2005 & Beyond: Changing Directions
Delphi's Saginaw arm is also working on front-wheel SBW. It favors a system that uses an individual actuator for each front wheel and an electric motor to provide feedback to the steering wheel. Called E-Steer, Saginaw's system has already been used in a California demonstration of an automated car/highway system in which it adjusts the wheel position to a precision of five one-hundredths of a degree 250 times per second.
Clearly, SBW is an idea whose time has come. Delphi in America and SKF in Europe are among the pioneers, while in Japan, Koyo Seiko has been recognized for its SBW work. Sure to drive SBW toward the marketplace is intense competition among the upscale automakers who could best afford the technology.
Will we soon have radical steering controls like joysticks, dials, or yokes? That depends on the customer. Are you willing to try something as unusual as the controls featured on these pages? Answer "yes," and we may soon enjoy more competent, responsive, interesting, and ultimately safer ways to drive our cars. And that's a destination worth steering toward.