Dr. Vandi Verma | |
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Born | Vandana Verma |
Other names | Vandi Verma Tompkins [1] |
Education | Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 2, Halwara [2] |
Alma mater | Punjab Engineering College Carnegie Mellon University [1] |
Known for | Mars Exploration Rovers Mars Science Laboratory PLEXIL |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Robotics, artificial intelligence, autonomous robotic systems |
Institutions | NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
Thesis | [thesis Tractable Particle Filters for Robot Fault Diagnosis [3] ] (2005) |
Vandana "Vandi" Verma [1] is a space roboticist and chief engineer [4] at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, known for driving the Mars rovers, notably Curiosity and Perseverance , using software including PLEXIL programming technology that she co-wrote and developed. [5] [6]
Verma was born and grew up partly in Halwara, India; her father was a pilot in the Indian Air Force. [5] She gained her first qualification, a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, at Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh, India. [2] She went on to gain a master's in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) followed by a PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mellon in 2005, with a thesis entitled Tractable Particle Filters for Robot Fault Diagnosis. [3] [7]
At CMU, she developed in interest in robotics in unknown environments. [1] She was involved in a 3-year astrobiology experimental station in the Atacama desert. The desert was chosen because of the similarities between its hostile environment and the surface of Mars. [8] She won a competition to create a robot to navigate a maze and collect balloons. [1] She tested robotic technologies in the Arctic and Antarctic. [9] [10]
Between studies, she gained her pilot's license. [8] [11]
Her first post-graduate job was at Ames Research Center as a research scientist. [5]
In 2006, Verma co-wrote PLEXIL, an open source programming language now used in automation technologies such as the NASA K10 rover, Mars Curiosity rover's percussion drill, the International Space Station, the Deep Space Habitat and Habitat Demonstration Unit, the Edison Demonstration of Smallsat Networks, LADEE, and Autonomy Operating System (AOS). [12] [13] [14]
In 2007 Verma joined NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with a special interest in robotics and flight software and became part of the Mars rover team in 2008. [9] As of 2019, she leads JPL's Autonomous Systems, Mobility and Robotic Systems group. [7]
Verma has written academic papers in her field on subjects such as the AEGIS (Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science) targeting system, [15] NASA Lunar rover operation [16] and robot fault detection, an area she has worked consistently. [17]
Verma helped develop flight and flight simulation software systems used by the Mars 2020 rover. [9]
Verma frequently participates in JPL's open house events at the lab and online as a science communicator to encourage children (and particularly girls) into STEM careers. [18] [19] [20]
Verma has worked on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover projects since 2008 and has operated all three rovers: MER-A Spirit ; MER-B Opportunity ; and Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity . Verma explains that in order to operate robotic spacecraft efficiently, the team must adjust to the sol, or Martian day, which is 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds, by beginning each day 40 minutes later. This kind of shift work involves covering the windows at home and work. Verma says:
"We tend to live by the Mars clock and many have Mars watches." [21]
As of 2018, there have been approximately 12 rover drivers. She explains how driving the rover is an extremely slow operation, since commands can take from 4 up to 20 minutes to reach the device, so commands are usually performed first as a simulation, and multiple commands are uploaded at a time via NASA's Deep Space Network, relaying signals using Mars Odyssey orbiter. [22]
Operating the rover involves a large team effort with scientists performing experiments across different fields. A typical set of commands will have involved evaluating previous 3D images, developing a plan and route to maximize exploratory potential without risking the rover's safety (including using Curiosity's 2 meter robotic arm), choreographing and simulating moves, and then integrating each step of the sequence into a detailed set of instructions. [21] [18]
Verma said in 2012:
"I do realise that I possibly have one of the coolest jobs in the world." [22]
Verma has received numerous awards for her team work including:
In 2011 Verma appeared in and directed an episode of Nova ScienceNow called Can We Make It to Mars? [23] [24]
Verma appears in US Air Force documentary Science in the Extremes series 3, episode 6 by Seeker explaining her 2020 work on Mars' surface. [25]
In 2018 Finnish director Minna Långström made a documentary about Verma and her work with the Mars rover Curiosity titled The Other Side of Mars (original Finnish title Mars kuvien takaa). The film focuses on the way images are made, their manipulation and use which shapes our understanding of space and technology. [26]
In 2022 Verna appeared in Good Night Oppy , a full length documentary film telling the story of Spirit and Opportunity and their 15 year mission. [27]
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center in La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in 1936 by Caltech researchers, the laboratory is now owned and sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and administered and managed by the California Institute of Technology.
2001 Mars Odyssey is a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. The project was developed by NASA, and contracted out to Lockheed Martin, with an expected cost for the entire mission of US$297 million. Its mission is to use spectrometers and a thermal imager to detect evidence of past or present water and ice, as well as study the planet's geology and radiation environment. The data Odyssey obtains is intended to help answer the question of whether life once existed on Mars and create a risk-assessment of the radiation that future astronauts on Mars might experience. It also acts as a relay for communications between the Curiosity rover, and previously the Mars Exploration Rovers and Phoenix lander, to Earth. The mission was named as a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke, evoking the name of his and Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Opportunity, also known as MER-B or MER-1, is a robotic rover that was active on Mars from 2004 until 2018. Opportunity was operational on Mars for 5111 sols. Launched on July 7, 2003, as part of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover program, it landed in Meridiani Planum on January 25, 2004, three weeks after its twin, Spirit (MER-A), touched down on the other side of the planet. With a planned 90-sol duration of activity, Spirit functioned until it got stuck in 2009 and ceased communications in 2010, while Opportunity was able to stay operational for 5111 sols after landing, maintaining its power and key systems through continual recharging of its batteries using solar power, and hibernating during events such as dust storms to save power. This careful operation allowed Opportunity to operate for 57 times its designed lifespan, exceeding the initial plan by 14 years, 47 days. By June 10, 2018, when it last contacted NASA, the rover had traveled a distance of 45.16 kilometers.
A Mars rover is a remote-controlled motor vehicle designed to travel on the surface of Mars. Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny positions to weather winter months, and they can advance the knowledge of how to perform very remote robotic vehicle control. They serve a different purpose than orbital spacecraft like Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. A more recent development is the Mars helicopter.
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Charles Elachi is a Lebanese-American professor (emeritus) of electrical engineering and planetary science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). From 2001 to 2016 he was the 8th director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and vice president of Caltech.
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PLEXIL is an open source technology for automation, created and currently in development by NASA.
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