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'''MARS POLAR ROVER'''
'''MARS POLAR ROVER'''
The Mars Polar subteam is constructing an GPS-based autonomously-navigated rover to replicate driving conditions at the Martian polar ice caps in order to guide future NASA exploration of Mars. The long term goal is to test the rover on an expedition across Antarctica to reach the Earth's South Pole. Specifically, the rover will follow the charted [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pole_Traverse South Pole Overland Traverse] from coastal [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMurdo_Station McMurdo Research Station] to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen%E2%80%93Scott_South_Pole_Station Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station]. The subteam has already built two small prototype [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_polymer_battery lithium polymer battery]-powered rovers with custom-designed snow tires and GPS navigational functionality via [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArduPilot ArduPilot] software. In the next stage of rover prototyping, we aim to incorporate solar panels, a [https://www.starlink.com/ Starlink] installation for internet access for live control and video streaming, and a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar LiDAR] module for object avoidance and path planning.
The Mars Polar subteam is constructing an GPS-based autonomously-navigated rover to replicate driving conditions at the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_polar_ice_caps Martian polar ice caps] in order to guide future NASA exploration of Mars. The long term goal is to test the rover on an expedition across Antarctica to reach the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pole Earth's South Pole]. Specifically, the rover will follow the charted [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pole_Traverse South Pole Overland Traverse] from coastal [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMurdo_Station McMurdo Research Station] to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen%E2%80%93Scott_South_Pole_Station Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station]. The subteam has already built two small prototype [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_polymer_battery lithium polymer battery]-powered rovers with custom-designed snow tires and GPS navigational functionality via [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArduPilot ArduPilot] software. In the next stage of rover prototyping, we aim to incorporate solar panels, a [https://www.starlink.com/ Starlink] installation for internet access for live control and video streaming, and a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar LiDAR] module for object avoidance and path planning.
The team's most recent newsletter as of May 31st, 2023, can be found [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VvZwXrIFKdYS2W_nLkxKdV_XsbOiWKyIfT9YEr1-bAs/edit here.]
The team's most recent newsletter as of May 31st, 2023, can be found [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VvZwXrIFKdYS2W_nLkxKdV_XsbOiWKyIfT9YEr1-bAs/edit here.]