New technology to help protect historic sites unveiled at York Minster

Historic England and York Minster are showcasing cutting-edge tech for heritage sites post-disaster.

Following the 1984 fire at York Minster, innovations like robot dogs and flying drones could now lead a response.

These machines, remotely piloted, allow for safer, more efficient disaster assessments.

A mobile robot made by Boston Dynamics, Spot can enter spaces without risking human lives, all the time feeding back detailed information on his surroundings to his pilot.

Spot can handle rough terrain and stairs and can even re-balance if knocked over, all of which would be skills needed if responding to a disaster on the scale of the 1984 fire.

The Historic England team also use a laser scanner mounted on the robot dog's back, which scans millions of points and could be used to show the state of the building in detail without the need for humans to set foot inside.

Laura Cotter is from the York Minster Fund and said;

"During a visit to Notre Dame in 2019, only 9 weeks after the fire, I saw robots being utilised to move debris from beneath the fallen tower. The anniversary of the 1984 York Minster fire highlighted to me the lengths people went to rescue the Minster's fabric and contents without robotic assistance.

"I considered what innovations in technology could be utilised today to capture vital data, in unpredictable and hazardous conditions, to inform repair priorities and approaches.

"The 1984 fire caused the rose window to shatter into 40,000 pieces and took four years to access and repair. Without extensive scaffolding, we still do not have the ability to access the rose window to monitor how the repairs are performing.

"It is incredibly difficult to reach this area, even with modern drone technology, without putting the Minster's precious medieval glass at risk of collision. Technology will continue to advance, and it will change the way heritage buildings are monitored and maintained around the world."

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