好奇号为什么要进行固件升级？需要升级哪些功能？

为什么呢？

forkintheroad 2012-08-13 15:21:02

【惊！好奇号被火星虫子消灭】

据好奇号在升级过程中发来的反馈显示，他们在火星发现某种昆虫，NASA的科学家收到的信息如下“There are some bugs，it's terrible！”然后，好奇号就灭了。

正好刚才看帖发现面包老师做了一张漫画，贴过来，木哈哈哈。

哈哈，开个玩笑，下面是正题！

关于此次升级，Wiki和NASA有相关说明

首先，为什么好奇号需要升级[1]

“The rover installed its full surface operations software after the landing because its computers didn't have room for it during flight. The new software essentially replaced the flight software.”

好奇号装满了与飞行、登陆有关的软件，已经没有足够的存储空间。所以，新的软件会取代控制飞行的软件。

其次，好奇号会进行哪些升级?[2]

NASA的官方声明中提到：

“NASA's Mars rover Curiosity will spend its first weekend on Mars transitioning to software better suited for tasks ahead, such as driving and using its strong robotic arm.The rover's "brain transplant," which will occur during a series of steps Aug. 10 through Aug. 13, will install a new version of software on both of the rover's redundant main computers. This software for Mars surface operations was uploaded to the rover's memory during the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft's flight from Earth.”

好奇号将会花它的第一个周末来更新自己的软件，以更好的进行接下来的任务，比如驱动自己强壮的机械手臂。好奇号的内核更新是8月一系列动作的其中一部分。8月10日至13日，一些新的软件会安装在好奇号的剩余存储空间。与火星地表探测有关的软件在好奇号飞离地球期间就已经上传好了。（注：Mars Science Laboratory[3]是好奇号的原名，好奇号是后来改的名字）

"We designed the mission from the start to be able to upgrade the software as needed for different phases of the mission," said Ben Cichy of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., chief software engineer for the Mars Science Laboratory mission. "The flight software version Curiosity currently is using was really focused on landing the vehicle. It includes many capabilities we just don't need any more. It gives us basic capabilities for operating the rover on the surface, but we have planned all along to switch over after landing to a version of flight software that is really optimized for surface operations."

A key capability in the new version is image processing to check for obstacles. This allows for longer drives by giving the rover more autonomy to identify and avoid potential hazards and drive along a safe path the rover identifies for itself. Other new capabilities facilitate use of the tools at the end of the rover's robotic arm.

While Curiosity is completing the software transition, the mission's science team is continuing to analyze images the rover has taken of its surroundings inside Gale Crater. Researchers are discussing which features in the scene to investigate after a few weeks of initial checkouts and observations to assess equipment on the rover and characteristics of the landing site.

好奇号的首席软件工程师Ben Cichy说“我们在一开始设计的时候，就已经考虑到为不同的情况设计不同的软件。飞行软件让好奇号能聚焦并完成登陆任务，它的许多功能现在已经不需了。Flight software提供了一些基础的火星地表探测能力，不过我们已经规划好了一旦着陆就切换更优化的软件来进行探测任务。”

其中一项关键的功能就是提供更先进的图形处理能力。这会让探测器的寿命更长，因为这个功能让探测器能更好的分析确认前方的障碍或陷阱，以便避开，选择一条更安全的路。另一些新功能会提升机械手臂的性能。

当好奇号完成这次升级，这次探测任务团队会继续分析好奇号传回的Gale Crater图像。研究人员会继续研究好奇号登陆后的情况，再确定好奇号后期需要哪些功能。

参考链接

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_rover

[2] http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120810.html

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Science_Laboratory

樂 2012-08-13 15:46:26

固件升级的目的基本是为了优化功能，安卓微博上也说了这个问题，假如刷机失败成了砖，这会是历史上最贵的“砖头”。

amime理论物理学士，金融博士生ψ 2012-08-13 17:15:07

从我个人对文章信息的理解的话，这次刷机其实不是一般理解的为了解决bug等目的进行的系统升级，而是之前就预备好的软件替换。

好奇号上面的存储空间有限，所以设计者在发射的时候就没有安装全部软件，等到好奇号着陆成功之后，控制其着陆的相关软件就没用了，所以此次刷机就是删除这些没用的软件腾出空间来安装下一步任务需要的软件。

jerome_cool 2012-08-13 15:26:34