Dr. Dubowsky's project will have applications for other historical structures as well. Robots could reduce the time, expense and physical risk of working around historic sites, and they could also overcome drawbacks of some current methods that can result in unavoidable damage or deterioration. For example, to support human activities on large monuments, scaffolding anchors must be drilled into the monument itself. The technology we're working on is very broad. Other possible applications, he added, include inspecting and working in areas too dangerous or inaccessible for people, such as toxic-waste sites, gas line interiors and bridge superstructures, or exploring other planets or Egyptian tombs.
Diagonal riders divide the sub-ballast area into sections, making inspection even more difficult.
A small autonomous robot with legs to climb over the riders could do the job when the ship was afloat, recording conditions with an on-board video camera and sensors. Viewed from the side, the bottom of the Constitution is almost a straight line between the rudder and the start of the rise to the bow. Due to the stresses of water and supporting the ship's 2,200 tons, however, the keel eventually warps and sags at the ends, which necessitates repairs. This problem was exacerbated by the removal of some supporting beams in the 1800s. The sensors would be attached to seven carefully selected spots on the keel to measure water pressure, which is a function of the distance to the surface of the water.