Self-driving cars, an idea which once seemed impossible, seems to be very much possible now!
However, reaching and harnessing Level 4 autonomous driving might still take some time and won’t probably be possible until car manufacturers have full power over artificial intelligence. Nonetheless, BMW is already planning for this day with this patent for a car-mounted joystick.
One big step towards Level 4 autonomous driving is supposed to come with the release of the BMW iNext and it’s set to launch in just about a year or so. But, no matter how advanced the ADAS platform is in terms of technology, the iNext will still only come with Level 3 Autonomous driving in the beginning.
However, once Level 4 autonomous driving becomes a thing, the car will be able to drive itself most of the time and will only require the presence of a human driver in case a problem arises. Since the steering wheel is not essential all the time, it’s only natural for manufacturers to start thinking about other alternatives to the classic steering wheel. This paves way for innovations that will steer the car but won’t look like a steering wheel at the same time.
Analysts at i4Talk discovered that BMW was on the verge of making something like this when they filed a patent for a joystick which would be used to control the car like a steering wheel. According to the patent drawings, the joystick seems to have an integrated gear selector, a signal stalk, and a sort of speed adjustment button.
Before you get all excited, though, you need to keep this in mind — Patents often never see the light of day. Patenting an idea is often a way for manufacturers to make sure competitors don’t come up with the same idea while they’re still working on it. Sadly, it doesn’t mean that the technology is just about to turn into reality.
But this all-new BMW patent somewhat seems a bit convenient keeping in mind that we have seen this kind of idea in a BMW Vision Next Concept a couple of years ago.
Only time will tell if this joystick patent will actually materialize into something or it will just end up as an interesting concept once again.
To be continued…
