NASA will reach its next rover, Perseverance, on the surface of Mars in February 2021, and an engineer on the Rover Curiosity pilot team opened up just about what the process is like.
Approximately 22-minute signal delay between ground and mars, necessitating a special design to pilot the craft over unknown terrain. Evan Hilgemann, a NASA engineer who was selected to be a member of a team of engineers who piloted the Curiosity rover, recently wrote a Middle Post opening out what the experience was like.
His goal in writing the post was not just to share his unique story, but also to provide some background to everyone who watched Perserverence all over the world. a red planet on what goes on behind the scenes.
The first thing Hilgemann notes about piloting the rover is that “Curiosity only receives information from the Earth once a day and he is alone the rest of the time. ”So how will his team even pilot the rover if it only receives information once a day?
Piloting the rover
For starters, the rovers are encased in 3D cameras that allow a true picture of what’s around them. With the sensors on board, the rover will be able to perform many tasks independently, such as picking up and scanning rocks with the laser on board or driving around in pre-patterned patterns. planned. However, the robot sometimes gets stopped and when that happens, it usually stays tight until it gets more guidance from the green planet.
It is the responsibility of the person driving the rover driver at any given time to keep the rover safe. Successfully achieving this goal means being able to see where you are going. The team of engineers will be able to develop a realistic image of the rover’s environment using navcams and hazcams. The hazcams are on-board cameras that can see nearby hazards, such as rocks or slabs, and the navcams focus on more distant locations for area plotting.
In terms of steering the rover once the engineers get a clear picture, the team has a few options. They can send information in blind drive mode. Hilgemann notes that “blind driving the simplest method of navigation available. In this mode, the rover will follow the specific instructions given to it but will not make any changes based on the actual progress. “
Another method is “Visual Odometry”, which Hilgemann notes is the most commonly used method. This method essentially involves the rover taking pictures at regular intervals, around every meter, then comparing the images to previous photos to see where it is. moved and how the earth has changed.
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Finally, the best high-tech in terms of driving techniques is called “autonav,” in which the rover can only cover about “100 feet in an hour. “This mode is similar to self-driving in vehicles. Using its onboard shoulders and navcams, the rover can develop an image of its surroundings and automatically map safe maps. The image complex that the developing rover looks similar to the image below, with the different colors showing safe (green) or dangerous (red) terrain.
The next steps of perseverance
Assuming everything goes according to plan for perseverance in February, the rover will begin to be piloted by his team using one of the three methods described by Hilgemann. However, there is a high risk that the rover will not reach the surface. The drone’s descent and landing stage is the greatest chance for a catastrophic mission failure.
One note Hilgemann adds about the new rover is that it’s kind of a fast demon compared to Curiosity. He said, “The new rover will typically be able to drive at least twice as fast as Curiosity thanks to new specialized computing facilities and improved algorithms. Perseverance navigation cameras are also in higher color and resolution, “Curiosity.
Persistence on Mars is expected to take place on 18 February 2021.