As TFA says, they are running the algorithm multiple times and they check that the results match, to guard against transient errors caused by radiation.
The permanent errors caused by radiation must be identified by periodic self tests. When the permanent damage is in a redundant structure, e.g. as mentioned in TFA when they find some memory bits that are permanently damaged, they must avoid using what is damaged.
Eventually radiation will destroy something that is essential, but until then the Snapdragon CPU should be usable.
wongarsu•1h ago
Yeah, that's kind of awesome, isn't it?
Flying a helicopter on Mars was inspiring and useful for scouting, etc. But maybe the best thing coming out of it is undeniable proof that off-the-shelf hardware without radiation hardening is perfectly viable on Mars if you can just reboot it fast enough
mapt•1h ago
This system sounds like one of the many pieces of science equipment whose costs are >98% in one-off R&D engineering & mission ops, and <2% in marginal cost of construction/launch.
Imagine a hundred of these exploring Mars semi-autonomously, maybe with LoRa mesh networking, for not a whole lot more money than it cost to send one.
1970-01-01•46m ago
So 100% of the Snapdragons on Mars are no longer sitting idle and are tasked doing useful work. Why can't we do the same for Earth?
barbazoo•37m ago
You got a helicopter that needs communicating to? What would you do with them? I hope it's not mining coinz.
tibbydudeza•2h ago
adrian_b•1h ago
The permanent errors caused by radiation must be identified by periodic self tests. When the permanent damage is in a redundant structure, e.g. as mentioned in TFA when they find some memory bits that are permanently damaged, they must avoid using what is damaged.
Eventually radiation will destroy something that is essential, but until then the Snapdragon CPU should be usable.
wongarsu•1h ago
Flying a helicopter on Mars was inspiring and useful for scouting, etc. But maybe the best thing coming out of it is undeniable proof that off-the-shelf hardware without radiation hardening is perfectly viable on Mars if you can just reboot it fast enough