Relocating Ramses II with LabVIEWand PXI
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The Challenge
Moving a priceless, 83-ton statue of Ramses II 35 km without subjecting it to unnecessary damage.
The Solution
Developing a highly sensitive vibration monitoring system using NI LabVIEW software and PXI to indicate when the statue was in danger of being damaged.
To protect the Ramses II statue from air pollution and subway vibrations, it was relocated to the future site of the Egyptian Museum, scheduled to open in 2011.
Using a National Instruments PXI measurement system to move a statue of Ramses II in Cairo, the Ain Shams University Sound and Vibration Lab collected data from accelerometers during three phases – preparation, replica transportation, and final transportation. We chose PXI for its high channel count and the versatility of LabVIEW programming to help protect the statue during the move. The system was programmed to sound a warning siren if the reported acceleration exceeded the desired level at any stage.
During the transportation of both the replica and the original statue, we installed a PXI system on the forward crossbeam of the cage surrounding the statue and placed a generator at the backward crossbeam to provide electric power to the system. We monitored the vibration levels during the trip using a wireless LAN and a GSM modem connecting the system to the Internet.
This relocation process was considered a large engineering achievement. The flexibility of the LabVIEW programming environment and the ruggedness of the PXI system provided an ideal solution for the safe transportation of the statue.
– Tamer Elnady
Ain Shams University Sound and Vibration Lab
Read the full-length case study.
This article first appeared in the Q2 2008 issue of Instrumentation Newsletter.
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