Vehicle, system and method for railway track clearing

A computer-implemented method for removing unwanted material from a railway track, comprising:

• obtaining sensor information providing information relating to unwanted material on an extent of a railway track and detecting levels of wind-blown particles in the air;
• controlling an airflow system supported by a railway track clearing vehicle and configured to provide and direct an airflow through at least one conduit towards the railway track by applying the sensor information to determine an airflow required to clear the extent of the railway track;
• controlling a propulsion mechanism of the railway track clearing vehicle to autonomously control the vehicle on the extent of the railway track at a suitable speed according to feedback of the sensor information indicating a state of the unwanted material;
• and
• wherein in response to a clearing operation notification received from a sensor indicating a high level of wind-blown particles in the air, activating a sealed mode of operation of the vehicle by battery power only with no ingress of air.

A computer system for removing unwanted material from a railway track by a railway track clearing vehicle, comprising:

• one or more processors and memory configured to provide computer program instructions to the processors to execute the function of the following systems:
• a sensor system for obtaining sensor information providing information relating to unwanted material on an extent of a railway track and to detect levels of wind-blown particles in the air;
• an airflow control system for controlling an airflow system supported by a railway track clearing vehicle and configured to provide and direct an airflow through at least one conduit towards the railway track by applying the sensor information to determine an airflow required to clear the extent of the railway track;
• an autonomous control system for controlling a propulsion mechanism of the railway track clearing vehicle to autonomously control the vehicle on the extent of the railway track at a suitable speed according to feedback of the sensor information indicating a state of the unwanted material;
• and
• a sealed mode system for, in response to a clearing operation notification received from a sensor indicates a high level of wind-blown particles in the air, activating a sealed mode of operation of the vehicle by battery power only with no ingress of air.