The challenge of analysis, survey and conservation of historical sites for service robotics

Nowadays, architectonic survey and conservation of historical sites is getting more and more attention from the media. Many sites such as Pompei seem to require significant efforts for properly achieving their preservation. A possible aid for addressing the above mentioned issues may come from service robotics. However, the design of a service robot includes a very wide range of possibilities and characteristics, also according to its specific application tasks. Thus, this paper pays significant attention in defining a proper operation scenario in order to fulfill tasks of architectonic survey and conservation of historical sites. The proposed scenario has been defined as based on common conditions in historical sites. In particular, for a general case, it has been considered the need of operating over delicate surfaces and in presence of obstacles. Authors propose a possible design solution of a service robot for analysis, survey and conservation of historical sites, based on the characteristics of the outlined scenario. A preliminary built prototype is also herewith described