Greg Crinklaw wrote in
:

mlm wrote:
Fact is these things are really only elaborate extensions of their
engineers egos. Far from the independent robots they are made out to
be. Highly capable machines that don't really have a clue. A lot
like pro wrestlers.

Please show us the robots and decision making software that you have
designed, Mr. know-it-all.

Yeah. Thought so.



I wish I knew it all. I don't Mr. Cynic, but I do know how to solve
this problem. And I don't need a multimillion dollar software
development budget to do it. Furthermore, the rovers have all the gear
they need. Snap photo. Contrast enhance severely to take out gray
areas. Move. Snap photo. Measure distance between black spots on
photos. Hey presto no movement. Doubt something like this could be
done? How about the DIMES system? Yes it was a late addition but it
proves the concept. It is a software problem. The hardware to do it is
right on the rover.

As was mentioned, coming up short on a drive means another day wasted.
With a budget for the mission of $400 million, each day is worth a lot
of cash. SHould be solvable by a clever engineer with a little extra
midnight oil. Don't even need a know it all.

Mark