Like all automobile manufacturers, Tesla applies for a large number of technical patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and other institutions every year, covering all dimensions of vehicle engineering and manufacturing. Of course, some of the patented technologies also fully reflect the brand tonality of "Tesla"-technology subverts tradition. Here we will take stock of Tesla's interesting patented technologies that are close to ordinary consumers in recent years.
The touch-sensitive multifunctional steering wheel can even directly shift gears
In the patent application No.2239558, Tesla submitted a multifunctional interactive technology for the steering wheel, in which a fully touch-sensitive panel is arranged for the steering wheel, which supports a variety of gesture touch-sensitive interaction behaviors, including tapping, double-clicking, hovering, sliding and so on. The touch-sensitive area also provides feedback responses such as lighting, sound and vibration, and the functions of interacting with users include an infotainment system. For example, the cruising speed and car-following distance of Autopilot are controlled by tapping+up/down/left/right sliding with fingers in a specific touch area, and the touch pad vibrates and gives feedback, and the central control panel will pop up the corresponding feedback interface.
Of course, the fully-touch steering wheel is not the latest technology nowadays, and some automobile manufacturers have put it into the market. However, on the patent map provided by Tesla, we found that there was a gear sign on the lower part of the steering wheel, which indicated that they were likely to use steering wheel operations such as touch to shift gears. Although the relevant technical details are not specifically mentioned in the current patent description, we believe that Tesla is trying different methods to replace the traditional shift operation.
Wipe out stains like a laser weapon
Among these patents, one technology sounds a bit crazy-cleaning stains on glass with laser pulses. Tesla's patent application No.219351873 mentioned a cleaning system dedicated to the surface of glass products, which focused the high-pulse laser beam emitted by optical components on the surface of stains, so that the stains could evaporate or peel instantly. The detection and control system can accurately detect the location and size of the area where the stain is located, and adjust the working thresholds such as laser power density, pulse number, incident angle and wavelength to achieve the best cleaning effect.
compared with traditional mechanical physical cleaning and chemical cleaning, laser cleaning technology is efficient, fast, pollution-free, noise-free, does not damage the surface of cleaning products, and has no impact on human health, so it has a long-term application prospect. Laser cleaning technology has been widely used in many precision industrial fields, but Tesla's idea is still relatively advanced to put it into a commercial car.
Of course, this does not mean that the traditional wipers will be replaced soon. Before laser cleaning is further popularized, Tesla's windshield still needs to use the wipers that we are familiar with to remove stagnant water. However, on the basis of conventional mechanical wipers, Tesla also proposed a patent for wiper control through magnetic levitation technology, which made the wiper more efficient and durable, and also created better working conditions for the driver assistance sensing system behind the windshield. As for laser cleaning technology, in addition to being applied to windshield in the future, we can also imagine that Tesla will also apply it to other surfaces, such as getting rid of the embarrassing title of "fingerprint collector" for LCD touch screen.
Do you remember my neighbor totoro in Miyazaki Hayao?
There is a big cat bus in Miyazaki Hayao's movie My Neighbor Totoro, which is a combination of vehicles and cats. Just like a big cat, it can feel the passengers sitting in it, and it also makes people feel warm and safe. Let's also see if the following two technologies have this meaning. Tesla's patent application No.2193877 describes the data collection of the occupants through new sensors distributed in the seats. The system will analyze the data, identify and classify the occupants, and automatically adjust the working state of the airbag and other systems. Simply put, if you sit in Tesla's chair, it will know whether you are fat or thin, tall or short, old or young or middle-aged "migrant worker", and it will also know whether you are sitting, lying or standing upside down, and accordingly turn on or off the airbag somewhere to prevent the airbag from popping out untimely and hurting you in a collision accident.
another patented technology closely related to the safety of vehicle occupants is the safety belt use monitoring technology (patent application No.21916871). This technology collects and analyzes the occupant's seat belt use status through sensors in the seat belt and seat, which is of course not as simple as wearing a seat belt and turning off an indicator light. The system can accurately identify whether the occupant is using the seat belt correctly. In the past, the seat belt was thrown behind his back, his left arm straddled the seat belt, and a popular seat belt buckle was accurately judged as abnormal use of the seat belt by the system. In addition to expressing the sincerity of "safety first" to users, this rigorous monitoring measure is also very important for Tesla to legally avoid the safety loopholes of products.
other noteworthy Tesla patent applications also include the technology described as "holographic decorative glass for screen color matching", which is to improve the display effect of the display screen. Due to the characteristics of pixel structure, the color effect of the current display screen is highly dependent on the angle of the viewer's gaze, and even a high-resolution screen can not improve this problem. Tesla tried to solve this problem by placing holographic film and refractive index matching glue in the glass, and finally provided the best display effect for passengers at all locations.
There is also the Autopilot automatic driving assistance system that is being upgraded in an all-round way. With the support of Dojo neural network, vehicles can achieve more complex autonomous driving control capabilities, and related new technologies are constantly reflected in Tesla's patent applications. Of course, we can't forget a large number of core engineering technologies that Tesla has continuously accumulated in terms of technology platform, car body structure, battery cells, power management, electric drive, etc. Interested friends can click on the following links to check the intellectual property patent records related to Tesla
Tesla patents
State comments
Although the dazzling array of Tesla patents allows us to see the forefront of science and technology in various dimensions, please don't rush to "climax". Many of them are just patent applications. Even if the patented technology is approved, it will not necessarily appear on the Tesla you want to buy in the future, and it does not rule out that some technologies are likely to be sealed in the patent book forever. Of course, Tesla's attitude towards technological innovation is indeed very positive. Apart from paving the way for its own products, a very important motivation is to give investors confidence. What Wall Street always covets most is a big cake with the words "subversive revolution", which is of course the chef elon musk's specialty. Yes, not only is he good at making western-style desserts, but chef Ma also needs to satisfy the appetite of diners all over the world-if you want to ask what else is delicious, of course, the leek box.
This article comes from the author of Chejia, car home, and does not represent car home's standpoint.