Re: OT: Robot 'Dog' video

$Bill wrote:
Terraholm wrote:

The Mars landers routes are controled remotely by human
brains...also a pretty well tested technology.

The general course is planned ahead, but the transmission time is much
too slow to directly control a Mars rover - might work on the moon
though if they go back there first.

Delay is 10 minutes. Every day is pretty direct control considering we are
talking pretty damn slow travel.
They tell it how many times to turn it's wheels which is not that 'general'
.... and plan around wheel slippage on the martian soil so they know exactly
how far they send it...
When it got stuck in the sand for weeks it was sent directions that worked
it out.

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080323/NEWS/803230342
With a straight face, Matt Heverly will tell you he frequently gets text
messages from Mars in the middle of the night.

Each morning, Matt Heverly has a teleconference with scientists around the
world to discuss the daily objective.

"During our eight-hour planning day we put together a sequence of commands
that we will send to the rover," he said. "When the rover is done, that's
when it sends us back a message that says whether it made it safely or not."

Thus far, Opportunity has traveled about 101/2 kilometers since landing in
Eagle Crater. It has explored Endurance Crater and traveled farther south to
Victoria Crater.

"We are now currently down in Victoria Crater," he said. "We went about
halfway around the crater and decided the best place to go in the crater was
only a few meters from where we initially happened to drive up the first
time. So we had to drive all the way back."



Pretty much have one type of terrain and weather to work with on
mars, forests and lakes are not a problems..
What does terrain have to do with detecting obstacles and deciding
what to do about it ?

A lot.

Terrain is terrain -


Sure... that is why we use snow shoes on water and sled runners on dirt...

detecting the terrain is what it's all about no
matter what that terrain may be (you could have situations where the
type of terrain may be limited of course, but it's all still terrain).
The ability to detect terrain with sensors and redirect a robot based
on that terrain (AI stuff) is all reusable software for future robots.

Has to have a large flat surface area for the solar cells.
Again - has nothing to do with the re-usability of
software/hardware/logic. The power source is irrelevant to the
maneuvering/balancing logic.

Not when it requires a very different shape.

Again, I'm not talking shape - it's about sensors and software.

You're concentrating on what wouldn't
work instead of what would.

A mule would not work on mars as noted. =)

Who the heck is talking about a mule -

That is the job...the builders say they are building a mechanical mule...


--
Laurel T
Frank Layden on a 60-foot Maurice Lucas shot that
sent a game into overtime:
"In most places he would have won a car
or a trip to Hawaii. All he got was a tie."





.

Relevant Pages

  • Whats in a Name? It Depends on Whos Doing the Naming
    ... To That Crater And Turn Right" read the headline of a January 13 press ... some of the most frequent questions from visitors to NASA's Mars ... Exploration Rover site. ... "Turkana," after a lake in the African Rift Valley. ...
    (sci.geo.geology)
  • Whats in a Name? It Depends on Whos Doing the Naming
    ... To That Crater And Turn Right" read the headline of a January 13 press ... some of the most frequent questions from visitors to NASA's Mars ... Exploration Rover site. ... "Turkana," after a lake in the African Rift Valley. ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Opportunity Celebrates One Mars Year!
    ... Opportunity Celebrates One Mars Year! ... Opportunity rover. ... the rock dubbed 'Berry Bowl' is ... In this approximate-true color panoramic image, the large crater called ...
    (sci.space.news)
  • NASAs Mars Rover To Head Toward Bigger Crater
    ... NASA'S MARS ROVER TO HEAD TOWARD BIGGER CRATER ... Scientists expect to see a much deeper stack of rock layers than ...
    (sci.space.news)
  • NASA Spacecraft Reveal Largest Crater in Solar System
    ... NASA SPACECRAFT REVEAL LARGEST CRATER IN SOLAR SYSTEM ... NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Global Surveyor have ... A giant northern basin that covers about 40 percent of Mars' surface, ...
    (sci.space.news)