Looks like the Cyber truck has gone the way of the Boeing 777 and Airbus. If all electricity fails, there to way to steer it. Might be annoying for tow truck drivers too.
With aircraft:
There are two separate inputs to control it, pilot and copilot. The truck just has one wheel.
Parts are serviced and replaced based on a schedule. Only certified parts are used. With cars, people wait until they break. A bunch of cheap parts are out there.
Maintenance is done by certified mechanics. On cars, anyone can try.
They say there will be 3 systems to control the steering. I assume there is an additional battery. There is a lot that can go wrong if something like this isn’t done well.
There have already been problems with the throttle by wire. That has two sensors, but a single computer to manage everything, at least in the case of Toyota.
My car has elec boost steering. Motor is under dash. With regular steering column. I assume Tesla has rack and pinion? Which is close to steering column? And engineers figured a steering column was unnecessary? Well, it is a few more useless parts.
The 2010 and newer cars have boost motor on rack and pinion.
I’d worry if I owned a self-steering car a retail corporation might use their influence to cause my car to pull into their parking lot , in the hopes I’d buy something … lol …
Tesla’s truck has 4 wheel steer so it has a motor driven rack and pinion at each axle that steers the truck from commands from a computer. The steering wheel is like a computer racing game wheel with no physical connection to those steering rack, only wires and computers. It has force feedback to the driver to provide some fake “feel”. And this is not electrical assist like @Cavell 's part.
Steer by wire has been used on 10K lb and up forklifts for more than 2 decades.
Brake by wire has been used on some cars for 15-20 years but with a mechanical backup.
Every EV and hybrid uses some sort of brake by wire to provide consistant feel with differing battery states of charge.
Tesla must really have problems selling the Cybertruck. I received an email from them a few days ago saying that if I find enough new Tesla buyers I could win a new Cybertruck.
My old intrepid had a high mounted rack that attached to struts at the dash level. And the rack bushings always failed and made noises. I wonder what elevation the rear rack is on the Tesla? 4 wheel steer? Don’t like the sound of that. Rack is above battery pack but below bed?
They had more inner tie rod end bushing failures then rack bushings, the inner tie rods meet in the center (bellow boot was in the center of the rack not on both ends) of the rack instead of at each end…
There is a motor and rotation sensor attached the the steering wheel. The resistance is controlled by a computer to create the “feel”. The motor is commanded to apply reverse torque to provide load. It varies from soft to firmer depending on vehicle speed, quickness of steer input, wheel position and more.
It works similarly to a force-feedback gaming wheel like these:
There are simulation rigs used by every major racing team to train their drivers for specific tracks. The simulations are so good, the driver can evaluate changes to the car without being on the track.
Here’s a reporter’s test drive synopsis of the Tesla Cybertruck. The quick take is he loves the way it drives and isn’t impressed with anything else. While off the original discussion, the thread did wander into the Cybertruck in general.
Saw a video comparing Lexus and Tesla SBW. The variable turning speed vs vehicle speed was interesting. It’s an ev though at end of day. If you like/dislike EV’s is another issue.
