Responsible for creating precise instructions to command the rover. Communication skills in developing a usable code were critical.

Brian

Danielle

Kaitlyn

Tyler

Responsibility: to create precise instructions to command the rover.

Specialty: developing a usable command language.

Limitations: not being able to see the rover move during the mission.

(DSI Toys)

Procedure: Learned the responsibilities of the other teams.
Consulted with the Engineering team to schedule use of the rover. Calibrated rover movements to determine: how far forward the rover moved per second, how many degrees per second the rover turned and how variations in terrain affected its movement. Navigate the rover in a lab situation to test reliability. Coordinated with the Mapping Team and Camera Team for terrain and camera information. Assisted the Mapping Team in making a full-scale model of the "landing site." We worked with the Lander Team to make sure our commands made sense. We practiced writing command sequences and transmitting them to the Lander Team by our walkie-talkies.

Note: We did not tell the Lander Team the objective of the mission (which rock to visit).

We worked with the Mapping and Engineering Teams to write a command sequence for the mission that commanded the rover to the mission
objective (which rock to visit).

Hints: We kept it simple. We made a list of things we needed to know before we began working with the rover. We worked for precision. We tested navigation in a "natural" setting (such as a the sample rock field).

The above description is a slightly modified version of the Virtual Sojourner Student Activity #1: Driving Blind by Richard Edgerton. On the Live from Earth and Mars Site from K-12 educators, NASA's Information Infrastructure Technology and Applications (IITA) Program and the University of Washington.

Navigation Commands
B. S. - Straight
T.H. - Back
F.D.V. - Forward left
B.D.V. - Back left
F.K.T. - Forward right
B.K.T. - Back right

Camera Commands
P. L. - Pan left
P. R. - Pan right
T. U. - Tilt up
T. D. - Tilt down

Science Experiment Commands
OGI - (Oak Grove Imager)
AA - (Atmospheric Analyzer)
Drill APXS - (Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrophotometer)