Anyone who's ever wrestled with a claw machine at an arcade can appreciate the difficulty in pulling and pushing on joysticks, in just the right way, to get a mechanical arm to scoop up that one special toy. Coordinating the joysticks and connecting their movement to the claw's motion is a type of 'mental mapping' that is not immediately intuitive. (And it's what arcade owners depend on to bring players back, again and again). In fact, the mechanics of a claw machine are broadly similar to driving an excavator: An operator uses joysticks to control the digger's boom, arm, and bucket, and the direction of its cab. But an excavator's maneuvers are far more complex than anything an arcade claw can do. Operators must learn more complicated mental maps to direct a digger to move rocks, grade soil, clear debris, and dig foundations, among other essential on-site jobs. Indeed, it can often take years for operators to build up expertise in maneuvering the heavy machines. MIT engineers are...
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