Very simple really, and I admit I'm not sure if it's been baked or not, but if it has I'll remove it.

I envision a gauge on the instrument panel that consists of a picture of each tire inside of a circle. The circle around the tire is ringed with numbers depicting angle degrees, like a protractor, and the picture moves in synch with the tire it represents so you know exactly what angle your tires are turned at so you can plan your movements more precisely. This should help reduce the number of parking lot collisions considerably.

This idea was inspired by the landing gear position indicators on the aircraft I used to work on, which don't do quite the same thing, but the principle is the same.
-- 21 Quest, Apr 29 2006

I'm fishboning this for a couple of reasons. I can't tell if the indicator(s) are for the angle/direction at which the two front wheels are deflected from straight ahead, OR for the angle of rotation around the axle for each of the four wheels. The first would let you know where the car was going to go, the second would let you how far the car had gone. The text seems to indicate either, at first, but is probably not proposing both.

I first decided that it was supposed to be indicating degrees of rotation around the axle, which would be somewhat handy, provided you could translate angles into inches of travel in your head (and somehow knew how many inches of room were available). For those of use who can't do such translation, an indication of travel in inches would be better, even though not much. Still, a direction-of-steering indicator would be needed, and should have been part of the idea.

Then I decided that it was supposed to be about a direction-of-steering indicator, and was just written very confusingly. Over-elaborate, as posted, but a useful device. An arrow that reminds you which way your front wheels are pointed, after you've been backing and filling, steering lock-to-lock, back-and-forth with your head over your shoulder. Handy, but not really needed, a great gimmick for expensive cars and a gadget worthy of the Halfbakery.

I'd give a croissant for a direction-of-steering indicator, but not if I have to puzzle out what is being proposed and can see obvious improvements to both the idea and the writing. I fishbone for that. -

[Later] After reading 21 Quest's bio, I'm deleting the fishbone, just because I also experienced this: ". . . my commander seems to think I'm crazy since he's the one who sent me to the doc for the psych eval . . ." Congrats on getting out.
-- baconbrain, May 01 2006


Oddly enough I was driving into work today cursing the resident motorists who park either side of a narrow street AND neglect to turn their wheels into the curb. On the especially narrow streets it's actually awkward when a couple of inconsiderate people leave their wheels out at an almost 90-degree angle.

Give them TPI's and they have no excuses. [+] for you.
-- kuupuuluu, May 02 2006


Ingenius! I was just complaining to one of my friends how I needed something like this.
-- MikeOxbig, May 04 2006


baked. i use my steering wheel.
-- RockCrawler, May 04 2006


Less than one turn lock-to-lock?
-- half, May 04 2006


Perhaps he drives a crawler - they skid steer anyway; your wheels (well, tracks) are always straight ahead.

[phlish], do you understand the idea? The suggestion is that if you are in a tight parking space doing slow-speed forward-and-back, twenty-point-turn type maneouvres, knowing what angle your wheels are at will allow you to move more precisely, making it less likely that you will hit the parked cars around you. In normal circumstances, it would indicate that your wheels were pointing straight ahead.
-- david_scothern, May 05 2006


I've had an idea like this before. this would be more useful if you had a vihicle with front and back independant steering.
-- BJS, May 06 2006


Great Idea. +
-- nomocrow, Feb 17 2009


This idea could be improved by also providing an indicator of how close the wheels are to the curb.

(however, I'm giving it a bun even without that addition :))
-- goldbb, Feb 17 2009


goldbb, I think a solution for the wheel-to-curb sensing has been baked, although the appearance is quite ugly. It basically looks like catfish whiskers that protrude from the wheel well. I can't remember where or when, but I know we've discussed it before... If a means could be found, perhaps via short-range laser or infrared, to measure the distance to the curb without an atrocious appearance, I'd be all for it. Together with TPI, there'd be no parking space you couldn't inch into!
-- 21 Quest, Feb 17 2009



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