NASA’s self-driving Mars rover ‘takes the wheel’

The 3D glasses used to propel the Rover: Vandi Verma, an engineer now working with NASA’s Mars rover, serves as the driver of the Curiosity rover. The rover driver still uses the special 3D glasses you wear to easily detect changes in terrain that the rover may need to avoid. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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This ability, along with other enhancements, allows Tenacity to reach a top speed of 393 feet (120 meters) per hour; Its predecessor, Curiosity, was equipped with earlier versions of AutoNav, covering about 66 feet (20 meters) per hour while climbing Mount Sharp to the southeast.

“We’ve accelerated AutoNav four or five times,” said Michael McHenry, mobility leader and part of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s roving planning team. “We drove farther in far less time than Curiosity showed.”

When Perseverance kicks off its first science campaign on the grounds of Jezero Crater, AutoNav will be a key feature to help get the job done.

This crater was a lake, when billions of years ago Mars was wetter than it is now, and the goal for survival was a dry river delta on the crater rim. If life had settled on Mars early on, signs of it might have been found there. The rover will collect samples 9 miles (15 kilometers) away, then prepare the samples for collection on future missions that will return them to Earth for analysis.

“We’ll be able to get to where scientists want to be much faster,” said Jennifer Trosper, who has worked on every NASA Mars rover and is project manager for the Perseverance 2020 Mars rover. “Now we can go through this more complex terrain instead of going through it: it’s not something we were able to do before.”

human element

Of course, persistence cannot have AutoNav alone. The involvement of the Rover team remains critical to planning and leading the Path of Perseverance. An entire team of professionals develops navigation routes along with planning explorers’ activities, whether it’s examining geological features of interest on the way to their destination, or taking samples right away.

Computer simulation of the first Autonav Perseverance Engine: This computer simulation shows NASA’s Persevering Mars spacecraft making its first commands using the autonavigation feature, which allows it to avoid rocks and other hazards without input from engineers on the ground. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Due to radio signal delays between Earth and Mars, they were unable to move the rover forward using a joystick. Instead, they scan satellite images, sometimes wearing 3D glasses to view the Martian surface around the rover. After the team stopped, they sent instructions to Mars, and the rover carried out those instructions the next day.

The persistence wheels have also been tweaked to help with how quickly this plan can be carried out: In addition to being slightly larger and narrower in diameter than the Curiosity wheels, each has 48 segments that look like slightly wavy lines, unlike Curiosity’s 24-chevron-patterned tackle. Its purpose is to help with traction as well as endurance.

Curiosity can’t AutoNav because of wheel wear issues,” Trosper said. “At the start of the mission we found small, sharp, pointy stones that were starting to bore holes in the wheels, and AutoNav didn’t dodge them.”

The higher belly distance also allows the rover to roll safely over rougher terrain – including large boulders. Perseverance’s enhanced auto-navigation capabilities include ENav, or Enhanced Navigation, a combination of algorithms and software that enables more accurate risk detection.

Unlike its predecessors, Perseverance can only use one of its computers to navigate the surface; The main computer can devote itself to many other tasks that keep the vehicle healthy and active.

This Vision Calculation Element, or VCE, guides persistence to the Martian surface during February’s entry, descent, and descent. Now used full time to chart the rover’s journey while helping it avoid problems along the way.

The rover also tracks how far it moves from one place to another using a system called an “optical odometer”. Persistence periodically takes pictures as it moves, and compares one position to the next to see if the distance has moved.

Team members say they want to let AutoNav “lead”. But they will also be willing to step in when needed.

And what is it like to drive on Mars? Planners and drivers say he never gets old.

“Jesero is unbelievable,” said Verma. “This is Rover drivers’ paradise. When you wear 3D glasses, you see more ripples in the terrain. Some days, I just stare at pictures.”

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