California Autos Examiner

Friday, March 13, 2009

Ford's "Crowning" Achievement

That's crown as in road crown...

Ford’s pull-drift software technology gives the EPS system the added ability to compensate for slight steering torque changes caused by environmental factors such as road crowning or steady crosswinds.

“If you’re on the expressway and the road is crowned to the left or right for better water drainage, for example, you may need to make a slight steering compensation for that crowning,” said Brian Kosztowny, a Ford product development engineer in Vehicle Dynamics. “With pull-drift compensation, the EPS system gradually will dial in torque for easier steering in these conditions without the driver feeling it in his or her fingers or needing to make an extra effort. The electric motor does more, so you don’t have to.”

Ford’s application of this technology only corrects for road and environmental conditions within reason, adding slight torque up to a proprietary set limit so inherent steering issues are not masked. In addition, Ford has fine-tuned the software-based technology so it can be adapted to fit driving characteristics of individual products, whether it’s a luxury sedan or a sporty compact SUV."

source: Ford

No comments: