NASA will land its next rover, Perseverance, on the surface of Mars in February 2021, and an engineer from the curiosity pilot team has just opened up about the process.
There is approximately a 22-minute signal delay between Earth and Mars, which means that piloting the ship on unknown terrain requires unique planning. Evan Hilgemann, a NASA engineer who was selected to serve on the team of engineers who drove the Curiosity rover, recently wrote a Medium post about what the experience was like.
His purpose in writing the post was not only to share his unique story, but also to give everyone who pursues Perserverence leadership on the red planet a little background on what is happening behind the scenes.
The first thing Hilgemann notes about driving the rover is that “Curiosity receives information from Earth only once a day and is alone the rest of the time. “So how does his team drive the rover itself if it only receives information once a day?
Piloting the rover
For starters, rovers are covered with 3D cameras that allow an accurate picture of the entire environment. With the sensors on board, the rover is able to perform a lot of tasks autonomously, such as lifting and scanning rocks with the on-board laser or driving around pre-planned models. However, the robot sometimes crashes, and when this happens, it is generally held tight until it receives more instructions from the green planet.
The person who takes over as a rover driver at some point has the responsibility to keep him safe. Successfully achieving this goal means being able to see where you are going. The team of engineers is able to develop a virtual image of the rover’s surroundings using navcams and hazcams. Hazcams are on-board cameras that detect nearby hazards, such as cliffs or edges, and naval cameras focus on the environment to distance themselves from the location.
As for sending the rover’s instructions once the engineers have a clear picture, the team has a few options. They can send information in blind driving mode. Hilgemann notes that “blind leadership is the simplest form of navigation available. In this way, the rover will follow the specific instructions given, but will not make any adjustments based on actual progress. “
Another method is “Visual Odometry,” which Hilgemann notes is the most common method used. This method essentially involves the rover taking pictures at regular intervals, about every meter, then comparing the images with previous images to see where it is moving and how the terrain has changed.
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Finally, the highest technology of driving techniques is called “autonav”, in which the rover can only cover “100 feet in an hour. “This mode is similar to a vehicle in vehicles. Using on-board and on-board naval cameras, the rover can develop an image of its surroundings and draw safe routes autonomously. Below, with different colors indicating a safe terrain ( green) or dangerous (red).
The next steps of perseverance
Assuming everything goes according to plan for Perseverance in February, the rover will begin to be piloted by its crew using one of the three methods described by Hilgemann. However, there is a significant risk that the rover will not reach the surface. The descent and landing phase of the drone is by far the greatest opportunity for catastrophic mission failure.
One note that Hilgemann adds about the new rover is that it is a kind of speed demon compared to Curiosity. He adds, “The new rover will generally be able to drive at least twice as fast as Curiosity due to dedicated computing resources and better algorithms. Perseverance’s navigation cameras are also higher in color and resolution.” than Curiosity.
Perseverance will land on Mars on February 18, 2021.