Animation Of Newly Uploaded Mars Exploration Driving Capability

MARSDAILY

For the animation please click here Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CMU

by Staff Writers
Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 13, 2007
Until recently, NASA's two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, could figure only one or two steps ahead in planning a path and driving on their own. New software uploaded to the rovers onboard computers now enables them to look ahead and plan a path to a spot 50 meters (164 feet) away, evading obstacles along the way.

With this software, called "Field D-Star" path planner and developed at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, the rovers could find their way out of a maze. Opportunity ran the first test of its smarter autonomous driving capability on the rover's 1,014th sol, or Martian day (Nov. 30, 2006).

This animation uses color codings to depict that drive. Red areas are "keep-out" zones established by human rover drivers to prevent Opportunity from getting too close to the edge of "Victoria Crater." White represents unknown areas. Green represents areas that would be safe to traverse based on stereo images taken by the rover's navigation cameras. The moving purple diamond represents Opportunity itself.

The blue line is the most efficient path to the desired destination. During this particular 10.5-meter (34-foot) drive, Opportunity's new software was still only a backseat driver, watching what happened and making plans but letting the rest of the system handle the driving. The rover still relied on the one-step-ahead system it had been using before getting the new software. Future tests will put the software directly in the driver's seat. So far, tests have been successful.

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MARSDAILY

Success For Thales Space Laser Headed To Mars

Paris, France (SPX) Feb 13, 2007
Thales's space laser programme has achieved a new milestone with the successful completion of shock-resistance tests at over 2,000 g in all three axes. Designed to operate for two years on Mars after a 10-month voyage through space, the Thales laser has already demonstrated impressive performance, including energy delivery of 30 mJ per pulse across a temperature range of -30 to +30oC and the ability to withstand extremely hostile radiation and dust environments.

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