Posted on 04/11/2021 7:07:52 PM PDT by LibWhacker
Based on data from the Ingenuity Mars helicopter that arrived late Friday night, NASA has chosen to reschedule the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s first experimental flight to no earlier than April 14.
During a high-speed spin test of the rotors on Friday, the command sequence controlling the test ended early due to a “watchdog” timer expiration. This occurred as it was trying to transition the flight computer from ‘Pre-Flight’ to ‘Flight’ mode. The helicopter is safe and healthy and communicated its full telemetry set to Earth.
The watchdog timer oversees the command sequence and alerts the system to any potential issues. It helps the system stay safe by not proceeding if an issue is observed and worked as planned.
The helicopter team is reviewing telemetry to diagnose and understand the issue. Following that, they will reschedule the full-speed test.
The helicopter has a “karen”!
Yeah, that would be bad for the watchdog timer to shut the thing down while 10’ above the ground.
“...It helps the system stay safe by not proceeding if an issue is observed and worked as planned....”
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I suspect the writer left a word or two out of this sentence. Unless, of course, failure is what was planned. Well... come to think of it, it IS the Biden administration now and they are pushing for American failure everywhere.
Maybe whoever has been wiping the dust off the Mars Rover can check the helicopter, see if it’s A-OK.
Just an ignorant question here: What powers the helicopter?
Wouldn’t be good PR if it suddenly took off and flew beyond the horizon on its own. LOL Here kitty, kitty, kitty......
Ingenuity is powered by six lithium-ion batteries that are recharged daily by the solar cells. Much of the power is used to run heaters that keep the drone from freezing during the Martian night, when temperatures can drop to minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit. - WSJ
Thanks.
Well, a timer is set just prior to requesting a system event. That way, if the event does not occur in the allotted time, a watchdog timer expired event occurs and specific fail safe steps are taken.
Sounds like the transition to flight mode did not occur in the allotted time. There could be any number of reasons why, so it is premature to say nothing is wrong with the drone.
I have designed and programmed complex control systems, so I find the public explanation rather amusing.
Selected Panasonic Eneloops? (I’m only half kidding.)
“I’m sorry, Dave, I can’t allow you to fly the helicopter right now.”
“I’ll be shutting the motors off in a few seconds, Dave. Would like to land now?”
During a high-speed spin test of the rotors on Friday, the command sequence controlling the test ended early due to a “watchdog” timer expiration....<<<
It’s all in the timing.
Maybe Ingenuity is waiting for April 18-19 in order to make history happen on Mars, the planet named for the god of war.
Spinning round and around:
“The Revolution Happens Here” as the tourist merchandise in Boston proclaims.
Also:
Shabbat, April 17, 2021 is
5 Iyar, 5781
State of Israel Proclaimed (1948)
And
Sunday, April 18, 2021
6 Iyar, 5781
War of Independence (1948)
One day after the State of Israel was proclaimed (see Jewish History for the 5th of Iyar), the surrounding Arab nations — Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq —declared war on the fledgling state, with the objective of “driving the Jews into the sea.”
https://www.chabad.org/calendar/view/day.asp?tdate=04%2F18%2F2021
Perseverance (”Percy”) gave birth to Ingenuity (”Ginny”) on Mars. Lots of people missed the birth announcement, which actually began with
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
>>>
“It’s a Girl!”
Exodus 1:22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son who is born you shall throw into the river, and every daughter you shall let live:
“Ginny” — sounds like an ingenious type of girl. After all, *men* are from Mars.
Shocking Blue - Venus (Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LhkyyCvUHk
;)
Mars hardly has an atmosphere, how does the helicopter get lift?
Helicopters can’t operate high in atmosphere on earth
https://www.aircraftcompare.com/blog/how-high-can-helicopter-fly/
It carries onboard rechargeable batteries and has a small solar array panel above the rotors to recharge the batteries. The rotors are powered by two Swiss-made off-the-shelf dc electric motors.
Mars hardly has an atmosphere, how does the helicopter get lift?
Helicopters can’t operate high in atmosphere on earth
—
It is pretty amazing an aircraft can be designed to operate where the air is 1% of earth sea level atmospheres. One advantage on Mars the gravity is only 40% that of Earth, so the 4 pound copter is under 2 pounds on Mars. I’ve read the blades spin at much higher velocity than an earth copter. The blades also have an extremely wide chord to scoop more air.
Here is what Ingenuity has: Rotors: 2 carbon-fiber blades, about 4 feet in length. They spin in opposite directions at about 2,400 rpm, much faster than standard helicopter rotors, which run at about 500 rpm. (Ingenuity's blade rotation spin is closer to that of blades in a high-end food processor.) -USAtodayCan you imagine how long a Huey's blades would have to be, or how fast they'd have to spin to fly on Mars???
I have been following the comments elsewhere of truly brain dead people who claim its impossible to fly on Mars. And thus they preach the mantra its all fake. Really kind of sad they cannot comprehend physics of aerodynamics.
Oh please let this work. At least 1 hop! Kinda nerve wracking.
It may not be able to. But the blades seem to be much larger for the body it is trying to lift than comparable craft on earth. Two pairs of counter-rotating blades that have a 4’ diameter for that little box. And they’re designed to rotate at 2400rpm—40 revolutions per second. I hope that’s enough to generate lift in that atmosphere!
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