MIT engineers design a better controller for operating construction diggers

MIT News reports that engineers have designed a new controller for construction diggers that replaces joysticks with a miniature replica of the machine's arm and bucket. Trainees move the device like they would the real thing, and a virtual excavator mirrors their actions on a six-screen display. In experiments, novices using the new interface performed as well as experts from the start, unlike with traditional joystick controls. The team is now adding haptics so operators can feel the weight of what they're lifting, and they see potential for remote operation in unsafe environments.

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