Spot robot dog, developed by the US-based Boston Dynamics, is building an impressive career. The energetic quadruped has become a curious sight on construction jobs and inspection missions over the last couple of years. Recently the robot dog has joined the New York Firefighting Department to remotely gather vital information during emergency events, enabling firefighters to respond safely and effectively.
And now, it is gearing up for monitoring operations at the Pompeii archaeological park, Italy, in a bid to protect the site. The robot will patrol the ancient Italian city’s streets, and tunnels at nighttime or whenever the site is closed to tourists, providing a live feed for human officials situated off-site.
The Spot robot will use its advanced cameras and sensors to provide a feed of hard-to-reach Pompeii structures. It will help monitor buildings, keep an eye out for illegal relic hunters, and provide live data to off-site human officials. Besides, it will also inspect the areas that are hard to reach and too dangerous for humans. This will help gather and record data useful for planning interventions to fix safety and structural issues.
The four-legged robot was first introduced in 2016 but was under development for years before being released in June 2020 for a whopping $75,000. It can operate on different types of terrain with agility and autonomy, allowing the automation of routine inspection activities and the collection of data in a safe manner. Sporting cutting-edge equipment, this robot dog can map out the surroundings, avoid obstacles, climb stairs, detect dangerous substances, and it’s equally efficient indoors or outdoors, during daytime or at night. All these capabilities make the robot an appropriate choice for inspecting the ancient Italian city’s streets and tunnels.
The Pompeii archaeological park representatives want to test the use of these robots in the underground tunnels that were made by illegal excavators and which we are uncovering in the area around Pompeii.
