative to longitudinal and traverse axis
  • Missing or deformed contact strips
  • Thickness of coal layer over the entire width (degree of wear)
  • Unsteadiness of position and breadth (breakouts)
  • Overhead wire raising / Contact pressure
  • Type recognition and speed
  • High-speed image capturing
  • Differentiation between coal or copper contact strip