This blog is about software design, computer programming, and digital systems. The most interesting system to pay attention to at present is Ingenuity, the tiny helicopter on Mars. NASA is getting ready for Ingenuity’s maiden flight, a rise of about 10 feet, then landing.

 

Its first flight has been delayed because a watchdog timer in Ingenuity timed out, indicating a fault. A status report by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) said, “"The Ingenuity team has identified a software solution for the command sequence issue identified on (April 9) during a planned high-speed spin-up test of the helicopter's rotors."

 

Imagine that, detecting and correcting a fault on a device that sits on Mars. Impressive.

 

The first flight is on hold pending verification of the software solution.

 

There is also a tiny swatch of fabric attached underneath Ingenuity’s solar panel, taken from the fabric that covered a wing on the Wright brothers’ aircraft during their historical first flights in 1903.

 

For more information, see NASA’s website about Ingenuity: