Alstom Partners with Three Canadian Universities to Research Railway AI and Industry 4.0

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 17, Alstom announced the establishment of research collaborations with Université Laval, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), and ÉTS (École de technologie supérieure) in Quebec, Canada, to conduct joint R&D on the application of artificial intelligence and Industry 4.0 technologies in the design and manufacturing of railway rolling stock. The results will be tested in real-world conditions at Alstom's manufacturing site in La Pocatière, Quebec.

The research covers welding processes, augmented reality assistance for welders and assembly personnel, scheduling of robotic welding cells, and the application of artificial intelligence in the design of railway vehicle car bodies. The projects will use production floor data to develop digital and intelligent tools deployable in actual manufacturing environments, and will validate production quality, efficiency, and manufacturing processes.

The project is led by Professor Michael Morin of the Lab-Usine experimental factory at Université Laval as principal investigator, and the research team also includes the Internet of Things Laboratory at Université du Québec à Montréal and the Advanced Manufacturing Process Optimization Laboratory at ÉTS. Canada's Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the research organization MITACS will provide funding support to the three universities.

The collaborative project will also train 11 researchers and technical talents, including graduate students, undergraduate interns, and postdoctoral researchers. These individuals will participate in technology development and testing in an applied research environment directly connected to industrial production sites.

The La Pocatière plant is an important railway rolling stock manufacturing base for Alstom in Canada. The technologies developed through this research can be applied to several manufacturing projects recently undertaken by the site, including VIA Rail Canada's new fleet for long-distance, regional, and remote services, the Toronto Transit Commission project in Canada, and the Quebec City tramway project. On September 3, Alstom had just signed a CAD 4.7 billion contract with VIA Rail to produce 313 new railway vehicles, with car body manufacturing to be completed in La Pocatière.

Alstom's collaboration with La Pocatière and the Lab-Usine at Université Laval began in 2019. This round of cooperation has further expanded to three Quebec universities and extended the scope of R&D to AI, robotics, augmented reality, and manufacturing data applications.