Until now NASA’s Mars rovers named Spirit and Opportunity relied on driver software that enabled them to move after scanning each and every movement initially.
Now NASA has uploaded new software to the onboard computers that can enable the rovers to look ahead and plan a path to a spot 50-meter away.
The new software is named “Field D-Star” and has been developed at the Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg.
The software is so advanced that it can enable the Rovers to find their path out of a maze.
The above image shows us the overhead view of the site of the test. The software developed path is inside the blue box and is superimposed upon by an image taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The red areas are the keep out zones that prevent the rover from getting too close to an edge of a Rock and falling down. Green areas are the safe areas, purple diamond represents Opportunity and the blue diamond represents the rover’s destination.
The blue line is the best path to reach the destination and the rover must follow that path.
Opportunity’s new software is currently in the testing phase and is used as a backseat driver. The rover is currently relying on the older software but as soon as tests come out positive the new software will be made the primary driver of the rover.
Via: spaceref
