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​Cosmopilot is a navigation app that uses satellite topographical data to create safe and efficient paths for surface vehicles on other planets. It's essentially Google Maps, but for Mars!

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The inspiration for this project is the rapid increase in spacecraft launches and interplanetary plans. The app is for the "everyday spacefarer" who wants to travel on undeveloped planets.

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This project was a joint effort with myself and Andrew Prata.

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System Design

The app is constructed using Google's Flutter platform, which makes it compatible with Android and iOS devices. The pathfinding is done by a modified implementation of Dijkstra's algorithm.

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This project was an entry into the HackRPI 2022 hackathon. While it may not have a practical purpose for the everyday user, it was a fun weekend programming exercise.

Data Collection

We used topographical maps of Mars from NASA orbiters to determine the terrain data. The images were then fed into a simply Python script which converted the color-bitmaps into a 2D occupancy matrix. These matrices are then used by the path planner algorithm.

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