The term “don't reinvent the wheel” is often used in situations or scenarios where someone would overcomplicate things when they could be simple.
Automakers, on the other hand, think differently. In many modern cars, the simple steering wheel has as many buttons, levers and switches as a video game controller. At the same time, Tesla (TSLA) has foregone the conventional “round” steering wheel and incorporated the infamous “yoke” into its flagship cars.
However, a German company, whose parts are found in a wide variety of cars on the road, has come up with a way to reinvent the wheel for today's technology-dependent drivers.
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ZF LIFETEC
At its first technology Day, German auto parts supplier ZF Group unveiled a new steering wheel design that incorporates a new airbag design that deploys from the top of the steering wheel, rather than the front.
In a typical steering wheel installed in modern automobiles, the airbag is mounted in the front and center of the steering wheel, as the airbag is designed to inflate above the steering wheel in the event of a crash. With this design, ZF mounts the airbag in a different location, freeing up space for whatever manufacturers want to incorporate with their new design.
In the mockup it displayed, ZF incorporated a small screen in the right center of the steering wheel, in the usual place where an automaker's logo would normally go. Although ZF calls this a “perfect smartphone-like design,” the intention of this is not to enable distracted driving, but quite the opposite.
ZF LIFETEC
According to ZF, the static or touchscreen monitor can be used as an additional display for safety-related alerts, such as pre-collision warnings and blind spot monitoring. The ZF team behind this steering wheel also emphasized that the steering wheel can also be configured with a hybrid design that combines the use of displays, rotary switches, and tactile and force-sensitive switches.
Additionally, the additional space could allow automakers to add more sensors, including those used in semi-autonomous vehicles. ZF says the steering wheel can also be used with what they call “hands-on” sensing, which uses a capacitive sensor under the steering wheel leather that detects when the steering wheel is held.
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ZF currently has no timeline for when this type of technology will be implemented in passenger cars, but given that ZF LIFETEC, the recently rebranded arm of ZF that specializes in automotive passive safety system components, currently has the 20 % of global market share; A steering wheel car with this new technology could hit showrooms sooner rather than later.
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