Documentation and conservation of built heritage by using robot

In this work a study of feasibility is illustrated to design and build a mobile robot for inspection and analysis of historical sites of architectonic interest. In particular, the join work between laboratories DART and LARM in Cassino can give the possibility to share knowledge and develop new robotic systems, which are able to inspect and analyze historical sites. This novel application for robotic systems can be considered of great interest because nowadays the need of more and more accurate and efficient survey activity requires enhancement and even development of procedures with more reliable, innovative, and advanced characteristics. Within this expectation robots and robotic systems seem to be suitable solutions even with the purposes of: operating in environments that cannot be reached by human operators. The above-mentioned considerations and concepts can be applied to a specific case of study in order to verify the feasibility of using a proposed robot in a survey activity of a historical pavement, and testing its operation for this novel application . The herein proposed case of study refers to the medieval pavement of Montecassino Basilica, that today is located beneath the pavement of the current Basilica and cannot be reached by human operators. The study of feasibility concerns with the analysis and simulation of a robotic system that can be used for operating in historical sites. Basic features of such mobile robots, either legged or wheeled, are well known, but specific requirements should be considered for the proposed applications in archaeological/architectural sites, which can be considered as a novelty in the field of Robotics. Basic features of the proposed robotic system can be summarized as follows: the robot should be able to move inside the archaeological site by carrying sensors such as a camera and a CCD camera and by avoiding damage of the surface and other parts of the site. Successively, one can use even laser systems and thermographic sensors to obtain more precise information about the pavement. In Cassino preliminary design considerations have been developed and a suitable simulation has been carried out in order to test a designed robotic system acting on a simulated pavement, for several operating conditions. The simulation process is of basic importance, since it is not possible to test in advance the robot on site and there are not precise information about the preservation of pavement under-study. A simulation has been carried out on 3D reconstruction of the ancient pavement with different conditions and it has been also useful to test the operation of the design of a robotic system with hexapod structure . At this moment, the research in Cassino is in a final phase concerning with the design and construction of a robot prototype. However, a continuous review of the design work is undergoing by LARM and DART laboratories. In fact, this activity is directed to formulate a general problem in which the design of a suitable low-cost easy-operation robotic system is properly defined also for not expert users in the field of robotics. The prototype activity is performed with the aim to design a specific test-bed through which verifies the identified design requirements and feasible solutions even for the operation of the system.