Miniature airship may find hidden pyramid treasures

A small, intelligent balloon is to explore archaeological treasures without doing any harm.

Archaeologists are facing a difficult dilemma, when they find hidden chambers in pre-historic structures. Should they break through the wall or is it too risky? That was the case, when Egyptian archaeologists recently used a muon detector to find a hidden chamber in the Great Pyramid of Giza. Muons are tiny particles produced, when the atmosphere is struck by space radiation. Rock stops more muons than air, and the scientists used that to scan the pyramid. The scan revealed the existence of one or more unexplored cavities in the ancient Egyptian structure.

French robotics engineers from the Inria and CNRS institutes, who aim to make the exploration easier, are developing a remote- controlled robot, which can search the cavity without causing any other harm than a hole with a 3.8 cm diameter. The robot is pushed through the hole, inflating the miniature airship above it. Supported by helium, the robot will subsequently fly about the cavity to explore it with its instruments such as different sensors, lamps, and cameras. The robot and its equipment cannot weigh any more than 50 g, engineers have calculated.

The flying robot is not limited by obstacles such as steps, ramps, and loose stones. It can record video from many angles, and if it hits something, the helium balloon functions as a soft buffer, protecting both the robot and the prehistoric premises.