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Already done? More than 40 years ago, but probably still workable:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Roving_Vehicle#Control_a...

Did you read the article? That's exactly what the author was pointing out. Also this article and wiki have ruined The Martian for me.

Gyroscopes accumulate error with time, they make sense for an application with a short range but they're useless over long periods of time without a reference standard to crosscheck and recalibrate. That's one part of The Martian the author got entirely correct despite the criticism. The mechanical odometer in your car is only accurate to +/-3% of reading and the best mechanical calibration standards are only 0.25% of reading, that puts the trip described in The Martian off by ~90km.

Thanks, I was being mildly sarcastic in my post but having the math laid out is great.

NASA has the brains to design a better odometer but navigating by stars and GPS makes more sense.

Also, remember the +/-3% next time you're comparing a used cars. Worrying about 5-6,000 miles on a car with 100,000 is pointless since the odometer itself lies by up to 3,000 miles. Then you have further error introduced by new sets of tires which wear down 6-15mm depending on their tread depth and can vary several mm in diameter despite having the same nominal size as the OEM tires.

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