• Question: what was it like collaborating the two rovers?

    Asked by MollyMoo to Elie on 16 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Elie Allouis

      Elie Allouis answered on 16 Mar 2016:

      Hi MollyMoo!

      Testing the two rovers working together was really brilliant.
      A few years ago, NASA lost the Spirit rover in some very soft sand. Like a car on sand, you can turn the wheels, but nothing moves. This project was trying to find a way to do just that. 😛
      We had 2 rovers – a large one and amsall one.
      The large rover planned a path in the landscape. The small scout rover was going ahead of a large one to capture lots of 3D data about the environment like rocks and terrain, to create an even better map for the large rover. In addition, it also captured some data about the soil along the path, to check it is strong enough to support the larger rover.
      If all is OK, the large rover moves along that path, but can also check with its own instrument that the path is safe. If not it replanned a new course avoiding the obstacles…
      We managed to get the system all working in the end, with a live demonstration… so you always keep your fingers crossed that everything goes according to plan… 🙂

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