From the Stone Age to the Second World War: How robots are used to research historical artifacts


    Djedi robot, who investigated the pyramids in Egypt and Mexico. The

    Oceanographic Institute in Woods Hole (USA) revealed a secret that he had kept for three years. It turns out that the sunken galleon "San Jose", the holy grail of all underwater explorers, was discovered by a robot. The researchers used robosubmarina, capable of sinking more than 6 km. Details of the findings are also revealed: gold and gemstone products found at about $ 17 billion were discovered on board the galleon. The news became a sensation, but we all remember that this is not the first case of participation of robots in major archaeological discoveries.

    300 years underwater: as searched and found "San Jose"


    The prehistory of


    Samuel Scott "The Sea Battle of Cartagena" (1708). The time of the San José explosion is depicted. The

    sixty-cannon galleon went on its last voyage in June 1708. He was carrying a load of jewels from the colonies to the king of Spain: gold, silver and emeralds. At that time, there was a war for the Spanish inheritance, and wars required money, therefore every European country tried to squeeze the maximum out of its colonies. "San Jose" met in the Caribbean enemy fleet (Britain), was attacked and went to the bottom along with precious cargo. It happened near the city of Cartagena (in those times and today - Colombia).

    Research

    For centuries, the ship remained a legend and the most desirable trophy for sea treasure hunters. Thanks to the surviving documents and testimonies, the details of its cargo and the approximate place of flooding were known. But until the end of the twentieth century, the technology did not allow to detect and raise the galleon. And after the situation was complicated by policy issues: the rights to the treasures claimed by Spain, Colombia and private contractors engaged in the search.

    In the 1980s, the search was led by a US company Glocca Mora and its contractor Sea Search Armada; according to them, they found the "last port" of the galleon. But after that, the Colombian government decided to revise the award for the service provider, and this provoked litigation. The coordinates of the sunken ship were classified, and the lifting work did not begin.

    In 2015, a new stage of searches was launched. This time it was attended by experts from the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History, from a specialized vessel of the Navy of Colombia, as well as an international team of marine archaeologists. This time, finding the ship was much faster due to the fact that the robot took part in the search.


    Remus 6000

    Robotic submarine Remus 6000 is immersed under water to a depth of 6440 m. It is equipped with sensors, cameras and the motor, as well as underwater acoustic positioning system and navigation HiPAP. On the surface, the device communicates with the operator via radio or Wi-Fi. The robot can perform autonomous actions at depth or work under the control of the operator.

    The Remus 6000 was developed as part of a joint program involving the Marine Oceanographic Office, the Office of Naval Research and the Wood Hole Institute of Oceanography (WHOI). While searching for the galleon, the robot sailed over the surface of the seabed and took pictures. Among other objects in the photo, scientists discovered cannon barrels with dolphin figures, which were a distinctive feature of the San Jose.

    Who owns the treasures of San José, is still unsolved; also unknown dates of recovery of finds. The coordinates of the galleon are kept secret to prevent its being looted.

    The body of a man who died 2,000 years ago was discovered with the help of an exoscandler


    Background

    In the 1st century BC. near the small island of Antikythera in the Aegean Sea a ship wrecked. He was pedagogically walking from the island of Rhodes and flew onto the rocks. The ship carried a load of luxury goods: ceramic vessels, gold jewelry, statues of marble and bronze. But the main value on its board was the famous Antikythera mechanism . This is the most complex of the ancient mechanisms known today, but its full appearance and purpose have not been finally established.


    The found part of the Anti-Kite mechanism

    The first fragments, bronze gear gears, were found as far back as 1900. Those who sent the mechanism, left and "instructions" - the description on the bronze plate. Of course, time and the sea did not spare the finds, so scientists continue to work on their restoration and translation of the text. Already there are suggestions how the Antikythera mechanism could work, and the computer models of its complete construction; probably his task was to predict lunar and solar eclipses. New findings could confirm or disprove the hypothesis.

    Research

    Searches near Antikitery were conducted in several stages, from 1900 to this day. They participated in including the famous underwater explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. But one of the most significant was the period from 2012 to 2015. It was then that a 3D map of the underwater bottom was drawn up and conclusions were drawn about the size of the ship and the location of the wreckage. In many ways, this was possible thanks to Exosuit, an underwater spacesuit with an exoskeleton, which the researchers used in 2014. It was developed by Nuytco Research Ltd. (North Vancouver, Canada).


    Diver in Exosuit Antikiters

    work at a depth of 50-60 meters. Divers are threatened by caisson disease . But not the exosuit diver : the suit balances the pressure. Therefore, it can dive to a depth of 150 m and stay there for hours. It uses servo drives for movement, since the spacesuit weighs more than 240 kg. It is made of aluminum with 18 connections on the arms and legs; It contains air for 50 hours, and communication with the crew on the surface is made via fiber optic cable. The cost of one servoscafand is about $ 588,000.

    Despite the fact that the 2014 excavation season was short due to inappropriate weather, Exosuit helped archeologists understand an important thing: most of the cargo of the famous ship is still at the bottom, despite the fact that the raised finds already occupied several halls of the museum in Athens. Therefore, the search continued with new enthusiasm, and in the next three years, scientists found several more valuable artifacts: parts of statues, details of the precious throne, spears, fragments of dishes. And, most importantly, the remains of one of the team members. They are well preserved and allowed to isolate human DNA from them. Now scientists have already restored the appearance of a sailor and are preparing material for publication.

    Mechanical "turtle" is ready to explore the depths of the sea


    Prehistory


    In 241 BC in the Egadi Islands near Sicily, a major naval battle took place. Roman fleet Proconsul Guy Lutzia Katul met with the Carthaginian armada of Hannon the Great. 50 Carthaginian ships were sunk, 70 captured; there were losses on the Roman side too. Today, this cemetery of ancient ships is of great interest to archaeologists. Like the second, in the Baltic Sea, where supposedly the remains of dozens of ships are located - from the Viking Age to the fleets of the Second World War.

    Research

    Conducting research with the help of archaeological divers in these places is difficult because of the hostile environment. Also, excavations of this magnitude require substantial funding. To solve the problem, Edgelab is working on guided underwater robots. Compact and inexpensive vehicles can shoot video and photos, build three-dimensional maps.

    Edgelab robots are applied at depth and in shallow water; they can choose a safe path under water and return to the base. Now they are used in marine observatories and for observing marine animals, but Edgelab also collaborates with the archaeological company Thesaurus and the Historical Oceanographic Society.



    The robot discovered a new secret of the pyramids.


    The prehistory of the

    Pyramid of Cheops - the largest of all the Egyptian pyramids, the oldest of the "Seven Wonders of the World" and, moreover, the only one preserved to this day. This burial of the Egyptian pharaoh was built in 2850 - 2680 BC. e., which means the age of the pyramid - about 4,500 years. Despite the fact that the studies of the pyramids were conducted by various travelers and scientists (the first scientific description was made by Herodotus), all the rooms and passages inside these structures are still not open.

    Research

    The pyramid ventilation ducts are too narrow for humans, but they can lead into not yet open passages and chambers. Therefore, the robots explored the tomb of Cheops three times. Under the direction of Zaki Havass, the famous Egyptian archaeologist, they helped to make interesting discoveries.

    The first launch of the robot took place in 1993. A mechanical explorer crawled along a narrow tunnel along the southern wall of the pyramid and into a small room with a stone door in the wall. The door had metal hinges, which became a sensation scientifically - earlier no metal parts were found in the pyramids. However, the door was closed, and Zaki Havassu had to wait another 9 years before the appearance of more advanced mechanisms.


    Pyramid Rover launch

    In 2002, the Pyramid Rover robot, equipped with a drill and a camera, crept to the stone door. When she was drilled, it became clear that behind her was another small room and the second one of the same “door”.
    Finally, in 2009, a robot called Djedi was launched. It was equipped with a camera on a flexible stand, an inclinometer, an ultrasound scanner and a miniature robot beetle capable of penetrating holes of 20x20 mm. Djedi moves on wheels and uses soft pads against which it rests against walls: it is more convenient to move along an inclined shaft. The robot went all the way to the door drilled by its predecessor, and showed how the camera looks behind it: there are red marks on the floor, and metal hinges are visible on the back of the door.


    3D model of the Djedi robot

    It was not possible to penetrate the second “door”, but Djedi scanners showed that there is another room behind it. What is the role of the discovered tunnels and why they are blocked by doors, remains unclear. Among the hypotheses - a duct or a tunnel for the journey of the soul of Pharaoh. Also, the red hieroglyphs on the floor have not yet been deciphered, although scientists have suggested that these are the marks of the builders.



    The Djedi robot was also used in the study of the Mayan pyramids.

    Robot in the role of Pithecanthropus


    Prehistory The



    Stone Age is a very long era in the life of mankind: according to scientists, it lasted about 2.5 million years. Today it is customary to divide it into Paleolithic (“ancient stone age”) and Neolithic (“new stone age”). Whereas from the age of the pyramids to the age of computers, we have passed "only" in 5 thousand years. During these millions of years of years, the ancient people created a huge number of tools from wood, bone, shell, horn and stone, of which we have reached mostly stone. Today we know that flint and limestone slates were used as cutting tools and weapons, and working tools were made from basalt and sandstone. But to establish this, it took the hard work of scientists.

    Research

    Radu Iovita, an archaeologist from the Department of Anthropology at New York University, is exploring stone age artifacts. “The huge problem of my area of ​​archeology is that we only have an approximate understanding of how ancient people used these pieces of stone, which we call“ tools, ”he says.

    In order to disprove or confirm his theory of whether the finds were cut, millstone, or skin scrapers, Radu Iovita looks for microscopic signs of wear on them. And then connects to the case of the robot.

    The compact KUKA LBR iiwa manipulator takes a replica of the find and begins to use it as the ancient people did, according to the hypothesis of scientists. If, after a while, the signs of wear coincide, the hypothesis is deemed correct.



    According to Radu Iovit, when he was a student, he himself had to spend many hours with copies of stone tools in his hands, in order to compare the signs of wear on them with authentic finds. Therefore, starting an independent scientific career, he entered into a collaboration with the Agile & Dexterous Robotics laboratory (Zurich), which provided him with a KUKA robot. In 2016, Iovita published the book Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Stone Age Weapons, in which he describes his methodology and discoveries. He also owns over 15 publications about the tools of labor and weapons of ancient hominids.

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