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| Nexus 7 vs Curiosity Mars Rover |
The embedded computer in the Curiosity Mars rover is less
powerful than the 500$ laptop I bought on clearance from Best Buy in 2001. The
Curiosity sports a single core 200MHz IBM RAD750 CPU, 256MB of RAM, and 2GB of
Flash Storage at a cost of approximately 200,000$. By
comparison, the new Google Nexus Tablet contains a 1.2GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3
Quad-Core CPU, 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of flash storage at a cost of 249$. To be
fair, the system in the Curiosity was built to withstand extreme radiation and
temperatures. I’m sure that was a HUGE factor in the cost. Would it be
unreasonable to assume that a modified Nexus 7 with a lead shield in a climate
controlled case would be able to withstand the rigors of life on Mars? It goes to show you how far computers have
come in the past ten years. Its a real testament to the proprietary VxWorks operating system that such an under-powered and outdated computer can run a sophisticated machine like the Curiosity Rover.
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