Everything was well organized by the technical Sommerbergbahn operations manager Rafael Lopez.
“That’s insane, what they’re bringing up there!” said Günter Voigt from Freiburg.
Hans Schabert / Bad Wildbad
Not in Oberstdorf or Berchtesgaden, but rather just a year and a half after the first meeting, over 40 professionals gathered for the “Ropeway Seminar” of the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) once again in Bad Wildbad at the Forum König-Karls-Bad (FKKB). The spa town was once again the venue for guests who traveled from Switzerland and Austria. This is likely due to the fact that the technical operations manager of the Sommerbergbahn, Rafael Lopez, is well-known and well-connected in the industry. Some know him as the chairman of the examination committee for mountain railway professionals at the IHK Dresden, where, according to the homepage, they “demonstrate their competence in practical application, including legal and business aspects.” Others know the expert as a member of the DIN standardization committee in the specialized field.
When speaking with Lopez, who is based on the Wildbader mountain, about his area of responsibility, it’s clear that he works for “his” Sommerbergbahn with heart and soul, as well as a lot of expertise. When such a seminar takes place, he is the key figure for the organization. He gratefully notes that his six employees support him in this, and not only them: his wife Katharina and daughter Mailin also volunteered to help, and as a token of appreciation, they were presented with a bouquet of flowers under the applause of the guests and in the presence of Deputy Mayor Jochen-Thilo Reinhardt. Reinhardt opened the event and welcomed the seminar participants as well as twelve industry specialist companies on behalf of the city.
In a greeting, Government Director Clemens Fischer emphasized for the supervisory authority, based at the State Mining Directorate of the Freiburg Regional Council: “Ropeways are something very important for us in the state.” On the one hand, they serve tourism, and on the other hand, they are also an addition to public transportation. There are already fully automated ropeways, and AI (artificial intelligence) is in use. However, the human factor remains crucial to maintain a high level of safety. Therefore, such a seminar as an offering to professionals is to be welcomed. Nearly 20 short presentations covered a wide range of topics, from inspection types and intervals for various technical systems to digitalization in ropeway technology, camera surveillance, rope inspection, and fire protection.
For several participant groups, Bosch Security Systems GmbH demonstrated a fire detection system on the Sommerberg based on algorithms. An algorithm is an effective and fast method that uses AI to solve tasks based on a specific pattern. Whether day or night, a fire with flickering flames or smoke is detected by a special video camera and triggers an alarm. This can be through the fire department, a local fire alarm system, or the Bosch control center, with additional alerts sent to mobile phones along with video footage. A small test fire on the Sommerberg was detected by the system within a few seconds.
Three such special video cameras for fire detection covered the area of the Sommerbergbahn during the demonstration. “They will stay,” says Rafael Lopez, pleased, as they cost nothing and would be worth a five-figure amount if purchased.
The developer, still looking for pilot customers, also aims to make other hazardous situations detectable early, emphasizes Robert Radeike from Bosch Product Management Safety in Bad Liebenzell-Monakam. With gas analysis-oriented detectors – depending on the situation, covering an area from one hectare to a square kilometer – forest fires can be detected in their early stages. The notification follows similar analysis and alarm pathways as the camera system. As with this system, drones with ranges of 30 to 250 kilometers and speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour can complement the reconnaissance with highly sensitive cameras and help the fire department locate the fire source even before departure.
Günter Voigt, a colleague of Lopez from the Freiburg Schauinslandbahn, was certainly even more convinced by the end of the seminar of what he had already observed at the beginning based on the exhibition of specialist companies and the program: “That’s insane, what they’re bringing up there!”
