Tag Archives: autonomy

NASA to Send Mini-Copter to the Red Planet in 2020

Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.

When the next Mars rover launches in 2020, it will sport a sidekick: a football-sized scout helicopter.

Mars’s atmosphere is 1 percent as dense as Earth’s, so the copter will have to fly at the equivalent of 100,000 feet — 60,000 feet higher than any Earth-bound chopper has ever flown.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Mars 2020 Rover Mission To Include Scout Helicopter

Arizona Utility Looks Into Robots to Maintain Canals

Maintaining water quality across Salt River Project’s 131 miles of canals, connected by more than 1,000 miles of lateral ditches and pipes, poses unique technical and workforce problems.

Now, SRP is working with Arizona State University robot experts to develop robotic solutions to the problem.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Lifeblood Of The Desert: Salt River Project Teams Turn To ASU Robots To Maintain Canal System