Roller search unit having integrated digital circuitry for detecting rail defects

A roller search unit having integrated digital circuitry for detecting rail defects, comprising:

• a wheel rotatably coupled to an axle;
• a tire having a circumferential surface configured to travel along a surface of a rail mounted to the wheel;
• and
• a compact, self-contained flaw detection assembly positioned within the tire, the flaw detection assembly comprising:
• an ultrasonic transducer array;
• analog-to-digital converter circuitry operable to convert analog signals from the ultrasonic transducer array to digital signals;
• digital processing circuitry operable to analyze the digital signals to detect flaws in the rail;
• and
• communication circuitry configured to transmit flaw data to a remote system via a digital communication protocol.

A roller search unit having integrated digital circuitry for detecting rail defects, comprising:

• a wheel rotatably coupled to an axle;
• a tire having a circumferential surface configured to travel along a surface of a rail mounted to the wheel;
• and
• a flaw detection module positioned within a housing located entirely within the tire, the flaw detection module comprising:
• a plurality of printed circuit boards arranged in a stacked configuration;
• analog-to-digital conversion circuitry operable to digitize analog signals from an ultrasonic transducer array attached to the housing;
• digital flaw detection logic operable to identify defects in the rail base on the digitized signals;
• and
• communication circuitry configured to transmit digital defect data directly from the flaw detection module.