FutureBoy
Well-known member
- First Name
- Reginald
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2020
- Messages
- 669
- Reaction score
- 877
- Location
- Kirkland WA USA
- Vehicles
- Toyota Sienna
- Occupation
- Private Lending Educator
- Thread starter
- #1
So in various threads, there have been ideas tossed around about the new steering wheel on the MS and MX. And there has been talk of the possibility of the steering wheel being set up as drive-by-wire instead of a mechanical linkage. Various reasons have been given. I like the idea that it allows for variable steering precision so that the yoke style wheel works better.
Then I thought of another possible reason why it would be good to have drive-by-wire: Robotaxi. In the case of full robotaxi, you would not want the passenger to be in control of the vehicle. I'm thinking it might be better to virtually disconnect the wheel and pedals so that even if the passenger in the drivers seat moves them, it does not have an effect on what the robotaxi does. I could imagine certain people doing things like pressing the accelerator because they were impatient and wanted the vehicle to go faster. Or if someone was a very timid driver they might be pressing the brake the whole time trying to get the vehicle to slow down. Or if the passenger was a sociopath, perhaps they would try to plan Grand Theft Auto and run over pedestrians using the steering wheel. Or if they were suicidal, perhaps steer the vehicle into the path of an oncoming train. These are some extreme examples. For a more normal one, perhaps the passenger spills a coffee and in the process of cleaning up pushes the yoke accidentally and causes an accident.
Since the passenger is not going to have any responsibility as a driver, they should not have any control that would be given to a driver. And if the controls are all mechanically linked it would not be easy to prevent that control by the passenger.
What do you all think? And do you have any other non-obvious reasons why one would want drive-by-wire?
Then I thought of another possible reason why it would be good to have drive-by-wire: Robotaxi. In the case of full robotaxi, you would not want the passenger to be in control of the vehicle. I'm thinking it might be better to virtually disconnect the wheel and pedals so that even if the passenger in the drivers seat moves them, it does not have an effect on what the robotaxi does. I could imagine certain people doing things like pressing the accelerator because they were impatient and wanted the vehicle to go faster. Or if someone was a very timid driver they might be pressing the brake the whole time trying to get the vehicle to slow down. Or if the passenger was a sociopath, perhaps they would try to plan Grand Theft Auto and run over pedestrians using the steering wheel. Or if they were suicidal, perhaps steer the vehicle into the path of an oncoming train. These are some extreme examples. For a more normal one, perhaps the passenger spills a coffee and in the process of cleaning up pushes the yoke accidentally and causes an accident.
Since the passenger is not going to have any responsibility as a driver, they should not have any control that would be given to a driver. And if the controls are all mechanically linked it would not be easy to prevent that control by the passenger.
What do you all think? And do you have any other non-obvious reasons why one would want drive-by-wire?
