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The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

universetoday.com

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Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#41

Post by marcinzm »

mushufasa wrote: post #32
birktj wrote: post #23

One of the things I find really cool about Ingenuity is how it is in large based on consumer hardware. The main processor is a Snapdragon 801 running Linux which communicates with Perseverance using the Zigbee protocol [1]. Perseverance on the other hand uses a RAD750 from 2001! If successful I hope this can lead to more modern hardware for these kinds of missions in general. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingenui…

One of the fascinating things about space silicon is that NASA spends many years hardening specific processors to withstand the types of shocks and electromagnetic interference from space travel. These intensive processes mean that the equipment they can use is always 10-20 years behind the modern equivalents.

Aren't smaller transistor sizes also more susceptible to radiation issues which means you can't really use newer processors without ever more effort in radiation hardening?

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#42

Post by ncallaway »

laydn wrote: post #25

Why is nobody worried about the helicopter crashing to the rover and possibly destroying a science instrument? How far will the helicopter be from the rover?

I would imagine that NASA is extremely worried about that, and has gone to great lengths to ensure it's not an outcome.

Why do you assume that nobody has worried about this, or considered this contingency?

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#43

Post by darknavi »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #13

You should watch Dr. Derek Muller of Veritasium, who did a video (2019) details of the Helicopter while it was being built. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhsZUZmJvaM

Something really cool about seeing the device sitting on a table and realizing that it is now on Mars.

Working on this stuff must be _very_ rewarding (assuming that the payloads land in one piece!).

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#44

Post by lnsru »

fuzzy2 wrote: post #33
birktj wrote: post #23

One of the things I find really cool about Ingenuity is how it is in large based on consumer hardware. The main processor is a Snapdragon 801 running Linux which communicates with Perseverance using the Zigbee protocol [1]. Perseverance on the other hand uses a RAD750 from 2001! If successful I hope this can lead to more modern hardware for these kinds of missions in general. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingenui…

The CPU will probably be destroyed by radiation before long. I'd guess the key factors here were weight, power draw, size and perhaps performance. A radiation-hardened CPU probably didn't fit the bill. It's also super expensive.

Any individual part is peanuts compared to overall mission cost. Anyway, it’s a great PR stunt for QCOM. It’s not that big secret, that cubesats successfully use automotive grade off shelf parts.

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#45

Post by raverbashing »

birktj wrote: post #23

One of the things I find really cool about Ingenuity is how it is in large based on consumer hardware. The main processor is a Snapdragon 801 running Linux which communicates with Perseverance using the Zigbee protocol [1]. Perseverance on the other hand uses a RAD750 from 2001! If successful I hope this can lead to more modern hardware for these kinds of missions in general. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingenui…

It seems other parts are more modern. Yes, the main processor is a RAD750, but the peripherals can use modern components and there's some USB and Ethernet here and there (like the cable between the sky crane and the rover)

Reliability is very important and space is harsh. I assume on the surface the radiation levels are low enough for Earth systems to work (maybe playing a bit with voltage/clock frequency helps, not sure how much shielding they can add, probably not too much).

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#47

Post by ris »

mrbonner wrote: post #40

Watching the PBS NOVA series “Finding life on Mars” I am so proud to see such an astounding diversity of ethnicities involved in the Mars 2020 projects. I can’t phantom any other countries would have inclusively included other ethnicities in such a high profile project. Despite so many set backs in 2020, the US is still the most inclusive country at least in science and research.

> Despite so many set backs in 2020, the US is still the most inclusive country at least in science and research.

What makes you say that and what other countries are you comparing it with/do you have information for?

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#48

Post by NikolaeVarius »

Youden wrote: post #46

Does anyone know why they chose to send a helicopter and not some kind of plane or glider? I would've thought that a fixed-wing aircraft would have been simpler, lighter, faster and more efficient.

How many runways do you see on Mars

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#50

Post by Robotbeat »

samfisher83 wrote: post #38
birktj wrote: post #23

One of the things I find really cool about Ingenuity is how it is in large based on consumer hardware. The main processor is a Snapdragon 801 running Linux which communicates with Perseverance using the Zigbee protocol [1]. Perseverance on the other hand uses a RAD750 from 2001! If successful I hope this can lead to more modern hardware for these kinds of missions in general. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingenui…

In general the older nodes work better for radiation and other cosmic forces. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_hardening That's why they don't use the latest and greatest in the space.

They work better primarily because they had previously invested in the tooling to rad-harden them and it’s really expensive to do that again one time for each mission; cheaper to rely on already-rad-hardened designs.
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