‘Spot’ The Robot Dog Has Been Employed To Explore The Ruins Of Pompeii
Image via Pompeii Archaeological Park
‘Spot’ the robot dog and its fleet of four-legged mechanical friends of the same name have been hard at work recently. Although the robot by Boston Dynamics is designed to fulfill industrial tasks, man’s best friend has proven to be one of culture’s best friends, most recently creating art to raise funds for the people of Ukraine.
In Italy, Spot is assisting officials in connecting the dots of ill-fated history. The quadruped has been enlisted to patrol the ruins of ancient Pompeii, snooping around hard-to-reach spaces to collect data for the site’s conservation and restoration.
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With the Pompeii Archaeological Park on the brink of joining UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in danger, Spot’s observations will aid authorities in the upkeep of the ruins and boost their understanding in the progress of recovery works. As some of the areas can be dangerous for humans to get to, Spot can monitor them without jeopardizing anyone’s safety.
In addition, Spot can travel underground to inspect tunnels ravaged by raiders.
Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the park’s director, is excited to deploy Spot for archaeological purposes, something that hasn’t really been done in spite of how far robotics have come, Zuchtriegel tells news outlets.
While Spot is on the ground, the site will engage a flying laser scanner to map out points of interest and create 3D scans.
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Welcome to the future. It’s in Pompeii.
[via The Guardian and Forbes, video and images via Pompeii Archaeological Park]
