Does the vehicle of the future still have a steering wheel and foot-operated controls? The Mercedes-Benz F 200 Imagination, which was presented at the 1996 Paris Motor Show, serves to test a new ergonomics concept and is the product of the efforts of engineers and designers. Little joysticks in the doors and the center console for steering and braking replace the steering wheel. This is impossible without electronic assistance, and so the technology is called drive-by-wire.
Where until now exclusively mechanical elements have existed which are directly activated by pulses of force emanating from the driver, these are now linked with electric and hydraulic actuators whose desired actions are determined by electronic pulses. If the driver pushes the sidestick forward, the F 200 Imagination accelerates. If he moves the lever to the right or left, the vehicle steers to the right or left. If he pulls the lever back, the vehicle brakes and, if desired, after stopping drives in reverse. To get a little relief the driver can switch the system to the front seat passenger and his sidesticks.
Drive-by-wire is a technical solution entailing consequences for the interior, for example. If there is no more steering wheel and no more pedals, the passengers have more space and thus more comfort. It also serves safety since the cockpit and the footwell can be designed completely different.
The F 200 Imagination embodies the thoroughgoing networking of electronic systems. One result is its advanced driving dynamics control. The electronics recognize the driver’s commands as requests for a certain driving state accelerate, brake, steer, reverse and decide in a flash how to comply with the commands in the best and safest manner.
This is situational in nature because the computer utilizes the information of various sensors which tell it the road speed, wheel revolutions, engine revolutions, road condition and body motions. Based on this data, the computer decides, for example, how sharply the wheels should be angled during cornering or what engine speed is appropriate for driving on a wet road.
Instead of conventional rearview mirrors the experts employ a video system with five permanently installed minicameras. Four of them are discreetly concealed in the roof frame struts on each side of the car and, out on the road, constantly have an eye on the areas next to and behind the F 200 Imagination. The fifth camera is in the rear bumper and automatically switches on when the vehicle backs up. The images appear on various monitors in the vehicle interior where the conventional mirrors otherwise would be located.
In the sum of its characteristics, the F 200 Imagination is a pioneering research vehicle, particularly its electronics, which enable new concepts and will play a bigger role in future cars. Of course, they must be subjected to intensive testing before they go into production. The F 200 Imagination played an important part in this and was forerunner of a Mercedes-Benz SL of the R 129 series that was equipped with electronic steering and sidesticks for test purposes in 1998 and thoroughly road-tested.
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