▲f 1 racing steering wheel
Today, BMW is more enlightened on this basis and is developing a retractable steering wheel.
According to BMW's latest patent drawings, the steering wheel looks like the Decepticons in Transformers. Just the patent drawings can remind me of the mechanical splicing sound of "click, click".
▲ Patent drawings applied by BMW.
The actual situation is indeed the case. The patent shows that this steering wheel adopts a series of very complicated hinge designs, which can be folded from a traditional circle to an ellipse, similar to the popular "folding screen mobile phone" on the market now, but the mechanical structure is more complicated.
Judging from the information shown in the patent drawing, this steering wheel is an ordinary steering wheel under daily working conditions. But when it is "angry" and deformed, the steering wheel will move the position of 12 down through hinges, couplings and other structures, and at the same time move the position of 6 o'clock up, thus becoming an ellipse-like shape.
So the question is, what's the use of this steering wheel? Is the purpose of its folding really just what netizens call "fitness equipment"? Let's take a look at it next.
0 1 Pave the way for autonomous driving?
Regarding the retractable steering wheel, I believe that most people will focus on autonomous driving. After all, the AI:ME released by Audi at CES this year also adopted a similar "extensible" design.
According to the foreign BMWX2forum website (BMW's fan forum), this deformable steering wheel will automatically shrink into an oval shape when the vehicle is driving automatically, or be directly embedded in the center console. The purpose is naturally to provide more space for drivers.
▲ When the vehicle realizes L5 automatic driving, the steering wheel is meaningless.
According to this idea, BMW models that use this steering wheel in the future will fold the steering wheel back after entering automatic driving. If it is necessary to take over manually under special circumstances, the steering wheel will automatically pop up for the driver to operate personally.
It can be seen that compared with the "traditional steering wheel" and the L5-class automatic driving without steering wheel at all, the deformable steering wheel takes into account the advantages of both, and is a compromise, which not only meets the demand of the driver's seat for space, but also ensures the human intervention in the driving state in an emergency.
Of course, this also directly shows that this steering wheel can only support L4 automatic driving.
In fact, BMW's research and development of autonomous driving is not much slower than Audi's. Since 2000, BMW has started the research and development of autonomous driving, and put forward the "ACES" strategy for the first time on 20 16, and officially entered the "new four modernizations". (Electrification, intelligence, networking and sharing)
Kruger, chairman of BMW Group, divided the period from 20 16 to 2025 into three stages: the first stage focused on promoting electrification, the second stage increased the R&D budget in the field of autonomous driving, and the third stage aimed at becoming a top manufacturer in the field of high-end travel.
▲ BMW is moving towards electrification step by step.
Therefore, it can be seen that if the retractable steering wheel is the "paving behavior" of BMW's automatic driving, then BMW has entered the most critical period of the second stage. Both the retractable steering wheel and the new technology that BMW may launch in the future are important technical reserves for BMW to realize fully automatic driving.
With the rise of the new domestic car-making forces, autonomous driving seems to have become one of the development trends of the automobile industry. In order to take the lead in this market, Google Waymo, Baidu Apollo, Tesla, BBA, domestic Weilai, Tucki and other manufacturers have begun to keep a low profile.
According to the classification of autonomous driving, L3 is undoubtedly the watershed of the whole autonomous driving. After Audi, Tesla and other manufacturers put L3 autopilot on the market, the time left for other manufacturers during 2020 ~ 202 1 is already very urgent.
New passive security configuration?
Different from the wishful thinking of car fans, the British car information website Auto Express gives different views on BMW's foldable steering wheel. The website believes that this innovation is mainly to increase the safety of self-driving cars, and even safety may be the main reason for BMW to develop this technology.
Profession deserves to be a profession with a unique point of view.
▲ BMW Vision NEXT 100
In fact, it is not the first time that the design of BMW's retractable steering wheel has appeared in the public eye. BMW used this technology in Vision Next100, a concept car released at Munich Centennial Celebration in 20 16. When the vehicle starts, the steering wheel will automatically pop up.
From my personal point of view, the application of folding retractable steering wheel in safety will be more likely than in automatic driving.
Take BMW as an example. For vehicles equipped with BMW G series chassis and driver assistance system, after leaving the steering wheel for too long, the LED light on the steering wheel will flash to remind the driver, while BMW equipped with early driver assistance system will vibrate the steering wheel when the turn signal is not turned on to remind the driver.
Obviously, these measures are still a little stretched for emergencies. If an emergency is inevitable, the most effective passive safety configuration is "life-saving equipment". No matter whether the steering wheel is automatically retracted or folded, what to do for the driver is the first choice in that emergency.
However, there is still a problem. If the steering wheel is automatically recycled, how can the airbag bounce off ... Well, I believe that if the retractable steering wheel really has this "protection function", the engineer will definitely solve it.
▲ The retractable steering wheel exhibited on Audi AI:ME before.
In fact, in 20 17, researchers at Stanford University have tested self-driving vehicles with a "steering wheel that can automatically change its shape". The experimental results show that in an emergency, people respond faster to the deformable steering wheel than the steering wheel with light reminder.
Stanford University's evaluation of this research is: "Drivers who experience the steering wheel that automatically changes shape perform better than those who experience the steering wheel with LED lights. In other words, it is more effective to give an alarm by mechanical action than by mere visual warning. "
This way is not difficult to understand. Let's give a common example in life: "Do you think the alarm clock wakes up quickly, or can your mother wake up quickly by giving you a big mouth?" BMW's technology belongs to the latter. Of course it will be gentle.
Speaking of it, BMW has a long history in the innovative design of steering wheel. At the 20 18 Los Angeles Auto Show, BMW released the Vision iNext concept car. The car is equipped with a rectangular steering wheel similar to F 1 racing car, and its shape is very unique.
Officials claim that this design not only allows drivers to easily switch between automatic driving mode and active driving mode, but also makes it easier for them to identify the steering angle of wheels and improve driving accuracy. Since I have never driven an F 1 racing car, the official statement … can only be interpreted as "it should be like this" by default.
▲ BMW Vision iNext
Some insiders speculate that the BMW 202 1 iNext model will not be equipped with this retractable folding steering wheel, but this design has no major technical problems, so it will take only a few years to put into production in theory, and the time from mass production will not be too long.
It can be seen that the difficulty of telescopic folding steering wheel lies not in manufacturing, but in application.
03 written at the end
Friends who often pay attention to the concept car must know that what many car companies like to do most is to make the steering wheel of the concept car like a spaceship. We don't know what function it can achieve. Anyway, it looks cool.
I don't know if BMW is the first manufacturer to consider mass production of the "retractable folding steering wheel", but in any case, this imaginative idea and the spirit of daring to explore are still worthy of applause. Even if this technology doesn't succeed in the end, we haven't lost anything.
But if it succeeds, it is related to the vital interests of each of us. The automobile industry has developed for so long, isn't that how the truly practical "high-tech configuration" came about?
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.