#steering-controls

#steering-controls

CEO Thomas Schafer stated, "I said, listen, there's two things that are absolutely non-negotiable for me: door handles and buttons. I don't understand why anybody would have [touch-sensitive] sliders."

Kinetic's CEO Nikhil Naikal states, 'We have eyes, and when we need to correct vision, we go to an optometrist... In the same way, this is a digital prescription to correct the errors of the car's understanding of the world around it.'

The professional-grade simulator has a precision-designed cockpit and race seat to recreate the realism of FPV in the single-seater racer. To simulate the nuances of a Formula -1 car riding the tarmac, the simulator has a high-torque force feedback steering and a Leo Bodnar SimSteering 2 base.

Despite significant investments and technological advancements, the reality is that no vehicle currently operating on public roads can be classified as fully autonomous. The complexities of real-world driving conditions present insurmountable challenges.

Porter complained about difficulties when trying to insert lines in Excel. (Which, to be fair to Microsoft, is relatively straightforward - need to insert a row? Right-click on a selected row. Need to insert a line in text? Alt+Return is probably going to be your friend.) But then Porter turned to that other productivity stalwart, Word. "Never underestimate Microsoft's ability to make things more complicated," he said.

Reverse driving accounts for just 1% of all driving time, yet it's responsible for roughly 25% of all accidents. A dirty backup camera in winter, mud season, or on dusty country roads is not a hypothetical inconvenience but a genuine safety liability, one that most drivers have resigned themselves to either living with or solving by stepping out of the car every time.

Sometimes I'm rather impressed by the ingenuity of those in the business of making scammy gadgets. Over the years, I've examined a wide range of products, from scam devices that claim to save you money on your power bill to a high-power USB charger filled with an unusual goo-like substance. Also: Want to cut your electric bill? Skip these scam 'power-saving' devices - and buy this instead

"Collision rates and related costs remain unacceptably high around the world," said Shoaib Makani, co-founder and CEO of Motive. "Organisations need AI-powered driver safety solutions that can perceive and respond in real time. We've added three times more compute, created the first AI dash cam with stereo vision, and added hands-free communication, all in one system, so organisations can detect more risks and act faster. This isn't just a new product; it reflects a shift toward proactive, AI-driven road safety."

Robotic lawn mowers don't fail because they lack autonomy - they fail because owners stop trusting them. Missed patches, unexpected downtime, edge-case breakdowns: these are the reasons robotic mowing still hasn't fully replaced traditional mowers on large and complex lawns. Lymow One Plus addresses that trust gap head-on. An evolution of Lymow's tank-tread, boundary-free mower that has already attracted attention for its rotary mulching blades and steep‑slope capability.

Unveiled at CES 2026, the design responds to automated riding, especially Level 4 driving, where the vehicle can manage all driving tasks within certain conditions without human input. The retractable steering wheel is co-developed with Tensor's Robocar autonomous driving system. When the vehicle switches into Level 4 autonomous mode, the steering wheel retracts, clearing the driver's area. This creates more space in the cabin and allows the front seat area to function more like a living or working space rather than a traditional cockpit.

General Motors' Super Cruise is among the most popular and sophisticated advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) in the U.S., alongside Ford's BlueCruise and Tesla's Autopilot. The hands-free system, which is capable of accelerating, braking and steering on its own in certain conditions while you actively monitor the road, now has more than 625,000 active users across the U.S. and Canada. Those drivers have access to over 750,000 miles of mapped roads, making Super Cruise one of the most widely deployed hands-free systems on the market today.

It's helpful to know that the lack of physical buttons isn't just a trend pushed by designers-the bean counters like it, too. It's quicker-and therefore cheaper-during assembly to just fit a capacitive touch module that controls multiple settings or switches than it is to have individual buttons, each connected to a wiring loom. Which is why we're seeing the controls for heating and cooling the interior, the headlights, seat heaters, and more move from knobs and dials and sliders and buttons to touch panels.

Honda and DriveOhio have teamed up on a new road safety initiative in which Honda vehicles are being used to collect real-time data that can advise about potential issues and road deficiencies before they become a problem. Honda's Proactive Roadway Maintenance System, which has been in prototyping since 2021, uses "advanced vision and LiDAR sensors" to identify issues such as worn or obstructed road signs, damaged guardrails, rough roads and emerging potholes.

But its abilities were limited by regulation, and it was very expensive to build. The system would only work on certain pieces of highways in Nevada and California, at speeds of up to 40 mph, in good weather and during daytime, and only if the road had readable markings and lines. What's more, customers had to spec their cars with the right hardware and then pay a $2,500 yearly subscription to use the feature.

As vehicles become platforms for software and subscriptions, their longevity is increasingly tied to the survival of the companies behind their code. When those companies fail, the consequences ripple far beyond a bad app update and into the basic question of whether a car still functions as a car. Over the years, automotive software has expanded from performing rudimentary engine management and onboard diagnostics to powering today's interconnected, software-defined vehicles.

Owners of older Rivian R1S and R1T EVs will soon have the ability to remotely control their cars without having to use their smartphones or physical keys. That's because the latest Rivian smartphone app for Apple iPhones, version 3.9, will add an Apple Watch companion app that will enable owners of the 2021-2024 R1T and R1S to lock, unlock, and drive their cars.