Friday, October 3, 2014
Mapping the Antikythera Shipwreck (video)
The latest source of underwater technology used to explore the Greek Antikythera Shipwreck project is the Sirius underwater robot, an autonomous vehicle provided by the Australian Centre for Field Robotics at Sydney University.
The Antikythera Shipwreck, circa 70 B.C., is the most famous ancient wreck ever discovered. Greek sponge divers located it by chance close to Antikythera Island in 1900 and spent a year finding its treasures, along with the Hellenic Navy.
The divers recovered hundred of works of art including bronze and marble statues that now fill galleries at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The wreck also salvaged a mysterious clockwork device known as the Antikythera Mechanism.
No archeological work was done at that time. Now the Greek government and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have launched the Return to Antikythera expedition that started in September and will continue until about October 12.
The Sirius robot has completed several missions over the Antikythera Shipwreck, firstly conducting multi beam sonar runs, and then stereo photogrammetry passes, combining data from 50,000 photos to create a high-resolution 3D map of the area.
Some missions have been over two hours, demonstrating one of the key benefits of using a robot to spare humans the difficult conditions.
To view the Sirius in action: www.youtube.com
For more of the Scientific American story: blogs.scientificamerican.com
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