C-DAC transfers indigenous power quality solutions & electronics solutions for Railways

New Delhi, May 5, 2023 

The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Thiruvananthapuram has transferred indigenous technology of Power Quality Solution and Railways VCU solutions to industry partners.

Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma, who was present at the event here on Thursday, said the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Make in India- Make for the World’ can be achieved through more such ventures. 

“The STATCOM technology will help in the integration of different renewable sources of energy to the grid without depleting power factor and can help the grid in unbalanced grid conditions. Also, the VCU (Vehicle Control Unit) and its offshoot technologies given to the Indian Railways will ultimately help passenger, freight, Shatabdi and Tejas trains to incorporate more indigenised technologies,” he added.

“India is slowly transforming and strengthening itself in the R&D and manufacturing sector in which the industry partners have more roles to play as Indian entrepreneurs and stakeholders take this mission forward. The synergy will make India ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.” 

There is a huge market for new and innovative, upgraded, devices, and the whole advantage of this technology is on efficiency which will be a win-win situation for both the developer of the technology and the industry, in which the momentum gain of Indian technology will be crucial as an exporter hub, he added.

Group Coordinator, MeitY, Sunita Verma in her address said the development of STATCOM for Power quality solutions and Electronics Solutions for Railways (Vehicle Control Unit, Rolling Stack software, Loco Simulation Controller and Off-Loco VCU test kit) was a good initiative. The demand for the five applications will grow manyfold in coming years, she added.

STATCOM: The Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) based on PQ standard-IEEE519 & IEEE1459. The STATCOM technology has become increasingly relevant in recent years due to the growing demand for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, which are intermittent and variable in nature. The integration of these sources into the power grid can cause voltage fluctuations and instability, which can be mitigated by using STATCOMs. This Technology of STATCOMs developed by C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram was transferred to Trinity Energy Solution.

VCU: The VCU is based on the Standard IEC-61375. The technology was based on TCN protocols available during the early 2010s. Since then various enhancements have come up in the TCN protocol. There was a need to upgrade the VCU to make it at par with contemporary technology. The existing C-DAC-VCU in terms of hardware/software and to handhold the technology for 5 years while in-house capacity is built at CLW to tackle the day-to-day and long-term maintenance requirement of the locomotive fleet. This Technology of VCU developed by C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram was transferred to CLW Chittaranjan.

Loco Simulation Controller: The Loco Simulation Controller is based on the Railways standard. The VCU and application software needed to be tested in locomotives for better debugging, and understanding the response of the outputs given from VCU to various sub-systems of locomotives. This test platform could simulate the actual functionalities of the locomotive and will be giving inputs to VCU as per actual locomotive logic. Similarly, it also takes inputs from VCU and processes it and generates outputs as of the actual locomotive to VCU. This Technology of Loco Simulation Controller developed by C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram was transferred to CG Power & Industrial Solution.

Rolling Stack Software: The Rolling Stock Software is as per the requirement of Indian Railways. The rolling stock application that controls the loco function is distributed among the four processor boards in the VCU set. To make the loco operation more reliable in case of processor board failures, the important functions are implemented redundantly. This will also help the loco pilot to steer the train without moving from the driving cab to the rear cab to address the failure. The software of Rolling Stack Software developed by C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram was transferred to CG Power & Industrial Solutions.

Off-Loco VCU Test Kit: The Off-Loco VCU Test kit is as per the necessity of Indian Railways. The PCB test jig is used to verify the basic functions of the sub-system PCBs that are being used in C-DAC developed VCU for 3-phase electric locos. The OK/ Not OK status of VC MeitY U subsystem PCBs under test is used for screening the PCBs for use in VCUs. This technology of Off-Loco VCU Test Kit developed by C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram was transferred to Electrical Loco shed, Rayapuram Southern Railway.

Executive Director (Electrical), Railway Board Ram Niwas; Scientist ‘D’, Dr Om Krishan Singh, representatives from the industry and other senior officials from MeitY, C-DAC and Indian Railways were present on the occasion.

NNN