Airbus turned the Steam Deck into a controller for a prototype Mars rover

Valve's Steam Deck portable PC, the same one you might play your favorite games on, isn't just for fun, as Airbus has just proven. The aerospace firm is using the Deck to control a prototype Mars rover throughout its development and testing process.

The ExoMars rover, a device that will be autonomous when it reaches the Red Planet, is being developed in the UK by Airbus. The rover and its Steam Deck companion made an appearance in a video shared by YouTube personality Tom Scott following a visit to Airbus' facility. And while ExoMars is being tested on Earth, it's hoped that it will eventually be capable of controlling itself when it rolls out onto the Martian terrain.

For now, engineers need a way to control the rover during its development and testing in a Mars-like environment. And for that, Airbus has settled on a Steam Deck.

The video shows a Steam Deck running unspecified custom software. Just like playing the games Steam Deck owners are familiar with, Scott can be seen using the thumbsticks, triggers, and face buttons as a method for controlling the rover.

While novel, the decision to use a Steam Deck in this way probably shouldn't be all that surprising. It's a handheld PC in every sense of the word — it's powered by Linux and has both physical and touchscreen controls, not to mention Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support. If you're so inclined, you can even install Windows on a Steam Deck, too.

All of these things make the Steam Deck the perfect way to control something as advanced as a Mars rover. Doubly so if specialist software is required, something that traditional controllers like Sony's DualSense and Microsoft's Xbox controllers can't offer. With that in mind, it's perhaps only a matter of time until we see Valve's Steam Frame also used for testing of a future Mars rover.

As for today, Airbus teams in Stevenage, UK, are working on a project to design the mechanical, thermal, and propulsion systems for the landing platform that will help a rover land on Mars in 2030. That rover will be officially called the Rosalind Franklin, and getting it to Mars safely will be "the culmination of more than 20 years’ work," says Kata Escott, the managing director of Airbus Defence and Space UK. Even if Valve's handheld doesn't prove necessary for controlling the Franklin rover once it's on Mars, it can still claim a cool spot in the history of the platform's development.

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