Scientists and engineers will use a specially designed software application, known as the Component-based Campaign Planning, Implementation and Tactical software tool, or COCPIT, to plan and schedule all of the
Mars 2020 Perseverance rover’s activities while it is on the surface. This tool will help the rover team keep track of the complex activities Perseverance must conduct using an assortment of scientific instruments. COCPIT ensures all required resources and limitations of a Mars mission are accounted for and allows scientists and engineers to develop plans that are feasible for the rover to execute. By shifting all software support tools to a web-based online framework, as well as introducing a new on-board planner, the total planning time for Perseverance is cut by at least a third when compared to Perseverance’s predecessor, Curiosity.
COCPIT is developed jointly by
JPL and the Scheduling and Planning Interfaces for Exploration (SPIFe) team from the
Human-Computer Interaction group at Ames. The SPIFe team has worked on mission planning tools for four Mars missions, and their web-based mission planning tool, Playbook, serves as the foundational code on which COCPIT is built. The team’s most recent work with COCPIT is paving the way for the next generation of aids for future human and robotic exploration.
