[DumfriesDik]

With the VAG cars you get Travel Assist and for it to work you need to have contact with the steering wheel. On a motorway trip today, I got the red light saying to take over steering. I just move my hands on the steering wheel and it goes away. Perfect. Incidentally, I do have my hands on the steering wheel, they are not detected I guess.

Anyways, it got me thinking, and this is the reason for posting, how do people with upper limb(s) missing cope with a steering wheel that needs to be held? I know my steering ball doesn’t register.

And today, I was a bit late with moving my hands on the steering wheel and it jammed the brakes on for an instant. Cor blimey it made me jump a mile!

Skoda Enyaq Race Blue

Topic

[ChrisK]

I’ve got “Travel Assist” too and also have a steering ball with remote controls and wonder how the systems knows that the ball isn’t my hand.

There is some debate how the system works and think there’s two possibilities, one being sensors in the wheel or the wheel senses if your reacting to the direction of steering.

I don’t think its sensors because it would think the steering ball is a hand so I think it senses if your reacting to the steering direction, remember its an assist and not automatous steering. As you know when driving along a road or motorway you have to correct the steering simply because the systems can’t see, for instants, a pothole so you over ride the system so in turn it knows your in control. It also has a tendency to to drift slightly towards the centre white line and the gutter that sometimes require a manual correction to the steering.

Overall it’s a brilliant system more so for me driving with one hand and driving from Bristol to Newcastle awhile ago was no more tiring for me that driving to the local shops, though I did have to stop for a wee.

[DumfriesDik]

Thanks @ChrisK. I am curious how others might manage in this automatic world. I only have to touch the steering wheel at 10 o’clock for it to register, holding it lower down seems not to be recognised.

I’ll be jiggered if I am going to experiment though!!

Skoda Enyaq Race Blue

[Author]

Replies