I just thought of some more features the rover could have, if network bandwidth allows it.

My laptop is a Asus G73sw which supports 3D using special Nvidia glasses.

The rover could have two webcams, giving the "mission control" operator 3D vision using a 3D screen like my laptop has.

The rover might also have two microphones, like human ears.

The operator wears headphones, and can easily distinguish the origin of all sounds, just like humans do in the real world.

3D vision and stereo sound is not very important, but would be really cool if it works.

This might sound like a big project, but that´s just good.

It will make many interesting episodes for the Ben Heck Show, covering many different subjects such as mechanics, Arduino, programming, network interface, engine control etc...

Ready made chassis such as this one could also save time:

ROVER 5 - Robot Chassis

Not sure if I have a radio transmitter strong enough!

Thank you for answering :-)

But I think you misunderstand.

The "Mars rover" would not need any specialized radio equipment.

It would have ordinary wireless internet using one of those Mobile Internet USB Sticks.

One of these connected to the Arduino board:

That way the rover always has Internet access, and is controlled by you using the Internet.

It would drive around in your neighborhood, or anywhere in the world, as long as there is a  mobile internet connection.

It does not actually go to another planet, but it would look a lot like Spirit/Opportunity, driving around in the street or the park.

The Rover could take the dog for a walk or deliver pizza (that would probably be cold upon arrival, but that´s not the point.)

You control it from anywhere in the world, using your laptop. The laptop is also using the Internet.

The Rover could have a web-interface, so you can control everything in the browser, almost like a online Flash-game.

Just type the Rover´s IP address in your browser, and the user interface comes up like a website. The web server being the Arduino, or perhaps Raspberry Pi.

You aren't going to take one of those usb hotspot sticks and plug it into an Arduino because the Arduino is not a computer, it is a microcontroller.  Your best bet is to either find a compatible mobile modem that can interface, I've seen plenty for SMS, but haven't seen much for data, or use a computer as the mainboard and possibly a microcontroller if you want time sensitive tasks, have analog data, etc.  So probably look into any of those USB sticks that are Linux compatible and use something like the Pi or a Beaglebone.

Also, you coud possibly get one that is a router and has ethernet or wifi and try to interface it that way using a shield on the Arduino.

Trying to get an Arduino to interface with a USB device that has custom closed source drivers is not an easy task.  You basically have to reverse engineer the driver and redo it for the Arduino.

http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?PHPSESSID=0po4fgvl5lkrc5a9g2kh8gnao7&topic=127342.0

Thanks for all answers!

Perhaps Arduino is not the correct motherboard for the Rover.

But Raspberry Pi has USB and networking.

Just put a miniature 3G router inside the Rover, and connect the Raspberry Pi to it.

The Raspberry Pi would be configured as a interactive web server.

It contains a website with live video and all the controls for driving the Rover.

So all you need to control it is a browser, logged into the "website" hosted by the Rover.

This is perhaps to much to ask from Arduino, but I think Raspberry Pi could do it.

Robots are cool, I should build one eventually.

For me it would need a purpose, like a Roomba. Or to fetch me drinks or components.