[ad_1]
Hyundai Motor Corporation has filed a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a four-wheel independent steering system. The application is named “In-Situ Rotational Mode Control Method and System for Four-Wheel Independent Steering Type Vehicles”, and was published on April 28, 2022.
The system, which coincidentally mirrors the GMC Hummer EV’s Crab Walk, wants to allow the vehicle to do more than just strafe in different directions. It also imagines the vehicle moving completely sideways and in the case of Figure 1E, making a U-turn in the same position.
The 21-page patent application discusses how the system will work, which we won’t dive into for now. What piqued our interest are the sideways and “in-situ” rotation, neither of which is present on the Hummer EV’s four-wheel drive. Hyundai touts that the “in-situ” rotation should allow the vehicle to turn around while in an aisle. In some cases, the point of rotation can be off-center (see image above for this story).
Of course, the patent application also addresses the more common use of the four-wheel independent steering currently seen in modern vehicles. It includes a parallel and perpendicular steering system that aids handling in slow and high-speed situations.
The driving mode in the patent application is controlled by the ECU, which can be changed via a switching mechanism built into the car’s gearshift. This system also uses steering sensors to determine which direction to go.
For the record, the patent application is not confirmation that Hyundai (and henceforth, Kia vehicles) will get an independent four-wheel steering system. It may or may not be produced successfully, but seeing as new cars get the technology today, expecting the former won’t be difficult. It’s just a matter of when at this point.
[ad_2]
Source link
