Inflatable robot to explore the ‘secret chamber’ of the Great Pyramid

A mysterious ‘void’ discovered inside the Great Pyramid is to be explored after 4,500 years – not by humans, but by an inflatable robot.

The robot can be pushed into empty spaces via a 1.4-inch ‘keyhole’ drilled into the wall, then inflated into a blimp-like drone.

The blimp is perfect for exploring inaccessible spaces – like the 100ft ‘void’ discovered inside the Great Pyramid of GIza in scans earlier this year.

MOST POPULAR ON YAHOO UK TODAY

‘Miracle dog’ survives after jumping off 30ft bridge in Glasgow into rocky riverbed
Tourist group slammed after building makeshift cooking stove from Great Wall of China bricks
Russia is planning to expand its nuclear arsenal to 8,000 bricks
Volunteers patrol London parks after six swans are found ‘stabbed and beheaded’
Britain’s favourite Quality Street and Roses have been revealed ahead of Christmas

Scientists using an imaging method based on cosmic rays detected a large and enigmatic internal structure in the Great Pyramid in November.

To peer inside the pyramid, the scientists used an imaging technique called muon tomography that tracks particles that bombard Earth at close to the speed of light and penetrate deeply into solid objects.

The robot is being designed by ScanPyramids, with engineers from Cairo University – and aims to allow exploration with as little damage to the building as possible.

‘The main challenge is to insert a complete exploration robot in a hole that is as small as possible.’ lead researcher Dr Jean-Baptiste Mouret told Digital Trends.

‘It is important to use a hole as small as possible because we want to leave as few traces as we can. This what we call ‘minimally invasive robotics’.’