The special robot helping rebuild Pompeii's treasures

A robot doing an ancient jigsaw puzzle might sound a bit strange, but it's what's happening in Italy.

Ancient frescoes in Pompeii - paintings done on fresh plaster so that they set to the wall - were shattered and buried in volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius exploded in AD 79.

Reassembling the artwork, that now looks more like a jigsaw, can be incredibly slow work. But now, AI-driven, ultra-precise robotic hands are speeding up the process.

To find out more read on.

How does the Pompeii robot work?

The project is being run by Venice's Ca' Foscari University, in Italy.

The researchers who made the robot think the technology could help teams restore artefacts around the world.

So what does this robot look like?

It has two arms that have flexible hands in two different sizes.

Its 'eyes' are vision sensors, which identify, grip and assemble tiny pieces without damaging their delicate surfaces.

While the robotics team designed and built the robot, AI experts were making algorithms to reconstruct the frescoes, matching colours and patterns that human eyes might not be able to see.

Frescos like this were used to decorate homes in ancient Pompeii

Researchers decided to make the robot because the task of piecing frescoes back together is so complex.

Often there are missing pieces and the added complication of trying to assemble a picture you've never seen before!

Marcello Pelillo, the Venice university professor who coordinated the project, compared it to a mix of loads of different jigsaws.

"It's like you buy four or five boxes of jigsaw puzzles. You mix everything together, then you throw away the boxes and try to solve four or five puzzles at the same time".