TORONTO -- NASA is calling on the public鈥檚 help to sort through data that will allow the Mars rover to navigate through rough terrain on the red planet.
has been working its way across Mars since it first landed in 2012.
Now, NASA has issued a call for public help to collect data to better navigate Mars. In a released on Friday, the space agency announced the that will help label different terrain on the planet.
AI4Mars follows the algorithm Soil Property and Object Classification (SPOC) that has already been used to feed information to the rover, which can help navigate its path.
While the rover鈥檚 drivers are in charge of planning the machine鈥檚 every move, there are thousands of hours of data to report to the rover that can be made easier to collect with the public鈥檚 help.
鈥淭he usual process takes thousands of hours but with the public鈥檚 help of labeling rocks over dirt can bring much change to the infamous robot,鈥� the statement read.
鈥淥nce fully up to speed, SPOC will be able to automatically distinguish between cohesive soil, high rocks, flat bedrock and dangerous sand dunes, sending images to Earth that will make it easier to plan Curiosity's next moves.鈥�
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The AI14Mars tool is hosted on the , where anyone can learn to access the algorithm and begin collecting data.
This mission doesn't require an engineering degree, but rather a tutorial that will walk participants through how to differentiate between four terrains: sand, soil, bedrock and big rocks.
By using a polygon shape tool to circle the terrain, the date will then be uploaded to the SPOC.
According to NASA, labeling different terrains will make it safer and more efficient for the rover to navigate the surface of Mars. By being able to differentiate between rough terrains or sand dunes, the rover will have a higher chance of not sustaining damage.
Not only is SPOC able to help the rover navigate on another plane, but NASA says it will help engineers focus on other aspects of the rover鈥檚 mission, such as planning what rocks and terrains to investigate next
鈥淭he benefits of a smarter algorithm would extend to planners on NASA's next Mars mission, the Perseverance rover which launches this summer,鈥� the statement read. 鈥淢ore than 8,000 Curiosity images have been uploaded to the AI4Mars site so far, providing plenty of fodder for the algorithm.鈥�
While the site is currently only available in English, volunteers are working on translating the site to other languages including Spanish, Hindi and Japanese to gain help from volunteers across the world.
