NGEF Project

Namaste, my name is Vivekananda. You can call me Vivek. Let me tell you about my achievements at NGEF – this is a project which I consider to be the greatest achievement of my life so far. Why? Because in this project lives of train passengers depended on control system my team created! Microtrac was a project undertaken by my employer NG Electric Factory for Underground Metro Train in Calcutta India. This was in 1997. This used a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) to control the train. The PLC would accept commands from the train driver and control the train. The Challenge: I was required to develop a Diagnostic System similar to BlackBox in an aeroplane. The aim was to prove Microtrac technology to Metro officials. I was required to understand Traction Principles and how Metro Train works. I was required to source all hardware...and software to develop everything necessary for a Diagnostic System. The biggest challenge was...Data from 48 digital and 8 analogue channels had to be acquired, stored on the hard disk and graphically displayed on the PC screen as running charts and meters at the rate of once every 15 milliseconds. Action I took I studied and understood traction principles. I also evaluated available hardware, software and obtained them. I obtained cost effective Data Acquisition cards. Then designed and developed my own software around them. I ran the Diagnostic System in a moving train moving at 60 kmph under the control of Microtrac and...showed live meters and charts on computer screen to Metro officials, explained to them various stages of train movement and…. related to their own knowledge of the train. This was a very exciting project because all the lives of the passengers of the train were in the hands of the programme running on the PLC Let me talk about the Result. I was able to build the complete diagnostic system… I was able to collect the necessary data on board the train controlled by our system. I was able to analyse and convince the customer that our system not only adhered to industry standards but in some cases was better than their existing systems. The demonstration was so successful that we got an immediate order worth 60 million Indian Rupees.