| 30 shares 11 View As impressive as the Mars Curiosity's findings have been, the rover just doesn't have the brains to cut it further out in the solar system. This is because, at the start of each Martian day, Nasa has to deal with a significant communication delay when it sends its agenda to the Mars rover. Even moving at light speed, instructions from Earth take about 20 minutes to reach the surface of Mars. This 40-minute roundtrip makes real-time control of the rover impossible. At the start of each Martian day, Nasa has to deal with a significant communication delay when it sends its agenda to the Mars rover. Even moving at light speed, instructions from Earth take about 20 minutes to reach the surface of Mars. This 40-minute roundtrip makes real-time control of the rover impossible On Jupiter's moon Europa, where astrobiologists suspect extraterrestrial life could exist, the delay balloons to over 90 minutes. But an 'intelligent' camera that can not only take pictures of alien rock, but also analyse them and draw intelligent conclusions about what to do next is hoping to change all that. Named 'TextureCam', the two-lens device snaps 3D images and a special processor, separate from the rover's main computer, analyses the pictures. By recognising textures in the photos, the processor distinguishes between sand, rocks and sky. The processor then uses the size and distance to rocks in the picture to determine if any are scientifically important layered rocks. Named TextureCam, the two-lens device snaps 3D images and a special processor, separate from the rover's main computer, analyses the pictures. By recognising textures in the photos, the processor distinguishes between sand, rocks and sky HOW TEXTURECAM WORKS The device uses two lenses to snap 3D images of an alien environment. A processor, separate from the rover's main computer, then analyses the images. By recognising textures in the photos, the processor distinguishes between sand, rocks and sky. The processor then uses the size and distance to rocks in the picture to determine if any are scientifically important layered rocks. When TextureCam findsan interesting rock, it can either upload a high-resolution image back to Earth or send a message to the main processor to move toward the rock and take a sample. When TextureCam spots an interesting rock, it can either upload a high-resolution image back to Earth or send a message to the main processor to move toward the rock and take a sample. 'We currently have a micromanaging approach to space exploration,' said senior researcher Kiri Wagstaff, a geologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) California. 'While this suffices for our rovers on Mars, it works less and less well the further you get from the Earth. 'If you want to get ambitious and go to Europa and asteroids and comets, you need more and more autonomy to even make that feasible.' While researchers recently introduced autonomous navigation to the Curiosity rover, its scientific objectives are still determined by the images it transmits back to Earth. Mars-to-Earth communication costs precious power and trickles at a bandwidth of around 0.012 megabits per second—about 250 times slower than a 3G cellphone network. Mars orbiters can help speed up the data transfer rate, though the satellites only orbit into correct alignment a few short minutes each day. Curiosity's constrained connection limits the number of Martian images it can send back to Earth. TextureCam snaps photos of rocks in the Mojave Desert in California. The desert rocks look similar to rocks the automated system might one day need to analyse on Mars or other far-away worlds 'If the rover itself could prioritise what's scientifically important, it would suddenly have the capability to take more images than it knows it can send back. 'That goes hand in hand with its ability to discover new things that weren't anticipated,' said Ms Wagstaff. In its infancy, Ms Wagstaff and her colleagues trained TextureCam using real Martian images taken by previous rover missions. TextureCam's training worked similarly to the facial unlock feature available on smartphones and computers. The more examples of interesting rocks it was shown, the better it became at identifying the common features that made the rocks scientifically important. Recently TextureCam was successfully run through its paces in the rocky landscape of the Mojave Desert in Southern California—a useful test environment for the Martian surface. Share or comment on this article
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Home »Unlabelled » Nasa to give future rovers a 'BRAIN': Experts develop camera that helps space ... - Daily Mail
Tuesday 10 September 2013
Nasa to give future rovers a 'BRAIN': Experts develop camera that helps space ... - Daily Mail
Debarjun Saha | 10:35 |
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