A familiar four-legged friend is keeping watch on Pompeii's ruins with dogged determination. A canine robot dubbed Spot, built by the robotics company Boston Dynamics, has been deployed among the terracotta ruins, which were buried under ash after Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. The dexterous creature, recognized worldwide for its inexplicably freaky movements, will collect terrain data with the help of a laser-scanning drone and will also deter tomb robbers by sniffing out illicit underground tunnels. Spot is just one of a series of technologies introduced by park authorities as part of Smart@POMPEI, an initiative that aims to make the site a "Smart Archaeological Park." Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, noted that until now, robots had not found application in archaeological sites "due to the heterogeneity of environmental conditions and the size of the site."

SPOT by boston dynamics 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. 'these smart platforms for data analysis, such as that created by sprint reply, form the necessary basis for making data acquired during such robot inspections usable and accessible for applications at the archaeological park of pompeii.' 'often the safety conditions within the tunnels dug by grave robbers are extremely precarious, as a consequence of which the use of a robot could signify a breakthrough that would allow us to proceed with greater speed and in total safety,' declares director general gabriel zuchtriegel.

A four-legged robot called Spot has been deployed to wander around the ruins of ancient Pompeii, identifying structural and safety issues while delving underground to inspect tunnels dug by relic thieves. The dog-like robot is the latest in a series of technologies used as part of a broader project to better manage the archaeological park since 2013, when Unesco threatened to add Pompeii to a list of world heritage sites in peril unless Italian authorities improved its preservation. Spot, made by the US-based Boston Dynamics, is capable of inspecting even the smallest of spaces while "gathering and recording data useful for the study and planning of interventions", park authorities said. The aim, they added, is to "improve both the quality of monitoring of the existing areas, and to further our knowledge of the state of progress of the works in areas undergoing recovery or restoration, and thereby to manage the safety of the site, as well as that of workers." Until Spot came along, no technology of its kind had been developed for archaeological sites, according to Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of Pompeii archaeological park. Park authorities have also experimented with a flying laser scanner capable of conducting 3D scans across the 66-hectare (163-acre) site.

A four-legged robot called Spot has been deployed to wander around the ruins of ancient Pompeii, identifying structural and safety issues while delving underground to inspect tunnels dug by relic thieves. The dog-like robot is the latest in a series of technologies used as part of a broader project to better manage the archaeological park since 2013, when Unesco threatened to add Pompeii to a list of world heritage sites in peril unless Italian authorities improved its preservation. Spot, made by the US-based Boston Dynamics, is capable of inspecting even the smallest of spaces while "gathering and recording data useful for the study and planning of interventions", park authorities said. The aim, they added, is to "improve both the quality of monitoring of the existing areas, and to further our knowledge of the state of progress of the works in areas undergoing recovery or restoration, and thereby to manage the safety of the site, as well as that of workers." Until Spot came along, no technology of its kind had been developed for archaeological sites, according to Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of Pompeii archaeological park. Park authorities have also experimented with a flying laser scanner capable of conducting 3D scans across the 66-hectare (163-acre) site.

In a few horrible hours, Pompeii was turned from a vibrant city into an ash-embalmed wasteland, smothered by a furious volcanic eruption in A.D. 79. Then in this century, the excavated Roman city appeared alarmingly close to a second death, assailed by decades of neglect, mismanagement and scant systematic maintenance of the heavily visited ruins. The 2010 collapse of a hall where gladiators trained nearly cost Pompeii its coveted UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. But these days, Pompeii is experiencing the makings of a rebirth. Excavations undertaken as part of engineering stabilization strategies to prevent new collapses are yielding a raft of revelations about the everyday lives of Pompeii's residents, as the lens of social class analysis is increasingly applied to new discoveries.