Automated Reconstruction of Railroad Rail Using Helicopter-borne Light Detection and Ranging in a Train Station

A coordinate-based 3D model of a railroad rail is essential for the maintenance of railway services. However, automated processing to reconstruct objects from light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data in areas where such facilities are installed in a complex manner is still a challenge. In this study, our objective is to develop a method for the automated reconstruction of rails from LiDAR data in a complex area. Unlike the running sections of a train where one or two rails are present, many rails are installed by joining or branching in a railway station. Three factors, namely, height difference, spatial relationship with other objects, and point density difference, were considered in detecting the rails in this complicated area. For tracking and modeling rails, an iterative random sample consensus (RANSAC) and singular value decomposition (SVD) algorithms were used. The results showed that about 90% of the rail tracks were extracted, and the precision rate was about 99%. All processes were fully automated, and the method proposed in this study was developed to be applicable to various line-type facilities as well as rails.