Swedish Volvo Cars has previously applied for a patent for a system that allows the vehicle's steering wheel and its instrument panel to move from one side of the car to the other.
Volvo first applied for a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in early 2019, but the patent was not published until late September. The patent applied by Volvo is that the steering wheel in the car can be moved from left to right, or from right to left. This is not a science fiction movie, and as autonomous driving technology becomes more and more common, Volvo will be able to achieve this goal .
Patent drawings published last month describe how the vehicle would use various drive-by-wire components, including steering-by-wire, brake-by-wire and throttle-by-wire systems, meaning the controls would be linked to the controls they operate. There is no physical connection between the systems. For example, this would allow the driver to simply push the steering wheel and dashboard to the other side if they wanted to have the car itself completely take over driving the vehicle. Even the steering wheel can be positioned in the center of the car's dashboard, like the McLaren F1 supercar.
In addition, Volvo also offers two solutions for the dashboard, one is a dashboard screen located behind the steering wheel, and the other is a screen that moves with the steering wheel. As for the pedals, Volvo's system could use pressure-sensing pads, hydraulic or pneumatic sensors that would be installed in both front foot wells. The left pedal sensor will automatically activate when the steering wheel is on the left, and the right pedal sensor will automatically activate when the steering wheel is on the right.
In fact, Volvo’s idea of ??a sliding steering wheel is not the first. Mercedes-Benz Unimog has this special steering wheel. Although it is not as elegant and creative as Volvo’s, it is still The steering wheel can be changed from left to right. You can see Unimog's system in the video below.
The idea that the steering wheel can change from left to right is not surprising. But Volvo is thinking about how to get ahead of the game. Vehicles that can drive fully autonomously from start to finish are still years, if not decades, away. But when that day comes, or when the technology reaches Level 3 or Level 4, Volvo's idea means that it does not have to design specific fixed left-hand drive or right-hand drive for different markets, thus reducing development costs.
▼Mercedes-Benz?Unimog?U423
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.