Smart Satellite Sets Its Own Priorities

Posted by michael on Friday June 25, 2004 @09:45AM from the lucky-it-can't-take-up-skirt-pics dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Currently, satellites take pictures of whatever is in front of their cameras. But hydrologists from the University of Arizona (UA), working with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are creating spacecraft that think for themselves. Their smart software, which is tested on NASA's EO-1 satellite, can be used on all kinds of spacecraft. This software has three components: an image formation module, a science algorithm module, and a continuous planning module. This onboard planner reschedules what to film in conjunction with what the scientific algorithms have detected. This software has already detected floods in Australia and will be adapted to also detect volcano eruptions and changes in ice fields. More details and references are available in this overview, including images of the flood detected by this smart software."

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Personal Satellite by kraksmokr · 2004-06-25 09:48 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Well when the space elevator is completed, we can all have our own personal satellites. Talk about an off-site backup!
Does it run Linux? by nizo · 2004-06-25 10:27 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Does it run Linux, and if so will it cause itself to crash into Redmond?

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