Design of IoT Electrical Freight Train Powered with Solar Energy for Sudanese Transport Market

Abstract

Over the past years transport facilities have developed into one of the most popular and actively exploring areas, due to the existing plans to improve the transportation systems between cities. Freight transport by rail is being seen as the next big growth point internationally. Consequently, for the development of this sector, reference should be made to the peculiarities of location, the volumes of trade turnover, as well as infrastructural investments. land transportation by use of trucks in Sudan are however experiencing some few hurdles such as; Fuel unavailable, costly, poorly provided, and nose-diving on the social face of our environment. This paper introduces a solution: a freight electric train powered by solar energy. Designed for fast, safe, and cost-effective goods delivery, the train is fully electronic, with real-time remote control via an Arduino microcontroller connected to an IoT cloud and equipped with sensors for efficiency and security. The paper details the design and performance evaluation of the system through experimental tests under various operating conditions. As presented by the results, it is possible to fully automate the electric train in real-time with a high accuracy of decision making to ensure safe and proper utilization of solar energy for better efficiency and sustainability in the railway’s freight transport logistics. The solar system productivity reached 6 V at midday, while the time to reach the destination was up to 17 sec when the train weight was 2.5 kg.