Robotized inspection and health monitoring in the Gran Sasso National Laboratory

The Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) is the largest underground research center in the world devoted to neutrino and astroparticle physics. It is located in galleries below about 1400 meters of rock mass. In this environment, inspection and monitoring actions are challenging for the maintenance and the safety of the infrastructures and they require a combined use of different strategies. The paper address issues related to the structural safety of the whole environment by proposing solutions for inspection and monitoring of different areas and elements, such as the gallery vaults, the structures of the experimental prototypes, the plants and the machinery. A generic framework is discussed to evidence the features of each specific solution and the interaction between different systems. Tunnel structural healthy is the most difficult to evaluate because the vaults are coated by not removable panels which waterproof and insulate the environment. Therefore, specific solutions are proposed for the inspection and monitoring of the vaults which are visible only in the interspace realized from such cladding panels. In this respect, different methodologies based on the use of robotic systems are presented and discussed in order to implement a suitable inspection and monitoring program. The complementary requirements to perform a mechatronic survey are defined also as basis of ongoing activities currently performed in LNGS.