Chapter 12
Principle Ten: Give Control to Get Control
How long does it take for a radio signal to reach from the Earth to a Mars-roving robot? The answer is anything between 4 minutes and 22 minutes depending on the relative distances of the two planets. That means that if you want to control the Rover, you can’t just treat it like a drone, hooking up a camera to the front and steering it using a game controller back at mission control.
Why? Because in the 8 to 44 minutes it takes for the signal to yo-yo to Mars and back, your precious Rover could already have driven over the edge of a cliff. In order to control the Rover you have to build up ...
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