Continuing just-auto's series of interviews with tier one suppliers, Matthew Beecham visited Nexteer Automotive's steering plant in Tychy, Poland and spoke to Paul Poirel, Chief Product Engineer, Europe about trends in the electric power steering (EPS) market.
EPS has evolved through a number of technology generations. What could OEMs expect from the next generation? And will motorists notice the difference?
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The main topic which is currently being discussed among OEMs is definitely advanced driver assistance systems and as an electric power steering tier one supplier we form a significant part of this discussion. We see this as the technology of choice when it comes to the future of the automotive market. Moreover there is a lot of discussion on the cyber security of EPS systems, smart energy management as well as super high outputs.
OEMs talk about 'steering feel'. Can it be tuned depending on the brand?
Absolutely. Not only can it be tuned depending on the brand but also for a number of other variants, such as the particular model, region where the vehicle will be on sale, type or brand of tyres used by OEMs, suspension settings or powertrain line-up. Our EPS systems give an infinite range of options when it comes to tuning the car and moreover. It takes just a few hours to tune the system, instead of months when it comes to hydraulic power steering systems.
We are also hearing a lot about the 'autonomous car'. To what extent can EPS assist such a vehicle?
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By GlobalData"Revert to Manual Steering" or "Loss of Assist" (LoA) is an industry acknowledged safe state for EPS for fault mitigation. Upon the detection of certain faults, the transition to manual steering is either instantaneous or ramped/damped. With the driver in command, the transition to manual steering may be triggered in ms for critical faults. With the machine in command, the driver may need as much as a dozen seconds to be alerted and come back in command. Functions such as lane centring, collision avoidance, autonomous driving may not be rapidly terminated in the event of a fault until the driver has taken over the task. Intermediate safe state (limp modes) are required until revert to manual steering is allowed. Nexteer works jointly with OEM's on tailored solutions for advanced availability that optimise cost, mass and packaging.
Could electric steering technology act as catalyst for a number of other driver-enhanced features? How do you see the market evolving?
EPS is definitely one of the key technologies which will assist other driver-enhanced features. The question is how will the market evolve in terms of automation of the vehicles and to what extent will this happen? It's hard to imagine having fully automated vehicles on country roads, however even then, EPS is going to be the technology of choice.
Steer-by-wire systems have also been talked about for years. But there are signs that they are about to become a reality. What's your view on its prospects?
There are already cars with steer-by-wire technology, like the new Infinity Q50, although this vehicle still uses mechanical parts as a back up. Steer-by-wire opens up new possibilities for unique driving interfaces and aesthetics as well as interior and underhood packaging flexibility. Moreover it also opens up significantly the design space for ride and handling: no more compromise between agility at low speed (high steering ratio) versus stability at high speed (low steering ratio). Infinitely dynamically variable steering ratio based on the driving situation, possibly selectable by the driver, becomes available. However Nexteer's experience is that cost and mechanical redundancies for safety are significant barriers and the value proposition remains uncertain. Therefore we do not see this technology as a trend that will become a standard in the future – at least not in the next ten years.
AFS (active front steering) is said to make steering more comfortable and safer. Yet do you think that such steering technology and associated systems will become a necessity rather than a luxury?
The remainder of this interview is available on just-auto's QUBE Global light vehicle steering market- forecasts to 2030
