Tri-Rotor Steering Wheel Yields Programmable Vehicular Control

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed a programmable steering wheel called the Tri-Rotor, which allows an astronaut the ability to easily operate a vehicle on the surface of a planet or moon despite the limited dexterity of their spacesuit. This technology was originally conceived for the operation of a lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) to improve upon previous Apollo-era hand controllers. In re-evaluating the kinematics of the spacesuit, such as the rotatable wrist joint and the constant volume shoulder joint, engineers developed an enhanced and programmable hand controller that became the Tri-Rotor.