Without a steering wheel and walking sideways, how will the car be driven in the future?
Text: Wang Jingyi
Editor: Lee H.Y. Yin
How do you drive the car with the steering wheel removed?
Recently, Caijing Auto (ID: caijingqiche) experienced a special car in Suzhou, which does not have a steering wheel, but uses a joystick to steer, similar to a gamepad, and similar to the joystick of driving an airplane. The driver gets into the car and sits firmly, presses the accelerator pedal, and manipulates the joystick to realize lane changes, turns, U-turns and other operations, even ordinary people can quickly get started.
For the first time, humans can control a car without a steering wheel, thanks to steer-by-wire technology, which eliminates the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the wheels, and transmits and controls the information entirely by the electronic signal ECU.
The advantages of steer-by-wire are many, one is that the steering wheel has been eliminated, and the driver's seat space has been expanded a lot, creating opportunities for new cockpit designs and reducing the possibility of safety accidents caused by vehicle collisions; Second, steer-by-wire can be completely controlled by the driver, which is considered to be an important means to achieve unmanned driving above L3.
Of course, Caijing Auto (ID: caijingqiche) is only a test car, limited by technical and legal restrictions, and will not appear on the market in the short term. The car was brought by parts giant Schaeffler to the "2023 Schaeffler China Technology Seminar" in Suzhou to showcase the forward-looking technologies of the electric and intelligent vehicle era.
The Schaeffler test car without a steering wheel and relying on a joystick to operate
Photo by Wang Jingyi
What the car of the future will look like, practitioners are drawing a clearer and clearer picture.
01 Steer-by-wire, the steering wheel has changed
The steering wheel of the car is round, and it is a circle and a half to kill to the left or right, which is the common sense of the car driver. But with the innovation of electric smart cars, this golden rule is being broken.
Starting with the Tesla "Yoke", the steering wheel has changed from a whole to a half, from a circle to a square; Now, Schaeffler has brought a new sample of steering wheelless and joystick control.
Whether it is a half-spoke or no steering wheel, it is inseparable from the continuous innovation of steer-by-wire technology, which gradually eliminates the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the wheels, and transmits the driver's steering intention and makes road information feedback through electronic signals.
Steer-by-wire technology has been widely used in aircraft, because the aircraft steering operation mechanism and actuator (servo) are very far apart, the use of mechanical structure for long-distance transmission is obviously not suitable, in addition, the aircraft requirements for steering operation are multi-directional in space, and the flexibility requirements are very high, steer-by-wire is oriented to this demand and generated.
With the rapid development of autonomous vehicles, the automotive industry has rediscovered the importance of steer-by-wire – eliminating the need for a steering column allows for more space, less weight, lower costs, improved steering accuracy, faster response times, and more possibilities for flexible design. As a result, a number of car companies and suppliers have increased their R&D efforts.
Functional safety is the focus, which means that even in the event of a failure of the electronic components, the system still achieves basic steering functions. Since the electronic components have not yet reached the same level of reliability as mechanical components, steer-by-wire generally requires a lot of redundant design, such as synchronous configuration of two systems, covering chips, actuators, power supplies and other hardware and various control software, in order to avoid the overall steering failure due to local problems.
On the basis of functional safety, reducing costs for mass production is the next fortress to be overcome. Madis Zingk, CEO of Schaeffler Group's Automotive Technology Division, told Caijing Auto (ID: caijingqiche) that steer-by-wire is still in the research and development stage, and the key components of the steer-by-wire system will be put into production around 2025, followed by a fully integrated complete steer-by-wire system.
Madis Zinck, CEO of the Automotive Technology Division of the Schaeffler Group
Photo by Wang Jingyi
A number of companies, including Schaeffler, are optimistic about the prospects of wire-controlled chassis in the era of autonomous driving. According to Matis Zinker, drive-by-wire technology is an indispensable core for the realization of the future of autonomous driving, and the realization of the future of autonomous mobility is the core innovation area of Schaeffler.
"The trend of electrification is disrupting the traditional automotive industry chain, and there will be more innovative business models in the future. Technological innovation brings business model innovation, and finally changes the attributes of goods, which is a chain reaction. Nowadays, many leading companies are preparing for a rainy day, which is also a huge challenge for traditional parts suppliers. Liu Yong, CTO of Schaeffler Greater China, told Caijing Auto (ID: caijingqiche).
Since 1995, starting from Taicang, Jiangsu, the German parts giant now has about 13,000 employees in China, 2 R&D centers in Anting, Shanghai, Changsha, Hunan, 13 factories in Taicang, Suzhou, Yinchuan, Nanjing, Xiangtan and other places, and the annual output value in China will exceed 20 billion yuan in 2022.
02 The car of the future can go sideways
If steer-by-wire is a bit far away, the rear-wheel steering function has already entered the production model.
Caijing Auto (ID: caijingqiche) found that when cornering around the pile at a speed of nearly 30 kilometers per hour, the vehicle can also maintain a basic body posture without strong rolling, ensuring comfort.
At the same time, the turning radius of the vehicle is extremely small, and a medium and large SUV with a length of 5.1 meters can also achieve a minimum turning radius of 5.6 meters, which improves the driving quality.
You know, electric cars have a relatively long wheelbase because of the battery under the floor, and the longer wheelbase means a larger turning radius, which in turn reduces handling, so rear-wheel steering can make the vehicle more precise.
At present, Schaeffler's rear-wheel steering system is the first to be mass-produced in the Lotus Eletre pure electric model, which is priced at 828,000 yuan, and more models will be put into production in the future.
Rear-wheel steering is not enough, the car of the future will also have to learn to go sideways and backwards.
For example, side parking makes many novice drivers feel a deep headache, if the vehicle can move sideways to the left and right, the problem of side parking will be solved, and the ability of automatic parking has also broken through to a new stage.
Represented by the intelligent wire-controlled integrated chassis, Schaeffler brings a way of solving problems. Thanks to the electric transaxle with centralized steering, and the intelligent steer-by-wire angle module distributed across the four wheel positions, the handling agility is improved and the vehicle can move sideways like a crab.
At present, the integrated chassis has been implemented on small vehicles such as autonomous cleaning vehicles and logistics vehicles. Caijing Auto (ID: caijingqiche) saw at the scene that an autonomous logistics vehicle can move in four directions, front, back, left and right, and can also make a 360-degree circle. As for experiencing these technologies in passenger cars, it will take more time.
An all-in-one chassis model shown by Schaeffler
Photo by Wang Jingyi
"The attributes of the future car may not only be transportation, but also a mobile platform that integrates various business scenarios, and carries out special customization and flexible manufacturing based on customer needs. For example, in the future, cars that have achieved high-end intelligent driving can set up mahjong tables in the cockpit and play all the way where they want. Liu Yong gave an example. (For an in-depth understanding of Schaeffler's understanding of chassis, please click on the previous interview link "Big Coffee Says丨Liu Yong, CTO of Schaeffler Greater China: Skateboard Chassis is Waiting for the Wind to Come")
These cutting-edge technologies in the field of electrification and intelligence will be implemented in China one after another. On November 1, the second phase of the new energy plant of Schaeffler's Taicang manufacturing base was opened, which is mainly engaged in the production and manufacturing of core components of new energy vehicles, such as motor stators and rotors, to accelerate the transformation of electrification.
At the same time as the opening of the second phase of the plant, Schaeffler plans to invest an additional 200 million euros in the construction of the third phase of the project, focusing on the field of new energy electric drives, covering the production and manufacturing of new energy vehicle products such as in-wheel motors, axle gearboxes, hybrid gearboxes, etc., which are mainly supplied to internationally renowned automobile companies for supporting use.
The future of electric smart cars is becoming clearer and clearer in China.
Editor-in-charge: Zhao Cheng