Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!news.Brown.EDU!noc.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!torn!watserv2.uwaterloo.ca!reda
From: reda@watnow.uwaterloo.ca (Reda Ezzat FAYEK)
Subject: Re: Distance to Mars
Message-ID: <C8EzKq.Dp6@watserv2.uwaterloo.ca>
Keywords: virtual reality, mars rover, speed of light
Sender: news@watserv2.uwaterloo.ca
Organization: University of Waterloo
References: <1v5t56INNlkm@flop.ENGR.ORST.EDU> <1993Jun10.145007.12268@mksol.dseg.ti.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1993 16:38:49 GMT
Lines: 26

In article <1993Jun10.145007.12268@mksol.dseg.ti.com> strohm@mksol.dseg.ti.com (john r strohm) writes:
>>
>
>At closest approach to Earth, Mars is roughly 30 million miles away, which
>works out to about 160 light-seconds.  At farthest, Mars is some 200 million
>miles away, or about 1100 light-seconds, or about 20 light-minutes away.

[...]

>The EASY answer is to close the loop from Mars orbit, but that requires us
>to do something very politically incorrect in certain circles: manned 
>spaceflight.
>
>However, there is currently a fair amount of amateur interest in teleoperation
>in the presence of time lags, and a fair amount of work being done.  The work
>I have been following has been more interested in 2-second time lags.

What about autonomous robotics? Doesn't that seem to be the ultimate solution?
With enough advances (at the current rate) fully autonomous robots (vehicles
or manipulators) would probably be feasible... Shouldn't that be considered
as a direction for the research done in this area?!

Comments?!

Reda

