Energy for Writing and Hacking
30 Aug 2025 - Richard Horridge
It has been a long time since I have posted an update - apologies!
I am now getting towards the end of my Ph.D studies at the University of Birmingham. Ph.D work takes a lot of energy which could otherwise be put towards writing blog posts and I am keen to get back to publishing more content by the time I finish. My deadline is December 2026, unless I go over – which has happened several times already!
Between work and study my energy for writing and hacking in my spare time has been quite low. I've got a lot of projects I'd like to do but my work and Ph.D study have to be a priority. Fortunately, I am still enjoying the work that I'm doing!
For now, here are a couple of things I have published recently from my Ph.D work.
Real-Time Train Positioning for Safety, Performance and Monitoring on the University of Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education blog. I talk about three case studies in understanding where trains are located in the UK and introduce five different ways of reporting a train position.
Autonomous alignment of continuous railway track geometry recordings from in-service vehicles in Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit. I introduce a novel method for aligning repeated measurements of railway track condition to monitor for degradation.
I'll try and update the blog more but expect my energy to be focused elsewhere while I finish off my Ph.D research!
