Mars Rover Technology Used to Make Better Maps

Cal writes "An article on the O'Reilly Radar site discusses a new street mapping technology by a company in Berkeley called earthmine. They are using technology developed by the Jet Propulsion Lab for the Mars Exploration Rover missions for reconstructing three-dimensional data of the street-scape. 'The licensed software and algorithms are used to create a 3D representation of the local terrain, allowing autonomous routing of the MERs through the Martian environment. earthmine has combined this JPL technology with its unique, capture hardware and web delivery technology to deliver 3D data with unprecedented density and accuracy.'"

Comments

Googleearth

[PenGun]

These people even look at googleearth?

  Googleearth 4.2 does very accurate 3D mapping if the res is high enough. I have found nearly invisible old trails and use it's 3D powers daily. Very cool to fly down the valleys on Vancouver Island at an apparent height of say 300 meters looking for ways through to the next logging road network. I've found nearly invisible crossings through ravines and it is killer for my purposes.

  I dunno how they can do much more than bring up the resolution.