Car Control Systems

[Randy Winkman]

Does anyone else wonder if cars will always have a round steering wheel and pedals on the floor to make the thing go and stop? It's so old hat and unnecessary even now isn't it? Surely we just need a joystick between the driver's knees? By the way, I do appreciate that there's an issue with driving tests and how we change from one system to another. But does that mean we'll be stuck in the past forever?

[Pica-Pica]

Most steering wheels are not round, and many that are round have an eccentric column.

[SAS Tom]

Why would a joystick be better?

[Cold]

Clarkson played with the Saab Prometheus back in 1992/93.

[Randy Winkman]

SAS Tom said:

Why would a joystick be better?

Most modern things are designed to be easy to use. Why do we have to hank a wheel around and press pedals if you only need to tilt a joystick from one side to another and back and forth to go and stop? Aren't cars supposed to embrace technology and get better over time?

[595Heaven]

Randy Winkman said:

Aren't cars supposed to embrace technology and get better over time?

Don’t forget there are lots of Pistonheaders who hate something as a benign as an electric handbrake

[Abbott]

You should not underestimate the amount of feedback you get through the steering wheel. It is the main interface between you and the road. 30 years back I drove experiencemental cars with all sorts of control interfaces and it was amazing howw your control of teh car could be drastically changed by modifying the feedback. Of course you can do anything today. Why go to a joystick when you couldd just tap into the neural network and drive the car by thought alone. That is if you need to interact with the car at all. Most OEMs are bypassing
completely the need for a joystick by going straight to driverless

[legless]

If a joystick is better, why do serious simracers go to the expense of buying a high-end wheel and pedal setup rather than using a joystick?

You just can't get anywhere near the same level of control precision.

[Leon R]

Randy Winkman said:

Most modern things are designed to be easy to use. Why do we have to hank a wheel around and press pedals if you only need to tilt a joystick from one side to another and back and forth to go and stop? Aren't cars supposed to embrace technology and get better over time?

It seems like you would lose a significant level of finesse with only a joystick.

[Randy Winkman]

595Heaven said:

Randy Winkman said:

Aren't cars supposed to embrace technology and get better over time?

Don’t forget there are lots of Pistonheaders who hate something as a benign as an electric handbrake

My understanding is that nearly all car manufacturers couldn't give a toss what car enthusiasts think. For someone going to the shops or taking the kids to school, why do we need 19th century controls?






I'm betting it will change at some point, but when?

[Cold]

Randy Winkman said:

My understanding is that nearly all car manufacturers couldn't give a toss what car enthusiasts think. For someone going to the shops or taking the kids to school, why do we need 19th century controls?


I'm betting it will change at some point, but when?

You think a joystick would be a step forward?

[underwhelmist]

Didn’t GM or somebody experiment with joystick controlled cars in the 50s or 60s? I seem to remember reading the test drivers kept crashing them because it was too difficult to modulate control inputs - when they wanted to steer left slightly, they effectively put full lock on etc.

[Zad]

Never confuse different with better. When it comes to pedals, some automatics have single pedal operation, as has been the case for many years on adapted mobility cars, similarly many electric cars have the option of configurable active regen and braking when lifting off the accelerator. It must seem very counter-intuitive to take your foot off the pedal when you want maximum braking. Some mobility options are indeed joystick/paddle or handlebars (the latter on Invalid carriages). They just don't give the range of steering or the feedback that a wheel gives. If you want the ultimate in minimal user interaction, get a taxi.

[Randy Winkman]

So do PHers think that in for evermore we'll be driving cars with steering wheels and foot pedals?

[Slow]

legless said:

If a joystick is better, why do serious simracers go to the expense of buying a high-end wheel and pedal setup rather than using a joystick?

You just can't get anywhere near the same level of control precision.

However the fastest lap times are always set with a controller

Its much harder to be precise with a joystick but when you are the steering inputs are much quicker to do.

[CanAm]

Randy Winkman said:

Does anyone else wonder if cars will always have a round steering wheel and pedals on the floor to make the thing go and stop? It's so old hat and unnecessary even now isn't it? Surely we just need a joystick between the driver's knees? By the way, I do appreciate that there's an issue with driving tests and how we change from one system to another. But does that mean we'll be stuck in the past forever?

Not without a 6-point harness!

[Pica-Pica]

So, without going into the finesse and the different muscles used between using a wheel and using a joystick; how would you get in and out of the car? Where would you put all those frequently used controls, which are usually so close to the thumbs?

[donkmeister]

legless said:

If a joystick is better, why do serious simracers go to the expense of buying a high-end wheel and pedal setup rather than using a joystick?

You just can't get anywhere near the same level of control precision.

Undervalued comment.

"Old new Top Gear" did a piece about early cars and their unusual (to us) control methods. I seem to recall the first car to have the formula of steering wheel, three pedals in the correct order plus gear shift, and it was a 1916 Cadillac, and this formula was then copied by Austin for the 7. When I was a teenager a chap in our area had restored a Ford Model T and I remember there was all sorts of weirdness between pedals to select gears and steering wheel levers to advance the timing.

[anonymous-user]

Th enmore fundamental question, to which the answer is unlikely to be liked by most pistonheaders and car enthusuasts is even more simple, why should us humans be doing the driving at all?

Before we replace the classic handwheel and pedals, we'll replace the wetware.......

[donkmeister]

Pica-Pica said:

So, without going into the finesse and the different muscles used between using a wheel and using a joystick; how would you get in and out of the car? Where would you put all those frequently used controls, which are usually so close to the thumbs?

Fighter jet style, and the car would have a canopy like a Bond Bug!

But you could have it either fold up and down (plenty of steering wheels do this already, especially in lorries) or to the side - wouldn't need to be a floor mounted yoke WW2 style.