Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!uunet!caen!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!csc.ti.com!tilde.csc.ti.com!mksol!strohm
From: strohm@mksol.dseg.ti.com (john r strohm)
Subject: Re: Distance to Mars
Message-ID: <1993Jun15.141843.17734@mksol.dseg.ti.com>
Organization: Texas Instruments, Inc
References: <DAVIDR.93Jun14131918@frnk404.franklin.COM> <1viibaINN5jn@uwm.edu> <IRIE.93Jun14204518@husc11.harvard.edu>
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1993 14:18:43 GMT
Lines: 17

In article <IRIE.93Jun14204518@husc11.harvard.edu> irie@husc11.harvard.edu (Robert E. Irie) writes:
>doesnt all this discussion about time delays suggest that the robot
>be as autonomous as possible and accept only high level commands
>from earth, such as "map out a 1 sq mi area" "secure stations for the
>day" etc? Either that or the necessity of subspace radio a la Star Trek :)

No.  What the discussion of time delays suggests is that SOMETHING must be
done to solve the problem of the round-trip time delay between Earth and Mars.

Highly autonomous robotics, as you suggest, is one possible path.  Virtual
reality on Earth, high-bandwidth link to the robot, robot compares virtual
scenario with real scenario, does as ordered if they agree and waves a flag
if they don't, is another.  [ Pournelle has written about this technology
on a couple of occasions that I know of. ]  Putting a manned control station
in Mars orbit is a third possible solution.

That third solution, of course, is HIGHLY Politically Incorrect.  :-)
