Using tele-engineering as a tool to reverse engineer the Inka Road

Abstract

Supported by a National Science Foundation, Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute (PASI) grant, two expeditions of multi-disciplinary researchers were made to the Andes Mountains of Perú and to the city of Cusco to reverse engineer the Inka Road. The objective was to identify sustainable engineering practices that apply to modern practice. Travel to the Inka Road in the highlands of South America is difficult; thereby creating a challenge for bringing together students, technical experts, and other interested parties for real-time information sharing and collaborative research. In order to meet this challenge, the research teams joined forces with the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of the American Indian and streamed live interactive broadcasts from the cordillera of Perú to audiences in Washington D.C. Pioneering the use of satellite-based audio and video communication equipment, the on-location researchers were able to share and explain the physical conditions of the Inka Road with museum visitors and experts in real time. Participants at the Smithsonian were able to ask questions in an interactive, 2-way dialogue with the field teams. On-site researchers were able to inquire of experts, located in different parts of the world, questions regarding possible Inka findings. The broadcasts from the Inka Road provide a proof of concept example of tele-engineering from a very extreme environment. This paper explains the tele-engineering concept and how it was used to help reverse engineer the Inka Road. This approach has applicability in designing and constructing projects in remote locations where subject area specialists may not be locally available, but off-site, engineering experts can contribute to the project using tele-presence. © 2012 ASCE.