BMW joystick steering wheel patent exposed! Like driving an F1 racing car with L4 autonomous driving
There are usually some concept cars appearing at auto shows, and everyone is more familiar with concept cars. Concept cars are often full of science fiction and have large LCD screens. , strange cockpit design and so on. But how to build a car with a full sense of science fiction? BMW will tell you that you can replace the traditional steering wheel with this.
Someone recently exposed a patent applied by BMW overseas. Judging from the patent, BMW is working on a future steering wheel that will use a joystick to control the car. This method is designed to It's very innovative and also brings a full sense of science fiction. Although this design is just a conceptual diagram and may not come true in the future, it is very likely that it will be realized in the future. And with the development of autonomous driving technology, traditional steering wheels may not be necessary in the future, and may actually exist in the future. A car that doesn’t require control, not even a joystick.
Some analysts say that if the steering wheel is to be canceled and the joystick is used to control the car, the requirements for autonomous driving are very high, probably at least L4 level, which is far from the L5 level of fully autonomous driving. Only the last step is left. Using a joystick instead of a steering wheel is not just for the pursuit of a sci-fi feel, nor is it just for aesthetics. It is mainly because as autonomous driving technology becomes more and more developed in the future, it will indeed be cumbersome to have a large round steering wheel in the driving position. There are also safety risks, so when the steering wheel becomes a decoration, designers will consider canceling it and using a more compact and space-saving joystick structure.
Some people don’t know how the levels of autonomous driving are classified. Generally speaking, L3 level of autonomous driving has been achieved by many car companies. For example, Tesla’s model? 3 can drive in good road conditions. Achieve automatic driving under normal circumstances. The L4 level can realize autonomous driving most of the time, and only requires human intervention under very special circumstances. The L5 level is fully autonomous driving, where humans do not need to intervene at all, the car can drive on its own, and the people in the car can even rest.
Although L5 level autonomous driving still needs a long time to slowly explore, it is no longer difficult to achieve L4 level autonomous driving. Many car companies should already have this technology, but because Due to certain regulations and adaptability restrictions, it is not available yet.
BMW’s joystick will be used in cars with a minimum level of L4 in the future. There are many key switches on the joystick, and it can realize all the functions on the steering wheel. With the For the upgrade of autonomous driving, this joystick is also a decoration and only needs to be controlled under special circumstances.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.