The engineers from Ford Motor want to replace the steering wheel with a smart phone. Cars very soon may possibly be controlled by a mobile phone. Ford has at least one patented technology, which originally comes from the video game sector. The deed deposited with the US Patent Office speaks of a “non-autonomous-steering-mode” – a non-autonomous driving mode, for which the hand control is intended.
Thus, in future highly automated vehicles could be dispensed with a physical steering wheel and instead the cell phone can be used as a steering wheel, the human driver should feel the desire or need to replace the computer at the wheel. Two modes are conceivable. In the first, the phone turns directly to the steering wheel: The integrated rotation rate sensor recognizes the movement of the device on its own axis and sends the commands to the front wheels as with many popular racing game apps. Alternatively, a steering wheel can be displayed on the mobile phone screen, which is then operated by finger movement.
Whether the technology really gets on the road at some point is unclear. The possible uses would be manifold. To use the mobile phone as a remote control when parking or maneuvering from outside the vehicle, already offer many manufacturers. As early as 2015, BMW demonstrated autonomous parking via smart watch at CES. Mercedes also offers since 2016 in his E-Class remote controlled parking by smartphone.
