Railway infrastructure

Turn-key IoT platform for trackside monitoring and data logging

A mains-powered monitoring and data logging solution for trackside deployment — delivered end to end across hardware, firmware, prototyping and compliance support.

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Overview

What was delivered

XceedMinds delivered a complete turn-key engagement — spanning hardware, firmware, prototyping and compliance support — for a mains-powered monitoring and data logging solution built for trackside deployment.

The solution centralises multiple analog and digital field inputs — motor current, pressure, oil-level float switches and temperature — into a single ruggedised board, and relays that data over a long-range LoRa point-to-point link to a Linux-based gateway for logging and further processing.

  • LoRa P2P
  • WLR089U0-I/RM
  • 4-20mA
  • Optical isolation
  • 110V AC
  • MCP9808
  • Embedded Linux

The challenge

What made it difficult

The constraints that shaped every decision downstream.

01

End-to-end accountability

A single team had to own the project from initial design through manufacturing coordination, firmware and compliance support — with no handoff gaps between stages or vendors.
02

Multi-channel analog acquisition

Eight independent 4-20mA loop inputs — covering motor DC current and hydraulic pressure — needed accurate, noise-resistant signal acquisition on a board powered directly from 110V AC mains.
03

Safety-isolated field monitoring

Dry contact float switches reporting oil level had to be optically isolated from the mains-powered electronics, both for operator safety and to keep switch noise out of the measurement chain.
04

A custom wireless bridge

No off-the-shelf driver existed to pair the WLR089U0-I/RM LoRa module with the system’s Linux SoC, so the link between them had to be built from scratch — custom firmware on the radio side and an AT-command protocol layer to talk to it.

The solution

How it was built

  1. Power and protection

    The board runs directly from a 110V AC supply, protected by fusing and terminated through railway-grade connectors suited to the vibration, temperature and reliability demands of trackside installation.

  2. Analog signal acquisition

    Eight 4-20mA current-loop interfaces handle the core measurements: motor DC current (0-20A, via a current clamp with 4-20mA output) and hydraulic pressure (0-120 bar).

  3. Isolated safety monitoring

    Two dry contact float switches are read through optically isolated inputs — a normally closed contact signalling "Oil Low" and a normally open contact signalling "Oil Very Low" — keeping the low-voltage sensing circuitry electrically separated from switch and field wiring.

  4. Temperature sensing

    An MCP9808-EMS digital temperature sensor provides precise, drift-free ambient readings alongside the analog channels.

  5. Local operator interface

    LED indicators and tactile switches give on-site personnel direct control over power and operating mode, without needing a connected app to check status.

  6. Long-range wireless link

    A WLR089U0-I/RM module handles LoRa point-to-point communication back to the Linux-based gateway. We customised the module’s firmware and implemented an AT-command protocol layer to bridge the WLR089U0 and the Linux SoC — the piece that turns the two into a working communication link rather than two separate parts.

Specifications

Technical detail

The numbers the design had to hit.

Power input
110V AC, fused, railway-grade connectors
Analog inputs
8 × 4-20mA channels
Motor current sensing
0-20A via DC current clamp, 4-20mA output
Pressure sensing
0-120 bar via 4-20mA transmitter
Oil level monitoring
Optically isolated dry contact float switches — NC (Oil Low), NO (Oil Very Low)
Temperature sensing
MCP9808-EMS digital sensor
Local interface
LED indicators, tactile switches (ON/OFF, mode select)
Wireless connectivity
WLR089U0-I/RM, LoRa P2P, custom firmware + AT-command bridge to Linux SoC

Scope

Turn-key delivery

Everything carried under one engagement, with no handoff gaps between stages or vendors.

Schematics & PCB layout

Full circuit design and board layout engineered for mains-powered, trackside operation.

Component procurement

Sourcing of railway-grade and long-lifecycle components suited to field deployment.

Fabrication & assembly

Managed the manufacturing hand-off with trusted PCB and PCBA vendor partners on build spec, quality control and testing.

Firmware

Embedded firmware for signal acquisition, isolation handling and the LoRa-to-Linux bridge.

Integration & compliance support

Support through system integration and the compliance testing process for field deployment.

Highlights

What stands out

Custom LoRa-to-Linux bridge

Firmware customisation on the WLR089U0-I/RM plus a purpose-built AT-command protocol layer let the LoRa radio and the Linux SoC communicate reliably — a link that did not exist off the shelf.

Multi-channel field data acquisition

Eight 4-20mA loop inputs plus isolated digital monitoring bring current, pressure, oil-level and temperature data into one unified logging point.

Safety-first signal isolation

Optical isolation on all dry contact inputs keeps mains-side electronics and field-side switching electrically separated, protecting both equipment and operators.

One accountable engineering partner

Design, firmware and manufacturing-vendor coordination were managed under a single engagement, reducing integration risk across what would otherwise be multiple separate vendors.

Outcome

Where it ended up

A production-ready trackside monitoring and data logging solution — spanning hardware, firmware and compliance support — unifying multi-channel analog sensing, isolated safety monitoring and a custom long-range wireless link into a single ruggedised, mains-powered platform ready for field deployment.

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Building something similar?

Send a specification, a block diagram, or a description of the problem. We will come back with an honest view of scope, risk and the fastest route to a working prototype.

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