What can we expect from Perseverance

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Visual odometry is a balance between speed and accuracy of movement. The method is extremely important because it helps to detect obstacles in the rover's path and avoid them.

Autonavigation is the most technologically advanced method. It can be compared to using a drone in a car. We set a common goal and the rover itself looks for a safe and fast path to the goal. The rover has to stop every meter to assess the situation using cameras. But instead of taking a single picture using navigation cameras, the rover will also involve hazcams. Then the on-board computer combines all this information, forming a “hazard map”. Problem areas are marked in red, places where the situation is not so deplorable are marked in yellow, and the terrain that is most suitable for the rover to advance is marked in green.

This is the slowest option for a Mars rover to travel. If in an ideal paraguay number data situation the rover could travel the length of a football field using the blind method, as mentioned above (which is about 100 m), then in the case of autonomous mode, in ideal conditions the rover would travel only 30 meters.

At the same time, the rover cannot detect sand or sharp rocks, so the method is used only when the terrain is completely safe.


NASA expects the new rover to land on the planet's surface on February 18. After that, I hope, it will begin moving across Mars. Everything I said above applies to the new rover, but it has more capabilities. For example, it will be able to move at least twice as fast as Curiosity: the on-board PC has more computing resources and improved data processing algorithms. The robot's navigation cameras are color, they receive images with a higher resolution than Curiosity. In addition, the rover's wheels are thicker than its predecessor, and the tread pattern is different. Scientists believe that the wheels will be less damaged.

One of the most important tasks for a Mars rover: collecting and storing samples for return to Earth. A lot depends on the success of this mission. And now, when the rover starts moving, you will understand what and how provides this movement.