Dr. Vandi Verma, JPL Supervisor of Operable Robotics for the Mars Perseverance and Mars Curiosity missions, will discuss navigating rovers on the Martian surface during the 23rd Annual International Mars Society Convention, scheduled for October 15-18.
Dr. Verma joined JPL’s Mobility and Robotics Systems Section in 2007, with research interest in robotic software that enables autonomy and commanding under uncertainty for coordinated manipulation, mobility, sampling and science.
Since 2008, she has been driving Mars rovers (MER, MSL) and operating the robotic arm and sampling system and will be involved in Perseverance’s operations on Mars upon arrival next year. In addition, she has worked on numerous research robotics projects and has deployed robots in the Arctic, Antarctic and Atacama Desert in Chile.
This year’s global Mars Society conference will be free of charge (although donations are welcome). For full registration details, please click here. Regular updates, including a list of confirmed speakers, will be posted in the coming weeks on the Mars Society web site and its social media platforms.
