Sunday 1 June 2014

Ford to launch adaptive steering in 2015

Ford Motor Company is to market a new generation of steering technology that will help make vehicles easier to manoeuvre at low speeds and in tight spaces.

At higher speeds, the new technology will help make the vehicle more agile and fun to drive.

Adaptive Steering will be available on select vehicles beginning next year. The system was developed for production by Ford in collaboration with Takata, a leading supplier of automotive steering and safety systems.

Adaptive steering changes the ratio between the driver's actions at the steering wheel - the number of turns - and how much the front wheels turn. In traditional vehicles, this is a fixed steering ratio. With Ford's new Adaptive Steering, the steering ratio continually changes with vehicle speed, optimising the steering response in all conditions.

At lower speeds, such as when pulling into a parking space or manoeuvring in tight quarters, the new system makes the vehicle more agile and easier to turn, as it dials more steering into the road wheel. Each low-speed manoeuvre requires less turning of the steering wheel.

At highway speeds, the system further optimises steering response, enabling the vehicle to react more smoothly and precisely to driver input to make the journey more enjoyable.

The Ford/Takata system uses a precision-controlled actuator placed inside the steering wheel, and requires no change to a vehicle's traditional steering system. The actuator - an electric motor and gearing system - can essentially add to or subtract from a driver's steering inputs. The result is a better driving experience at all speeds, regardless of vehicle size or class.

"First and foremost, all Ford Motor Company products have to offer a great driving experience," said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, global product development. "This new steering technology can make any vehicle easier to manoeuvre and more fun to drive."

Adaptive Steering will be available on select vehicles beginning next year. 

"First and foremost, all Ford Motor Company products have to offer a great driving experience," said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, global product development. "This new steering technology can make any vehicle easier to manoeuvre and more fun to drive."
Takata was founded in 1933 in Shiga, Japan, by Takezo Takada and started to produce lifelines for parachutes and other textiles. In the early 1950s, the company started to research seat belts. Later the company became incorporated as "Takata".
In the 1960s, Takata began to sell seat-belts and built the world's first crash test plant for testing seat-belts under real world conditions. In the 1970s Takata developed child restraint systems. In the 1980s, the company changed its name to Takata Corporation and expanded to Korea, the US and later Ireland, to sell seat-belts. In the 1990s Takata expanded internationally.
In 2000, Takata Corporation acquired German competitor Petri AG, forming the European subsidiary Takata-Petri. The business was renamed Takata AG in early 2012 Takata AG. The company makes steering wheels and plastic parts.



No comments: