The “Djedi” Robot Exploration of the Southern Shaft of the Queen's Chamber in the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt

Abstract

There are many unanswered questions regarding the construction and purpose of the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt. A climbing robot called “Djedi” has been designed, constructed, and deployed to explore shafts of the queen's chamber within the Great Pyramid. The Djedi robot is based on the concept of inchworm motion and is capable of carrying a long reach drill or snake camera. The robot successfully climbed the southern shaft of the Great Pyramid, deployed its snake camera, and revealed writing not seen for thousands of years. This paper details the design of the robot, including climbing steps in the shaft and lessons learned from experimental deployment. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.