![]() Then, they mark obstacles such as potential sand traps for Perseverance to avoid, drawing “keep out” and “keep in” zones that help it navigate.Īnother big difference is Perseverance’s sense of space.Ĭuriosity’s autonomous navigation program keeps the rover in a safety bubble that is 16 feet (5 meters) wide. ![]() They still plan the basic route using images taken from space by missions like NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Of course, humans aren’t completely out of the picture during AutoNav drives. “This extra computer is insanely fast compared to what we had in the past, and having it dedicated for driving means you don’t have to share computing resources with over 100 other tasks.” “On past rovers, autonomy meant slowing down because data had to be processed on a single computer,” Maimone said. The computer relies on a single-purpose, super-efficient microchip called a field-programmable gate array that is great for computer vision processing. And unlike its predecessors, Perseverance has an additional computer dedicated entirely to image processing. Faster cameras mean Perseverance can take images quickly enough to process its route in real-time. Upgraded hardware allows “thinking while driving” to happen. Is that boulder too close? Will its belly be able to clear that rock? What if the rover wheels were to slip? The rover then navigates based on those images. What’s different for AutoNav is “thinking while driving” – allowing Perseverance to take and process images while on the move. AutoNav is useful for drives over flat terrain with simple potential hazards – for instance, large rocks and slopes – that are easy for the rover to detect and work around.ĪutoNav reflects an evolution of self-driving tools previously developed for NASA’s Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity rovers. Some drives require more human input than others. Multiple days are required to complete some plans, as with a recent drive that spanned about 1,673 feet (510 meters) and included thousands of individual rover commands. The commands reach Mars via NASA’s Deep Space Network, and Perseverance sends back data so the planners can confirm the rover’s progress. The closer we get, the more impressive those images will be.”īefore the rover rolls, a team of mobility planning experts (Perseverance has 14 who trade off shifts) writes the driving commands the robotic explorer will carry out. “We’ll be taking lots of images of the delta during that drive. “The delta is so important that we’ve actually decided to minimize science activities and focus on driving to get there more quickly,” said Ken Farley of Caltech, Perseverance’s project scientist. Using a drill on the end of its robotic arm and a complex sample collection system in its belly, Perseverance is collecting rock cores for return to Earth – the first part of the Mars Sample Return campaign. This delta is one of the best locations on Mars for the rover to look for signs of past microscopic life. At the end of the 3-mile (5-kilometer) journey, which began March 14, 2022, Perseverance will reach an ancient river delta within Jezero Crater, where a lake existed billions of years ago. On the path ahead are sandpits, craters, and fields of sharp rocks that the rover will have to navigate around on its own. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is trying to cover more distance in a single month than any rover before it – and it’s doing so using artificial intelligence.
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