[X] My Assistant

[fredk]

We may have the same scenery for quite a while. From the latest release:

The rover team... has suspended driving Spirit temporarily while studying the ground around the rover and planning simulation tests of driving options with a test rover... "Spirit is in a very difficult situation," JPL's John Callas... said Monday. "We are proceeding methodically and cautiously. It may be weeks before we try moving Spirit again."

In the past week, the digging-in of Spirit's wheels has raised concerns that the rover's belly pan could now be low enough to contact rocks underneath the chassis, which would make getting out of the situation more difficult.

[fredk]

Or, for that matter, what about using the MI to directly image under the belly, if it can be maneuvered in such a way? Of course the focus would be terrible, but we might be able to still get a rough idea of how close we are to high-centreing. Especially if the background beyond the rover is bright, and foreground (ground under the rover) is dark - we could distinguish the foreground in silhouette against the background.

[algorimancer]

...focus would be terrible...

Actually a bit of deconvolution might correct the out-of-focused image. I've had great results with a couple of focus-correcting software apps. But can the IDD face backwards? Using it as a mirror will likely work just fine.

[RoverDriver]

Actually a bit of deconvolution might correct the out-of-focused image. I've had great results with a couple of focus-correcting software apps. But can the IDD face backwards? Using it as a mirror will likely work just fine.

If you can suggest a kernel filter, I am all ears. I used the Gimp to apply a bit of unsharp mask on the LF wheel MI image from Opportunity and got something, but still not too clear. If you have any SW and are good at deblurring, email me the image (or if there is any interest post it in the Opportunity side).

Paolo