Recently, overseas media revealed that a group of Volvo Car employees applied for a new patent for the steering wheel system, which can slide from one side of the car to the other or the central control area. This means that the driving position can be switched between the primary driver and the secondary driver. In fact, Volvo filed a patent application with the US Patent and Trademark Office as early as 20 19, but it was not until late September that it decided to publish it.
As can be seen from Volvo's patent drawing, the steering wheel can move left and right on the center console, and it can stop at the central control position, and the related switches such as the dashboard will also move accordingly. However, the lateral movement of the steering wheel is not always possible, and it must be carried out on the premise of wire-controlled technology and automatic or semi-automatic driving.
Some friends will be curious that the steering wheel has slipped away. What about the accelerator and brake pedal? It is never possible for one person to control the steering wheel and the other person to control the accelerator and brake pedal. Otherwise, it's a good tacit understanding. According to the relevant description, Volvo will use a more advanced cross-floor pressure-sensitive sensor instead, which is installed behind the steering wheel or at the pedal position of the main and co-pilot position to activate the sensor to provide braking and acceleration. And Volvo offers two gear shifting schemes, one is Rolls-Royce and the other is traditional gear shifting.
The patent of Volvo's brand-new sliding steering wheel looks very sci-fi and practical, and everyone must know that this technology is still in the patent stage and has not been realized due to the restrictions of current traffic regulations and technical safety issues in various countries. Volvo's technology patent is based on autonomous driving technology. According to the current autonomous driving technology, it may take several years or even decades for Volvo's technology patent mass production to be realized.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.