Marsbase: A User-friendly Simulator of Human Activites on the Surface of Mars
- Paper number
IAC-06-E1.5.06
- Author
Dr. Jean Marc Salotti, Laboratoire de Science Cognitive, France
- Year
2006
- Abstract
Marsbase is a user-friendly software program for the simulation of human activities on the surface of Mars. It looks like 2D simulation games in which the user commands all actions of the creatures with the mouse (see below). It is intended to show to a rather scientific community (in particular students but not exclusively) the different problems encountered for such missions. Different mission objectives are proposed: - Exploring the map and finding interesting rocks with astronauts and rovers. - Building new facilities such as a greenhouse, a well rig or solar panels and connecting structures to electrical power plants such as a nuclear reactor. - Farming, extracting water or performing chemical transformations using in situ resources. - Starting basic industrial developments in the perspective of colonization. Time scale is roughly 2 minutes of game for the simulation of a Martian sol (24.6 hours). Many technical details have been considered for a realistic simulation. For instance, the consumption of the rover depends on the engine and its associated chemical transformation and a visual analysis of the terrain is not possible at night. Objects, actions and scenarios have been standardized to facilitate the definition of new objects or transformations and the design of new missions. Physiological and emotional parameters, different astronaut skills and artificial intelligence modules have recently been implemented in the simulator. The objective is to take into account human factors and to design specific missions in which astronaut might fail in their task. The simulator is available for free on a dedicated website [1]. A lot of people have downloaded and tested the simulator and the feedback is generally good. The simulator has also been used by students of Ecole d'Ingénieurs en Cognitique de Bordeaux for the development of the artificial intelligence module. References: [1] http://perso.wanadoo.fr/salotti/marsbase.htm [2] NASA Report EX13-98-036. Reference Mission Version 3.0, Addendum to the Human Explora-tion of Mars: The Reference Mission of the NASA Mars Exploration Study. June 1998.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-06-E1.5.06.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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