How to Control AWS

FutureBoy

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So we know there will be all-wheel steering.

We also know it will crab walk.

And sounds like it will do the equivalent but better of a tank turn.

So now my question is...

How do we tell it to do each of these? Some of it can be automatic I would imagine. For instance, the crab-walk while driving the interstate and changing lanes.

But if I am on an off-road trail and want to do a tank turn to reverse course, how do I tell it to do that?

Or if I am going up a rocky embankment and want to crab-walk a bit to the side to avoid a boulder without having to lean the vehicle to the side, what do I do?

Also, if the answer to any of this is that I have to push buttons on the center console, then it will be much less usable in high tension or quick reaction driving environments.

So, does anyone know how similar functions have been implemented in the past? How does Rivian control it? How did the older 4-wheel steering mechanical systems do it?
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So, does anyone know how similar functions have been implemented in the past? How does Rivian control it? How did the older 4-wheel steering mechanical systems do it?

In a perfect world where AI has been perfected you would be able to do it with voice commands.
Who knows what Elon and Tesla have came up with since the CT was announced.
You can bet there are top notch engineers working on the issues you mentioned.
 

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So we know there will be all-wheel steering.

We also know it will crab walk.

And sounds like it will do the equivalent but better of a tank turn.

So now my question is...

How do we tell it to do each of these? Some of it can be automatic I would imagine. For instance, the crab-walk while driving the interstate and changing lanes.

But if I am on an off-road trail and want to do a tank turn to reverse course, how do I tell it to do that?

Or if I am going up a rocky embankment and want to crab-walk a bit to the side to avoid a boulder without having to lean the vehicle to the side, what do I do?

Also, if the answer to any of this is that I have to push buttons on the center console, then it will be much less usable in high tension or quick reaction driving environments.

So, does anyone know how similar functions have been implemented in the past? How does Rivian control it? How did the older 4-wheel steering mechanical systems do it?
How about a knob on the center console that would allow you to turn the wheels manually?
 

Deleted member 5322

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So we know there will be all-wheel steering.

We also know it will crab walk.

And sounds like it will do the equivalent but better of a tank turn.

So now my question is...

How do we tell it to do each of these? Some of it can be automatic I would imagine. For instance, the crab-walk while driving the interstate and changing lanes.

But if I am on an off-road trail and want to do a tank turn to reverse course, how do I tell it to do that?

Or if I am going up a rocky embankment and want to crab-walk a bit to the side to avoid a boulder without having to lean the vehicle to the side, what do I do?

Also, if the answer to any of this is that I have to push buttons on the center console, then it will be much less usable in high tension or quick reaction driving environments.

So, does anyone know how similar functions have been implemented in the past? How does Rivian control it? How did the older 4-wheel steering mechanical systems do it?
No one knows it for sure. We can only speculate. Don't think about it so much. When it gets closer to production and delivery I am pretty sure Elon Musk will throw a couple more twitsor videos about FWS
 

android04

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So we know there will be all-wheel steering.

We also know it will crab walk.

And sounds like it will do the equivalent but better of a tank turn.

So now my question is...

How do we tell it to do each of these? Some of it can be automatic I would imagine. For instance, the crab-walk while driving the interstate and changing lanes.

But if I am on an off-road trail and want to do a tank turn to reverse course, how do I tell it to do that?

Or if I am going up a rocky embankment and want to crab-walk a bit to the side to avoid a boulder without having to lean the vehicle to the side, what do I do?

Also, if the answer to any of this is that I have to push buttons on the center console, then it will be much less usable in high tension or quick reaction driving environments.

So, does anyone know how similar functions have been implemented in the past? How does Rivian control it? How did the older 4-wheel steering mechanical systems do it?
Rivian does not have 4 wheel steering where the rear wheels actually turn. They teased the 4 wheel tank turn, but that is not currently available on their vehicles. Apparently it's difficult to program the tank turn to work in real world conditions with varying surfaces and traction. It might never be made available.

Rivian does have 4 motors, one for each wheel. They can individually control each one and help steer the vehicle somewhat with torque vectoring.

Who knows what approach Tesla will take with their 4 wheel steering.
 


CyberBC

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I'm thinking it will be neuralink. We'll all have to learn to ballet!
 

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I have a somewhat far fetched theory… but who’d have thought we’d actually have 4WS and quad motor. So maybe not that far fetched…

What if you put the CT into Skid Steer mode via the control screen. Then hold the yoke straight, and use the two thumb wheels as skid steer controls. Push left thumb wheel forward, left tires turn forward…. Push left forward, push right backward - tank turn.
 

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I have a somewhat far fetched theory… but who’d have thought we’d actually have 4WS and quad motor. So maybe not that far fetched…

What if you put the CT into Skid Steer mode via the control screen. Then hold the yoke straight, and use the two thumb wheels as skid steer controls. Push left thumb wheel forward, left tires turn forward…. Push left forward, push right backward - tank turn.
:unsure: I like the way you think!
 

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The majority of the benefits of 4 wheel steering will be nearly transparent things which happen magically and without your knowledge just by driving normally.

“Crab mode” and “tank” turn would be about 4 clicks on the console because that’s how you do anything a Tesla can do which is more or less pointless.

Most of us will do them once in a gravel parking lot to impress friends then promptly forget how to do them except when we accidentally engage them when we are trying to turn the defroster on.
 
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Bill906

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In a different thread there are videos of a Hummer driving down a public street and you could see the back wheels turning in the same direction as the front wheels. They were moving at a very slow speed (In fact they came to a complete stop at points). I realize Tesla may do it differently, but I was wondering if rear wheel steering direction would be a function of speed. (i.e. slow speeds rear turn opposite of front, high speeds rear turn same direction as front). Apparently not for the Hummer. I'd be curious to see what the back wheels do as you turn the front wheels sharper. I"m guessing at some point the rear wheels will turn in the opposite direction to allow for a tighter turn, like a U-turn.

I can think of three practical uses of AWS.

  • Parallel parking - Ideally, I picture the front and rear wheels turning hard in the same direction allowing the vehicle to travel ALMOST perpendicular to it's normal direction of travel.
  • Lane Change - Apparently having rear wheels turn in same direction as front wheels during high speed lane change is a much smoother operation than front wheel steering alone. I wouldn't have thought that would be that big of a deal, but from what I've read, it is. Can't wait to try it.
  • Tight turn/U-turn - Rear wheels turn opposite direction allowing a significantly tighter turning circle.

I would expect the Lane Change option to be default and automatic. The tight turn/U-turn probably automatic based on either speed, or how far the front wheels are turned. But I could see this as a manual option where you need to mash the U-turn mode button to get it to work. I'm guessing the Parallel parking mode would be engaged with the automatic parking function. Maybe also could be engaged for manual parking.

There might be other less practical or rarely needed modes, like backing up a trailer mode. Or (This would be awesome but completely unpractical) full manual mode. Where you could control the rear wheels directly and independently from the front. I picture off roading where the vehicle is stuck or near stuck and youi need to swing the rear of the vehicle toward better terrain etc. Also fun for showing off.
 

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In a different thread there are videos of a Hummer driving down a public street and you could see the back wheels turning in the same direction as the front wheels. They were moving at a very slow speed (In fact they came to a complete stop at points). I realize Tesla may do it differently, but I was wondering if rear wheel steering direction would be a function of speed. (i.e. slow speeds rear turn opposite of front, high speeds rear turn same direction as front). Apparently not for the Hummer. I'd be curious to see what the back wheels do as you turn the front wheels sharper. I"m guessing at some point the rear wheels will turn in the opposite direction to allow for a tighter turn, like a U-turn.

I can think of three practical uses of AWS.

  • Parallel parking - Ideally, I picture the front and rear wheels turning hard in the same direction allowing the vehicle to travel ALMOST perpendicular to it's normal direction of travel.
  • Lane Change - Apparently having rear wheels turn in same direction as front wheels during high speed lane change is a much smoother operation than front wheel steering alone. I wouldn't have thought that would be that big of a deal, but from what I've read, it is. Can't wait to try it.
  • Tight turn/U-turn - Rear wheels turn opposite direction allowing a significantly tighter turning circle.

I would expect the Lane Change option to be default and automatic. The tight turn/U-turn probably automatic based on either speed, or how far the front wheels are turned. But I could see this as a manual option where you need to mash the U-turn mode button to get it to work. I'm guessing the Parallel parking mode would be engaged with the automatic parking function. Maybe also could be engaged for manual parking.

There might be other less practical or rarely needed modes, like backing up a trailer mode. Or (This would be awesome but completely unpractical) full manual mode. Where you could control the rear wheels directly and independently from the front. I picture off roading where the vehicle is stuck or near stuck and youi need to swing the rear of the vehicle toward better terrain etc. Also fun for showing off.
AFAIK, the front wheels are doing the actual “steering” as directed by the driver, and the rear wheels are a computer-controlled assist.

And yes, it should be dependent on conditions, mostly speed: the rear turns the same direction when changing lanes on the highway, and the opposite direction during tight cornering.
 

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AFAIK, the front wheels are doing the actual “steering” as directed by the driver, and the rear wheels are a computer-controlled assist.
Agreed. This is the case unless they employ steer by wire for the front wheels. Which Elon said they were not ready for yet. But if front was steer by wire, it would be cool to put vehicle in a mode where when reversing the rear wheels were the wheels that did the main steering. Like in trailer backup mode.

And yes, it should be dependent on conditions, mostly speed: the rear turns the same direction when changing lanes on the highway, and the opposite direction during tight cornering.
I originally thought speed would decide it also and was surprised the Hummer turned rear wheels in the same direction as front wheels while driving very slowly.
 

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I originally thought speed would decide it also and was surprised the Hummer turned rear wheels in the same direction as front wheels while driving very slowly.
There's a button for crab mode, which is for showing off, like in front of a bunch of people. IE, that video.

-Crissa
 

Ogre

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You can change the quick buttons on the edge of the screen, or buy extra physical buttons to toggle things, Ogre.
I’m going to have to figure out how to do this now, this was not a thing I knew existed.

My comment about forgetting how to do crab walk or tank turn was more about the merits of those features. Tank turn in particular is just a party trick. I won’t assign them to any buttons because I am about 200x more likely to activate the fart horn than tank turn.

99.9% of the functionality of 4WS will manifest itself in just having a much easier to control truck. It will be invisible except when you want to impress friends.
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