Spirit Tries Out Visual Odometry

MARSDAILY

Stunning Desktop Available

1500 x 1000 1024 x 768

1280 x 1024 800 x 600

Pasadena (JPL) Jul 12, 2004
On sol 175 (July 9), Spirit analyzed the new targets "Breadbox" and "Sourdough" with its panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Spirit then got an up-close look at Breadbox with the microscopic imager, and deployed the Mďż˝ssbauer spectrometer on Sourdough for an overnight integration.

In the middle of the martian night, Spirit did a tool change to the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and completed a five-hour integration before the sol 176 plan began.

Spirit spent sol 176 getting a battery re-charge and a front hazard avoidance camera calibration. The evening of sol 176, engineers commanded Spirit to wake up and enable the panoramic camera mast actuator heater so they could determine when the thermostat turns the heater on.

The heater turned on when expected, which will allow Spirit to conduct a night-time miniature thermal emission spectrometer observation in a few sols.

On sol 177, Spirit successfully performed a series of observations on an interesting and shiny feature called "String of Pearls." The rover acquired two microscopic images of the target and an overnight integration with the Mďż˝ssbauer spectrometer and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.

As Mars' southern winter approaches, Spirit's energy resources become increasingly limited. Overnight tool changes and their associated heating take a big toll on the limited energy budget, and require some preparation and recovery to keep up Spirit's battery charge.

Spirit began sol 178 by stowing the robotic arm and then backing up 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) from "Hank's Hollow" in order to properly place the miniature thermal emission spectrometer to get a good view of "Pot of Gold" and nearby rover tracks.

Engineers also took this opportunity to use visual odometry for the first time on Spirit. This is a technique in which the rover takes successive images of its surroundings during a drive and then matches features in those images on-board to compute how far and in what direction it has moved.

Both the drive and the test went well, and ground verification showed that the matching worked quite nicely with the features in this terrain. Visual odometry will be important if and when Spirit starts driving on five wheels, since the actual drives can and will be rather different than what is commanded.

The rover can use the visual odometry estimates while driving to compensate for the slipping and yawing that engineers expect with five-wheel driving.

MARSDAILY

Analysis End Not In Sight For Mars Rovers

by Phil Berardelli
Washington DC (UPI) Jul 6, 2004
At a NASA-sponsored briefing for journalists last December, scientists with the Mars Exploration Rover missions described the various hazards that could cut short the planned, twin 90 (Earth) day operations on the red planet and limit the amount of data shipped home by the robotic vehicles from their respective landing sites.

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.