Revolutionising rail safety: Adegboye Olaoluwa spearheads innovative threat detection system

A groundbreaking technological advancement aimed at fortifying Nigeria’s railway infrastructure against vandalism has been spearheaded by Adegboye Olaoluwa Ayodeji, Coordinator of the Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS) program. 

Under Olaoluwa’s guidance, students from Noble International Secondary School, Uyo, have developed a pioneering system designed to alert railway officials to potential threats to rail tracks, promising to significantly enhance safety and reduce maintenance costs for the Federal Government.

The “Rail Line Threat Detection System (RTDS),” as conceived by Senior School (SS) 3 students: SitoAbasi Akpabot and Freda Anoetie Akpaffiong, is a direct response to the pervasive issue of rail line vandalism in Nigeria. 

“There has been a rampant issue of rail line vandalism and the country is spending a lot of money to repair these damages,” explained Akpabot and Akpaffiong. 

“So, in order to reduce the cost of repairs for our government, we have developed this technology.” The innovation is poised to foster sustainable economic growth within the rail transportation sector and bolster passenger confidence in train safety.

Adegboye Olaoluwa elaborated on the ingenious physics principle underpinning the RTDS. “These children use very simple theory in physics, which is the theory of Voltage divider when you have a parallel connection of resistors in series with nominal resistors, there is a way voltage is divided across such a connection, and that is what has been used in developing this technology,” Olaoluwa stated.

The core of the system ingeniously utilises the rail lines themselves. “The project is very visible, the major component of the technology is the rail line itself because the rail lines are made of rolling steel, the resistance per kilometre of the rolling steel is about 0.3 ounce, so these rolling steels are what we use in place of the resistors,” Olaoluwa explained. 

The rolling steels are connected in parallel, creating a sensitive circuit.

Olaoluwa further detailed the system’s operational mechanics: “The only thing we have to do is lay two wires across the rail tracks all through the country, the two wires will serve as communication wires. 

“Anytime someone tampers with the tracks, the resistance of the rail line will change. This change in resistance directly impacts the voltage output of the system. And when the resistance changes, there will be a change in output of the voltage on our system, this change in output of the voltage will trigger an alarm which will alert officials that there is a problem somewhere and when they look at the monitor screen, they will see the exact location of the affected rail track,” Olaoluwa confirmed.

This innovative solution, a testament to the talent nurtured under Adegboye Olaoluwa’s mentorship, represents a significant stride towards securing Nigeria’s vital rail network and ensuring the safety of its commuters.

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