WHAT...No Steering Wheel?

[cabinetman]

http://www.snopes.com/photos/automob...ewmercedes.asp
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[LCHIEN]

while that's never made it to a production car, fly by wire is being used in aircraft everyday.
What would be newer tech but still a few years old is to have body motions control the car, as in the Segway scooters.

[docrowan]

I LOVE the idea of having two sets of controls that can be switched from driver to "passenger" with the flick of a button. That would make the long vacation drives a bit more bearable if I could share the load with my wife without having to pull over and switch seats.

[crokett]

Methinks you could do drive by wire with existing ergonomic systems people are used to - steering wheels and brake pedals. Computers already do ABS, steering assist and traction control.

[jackellis]

I would change a few things about that setup.

Airplane sidesticks are attached to the left door for the left seat occupant and the right door for the right seat occupant, both with a conveniently placed armrest. In Airbuses, they're on the sides of the cockpit.

The means by which drive by wire is implemented could be pretty interesting. In Airbuses, control inputs are interpreted by the flight control computers, which can overrule pilot inputs. If the designers are really good, this keeps pilots from doing dumb things but if the designers screw up, people get hurt or die (there have been several unexplained in-flight upsets in Airbus airplanes). On Boeings, flight control computers make the control surfaces and throttles do what the pilot wants.

I wonder whether it would be comfortable to drive with a sidestick for long periods of time. Properly trimmed airplanes and airplanes with autopilots can typically be flown hands off, or almost so. On long trips, I have my left arm on the arm rest and control the airplane with two fingers. No uneven road surfaces or flat tires to snatch the wheel. If there's turbulence, the airplane does just fine thanks.

[jking]

I don't recall the make and model, but, I'm pretty sure there are some newer cars that have drive-by-wire accelerators.

[bthere]

My wife does drive by nag.

[Tom Slick]

How about cars with no driver?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA_Grand_Challenge

Throttle by wire has been around for quite a few years. All F-150s have had it since 2004.

newer american fighter aircraft have the flight controls on the right side with the throttle on the left