Syslogic’s new embedded computer for railway industry

22nd August 2024

Syslogic GmbH

Harry Fowle

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Syslogic has unveiled the railway computer RML A4NX, an embedded system based on the NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX system-on-module. The new EN50155- certified railway computer will be shown at InnoTrans in Berlin in September.

Embedded specialist Syslogic will present its railway and transportation portfolio September 24-27 at InnoTrans 2024, one of the world’s most important trade shows for transportation. This includes embedded systems specifically designed for use in rail vehicles, buses and autonomous shuttles.

RML A4NX railway computer - NVIDIA Jetson power for railroads

This includes the Railway Computer RML A4NX, which is suitable for AI applications in the railway industry. The RML A4NX is based on an NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX system-on-module (SoM). The power of the onboard iGPU enables it to process data from multiple high-resolution sensors in near real time. This makes the Syslogic railway computer suitable for computer vision applications - both in rail vehicles and trackside. The railway computer serves as the hardware centerpiece for applications such as object and hazard detection, environmental perception, track monitoring, intelligent video analysis, predictive maintenance, or control of autonomous systems. The NVIDIA Metropolis application framework and microservices can run on NVIDIA Jetson to accelerate the development of vision AI applications with advanced computer vision and vision language models.

Years of experience in the rail market

With the RML A4NX, Syslogic combines the NVIDIA Jetson Orin SoM with its own carrier board with M12 connectors designed for high shock and vibration requirements. The device also features a built-in isolated power supply that allows the railway computer to be connected directly to the on-board train power supply without the need for a converter.

The Railway Computer RML A4NX also complies with common railway standards such as EN50155 and EN45545 HL3 and is suitable for the input voltage range of 24 to 110VDC. Michael Jung, Product Manager at Syslogic, says: "As a proven specialist in the railway market, we develop our railway computers from the ground up for rolling stock applications.” Syslogic has previously used NVIDIA platforms for its railway solutions, and now will be using the Jetson Orin NX and soon the Jetson AGX Orin," said Jung.

The new Syslogic computer has four power-over-Ethernet (PoE) Gbit interfaces for easy sensor connection. Four sensors such as GigE Vision or IP cameras can be directly connected and powered with one cable. The PoE ports are x-coded M12 connectors, making them suitable for harsh rail environments. With optional wireless connectivity (5G/4G, Wi-Fi), the rail computer is suitable for vehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-infrastructure communication.

Real-time-kinematic (RTK) technology can also be integrated as an option. For this purpose, Syslogic integrates the railway certified F9R RTK receiver from u-blox. This enables the precise location of trains and other railway vehicles on the tracks and is therefore a popular feature for railway operators and vehicle manufacturers.