Railroad VACIS® Inspection System

Overview

The Railroad VACIS® unit is designed to inspect railroad cars as they pass through a specified inspection area. Using a low-level gamma ray radiation source, the system can penetrate railcars, tankers, grain cars, and boxcars, while generating an image for each car.

Applications

The Railroad VACIS unit is used at international borders, seaports, rail yards, and customs facilities.The system can be used in the crucial applications of validating manifests, searching for contraband, and verifying empties, and is capable of inspecting trains of any length at speeds between 1 and 8 mph (1.6 and 12.9 km/h). As the railcars move through the gamma beam, their images are individually saved, along with radio frequency identification (RFID) data and a digital video snapshot of the car ID number. The Railroad VACIS operator views the images as they are acquired and makes the decision to further inspect the railcars, if necessary.

Features

The entire Railroad VACIS unit fits within an area of 50 ft. (15.2 m) wide by 100 ft. (30.4 m) long. The duty cycle is continuous (day and night). Each railcar is imaged using a high performance camera, coupling sensors automatically identify the beginning and end of each railcar (allowing automatic segmentation of the train into individual railcar images), and speed sensors, mounted on tracks, allow for constant aspect ratio in images despite changes in train speed. See photo

Benefits

The low radiation dose rate of the Railroad VACIS unit's proprietary gamma ray imaging technique allows operation without a special protective building or similar enclosure. This capability increases the simplicity of use and decreases the total life cycle costs. Also, its rugged design is resistant to corrosion, humidity, rain, and wind, making it an ideal choice for almost any installation environment.

SAIC's VACIS® Inspection Systems are certified as approved products for Homeland Security under the Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 (the SAFETY Act).

* These items are available for purchase on the General Services Administration Law Enforcement and Security Equipment Contract GS-07F-0210J.