Tomb-bot to Scope Out Pyramid Secrets

The new tomb raider just arrived.

This may not be as sexy as femme fatale Lara Croft but it may do the job just fine. Called the Djedi Project, this 21st-century tomb raider from the Leeds University robotics team will traverse the two unexplored shafts branching from the Queen’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Named after the magician whom the King Khufu consulted when planning his pyramid, the Djedi is a follow-up of an earlier robotic mission.

The Pyramid of Khufu has two rooms at its center called the King’s Chamber and Queen’s Chamber. Both rooms have two shafts leading out of each room. The ones in the King’s Chamber rise at a 45-degree angle towards the sky and terminate outside of the pyramid. The shafts in the Queen’s Chamber end with a limestone door with copper handles (discovered by Djedi's predecessor, pictured above). A 2002 expedition has drilled through this door but another door 8 inches away was found.

Robert Richardson, of the Leeds University School of Mechanical Engineering, says the team hopes to send the robot through the door by year’s end. They also aim to continue the expedition until they reach the end of the shafts.

Via Popular Science