Two last cisterns in Sicily

Today was a fun-filled day. After teaching the excited primary school students a bit about robots, we set off to do some full 3D scans of two cisterns at a quarry in Siracusa.

First cistern

This cistern was remarkable. Ancient Greeks used to use mules and a complex gear and pulley system to extract the water from the wells. The water was then used for irrigation. We parked our equipment in the same shaded area the mules used to work at.

We had a great triumph today -- it's the first time in ICEX history to get two simultaneous sonar scans on a cistern! One for horizontal plane and one for the vertical plane -- which hopefully will allow us to make cool 3D maps of the cisterns.
   

Second cistern
The second cistern was in a cave nearby and was protected by a heavy steel gate.

Here's Erik taking some shots of the thick textured cistern wall with a stereo GoPro camera. He hopes to analyze them and extract some unique features of the cistern wall.


Check out the ROV's orange glow... isn't this just so awe striking?