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If you used something like google maps to create a 360° Topographical map of an area on Mars could you use it to create a virtual simulated reality similarly to how you would manipulate google maps street view?

If the range in diameter of the camera taking in/mapping its surroundings and signal speed is greater then distance the rover can travel, could you interact with static objects in what would be an artificial virtual real time?

If that makes sense, obviously the action wouldn’t take place in real time hence only being able to interact with static objects.

As the map expands and becomes more accurate could you begin a task on earth from (beginning to end) remotely in a “realistic recreation virtual reality” in what appears like a real time action that would begin and end 20min after on Mars in what would be the rovers real time?

uhoh
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Aaron Tout-McCarthy
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    Related: How much can the Mars rover Curiosity do autonomously, after four years of operation? – DrSheldon Oct 18 '20 at 23:51
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    Thanks that definitely helped me better understand the process of how it’s actually done just wish there was an approach with continuous continuity. by creating a virtual reality identical to the space and time the rover is located using geographical markers to synchronize the two spaces you would operate the rover in the virtual reality’s “time and space”. Autonomous systems only halting the operation if the rover was going to be put in a vulnerable position In actual time and space. – Aaron Tout-McCarthy Oct 19 '20 at 00:31
  • Have a look at What “flickering goggles” do JPL scientists rely on to explore the Martian surface “in genuine 3D”? In this case it's off-line for planning and analysis, not actual driving. Also see Has the Curiosity rover ever communicated directly with Earth via its high-gain antenna? Signal strength & data rate? and also How does Curiosity know how to point and move it's high gain antenna in real time? – uhoh Oct 19 '20 at 00:51
  • Seems to be a lot of the technology and programs to support something like what I’m talking about are out there... the initial movement of the rover wouldn’t take place until the signal went from earth to Mars, and the action wouldn’t stop until the last signal was sent from earth to Mars. You would need to program it to be able to interact with real objects as if they where digital objects or vice versa... thanks for the insight so far ✊ – Aaron Tout-McCarthy Oct 19 '20 at 01:07
  • We don't have the bandwidth to do this, nor do we have an observation platform in a suitable position to this. You're driving down the road--can you stop and figure out where you're going for the next 20 minutes? Even a telescope won't help you because you don't have the necessary viewpoint. – Loren Pechtel Oct 19 '20 at 02:19
  • Makes sense about bandwidth... no point in over complicating it I guess... about the driving down the road seeing where you will be In 20 min? depends on topography I suppose... out in the prairies that’s not so inconceivable lol... if the rover can map a distance and send signals back at a greater rate then the rover can travel that distance it should have a steady point of reference. I suppose I’ll digress before I get sent to the theoretical stackexchange and end up in the bad ideas stackexchange... thanks for you time – Aaron Tout-McCarthy Oct 19 '20 at 03:40
  • Regarding the point of view - the helicopter drone should help with that a lot. Filming broad angle downwards while in motion would allow creation of pretty good 3D model of the terrain. The bandwidth still remains a bottleneck. – SF. Oct 19 '20 at 07:37
  • That’s exactly what I was thinking with the drone. The drone maps for the rover. rover would need sensors To make real time adjustments if the geo markers of the simulated terrain doesn’t mark up with the geo markers of the actual terrain it’s meant to simulate. I also read up more on signal strength and data rate thanks to uhoh, definitely complicates things... I’m looking at the problem in a strange way, problem being we can not concisely intervene with something after a certain distance without AI intervention.. in that regard a bandwidth problem is easier to solve then signal speed itself. – Aaron Tout-McCarthy Oct 19 '20 at 18:07

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Could you interact with static objects in what would be an artificial virtual real time?

Not unless the rovers move at micrometers per second, or slower. The Mars rovers are slow, but not that slow.

The round trip time for information from a rover to travel to Earth and an response from Earth received y the rover is ranges from over 6 minutes to as long as 45 minutes. That discounts the amount of time needed to make the response. Teleoperation as used with simple robots on Earth is not possible with Mars rovers.

The commands to Mars rovers need to be much higher level than the commands sent to Earth-bases telerobots. The long delay means Mars rovers need some level of autonomy. They need to recognize and respond to hazards on their own.

And they still need to move slowly, but not as slowly as would be needed for mindless teleoperation.

David Hammen
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    Understood the time for signals very depending on orbits, was just using 20 min as reference... also understand the need for autonomous response or overrides... I imagine things are fairly static on Mars, that being said the most up to date map you would have on earth is between 6-45min old... if the environment changed at any point in real time that put the rover at risk an autonomous action would stop the “simulation” and wouldn’t restart until the new information was mapped and received on earth. – Aaron Tout-McCarthy Oct 19 '20 at 04:43
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    Not to defend a dead issue just wanted to reiterate that I did put some thought into it before asking for y’all’s insight... appreciate the thoughtful responses and I’ll stop trying to take AI jobs... for now ;) – Aaron Tout-McCarthy Oct 19 '20 at 05:07
  • @AaronTout-McCarthy The best global map of Mars has 6 to 12 meter resolution, and the registration error is worse than that. Mars does not have anything like ground stations on the Earth whose global positions are known to the centimeter level, or GPS that yields positions to the ten meter level. The HiRISE camera provides better resolution, about a meter, but the imagery is not global and the registration errors remain in the tens of meters. The 1 meter boulder that might tip a rover is close to invisible to the highest resolution orbiting camera. – David Hammen Oct 19 '20 at 13:14
  • Understood you would need a camera with multiple angles and high resolution, Instead of trying to make a global map you would have a diameter to work out of... Again sorry to defend a dead point. If nothing I hope it’s been an interesting thought experiment for y’all – Aaron Tout-McCarthy Oct 19 '20 at 18:31
  • I read a cool article put out by NASA that helped me further understand the technical restraint we have talking with the rover with current technology... https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/communications/ – Aaron Tout-McCarthy Oct 20 '20 at 16:36