MWC 2022: This is a replica of NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, carried by Qualcomm

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, present on Mars, has its replica at MWC 2022 in Barcelona, ​​thanks to Qualcomm.

Qualcomm presented at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) a replica of NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, the original of which is on Mars. It is the delight of those attending the event.

The Ingenuity helicopter was built by NASA's Jet Lab in conjunction with Qualcomm, which provided both design assistance and major vehicle components.

The aircraft, 48.2 centimeters high and 1.2 meters wide, weighing 1.8 kilograms, flew inside the Perseverance rover until its arrival on the red planet in 2021. It has an antenna, solar panel, rotor blades, batteries, sensors and cameras and avionics.

On its first flight it rose three meters, made some turns and slides and came down without problems. It lasted nearly 40 seconds, according to a BBC report.

The Ingenuity replica, located at the Qualcomm booth at MWC in Barcelona, ​​shows off amazing details like carbon fiber blades and a heat shield to withstand the frigid temperatures of Mars.

You can also see the antenna that is used to communicate with the Perseverance and the solar panel to recharge the lithium batteries.

Qualcomm's big contribution to NASA's Ingenuity helicopter

The Ingenuity (both the original and its replica) has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with a quad-core CPU, a GPU and a 55-megapixel image signal processor, as explained by the Mobility Zone portal.

It is in control of a visual navigation algorithm that uses geographic features on the surface of Mars, tracked with an integrated camera.

Today, the original is in the South Seitah region of Jezero Crater on Mars. "Ingenuity's aerial images are impressive, but even better when you can play Where's Perseverance?" joked Robert Hogg of NASA's Jet Lab. "Once you find our rover and get close, you can make out some details, like the wheels, the remote sensing mast and more."

In addition to NASA's Jet Lab and Qualcomm, NASA's Science, Research, Aeronautics and Space Technology mission directorates participated in the construction of Ingenuity; the Ames Research Center; the Langley Research Center; AeroVironment and SolAero, as well as Lockheed Martin Space.

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