Remote image analysis for Mars Exploration Rover mobility and manipulation operations

NASA´s Mars Exploration Rovers are two six-wheeled, 175-kg robotic vehicles which have operated on Mars for over a year as of March 2005. Each rover is controlled by a team who must understand the rover´s surroundings and develop command sequences on a daily basis. The tight tactical planning timeline and ever-changing environment call for tools that allow quick assessment of potential manipulator targets and traverse goals, since command sequences must be developed in a matter of hours after receipt of new data from the rovers. Reachability maps give a visual indication of which targets are reachable by each rover´s manipulator, while slope and solar energy maps show the rover operator which terrain areas are safe and unsafe from different standpoints.