CLEARSY is developing an interface dedicated to the synchronisation (opening/closing) of the train and platform doors on the Kuala Lumpur metro system. This project is part of an upgrade of the rolling stock being carried out by Bombardier Transport. The main challenge: CLEARSY’s solution must be integrated into the existing environment.
This environment includes subsystems which are not affected by the rolling stock upgrade, namely the ground-based system and the onboard door controller. The system also includes the onboard interface; it is this part which CLEARSY must redevelop under an order placed by Bombardier Transport, in charge of upgrading the vehicles on the Kuala Lumpur metro system. This unusual situation and the complex requirements which go with it are described by project leader Mathieu Comptier: “We are charged with developing equipment to synchronise the opening and closing of the train doors with the platform screen doors. In the context of the Kuala Lumpur metro, this means developing equipment which functions identically to the former system and which is capable of interfacing with the existing environment.”
The first requirement: the new equipment, consisting of an antenna installed on the roof of the train, a transceiver (transmitter/receiver) and a cable connecting the two must be able to communicate with the ground-based part of the system, which consists of the same elements but with the antenna installed in the ceiling of the station. It is the alignment of these antennae – when the train is brought to a halt in the expected part of the station – which allows communication to be established between the ground and the train. “From that moment, everything happens very quickly,” explains Mr Comptier. “The ground-based system is informed of the opening of the train doors, and the platform screen doors are opened.” The information about the opening of the train doors, sent by the onboard controller, is received and transmitted by the onboard transceiver to the transceiver on the ground (via the aligned antennae). This information is then relayed to the ground-based controller, which triggers the opening of the screen doors. All this takes less than a second, as does the subsequent closing of the doors; the screen door closure is ordered by the ground-based controller after the onboard system has informed this controller that the train doors are closing.
For this project, CLEARSY will install its own technology (notably the onboard antenna) in a complex environment where the interfaces and functionalities, as well as the related protocols, are pre-established. For the company, based in Aix-en-Provence, this is a first. Development has already started in its laboratories, and CLEARSY provided a prototype in September. Delivery of the production equipment is planned by 2022.