On February 23, according to foreign media carbuzz, Toyota Motor recently submitted a patent application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which shows that Toyota is developing an inflatable intelligent steering wheel, hoping to improve the driving experience of car owners and have higher safety when using assisted driving systems.
Toyota designed this inflatable steering wheel to remind owners of the status of assisted driving. If the car follows the planned route of the assisted driving system, the steering wheel will be filled with air and thickened, reminding the owner that there is no yaw at present. Once the car is in the wrong lane, the steering wheel automatically tapers, reminding the owner that he needs to control the steering wheel to correct the route.
According to Toyota Motor, the steering wheel of some cars on the market will also make similar yaw reminders, but basically through vibration or sound, which may distract the owner's attention and have certain safety risks. In particular, the sound of the sound will make the owner's line of sight off the road, which is more risky.
To this end, Toyota has introduced this inflatable steering wheel that automatically becomes thicker and thinner. The car is on the right path and the steering wheel is inflated to increase the owner's grip on the steering wheel. When there is yaw, it will immediately deflate, and the owner can react quickly through the change of feel of the steering wheel in the hand, and control the direction of the car in time.
In addition, the steering wheel can also inflate or deflate only a part of the area, and the left deflation means that the car mainly corrects to the left, and vice versa. This inflatable steering wheel design is still quite interesting, and it can indeed remind the owner without interfering with the owner. But the impact on the driving experience is also very large, the steering wheel is frequently thickened or thinned during the driving process, and anyone will feel a little uncomfortable.
In fact, with the continuous improvement of the level of automobile intelligence, many car companies have begun to think about the steering wheel. Tesla is equipped with a yoke steering wheel on the Model S, breaking the traditional design of the car's steering wheel is round, and instantly pulling the car's premium and futuristic feeling to the full.
Some time ago, BMW also announced two new steering wheel design patents, more aggressive than Tesla, directly changed the steering wheel to two grippable handles, and integrated control buttons on it, in reality can also drive like in the game.
The ultimate goal of these manufacturers is to completely eliminate the steering wheel. With the continuous maturity of intelligent driving technology, there will be no need for people to control the car in the future, and it will be completely controlled by the computer. Of course, it may be far from this point, and cars without steering wheels are estimated that everyone is not afraid to drive it.