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 
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.
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
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!!!! 
4 Likes
