OREANDA-NEWS. For the upcoming exhibition of the Shroud of Turin from April 19 to June 24 at the Cathedral of Turin, Comau – a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles company – has designed a platform for raising and rotating the conservation case containing the Holy Shroud and donated it to the organizing committee.

On all previous occasions, the Shroud had to be moved by hand, an extremely difficult task given the size of the case and fragility of its content.

With 40 years of experience in the field of industrial automation, Comau is recognized worldwide as a leader in the design and production of highly-advanced automated solutions for numerous industry sectors.

The platform developed by the Comau design team based in Grugliasco, Italy, enables movement of the frame on which the linen shroud is stretched from the conservation case, in which it is normally stored, to the exhibition case above the Cathedral’s High Altar (a distance of around 10 meters).

The platform consists of a double pantograph with a mount specially designed to hold the frame on which the Shroud is stretched (4.5 meters long and 1.2 meters wide). The system operates on electricity.

The Comau device can also rotate the Shroud horizontally while it is being moved from storage to the exhibition case (nearly three meters above the ground), which enables easier transfer from the mount to the exhibition case.

Finally, with four 360-degree rotating wheels, the platform can be easily moved around within the confined space of the cathedral.

Following the exhibition, the platform will be used again to return the Shroud to the conservation case.