This year, Professor Yu.A. Budagov and Candidate of Physics and Technics M.V. Lyablin received a patent for an interesting and promising invention – “Device for measuring the angle of inclination”.

Such devices are called inclinometers (from Lat. Incline – tilt), they are used in almost all technical fields – from mining, architecture, transportation routes to determination of the angle of inclination of the vehicle body when installing alarm systems.

The idea of creating this instrument originated during high-precision development of the ATLAS hadron calorimeter. And the invention was a perfect illustration of how methods and devices that help creators of large construction, space and research facilities appear in the process of preparation for fundamental research of the structure of matter.In the report for the Russian Academy of Sciences there is a brief description of characteristics of the device: “The invention relates to the field of technical physics and can be used for attitude stabilization on the ground of large facilities for scientific or industrial equipment… The sensitivity of the inclinometer in the frequency range of 0.3^-1 Hz estimated 5×10^-9 rad”. However, this formulation may not express either excitement of technical creativity or satisfaction from the achieved results, not to mention the attractive prospects of using the device and the associated savings in resources and ergonomics.

M.V. Lyablin and Yu.A. Budagov

Galina Myalkovskaya (JINR weekly newspaper “Dubna: science, community, progress”)