Authors of this question: Francesco Dolce & Adriano Fagiolini, Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Mobile & Intelligent Robots Panormus Laboratory (MIRPALab), Università di Palermo, Italy
The Elves want to monitor the position of Santa Claus’s new electric sleigh in real-time from their control room at the North Pole. Last Christmas Eve, they panicked, thinking that Santa had gone off course, but actually the radar they had installed on the sleigh was giving incorrect information due to adverse weather conditions. What can they do this year to avoid the same mistake and know Santa’s exact position?
a. 🎅🧠📜 Rely on Santa’s memory and hope he remembers the correct route. Because after all, it’s been only one year since he last flew.
b. 📡✈️🛷 Combine the radar information with estimates of the sleigh’s flight to correct any errors. In this way the Elves can relax instead of launching a search party every time the radar blinks!
c. 📡❄️🤞 Rely only on the radar information, hoping the weather will be good this year. After all, what could possibly go wrong with putting all your faith in technology, especially when we know how trustworthy it can be during a snowstorm?
d. 🦌🎄✨ Go back to the traditional sleigh and trust Rudolph’s and the other reindeers’ excellent sense of direction. Who needs GPS when you have a reindeer with a shining red nose?
e. 💡🌌🎉 Equip the sleigh with lights and use them to track the position. At the end of the day, if Santa can’t find his way, at least he can throw a dazzling holiday party in the sky!