The ruins of Pompeii recently have a new guard. Guard dog, but not ordinary, but entirely mechanical. The four-legged Spot robot is the latest high-tech introduction to the archeological park, which attracts millions of tourists to the ruins of a time-honored Roman city.
The robot dog can penetrate narrow and hard-to-reach places, as well as move in different terrains, and its main task is to gather information for future research of the park.
It can also check the condition of restored elements, as well as warn of possible safety problems, thus protecting archaeologists and workers working in Pompeii.
A spot can also detect underground tunnels that treasure hunters have been digging under Pompeii for years. Through these tunnels, they managed to remove valuable artifacts from the ruins, and then sold them on the black market for antiques. The tunnels themselves are often very unstable and dangerous and the use of a robot in them will allow them to be detected, studied and blocked faster.
The Spot Robot is part of a larger project to use modern technology from the park, called Smart @ POMPEI. Another “member” of the high-tech team is a flying laser scanner that performs a three-dimensional scan of the object.
