With the advent of autonomous driving technology and the era of intelligent cars, car companies in the development of driving experience can be described as "per capita volume king", in addition to intelligent voice functions, recently Tesla also said that in the future to run all steam games on Model S and other models, in short, the additional functions of smart cars are more and more. Of course, there are also car companies that take a different path and work on the traditional steering wheel. For example, it was recently reported that Toyota Motor is applying for a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for an inflatable steering wheel that intelligently changes the thickness according to the scene.
From the design drawings submitted by Toyota, the steering wheel is similar in appearance to the conventional steering wheel, except that it can automatically inflate and deflate to remind the driver whether the vehicle is yaw: if the car is driven according to the planned route of the auxiliary driving system, then the outer ring of the steering wheel will automatically inflate and thicken, which means that the driver is not currently yawning; and if the vehicle enters the wrong lane, the outer ring of the steering wheel will immediately deflate and thin, and only a certain part of the area can be inflated. For example, if the vehicle is yawned to the left, then correspondingly, the left steering wheel will deflate. In this way, when the driver holds the steering wheel in his hand, he can rely on the hand's perception of the change in the diameter of the steering wheel, react quickly, and control the driving direction of the car in time.
Everyone will ask: some cars' steering wheels have been designed with yaw warning systems, will the inflatable steering wheel be a bit chicken ribs? In this regard, Toyota said: At present, the steering wheel of some cars on the market is basically reminded by vibration or prompt tone, which may distract the attention of the owner and have certain safety risks. In particular, the sound will make the driver's eyes off the road, which is more risky. However, for drivers, what kind of sound or touch can disperse driving, which may also vary from person to person, after all, we drive on the road, do not listen to yaw prompts, but also listen to navigation voices and music and other sounds. Whether it is a steering wheel that can become thick and thin and inflatable, or a steering wheel that vibrates or has a tone is good, it is also a matter of opinion
Speaking of which, there are not a few car companies that work fancy on the steering wheel, which may be because the car did not design the steering wheel at the beginning of creation, to be precise, the world's first car designed by Carl Benz is not called a steering wheel, but a directional "pole", and the driver controls the direction of the vehicle by breaking it. Later, when the workshop workers of the Daimler Group repaired a "Fitton" brand car, they accidentally bent the pole, but unexpectedly found that the angle tilting direction lever was more labor-saving to control, and it happened that the rudder of a shipyard was moved out shortly after, and the Daimler Group had a flash of inspiration and equipped the round rudder to the car. The slightly inclined circular steering wheel is very practical, so most car companies have followed this style since then.
But no one said that the steering wheel must be round! Since the 1980s, some car companies have been avant-garde in their concept models, such as in 1986, the "retired" Ozzmobile concept car of General Motors in the United States was equipped with a steering wheel that imitated the joystick of an airplane. So today, although the yoke steering wheel configured by Tesla and some toyota models is somewhat maverick in the mainstream, the operation experience and safety are still a little different, but with the development of technology, the yoke steering wheel may once again define the shape of the steering wheel ~ after many years, whether there is a steering wheel, maybe it does not matter.