The Future of Steering - Drive by Wire

In the past fifty years, car steering systems haven't changed that much; however in the next decade, we will start to see serious advances in the car’s steering system.

As the majority of today’s hydraulic power steering systems are designed to have the steering pump running constantly, pumping fluid around the system, it wastes valuable horsepower, which translates into wasted efficiency and therefore fuel.

Due to the ever increasing need by vehicle manufacturers to improve fuel economy you can expect to see several innovations in the steering system over the next decade. One concept is the "steer-by-wire" or "drive-by-wire" system. These system would completely eliminate the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the steering, replacing it with a purely electronic control system.

Essentially, the steering wheel would work like the one you can buy for your home computer or games console to play games. The system would contain sensors that would determine the direction and the amount of torque or effort the driver is providing to the steering wheel, it would also be able to provide the driver with instant feedback on what the car is doing.

In order to make this sort of system viable in the real world, drive-by-wire cars will need to have back-up power supplies and redundant electronic linkages. With adequate safety measures like this, there's no reason why drive-by-wire cars won’t be commercially available within the next 5 - 10 years.

(The views and opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily shared by Australian Power Steering P/L)