Rover and Instrument Capabilities Life in the Atacama 2004 Science & Technology Workshop Michael Wagner, James Teza, Stuart Heys Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

Life in the Atacama 2004 Workshop1Carnegie Mellon Introduction The purpose of this talk is to summarize how our new rover chassis, called Zoë, can be used to explore the Atacama Desert In particular, the following aspects of Zoë will influence your strategy: Long-distance exploration Science payload Power limitations

Life in the Atacama 2004 Workshop2Carnegie Mellon Motivation Our work is making possible a type of planetary exploration that has long been requested: "Further Martian exploration, both geological and biological, cries out for roving vehicles capable of landing in the safe but dull places and wandering hundreds or thousands of kilometers to the exciting places. Such a rover would be able to wander to its own horizon every day and produce a continuous stream of photographs of new landscapes, new phenomena and very likely major surprises on Mars.” Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain

Life in the Atacama 2004 Workshop3Carnegie Mellon Distance Per Day MER 5 cm/s max speed 0.6 km in 90 sols (0.007 km/sol) Hyperion, Atacama cm/s max speed 10 km in 5 sols (2 km/sol) Zoë, Atacama 2004 (projected) 100 cm/s max speed 50 km in 10 sols (5 km/sol)

Life in the Atacama 2004 Workshop4Carnegie Mellon Reachable Terrain MER Traverse 30 deg slope Survive 45 deg slope 25 cm obstacles Hyperion Traverse 10 deg slope (loose sand) 30 cm obstacles Zoë (projected) Traverse 20+ deg slope (loose sand) Survive 45 deg slope 30 cm obstacles

Life in the Atacama 2004 Workshop5Carnegie Mellon Obstacle Avoidance Hyperion and Zoë both use stereo vision to detect obstacles several meters ahead Path planning algorithms guide the robot around obstacles to a waypoint Obstacle Detection Obstacle Avoidance

Life in the Atacama 2004 Workshop6Carnegie Mellon Long-distance Exploration Strategy The rover should be used to survey large portions of terrain “Drive” the robot with distant waypoints, not small moves The robot will arrive safely if there is a path available The robot should recover on its own from steep slopes or large obstacles

Life in the Atacama 2004 Workshop7Carnegie Mellon Zoë Science Payload 2004 Stereo panoramic imagers Fluorescence instrument VIS/NIR spectrometer Plow Workspace cameras Weather / environmental sensors Potential, auxiliary science sensors Stereo navigation cameras Sun sensor Wheels / power sensors

Life in the Atacama 2004 Workshop8Carnegie Mellon Science Return 100 MB of data will be returned to the science team each sol Contents are up to the scientists but could include: Data from any instrument, with adjustable Instrument settings (filters, positions, etc.) Resolutions Compression levels Weather station data (“from lander”) Rover telemetry, including but not limited to: Dead-reckoned position Power levels Slope measurements

Life in the Atacama 2004 Workshop9Carnegie Mellon Size and Duration of Data Products Accurate data product sizes are TBD – stay tuned * Assumes lossless compression ProductMinimum Size* Maximum Size* DurationParameters SPI panorama1 MB60 MB10 minColor depth, resolution, FOV, cropped areas SPI snapshot100 kB500 kB< 5 secResolution VIS/NIR panorama 1.5 MB 10 min + warm-up FOV VIS/NIR reading 10 kB < 5 sec + warm-up Fluorescence image set 500 kB100 MB < 1 min to ~1 hr Number of images, resolutions, excitation filter settings, emission filter settings Workspace image 100 kB500 kB< 5 secResolution

Life in the Atacama 2004 Workshop10Carnegie Mellon Science Data Requests The science team can command the rover to take science readings of terrain not seen in the start- of-day panorama Zoë will be able to handle requests such as: 1.Drive to this DEM cell 2.When you get there, plow a trench 2 m long 3.Next, take a 3 x 3 mosaic of fluorescence images of the trench 4.Finally, take a SPI panorama

Life in the Atacama 2004 Workshop11Carnegie Mellon Rover Power Zoë is solar powered by 2.4 m 2 of panels Onboard Li polymer batteries store solar energy Zoë will be capable of monitoring its battery levels and autonomously handling low energy levels: Recharging if necessary Switch off power to optional components (science instruments, non-essential computers) Hibernate through the night in very low power mode Switch on components when solar power is again available

Life in the Atacama 2004 Workshop12Carnegie Mellon Night Operations The end-of-sol rover location can be the site of “night science operations” Most useful for collection of fluorescence data Rover movements limited to a few meters Duration of night science TBD, but we hope to support about 1 hour of science After night science operations are complete: Download data from rover Rover goes into hibernation mode

Life in the Atacama 2004 Workshop13Carnegie Mellon Conclusions and Questions Zoë provides the science team with the ability to remotely explore large distances This promotes a new exploration strategy more like a survey than an investigation of nearby rocks Remaining issues: Create a comprehensive “menu” of rover actions Update data product size and duration estimates Test night operation capability