Meet TIM, the LHC tunnel’s robot

The Train Inspection Monorail (TIM) is equipped with a camera and several measurement technologies to monitor the LHC tunnel in real-time the LHC tunnel (Video: Noemi Caraban/CERN)

The name’s TIM, Robot TIM – meet the spy patrolling the 27-km tunnel of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). TIM, the Train Inspection Monorail, is a mini vehicle transporting a set of instruments along tracks suspended from the tunnel’s ceiling. This smart machine is used for real-time monitoring of the LHC tunnel: the tunnel structure, the oxygen percentage, the communication bandwidth and the temperature.

TIM provides visual and infrared imaging of the LHC tunnel and can move up to 6 km/h. It can also pull small wagons for specific tasks.

Two TIM units are currently running in the LHC tunnel, parked in a service tunnel of one of the LHC experiment, waiting for commands.