{"id":81550,"date":"2014-09-11T12:36:17","date_gmt":"2014-09-11T16:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=81550"},"modified":"2014-09-11T12:36:17","modified_gmt":"2014-09-11T16:36:17","slug":"witness-to-history-nothing-new-under-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2014\/09\/witness-to-history-nothing-new-under-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"Witness to History: Nothing New Under the Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
A prototype version of the GM Unicontrol - note the center steering wheel hub is still in place.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s difficult to keep up with the headlines. If my count is right, we\u2019ve already hear from Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Nissan, all revealing plans to introduce autonomous vehicles in the coming years. And that doesn\u2019t even include Google, the high-tech firm that is putting a fleet of prototypes on the road this year.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re told that electronics can take over from drivers the drudgery and skill of safely and efficiently motoring from here to there, whether commuting across town or crossing from coast to coast. But, as is stated in the circa 300 BCE Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter One Verse Nine, \u201cthere is nothing new under the sun.\u201d\u00a0 And the rush to put self-driving vehicles on the road reminds us old-timers of that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Automotive Journal of Record!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1958, I was a reporter for the Detroit Bureau of Business Week magazine, and witnessed the first steps on the long road to autonomous driving. The concept had been around for awhile. GM even promoted the idea at its lavish pavilion at the 1938 New York World\u2019s Fair. Two decades later, it was ready to show us automotive scribes that science fiction was ready to become science fact.<\/p>\n

Safety was becoming a serious subject, as more Americans took to the roads \u2013 especially the first of the new interstates \u2013 and the death toll soared ever higher. So, the maker offered a few ideas about how to make the highways safer. That included steps to de-fang abutments, guard rails, and other roadside hazards.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ford's Twist-Steer system.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But GM also had a high-tech solution, its \u201cUnicontrol\u201d system, which replaced the familiar steering wheel with a stick — like those in many airplanes \u2013 to control acceleration, braking and steering.<\/p>\n

(Is it time to say goodbye to the steering wheel? <\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> to find out.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The automaker demonstrated what now might be seen the forerunner of autonomous driving: its Auto-Control System, an electric guidance cable, buried between two adjoining lanes of a yet-to-be anointed Interstate Highway.\u00a0 GM announced that with Auto-Control\u00a0 a motorist could go from Chicago to New York City without personally steering, braking or accelerating other than for pit stops.<\/p>\n

With the federal government racing to build the interstate system, GM researchers eagerly awaited acceptance. But it was not to be, Washington\u2019s Highway System bureaucracy brushed off GM\u2019s buried cable concept.\u00a0 Until the 1990s, anyway, when a short stretch of San Diego freeway was equipped with a similar technology as part of a pilot research program that included GM\u2019s Buick division.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Mercedes-Benz SCL600.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That system relied on buried magnets that could be tracked by a specially equipped vehicle using a trunk full of computer hardware. It was too costly and primitive to put into production, but it gave a hint that the concept wasn\u2019t going to go away.<\/p>\n

(New technologies<\/em> could mean a trade-off of privacy for safety. <\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> for the story.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Curiously, what some believe might now vanish is the steering wheel. Except for a few early pilot vehicles, the Google autonomous prototypes will have no driver controls at all onboard, save for a panic button. But even here, the idea isn\u2019t entirely new.<\/p>\n

As a fairly recently licensed private pilot in 1958, I was fascinated by the prospect of operating highway vehicles pretty much like an airplane: pull back on the stick to slow, push forward to speed up, and tilt the stick to turn (in combination of course with rudder pedals).\u00a0\u00a0 Well, actually, when Chevrolet\u2019s PR guys gave me a chance to drive a 1958 Chevy Impala convertible with Unicontrol, steering required a twist of the handle.<\/p>\n

GM presented the Unicontrol and buried cable concept as a package in its 1958-model Autonomous Chevy as well as equipping its 50th Anniversary Firebird III jet-powered experimental car with both Unicontrol and Auto-Control Systems.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The hydrogen-powered GM Hy-Wire Concept adopted a number of edgy technologies.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Along about the same time, one-time mega-supplier Bendix demonstrated a radar sender mounted in the grille of, as I recall, a 1956 Ford sedan.\u00a0 The idea was the radar could warn the driver of immovable objects in its path, even applying the brakes \u2013 not-so-coincidentally a Bendix specialty.\u00a0 Alas, it took another five decades to put that concept to practical use.<\/p>\n

And, in 1965, I helped Lincoln-Mercury pedal a full-sized red convertible around the country for media drives with another departure from conventional steering: \u00a0the \u201cWrist-Twist,\u201d which used two separate 5-inch wheels, rather than a single, conventional wheel.\u00a0 My now 54-year-old oldest daughter still remembers \u201cdriving\u201d it while sitting in my lap at the age of five.\u00a0 Ford\u2019s lawyers killed the idea, fearing it would fall victim to the new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards or, worse yet, lead to lawsuits.<\/p>\n

In 1996 at the Paris Auto Show, Mercedes Benz hawked a \u201cconcept car,\u201d the SCL 600, which among other features presented a center-console-mounted handle VERY similar to GM\u2019s 1958 Unicontrol.\u00a0 There were no pedals for brakes or accelerator, either.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Like Ford's Twist-Steer, GM used dual controls on the Hy-Wire to replace the regular wheel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GM itself came back with a twin joystick-like controller on its Hy-Wire hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle prototypes in 2002. It suggested the concept would be easy for a new generation of videogame-savvy drivers to adapt to. One of the more interesting updates was that this joystick-like controller could be used by both driver or passenger without changing seats.<\/p>\n

(Americans want self-driving cars, says new study. <\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> for more.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

So far, the steering wheel has proven surprisingly resilient. But perhaps Google will deliver the coup de grace if its autonomous prototypes prove successful.<\/p>\n

Truly, \u201cthere is nothing new under the sun.\u201d\u00a0 And many of the ideas for autonomous cars can be dated back to at least the 1950s, demonstrating how long it takes to get from visionary idea to practical application.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“There is nothing new under the sun.” And, as our resident historian, Mike Davis, points out, automakers have been teasing us with autonomous vehicle technologies for more than a half-century, while also offering up a number of alternatives to the familiar steering wheel. More from TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":81554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81550"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81550"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=81550"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=81550"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=81550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}