Dr. Mark Maimone is a Navigation and Machine Vision researcher at JPL.
Mark designed and developed the autonomous vision and navigation software that lets the MER and MSL Mars Rovers drive themselves safely, and wrote ground software that automates the analysis of Mobility and arm operations on MER and MSL.
Mark is now developing Flight Software for the Mars 2020 rover and Curiosity, and is an active Rover Planner for Curiosity. Past roles include MSL Flight Software Lead and MSL Deputy Lead Rover Driver.
Mark earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in 1996, and completed a postdoc there in 1997 as Navigation and Software Lead for the 1997 Atacama Desert Trek.
At JPL since 1997, Mark has also worked on the Long Range Science Rover, Planetary Dexterous Manipulator, and Pioneer Vision System for Chornobyl Inspection projects, delivering 3D vision systems for autonomous robotic operations and mapping.