In today’s post we would like introduce to you essential devices that will help you with the repair process. Let's take a look at overhead crane and hydraulic jack.

The overhead crane is a device that lifts and moves Mars Rovers. It runs on elevated tracks, which are basically spread over the entire hangar! The device is equipped with a lifting component - a hoist, which travels along the bridge. It can be moved in two ways: front / back and left / right.



Hydraulic jack is a portable device that is used to lift Mars Rovers. The player will be able to freely move the device to the one of several predefined locations, which means that once you put the hydraulic jack in a defined place, you can move it to the different one.



First, the player will have to use the overhead crane and place the rover on the hydraulic jack. When the rover is on the lift, the repair mode starts and the player will not be able to control the gantry until the task is finished.

-----

That would be all for this week. We hope that you are looking forward to the next devlog! Keep following us on social media and don't forget to join our discord channel

Best Regards,
Rover Mechanic Simulator Team


https://store.steampowered.com/app/864680/Rover_Mechanic_Simulator/

In today's post we would like to give you some information about other science instruments mounted on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers - Magnet Array and Calibration Targets.

Magnet Array is an instrument that is used to collect the airborne dust for the analysis by scientific tools that identify the composition of the Red Planet. Magnetic grains in Martian dust are the pieces of the Red Planet's past.



Each rover is equipped with three sets of magnetic targets: one set of magnets carried by the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT), a second set of two magnets mounted on the front of the rover, next to the color calibration / sundial, and a third magnet mounted on the top of the rover deck.

• Rat magnets - four magnets carried by the RAT, used to detect magnetic minerals in the rock material;
  
• Capture magnet - magnet mounted on the front of the rover, designed to capture any magnetic particles.
  
• Filter magnet - magnet mounted on the front of the rover, designed to capture the most magnetic particles.
  
• Sweep magnet - mounted on the top of the rover deck, designed to only allows non-magnetic particles to settle in the center of the magnet.

The rover is also equipped with Calibration Targets (such as sundial) that are used by instruments to determine accurate colors, brightnesses, and other specific details.

• Pancam calibration target is in the shape of a sundial, mounted on the rover deck.
  
• Mössbauer Spectrometer calibration target mounted under the rover solar panels (it can also be used by the APXS).
  
• APXS calibration target is on the inside of its dust doors.
  
• Mini-TES has an internal target located the Pancam Mast Assembly as well as an external target on the deck of the rover near the low-gain antenna.The colored blocks in the corners are used to calibrate the color in images of the Martian landscape.

------
That would be all for this week. Keep following us on social media and feel free to join our discord channel

Best Regards,
Rover Mechanic Simulator Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/864680/Rover_Mechanic_Simulator/

There are many devices available in the Martian Workshop that will allow you to dismantle and maintain parts of the Mars rovers. At the beginning of the game, all the tools are stored on the shelves. You have to choose the tools that you will use during the repair process and put them in the player’s inventory. Selected tools will be available in the inventory during the quest.
For example, you will have a drill-driver and riveting tool at your disposal, which work great on jobs requiring precision.

Drill-driver - cordless drill that is mainly used for driving fasteners or screws and removing screws. It is also used for tightening nuts and removing the rivets. The device is equipped with adjustable clutch, that allow you to control the level of torque in order to avoid overdriving a screw or fastener or to prevent damaging delicate parts of the rover.



As you progress through the game, you will be able to upgrade a drill-driver, which will make your work more effective.



Before driving screws or removing screws you have to choose a drill socket:
- Cross recessed tip socket;
- Flat tip socket;
- Hex socket;
- Hex shank;

You can adjust the sockets to the drill-driver, which allow you to fasten screws of various size. Each socket is available in three different size (small, medium, large). The game itself sets the right socket, and the player just adjusts the size to the compatible screw. Additionally, you will have the drill bit, which will allow you to remove the rivets from parts of the rover.



Riveting Tool - cordless device, that is only used for setting new rivets. It is equipped with one attachment that will allow to set the rivets. In the later stages of the game, you’ll be able to upgrade the tool, which will make your work more precise.


-------
The repair process includes three repairing modes: assembly, disassembly, analysis. In each mode the tools will have different functions, but this is the topic for the future devlog! Keep following us on social media and feel free to join our discord channel! If your friends are interested in Rovers, don't hesitate to tell them to check out Rover Mechanic Simulator on Steam!

Best Regards,
Rover Mechanic Simulator Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/864680/Rover_Mechanic_Simulator/

In previous post, you became familiar with the Spirit and Opportunity’s Pancam Mast Assembly. Today we would like you to learn about science instruments mounted on the Robotic Arm.

Robotic Arm (also called the instrument deployment device, or IDD) is a device mounted on a rover that holds and maneuvers four science instruments: RAT, MI, MB and APXS. At the end of the arm is a cross-shaped turret that holds various tools. It can spin through a 350-degree turning range.



RAT (Rock Abrasion Tool) - instrument mounted on the robotic arm that is used to remove rock surfaces in order to expose fresh material for the analysis. It grinds away the rock layers.

MI (Microscopic Imager) - the magnifying glass that takes microscopic images, used to examine the rocks and soils.



MB (Mössbauer Spectrometer) - the instrument used to analyze and characterize the iron in the rocks. It also analyzes magnetic dust samples collected by the Magnetic Array on the rover's deck.



APXS (Alpha-Particle X-Ray Spectrometer) instrument used to specify the elemental composition of the rocks. It is mounted on the robotic arm and must be placed in contact with the rock surface for the analysis.



In future devlogs, you will learn about the specific details of other Spirit and Opportunity’s science instruments :)
Keep following us on social media and feel free to join our discord channel.

Best Regards,
Rover Mechanic Simulator Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/864680/Rover_Mechanic_Simulator/

Before you start the repairing process, you have to learn the details of Mars Rovers and their components. Each rover is equipped with various scientific instruments, which are used to acquire specialized information about the conditions on the Red Planet.Today’s post will focus on the Spirit and Opportunity’s Pancam Mast Assembly, which looks like the rover’s “neck and head”.



Pancam (also known as Panoramic Camera) consists two digital cameras used to take 3D panoramic pictures of the Martian landscape.
The instrument is also used to create a map of the area where the rover lands, which helps with the search for interesting rocks and soil to analyze.

Navcams are black-and-white cameras that used a visible light to take panoramic 3D images. The Navcam is a stereo pair of cameras, each with a 45-degree field of view to support ground navigation planning.



Mini-TES (Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer) - measures the different spectrums of infrared light, or heat, emitted from different minerals in rocks and soils. Mini-TES is also used to look for minerals which formed in the presence of water.



Keep following our social media channels to learn more about the specific details of other instruments in future devlogs :)
Also feel free to join our discord channel

Best Regards,
Rover Mechanic Simulator Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/864680/Rover_Mechanic_Simulator/

Today we have an amazing news for you! ːsteamhappyː
Our game Occupy Mars was qualified as one of the 20 "Best Indie Games" and will participate in the finals of the Indie Showcase competition at Digital Dragons!



At Digital Dragons you'll be able to meet some of us with a chance to play an exclusive demo of Occupy Mars!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/758690/Occupy_Mars_The_Game/

Look around closely and find easter eggs! Aparat from the main tasks, such as repairing and maintaining Mars Rovers, the game will give you various things to do! Test your observation and discover hidden features!



Rover Mechanic Simulator will have many secret features, like mini-games, which you'll have to unlock. For example, gantry controller is the device, which will allow you to control the gantry, but it will also allow you to play a snake!



Besides the snake mini-game, you will be able to discover other hidden messages in the game!



Feel free to join our discord channel! If you have any topics, which you would like to read about in the future devlogs, don’t hesitate to post it! :)

Best Regards,
Rover Mechanic Simulator Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/864680/Rover_Mechanic_Simulator/

When NASA announced that the Opportunity Rover mission officially ended on Feb 13th we were all very sad. This "little rover that could" along with his twin brother Spirit landed on Mars in January 2004.

Since that time he gave us amazing science and pictures. He was designed to operate for 90 days, but he worked tirelessly for 15 years!

We thought it's not fair that the Rover is to stay broken on Mars forever and we decided that if there's anything we could do to bring him (and other Mars Rovers) back to life we would do it!

That's why we are announcing Rover Mechanic Simulator - a new game in the "Occupy Mars" Universe where you play as one of the colonists - an engineer who works in one of the first Mars bases with the goal of fixing all the historic Rovers and Landers that ever landed on the Red Planet.

Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, Phoenix, InSight and more... all of the rovers and landers that ever touched the surface of the Red Planet we want to ultimately add to this game. Learning all the details about their internal components and hundreds of scientific instruments they have on board will be an exciting and fun scientific adventure!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/864680/Rover_Mechanic_Simulator

See also our other game about Mars. Occupy Mars is a completely different game with different mechanics. It's a science-fiction, sandbox, survival game. We know that players who enjoy playing "Mechanic" games usually don't play survival / open-world simulators and we hope that thanks to Rover Mechanic some of you will actually get more interested in Mars exploration as well :)

Also we want to clarify that by making Rover Mechanic Simulator we are not taking anything away from Occupy Mars - on the contrary - thanks to this second game we were able to grow our team so we can actually do more in both games.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/758690/Occupy_Mars_The_Game