Drones from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering continue to map historical monuments - News service

Publication date:

2017/11/25

In recent months, the Multi-robotic systems group of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, led by Dr. Martin Saska, has focused on sensing the interiors of historical objects with drones. The most interesting objects that are already documented include the Grotta in the Polish Gorzanowě, or the church in Libavé, which was marked by influence of Soviet army. Last year, the experts succeeded in using the drones formation to successfully document the Church of St. Mikuláš on Old Town square in Prague. This activity was followed by the mapping of other monuments.

In high-pitched places such as dome churches, the team of Dr. Saska uses a unique technique based on the mutual stabilization of autonomous helicopter formations, where one of the helicopters carries a camera and the other helicopters carry a light source illuminating the scene at a predetermined angle. Namely this task is being explored by the Multi-Robot Systems Group. Thanks to helicopters that were able to get to the difficult places of the historic building, photos and sensory data were obtained to help conservationists at the University of Pardubice Faculty of Restoration to create a detailed plan of restoration work in the building.

The most interesting discovery brought a bird view from helicopters flying in close proximity to the walls of the object dome. The acquired data helped fully reveal the mosaic in a heavily damaged floor, which was only speculated. So far, only some of the details of the mosaic could be studied, but only a complex shot from above showed that the mosaics originally covered the entire floor area. Preserved artefacts of similarly significant mosaic floors of grotta are probably unique in Central and eastern Europe. But only the subsequent study of the acquired data in the historical context of the depicted motives will reveal the true significance of this discovery.

Uniqueness in the deployed technology of unmanned helicopters consist in the possibility to fly even in very narrow high areas of the building. In addition, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering acquired sensory data that will allow them to fly completely autonomously and more accurately inside the building. This approach, unique worldwide, is planned to be tested in the spring of next year, when they have to return with the team of historians into the grotta in Poland.

V prostorách kostela v Libavé dokumentovali vědci rozsáhle poškození interiéru, které vzniklo během desítek let, ve kterých byl kostel součástí vojenského újezdu. Na stavu objektu se podepsali jak sovětští vojáci, kteří si v kostele, toho času přeměněném na vězení, odpykávali svůj trest. Podle svědectví místních někteří i čekali na popravu. A mnohem dříve čeští vojáci kostel využívali jako cvičnou střelnici. Získané podklady mohou památkářům pomoci se rozhodnout, zda ruské nápisy na zdech a stopy po kulkách zůstanou i po rekonstrukci součástí historického odkazu kostela anebo budou odstraněny a kostel se vrátí do původního stavu

The audiovisual documentation taken during the previous use of the helicopter group to map the interiors of historical objects can be found here.