Airbus engineers used Valve’s Steam Deck handheld game console to test a prototype ExoMars rover in conditions that simulate the environment of the Red Planet. The experiment shows that the gaming device can serve as a practical tool for controlling robots.
Image source: youtube.com/@TomScottGo
The system was demonstrated by video blogger Tom Scott, who visited a facility where Britain’s Airbus is working on a Mars rover. The project is developing a vehicle capable of highly autonomous movement on the Martian surface. It takes too much time to transmit signals from one planet to another, and the rover must make its own navigation decisions by processing data from 3D cameras.
But during the ground testing phase, engineers needed to be able to control the device directly – for this they used the Steam Deck with special software: joysticks, buttons and triggers mounted on a portable console made it comfortable to control the machine on the fly. Essentially, the Steam Deck is a compact Linux-based PC with a built-in monitor and a full set of physical controls. It’s definitely more convenient to use than a laptop and the controller connected to it.
Valve strives to make its devices as open as possible: third-party software and operating systems can be installed on the Steam Deck; a similar approach applies to Steam Engine and Steam Framework. “It’s no coincidence that a good computer is also a good gaming device. Ultimately, a good device is a good device. So, in many cases, the problems that have to be solved are actually the same.”“Valve engineer Yazan Aldehayyat said earlier.
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