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Hawaii Volcano Observatory -- Kilauea, Hawaii
After dealing with a number of network configuration and RF communications problems, the Marsokhod team in Kilauea was able to get the rover operating on the grounds around the Hawaii Volcano Observatory today. From the local control center in the HVO observation tower, they drove it approximately 50 meters as dusk fell, with video from a number of different cameras mounted on the vehicle.
During the day, the team dealt with a variety of issues, ranging from laptop computers that needed to be reconfigured for proper TCP/IP network connections, to bad connectors in the radio transceivers that transmit digital data between the rover and the local network hub. At mid-day, Butler Hine at Ames remotely commanded the rover (which was connected by hard-wire Etheret) to move from its location in the machine shop to a loading dock outside for subsequent transfer to the local test area, receiving video from several different cameras in the process. Then, after several temporary work-arounds to deal with RF issues and some help in analyzing the situation from Mike Durbin of EDS, the team NASA/McDonnell Douglas/EDS/HVO team succeeded in getting a strong, stable connection between the tower and the rover around 5 p.m. local time (based on this activity, Mike's preliminary estimate is that there will be more than sufficient signal-to-noise margin for operations at the actual test site 1.5 miles away). Once the rover began operating, there was never any sign of power cut-offs, computer resets or overheating during rover traverses.
The plans are to get an early start tomorrow (Sunday, 6 a.m.), with initial attention given to developing long-term fixes (i.e. - new cable connectors) for the RF anomalies. The team will then conduct an end-to-end test with NASA Ames. They will follow that by deploying the rover two miles away on the other side of the caldera at a lava flow that took place in 1984 to verify the entire communications architecture for the science tests (this site has easier access than the planned science sites). Depending on the time required for these tasks, efforts will then shift to the software needed to operate the manipulator and Kodak 420 Digital Camera System. The rover team will then close up any remaining action items in preparation for the Mars simulation tests that will start Monday morning.
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Gene Carl
Feldman
(gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov)
(301) 286-9428
Todd Carlo Viola,
JASON Foundation for Education
(todd@jason.org)