Schedule by Session

A key focus of planetary rover missions is to use panoramic stereo camera systems to image outcrops along rover traverses, to characterise the geology and focus the search for life. 3D reconstructions of this data are processed for quantitative analysis. The Mars Utah Rover Field Investigation (MURFI 2016) was a Mars Rover field analogue mission run by the UK Space Agency (UKSA) in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). It consisted of a science team based in Harwell, UK, and a field team including an instrumented Rover platform at the field site near Hanksville (USA). The Aberystwyth University PanCam Emulator 3 (AUPE3) camera system was used to collect stereo panoramas of the terrain the rover encountered during the field trials. Stereo-imagery processed in PRoViP is rendered in PRo3D, where interpretations are digitised onto the 3D surface. Measurements can be taken of dimensions and sedimentary features, including grain size and the dip and strike of bedding planes. In-simulation. Data was processed using an automated pipeline and data transfer through an ftp server. PRo3D was used for visualisation and analysis of this stereo data. Features of interest in the area could be annotated, and their distances to the rover position measured to aid prioritisation of science targeting. Interpretation and measurement of the sedimentological features of the outcrops was also carried out. Development of Pro3D in preparation for the ExoMars 2020 and NASA 2020 missions will be centred on data validation and tool development.