NASA Let AI Drive the Perseverance Rover

In December, NASA took another small, incremental step towards autonomous surface rovers. In a demonstration, the Perseverance team used AI to generate the rover’s waypoints. Perseverance used the AI waypoints on two separate days, traveling a total of 456 meters without human control.“This demonstration shows how far our capabilities have advanced and broadens how we will explore other worlds,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “Autonomous technologies like this can help missions to operate more efficiently, respond to challenging terrain, and increase science return as distance from Earth grows. It’s a strong example of teams applying new technology carefully and responsibly in real operations.” Mars is a long way away, and there’s about a 25-minute delay for a round trip signal between Earth and Mars. That means that one way or another, rovers are on their own for short periods of time.The delay shapes the route-planning process. Rover drivers here on Earth e