GM and Toyota have filed patents for adaptive steering wheels that use things like liquid-filled bladders to change wheel grip for, uh, some reason.
for an"adaptive steering wheel rim" that can change its thickness on the fly to adapt to different driving conditions or preferences by the user."The system would pump a fluid into the rim to inflate a series of bladders which would bulge out and effectively make the steering rim easier to grip. We can see how that concept would seem strange but there are some practical applications.
This patent from GM is nothing new when it comes to automakers tinkering around with steering wheel design. One only needs to look at the controversial yoke steering wheel from thefor a recent example. Tesla's thinking was that its driver assistance software is so good that drivers will seldom need to go hand-over-hand. Some people lauded the yoke wheel while others shunned it. A market for yoke wheel"fixes" quickly sprouted from the controversial design.
Toyota's patent also focuses specifically on grip rather than wheel size. However, rather than the fluid and bladder method from GM's patent, Toyota details several ways wheel grip can be altered including using a compressor to blow air or create a vacuum between the drivers hands. Time will tell if GM or Toyota will ever put any of these adaptive wheel designs in production vehicles. With semi-autonomous and self-driving vehicles becoming an allegedly inevitable part of the future, these patents may soon be moot anyway.
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