Touch-Sensitive Steering Wheel for Hands-On Vehicle Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle user interfaces are uncomfortable and contradictory to hands-on requirements during partially automated driving, as drivers must alternate between controlling the steering wheel and interacting with touch-sensitive displays, compromising convenience and safety.
Innovation Solution
A device with a touch-sensitive steering wheel that uses sensors to recognize hand positions and gestures, allowing for hands-on recognition and simultaneous control of vehicle functions, such as adjusting display perspectives and operating vehicle parameters, enhancing user interaction and safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a touch-sensitive display screen is used for user interface interactions, then the user interface functionality is improved, but the hands-on requirement for automated driving is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the user interface control functions with the steering wheel itself by integrating touch sensors into the steering wheel structure. This merging allows the driver to interact with the user interface while maintaining hand contact with the steering wheel, thus satisfying both the ease of operation and the hands-on requirement simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The steering wheel is designed to serve multiple functions: it acts as both the steering control device and the user interface input device. By integrating touch-sensitive controls into the steering wheel, the system achieves multi-functionality, allowing the same component to fulfill both driving control and interface interaction purposes.
2Ease of operation
If the driver takes hand from the steering wheel to interact with the user interface, then the user interface control is enabled, but the driving safety is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the user interface control functions with the steering wheel structure, enabling the driver to access and control interface functions without removing their hand from the steering wheel. The touch sensors integrated into the steering wheel detect hand position and gestures, allowing safe interaction while maintaining continuous steering control.
3Measurement precision
If touch sensors are integrated into the steering wheel for hands-on recognition, then the hands-on detection is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The touch sensors integrated into the steering wheel serve multiple purposes: they detect hand presence for hands-on recognition, determine hand position for interface control, and recognize gestures for command input. This multi-functionality justifies the added complexity by providing comprehensive control capabilities through a single integrated system.
Solution Approach 2:
The steering wheel with integrated touch sensors provides self-service functionality by automatically detecting hand position and gestures without requiring additional separate control mechanisms. The system uses the natural interaction of the driver's hand with the steering wheel to derive control inputs, eliminating the need for separate control devices.
Data Source
AI summary
A device for controlling a vehicle function of a vehicle includes a steering device for manual lateral control of the vehicle, wherein the steering device has at least one touch sensor, which is designed to detect sensor data relating to a touching of the steering device by a driver of the vehicle. The device is designed to determine sensor data of the touch sensor and to carry out a hands-on detection for the steering device based on the sensor data of the touch sensor. As well as the hands-on detection, the device is also designed to operate a vehicle function of the vehicle according to the sensor data.