Machines With Vision set to take part in Rail Live 2022
Machines With Vision are getting ready to take part in this week’s Rail Live, a key event in the industry calendar attended by delegates from across the rail sector at the Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre in Warwickshire.
Ahead of the event, we sat down with Anthony Ashbrook, Co-Founder and CEO, to find out what he is excited about seeing at this year’s event and why attending events such as Rail Live plays a critical role in Machines With Vision’s growth journey, this year and beyond:
What are you most looking forward to seeing at this year’s Rail Live?
We are really looking forward to meeting up in person with the colleagues we have been working with, often remotely, over the last year or so. We are also excited to witness the industry’s reaction to the work that we have created from our collaboration with Network Rail, on their ‘Visual Inspection Unit’ (VIU) project.
What insights from Machines With Vision do think will pique delegates’ interest, either within the event or on the panel?
On the VIU train demonstration, we anticipate that it will be primarily about what is coming, built on our map of track features that is enabling us to develop an industry changing handheld workers app.
At Machines With Vision, we are centred on taking our knowledge and technological experience from other sectors such as robotics and applying it to the rail sector to unlock new capabilities, which we think will spark interesting discussions.
We are also proud to play a key role in how non-railway technology companies can and are collaborating with the best people in rail, to deliver innovative solutions that were not previously possible.
What are you most forward to about the panel discussion with key industry players such as Network Rail, Angel Trains, DG8 and Porterbook?
We are excited to have the opportunity to talk about the challenges that technology companies face getting into the rail industry, and how by engaging and collaborating with the right people you can get over some of these barriers and create a step change for the industry to do more, going forward.
Presenting an example of how this can happen, as let’s not pretend that this can resolve all problems, is key and essential to showing how by working more closely together better integration can happen, creating the perfect groundwork for new ideas and innovation to flourish.
What do you hope to get out of taking part in Rail Live?
We are hoping to build new relationships with relevant people in the industry and receive critical feedback on our product roadmap, particularly the handheld workers app that we are developing. It will also be a great chance to meet up face-to-face with the people we have been working remotely with over the last couple of years.
How integral is innovation to the rail sector?
Innovation is crucial - the rail industry has many opportunities and challenges that they face day in and day out, and innovation is the key to resolving these issues and unlocking new possibilities.
How important is industry collaboration to Machines With Vision?
I would say collaboration is critical. We do not have the rail know how, but equally the rail sector does not have the in-depth technological knowledge that we have, so collaboration is clearly fundamental to meeting our goals.
You can find the Machines With Vision team on the Network Rail VIU train tour and hear more of Anthony’s thoughts on how technology and collaboration can transform the rail sector, over on the “Raising the game for industry collaboration” panel alongside Network Rail, DG8, Porterbrook, and Angel Trains on day two of the event from 14:45 – 15:30 in the seminar area of Rail Live.
If you would be interested in meeting with Anthony or a member of the Machines With Vision team at Rail Live, get in touch with us via our LinkedIn or contact page.
