Configurable Steering Column Stalks for Driver Consistency
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Solution Overview
Problem
The lack of consistency in steering column stalk configurations across different vehicle manufacturers requires drivers to re-acclimate to varying control setups each time they drive a different vehicle, leading to driver distraction and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
A user-configurable steering column with tactile-sensitive display devices allows drivers to assign switch functions to vehicle accessories, enabling customizable configurations that can be stored and recalled, using a computer system coupled to the switches and various driver circuits, allowing for consistent control layouts across vehicles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If manufacturers use different steering column stalk configurations to control vehicle accessories, then each manufacturer can optimize for their specific vehicle design, but drivers must re-acclimate to different controls in different vehicles leading to driver distraction and inefficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic configurability of steering column stalk functions through software programming, allowing the control assignments to be changed and adapted. The system stores multiple configuration profiles that can be selected based on driver preference or vehicle type, making the control system flexible rather than fixed. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining manufacturer design flexibility while enabling operational consistency across different vehicles.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the functional parameters of the steering column stalks through programmable assignments. Each stalk can be programmed to control different vehicle accessories based on stored configurations. This allows the physical hardware to remain consistent while the control functions are dynamically adjusted, thereby maintaining ease of operation across different vehicles while preserving manufacturer design flexibility.
2Reliability
If drivers must learn different steering column stalk configurations for different vehicles, then manufacturers can optimize controls for their specific vehicle designs, but drivers experience driver distraction and reduced efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary configuration by storing multiple pre-programmed stalk assignment profiles in memory before the driver needs to use them. When a driver enters a vehicle, they can quickly select from pre-configured options or have the system automatically apply the appropriate configuration based on vehicle identification. This eliminates the need for drivers to re-learn controls each time, reducing re-acclimation time while maintaining optimized control layouts.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates and stores copies of different stalk configuration profiles in memory, allowing the same optimized control layout to be replicated across different vehicles. A driver's preferred configuration can be copied and transferred between vehicles, or multiple vehicle-specific configurations can be stored and recalled as needed, eliminating the need to re-learn controls.
3Ease of manufacture
If steering column stalks have fixed manufacturer-specific configurations, then manufacturing and programming are simplified, but drivers cannot maintain familiarity with control layouts across different vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements multi-functionality by programming the steering column stalks to perform multiple different control assignments depending on the selected configuration profile. The same physical stalk hardware can control different vehicle accessories based on the programmed configuration. This maintains manufacturing simplicity while enabling the system to accommodate different driver preferences and vehicle types through software flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces dynamic reconfigurability through programmable stalk assignments stored in memory. While the physical manufacturing remains simple and standardized, the functional configuration can be dynamically changed through software. Multiple profiles can be stored and switched between, allowing the system to adapt to different driver preferences without complicating the manufacturing process.
Data Source
AI summary
A user-configurable steering column is made from steering column-mounted switches, each of which is coupled to a computer, which is also coupled to various different driver circuits, each of which is configured to control the operation of a corresponding vehicle accessory device, such as head lamps, a wiper motor or the vehicle's cruise control. A tactile-sensitive display device located in either a head unit, smartphone inside the vehicle, or in a dedicated, dash board-mounted device, provides a menu of assignable switches and user-controllable devices, or it displays icons representing the switches and accessories. A driver assigns a switch to a particular accessory by selecting icons. The computer thereafter reads the switches' states and sends corresponding control signals to the drivers for the various devices that were mapped to the switches. Multiple different programmed configurations can be stored in a memory device and selected by a user using the tactile-sensitive display device.