The Steam Deck Is Being Used to Test Mars Rovers
The Steam Deck, Valve’s portable gaming device, is being repurposed by Airbus in the UK for testing the ExoMars Rover, a mobile robot designed for Martian exploration. In a video published by YouTuber Tom Scott, an Airbus senior engineer demonstrates how the handheld gaming console is being used to control the rover prototype in a simulated Mars environment.
The ExoMars Rover will eventually be controlled autonomously through mounted 3D cameras once deployed on Mars, as the vast distance between Earth and Mars makes real-time manual control impractical. However, during development and testing phases, engineers are currently controlling the rover locally using computers and laptops to issue navigation commands and test its capabilities.
The use of the Steam Deck for this purpose highlights the versatility of modern gaming hardware and its computational capabilities beyond entertainment. Airbus’s decision to leverage the portable device for Mars rover testing demonstrates how consumer technology can serve scientific and aerospace engineering applications, combining accessibility with the processing power needed for complex robotic control systems.