[RahulNagaraj]

According to media reports, Toyota could soon replace the traditional round steering wheel with what it calls 'NEOSteer'.

NEOSteer from Toyota was showcased by the brand at the Japan Mobility Show and is said to take inspiration from motorcycle handlebars. The new yoke-like steering wheel enables hand-operated driving, integrating even accelerator and brake controls - eliminating the need for pedals.



The new NEOSteer will allow people with lower limb impairment to drive their Toyota cars. As per Toyota, the yoke steering wheel will have both the accelerator and brake lever on its right side, allowing drivers to sit, enter and exit the vehicle more comfortably.

This isn't the first time Toyota has revealed a yoke steering wheel, though. The Japanese auto giant offers a yoke as an option on its premium luxury brand offering, the Lexus RZ electric crossover.

The new NEOSteer is expected to debut on the upcoming 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser.

Source: Motor1

Link to Team-BHP news

[Rodie09]

Wow!! Finally someone did this. This has always made me wonder why Cars as a rule need to be driven with your feet. More so when so many people have trouble with manual clutches and leg pain etc. Good innovation by Toyota!!
This is definitely a game change for the differently abled folks.

[GrammarNazi]

This being meant for physically impaired is absolutely necessary and liberating. AFAIK in India, only Mahindra sometimes helps customise the vehicle for physically impaired customers.

The only issue with yolk steering was that there would be a lag between when the driver turns/recenters the steering v/s when the front wheels turn/gets centred, viz a small issue in scheme of things.

[The Rationalist]

That’s a very innovative solution for paraplegics and those with lower limb issues! Maybe even some normal people will find it better than using legs. Hope this materializes soon. There will be a niche market for this in a vast country like ours.

[Miel]

Well about time someone re-invented the ... Steering Wheel !!!

I've always wondered, with paddle shifts also on the steering column, why not have the accelerator and brake on it too. Surely frees up your legs, and would be a boon as age and arthritis catch up to your legs.

I read an article long ago, which said that in the US an increasing number of older people tend to prefer the handbrake instead of the regular brake for braking duties due to knee trouble.

[tud]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

As per Toyota, the yoke steering wheel will have both the accelerator and brake lever on its right side.

And the Europeans would come and put the accelerator and brake on the left side of the steering unit in their vehicles

[Burgman_tales]

Originally Posted by Rodie09

Wow!! Finally someone did this. This has always made me wonder why Cars as a rule need to be driven with your feet. More so when so many people have trouble with manual clutches and leg pain etc. Good innovation by Toyota!!
This is definitely a game change for the differently abled folks.

Absolutely this, I learnt driving a lot later after riding bikes. I always thought that brake and accelerator both done with right foot is a bad design, i.e same body part and same movement both used for going forward and stopping. Controls on 2 wheelers seem much more better designed

[volkman10]

The story behind the 'NeoSteer' development. NEO Steer is short for New Era Operating Steering

Morii and his Land Cruiser 200.


- Taiki Morii an avid Alpine skier who has been dedicating himself to the sport since his school days. Unfortunately, his sports career - with sights set on the Olympics - was cut short at the age of just 16, when a motorcycle accident damaged his spine, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

- Morii was depressed for nearly 2 years. At the lowest point of his life, he refused to cooperate with his rehabilitation exercise, and was demotivated from life.

- He was only able to summon enough strength to continue pursuing his dream in 1998, when a wheelchair salesman showed him video clips of the 1998 Nagano Winter Paralympics, and introduced him to the world of chair skiing.

- Today, Morii is a 3-time Paralympian in chair skiing - the alternative to skiing without legs.

- Morii also keeps a day job at Toyota’s headquarters in Aichi, in the company’s Government Affairs Division. Like many people who work in Toyota, Morii loves cars. He drives around in a Toyota Land Cruiser 200, modified with hand controls. His left hand operates a lever that controls the accelerator and brakes, while he steers with his right hand

-Morii's job in Government Affairs, which also includes homologation of new models, ensuring that all new models comply with the necessary regulations before they are launched to the market, puts him in close contact with colleagues from the engineering side of Toyota.

-One such colleague is Keita Moritsu, Chief Engineer of Toyota’s internal MJ Mid-Size Company, the unit responsible for the Land Cruiser, the same car Morii is driving.

-At that time, Moritsu was developing the Land Cruiser 250 and the new-old Land Cruiser 70. The former is a successor to the Land Cruiser Prado, positioned below the Land Cruiser 300, while the latter is a classic that has been re-engineered to comply with today’s regulations, thus the close working relationship with Morii.

-Over the course of their relationship, Moritsu learned more about Morii, and how he gets around in his modified hands-control Land Cruiser 200.

- As someone who love cars, Morii wished to be able to drive by keeping both hands on the steering wheel. The current hands-control setup didn’t allow him to experience a car’s dynamic abilities to its fullest.

-His colleagues on the engineering side, especially Moritsu, found it to be borderline insulting if Toyota were to keep its Mobility For All tagline but is yet unable to build a car that can be enjoyed to its fullest by their Paralympian colleague.

- Moritsu took a look at the current setup used on Morii’s Land Cruiser, before conceptualizing NEO Steer.

- Moritsu explained that NEO Steer is short for New Era Operating Steering. To meet the objective of allowing Morii to steer with both hands, the starting point for NEO Steer was a motorcycle. Moritsu noted that the solution to developing a hand-based steering, throttle, and brake control system is already being used on motorcycles for decades, so why reinvent the wheel?

-The challenge, however, was to accommodate the much larger turning radius required by cars, and since the steering control is no longer a wheel, the steering can’t turn more than 180 degrees.

-Solving this is easy. Steer-by-wire variable ratio steering is already offered in many high-end cars. In some markets, the Toyota bZ4X is already offered with a 150-degree lock-to-lock turn, variable ratio steer-by-wire system

- “Our image is for NEO Steer to not only be used by wheelchair-dependent drivers, but also elderly drivers who have weak legs"

- At its current form, NEO Steer doesn't have turn signals yet. Moritsu says the team has yet to come a decision, but a thumb-operated button setup, similar to the one used by Tesla's 'yoke' steering is being considered.

Toyota is serious about putting the NEO Steer into production. As it is, Toyota, like many Japanese car makers operating in a market with an increasingly ageing Japanese population, is well ahead of anyone else in selling factory-built, wheelchair-friendly cabin ‘Welcab’ cars. No other country - not USA, not Korea, Germany, not even the supposedly very humanistic Swedes, and certainly not China - offer such cars from the factory.

Link