Mars rover uses zigbee!

Home automation has made it to Mars!

Communications from Ingenuity to the rover are made through a Zigbee radio link over 900 MHz SiFlex chipsets mounted in the rover and helicopter. The links to Earth are made via the rover and Mars orbiters.

9 Likes

I suppose they couldn’t use Zigbee easily for the downlink as the bridges would move to much :wink:

I hope they packed a few extra repeaters.

1 Like

No regulations on Mars for RF power.. Just because it’s zigbee, doesn’t mean they didn’t pump up the power.

4 Likes

They’re also using 900 MHz and not 2.4 GHz. The lower frequency goes through the construction materials used to make the Mars set at the Disney studios really well.

:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

9 Likes

Believe it or not.. Zigbee actually supports 900Mhz.. Haven’t seen any devices that support that though..

From Wikipedia:

This standard specifies operation in the unlicensed 2.4 to 2.4835 [29]GHz (worldwide), 902 to 928 MHz (Americas and Australia) and 868 to 868.6 MHz (Europe) ISM bands.

3 Likes

Ecobee thermostats have a 915-930 MHz zigbee radio used to communicate with their remote sensors. They use some proprietary encryption, but the transport is zigbee.

2 Likes

https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/aerospace/robotic-exploration/nasa-designed-perseverance-helicopter-rover-fly-autonomously-mars

You would definitely need a few thermostats on Mars....

1 Like

I'm wondering how they dealt with the effects of radiation.

oooohhhh the zigbee!!!! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

4 Likes