It is found that the real principle of tank turning is to lock the track on one side and drive it normally by the track on the other side to make it turn around the track on one side. Or by controlling the tracks on both sides to drive in the opposite direction, the tracks can turn 360 degrees with the center of the vehicle as the origin, and the turning radius is zero meters.
In fact, "tank turning" is not a strange word in cross-country circles. Toyota once carried a similar "tank steering" system on hard-core off-road vehicles such as lexus LX570 and Toyota Land Cruiser. The system can stop the rear wheel in the turning direction through the electronic brake lock and turn through the other three wheels. As the name implies, this is the first of two U-turn modes similar to tanks.
According to the patent drawings submitted by Toyota, the latest "tank turn" (tank? Turn) function can make the two wheels on one side of the vehicle rotate forward (commonly known as "inner eight") and the two wheels on the other side rotate backward (commonly known as "outer eight"), thus completing 360 in-situ rotation like a tank, and the turning radius is also zero meters, which belongs to the second high order of the two U-turn modes of the tank.
In addition, vehicles equipped with the "tank turning" function can also achieve difficult movements such as four-wheel lateral rotation and diagonal movement that seem impossible to complete on traditional vehicles. To put it bluntly, the wheels of vehicles loaded with this system are like universal wheels on the trunk of computer office chairs or trolleys, which can unlock the above three running directions.
Of course, due to the hard conditions of the track and the hard demand for operational maneuverability on the battlefield, the reverse operation of turning around in place was born. In contrast, the application of this function to ordinary passenger cars has always been considered as a matter of little significance and low probability.
First, R&D technology has a high threshold; second, R&D and manufacturing costs are high; third, it can only be used in off-road scenes with extreme terrain restrictions, and the utilization rate is not high. Therefore, there are only a handful of vehicles equipped with this function on the market.
However, unlike the "tank steering" developed in the last sequence, according to the patent map released by Toyota this time, the realization of the "tank steering" technology depends on each wheel being connected to an independent hub motor installed inside the car body. In the view of Car Buying Network (Buycar.cn), this technical connection directly links the development significance of "tank steering" with the new structure of automobile electrification.
In recent years, with the development of "new four modernizations", more and more car companies are involved in the research and development of in-wheel motor, which is regarded as a cutting-edge driving technology because of its high transmission efficiency. Relying on in-wheel motors undoubtedly means that Toyota's "tank steering" technology is also geared to electrification. Car Buying Network (Buycar.cn) guesses that the main application significance of the "tank turning" function is conducive to improving the control flexibility of future cars in the increasingly compact urban car scene, and also lays a technical foundation for fully automatic driving. Therefore, this technology will have a broader application space than the current "tank turn around", and more and more new cars will be equipped with this function in the future.
Perhaps Toyota thinks that this technology can bring a page-turning change to the history of car handling. Therefore, in the patent drawing, Toyota also deliberately showed a brand-new acousto-optic symbol used in conjunction with this technology.
The patent map reads: "The smooth and safe operation of vehicles is achieved through the coordinated movement of vehicles and pedestrians, which is based on the assumption that the movement of each vehicle and pedestrian is predictable." Therefore, Toyota believes that "because vehicles with front wheels or rear wheels as steering wheels cannot perform lateral movement, in-situ rotation and angular linear movement of vehicles, a new type of' sound or light' signal is needed to let nearby drivers and pedestrians know the next move of vehicles."
In this regard, the patent proposes several possible solutions, including extending a sensor from the cockpit, and the vehicle will be illuminated when the wheel rotation angle is 45 or 90 degrees. In addition, the patent also proposes that continuous flashing signal lights or curved signal lights, as well as short messages or images, can be used to indicate the movement of wheels.
If the "tank turning" technology can be mass-produced in the future, what will the control mode of the new car look like? Will it still be a traditional steering wheel? We will wait and see.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.