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System Reliability and Availability

2getthere has nearly 10 years of experience with automated people mover systems in multiple projects. The people mover systems build on a track record of 22+ years for the underlying technology. The reliability and availability have been proven over time, both in people mover applications as well as other environments (e.g. industrial environments).

The basis of any design is to maximize availability and reliability, while minimizing the life cycle costs. The FROG-technology is the most sophisticated navigation system available, providing superior reliability and availability. The system has continuous longitudinal and lateral position calculations, ensuring external influences, such as wind, are automatically corrected. The passive reference points merely serve to improve the accuracy even further (<4cm. at 80km/ph).  

To reach optimal reliability of systems, 2getthere adheres to dedicated engineering principles; applying proven technology with a modular architecture in a stepwise development approach. Solutions to improve system reliability, such as consistency checks, redundancy, self diagnosis/monitoring and fall back modes, are an integral part of system design. The dedicated field experience gathered with operations of systems (outside the realm of a test track), also contributes to system reliability.

The availability of the system is ensured by avoiding single point of failure (where possible). A hot stand-by and UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) are required for the supervisory system, while independent berths ensure stations are always available (even in case of a vehicle break down in a station). The availability of the system is tested through the system reliability allocation (predicted availability on basis of the major component Mean Time Between Failure [MTBF] and Mean Time To Replace [MTTR] values) and the field availability survey (verification to validate specified and predicted availability).

The operator and system maintenance are crucial to maintain reliability and availability at the levels it was engineered throughout the lifecycle. The operator can intervene in the operations at any time (based on the events witnessed and the alerts displayed). System resets require authority that is laid down in a reset protocol, specifying different levels of alarms and resets.

For maintenance purposes 2getthere can remotely connect to the system (and all or individual vehicles) via the data communication connection; providing software uploads, log file downloads, diagnosis and system analysis and specific resets.  Physical maintenance on the system hardware will be done on site. Preventive maintenance will be done at regular intervals according to a fixed schedule as part of the service contract.  Curative maintenance (problem solving) will be done by specially trained local staff (operators or a third party) with on line support from 2getthere HQ in Utrecht.