A YouTuber controls a Mars rover prototype using a Steam Deck, and the demo works surprisingly well

A content creator has gotten a real Mars rover prototype into his possession, and he tested it out by using a gaming handheld as a replacement for a standard controller. The Steam Deck, Valve’s handheld PC built for streaming games on the go, has found a side gig far from anyone’s couch.

Tom Scott’s Visit to Airbus

Scott visited Airbus’ facility in Stevenage, UK, to make the video. He got “a quick course in how not to break it, and then was handed what’s basically a gaming console,” he said. That console was the Steam Deck.

While Scott guided the rover, the handheld ran custom software, with Scott working the thumbsticks, triggers, and face buttons to steer it. Tapping a bumper rotated the rover’s wheels 90 degrees, letting it scuttle sideways “like a crab.” The video was titled “This Mars rover’s cool. But have you seen its wheels?”.

Why Airbus Chose the Steam Deck

The reasoning behind the choice became clear once it was made. The Deck, with its touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and physical controls, could run specialist software that a standard DualSense or Xbox pad simply couldn’t. Once it arrives on Mars, the finished rover will drive itself. But before that, somebody still needed to drive it around on Earth.

This is a substantial undertaking. Groups in Stevenage were working on the mechanical, thermal, and propulsion systems for the platform that will deliver ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover to the surface of Mars in 2030.

The Steam Deck’s Summer of Streaming

The PlayStation 5 cloud streaming app turned the Deck into a PS5 for the summer, with owners able to play games on it as if it were Sony’s console. Streaming a game to a train seat is one matter, but driving a rover built for another planet is quite another.

Related Space Oddity

Gaming has had its sights set on the sky before, and this year offered another instance of that. A Pikachu plush logged 67 days aboard the International Space Station, circling Earth roughly 1,040 times before it came back down to Earth.

What This Means for Handhelds

The story is amusing on its own terms, but there’s a practical thread running through it. The Deck’s hardware gives Airbus something a standard gamepad cannot: a full Linux PC with buttons, a screen, and wireless connectivity.

The hardware performed its role because it was flexible enough, and the engineers relied on that flexibility to run the custom software they needed. A standard DualSense or Xbox pad would not have done the job.

The Order of Events

1. Airbus builds a prototype of the ExoMars rover.
2. Tom Scott visits Airbus in Stevenage for a video about the rover’s wheels.
3. Airbus hands him a Steam Deck to steer the rover.
4. Scott drives the rover by tapping the deck’s bumper.

The Verdict: A Winning Handheld

A handheld built for playing streamed games on a train seat wound up piloting a Mars rover prototype instead. The Steam Deck’s buttons and screen proved more suited to the job than a standard gamepad ever could have.

Before the vehicle reaches Mars and becomes fully autonomous, someone on Earth has to pilot it. Airbus has decided that the Steam Deck is the right device for that purpose.

The sideways crab movement demo that Scott gave was a standout moment of the outing.

Source material: “YouTuber drives Mars rover prototype with a Steam Deck,” Dexerto.

Airbus · ExoMars · Mars rover · Steam Deck · Tom Scott · YouTube