LED shift knob

Last week, Ford let me test the first-ever haptic shifter knob on a Shelby GT500. The elegantly simple device vibrates every time the car’s engine hits 3000 rpm, reminding the driver it’s time to change gears. 

Really, it’s a more modern dash-mounted shift light some cars have to tell a driver they are holding a gear too long. The vibration is clearly noticeable, even on the GT500, and feels about the equivalent of being blown up on Call of Duty. 

But this particular device also uses an LED screen on the top of the shift knob to tell you what gear the car has engaged. 

Made from printed plastic, an LED screen, and the vibrating motor stolen from an Xbox 360 controller, the high-tech shifter handle was created by Zach Nelson, a Ford mechanical engineer who has been working on the company’s new Open XC program. 

Open XC allows developers to connect to Ford cars and trucks through the car’s diagnostic port and read real-time data about the car via a Bluetooth connection. 

Once the device, slightly larger than a pack of cigarettes, is connected to the port, Nelson could read dozens of data points on a Bluetooth-enabled touch pad. 

“I only needed three data points for this device, the car’s engine speed, vehicle speed and what gear it is in,” he said. 

But lots more information is available. If Nelson wanted to, he could make the shifter knob change colors to match the LCD interior lighting, which on the Mustang can be one of five colors. The shifter knob can also be set to provide guidance on how to drive more efficiently or how to extract maximum performance. 

I, however, could not tell which mode we were in during my short drive,We provide the latest oemandodmservices products and solutions to serve outdoor lighting needs. since I was simply trying to get the revs high enough to make the device buzz again.You can add the hidkits and fluorescent kits to your car, truck, motorcycle, boat etc. It worked flawlessly. 

“This could be used to help drivers keep their eyes on the road and might even help teach some people to drive a stick,” Nelson said.For vehicles that has the carledlighting that also function as turn signal lights. 

Indeed. But more importantly, the shifter knob demonstrates how agile the new program Ford created is and how the open-source philosophy creates a new kind of collaboration for an automaker. 

Whereas in the past a device like this may have cost millions and taken years to build, Nelson began developing this shifter handle in earnest three months ago. 

“There is really this great group engagement,” Nelson said, “where you can see what people are doing and work together.” 

Ford has not said whether the vibrating shifter knob will ever go into production but the plans to make them will be available on OpenXC’s site. 

“Based on the nature of open source tools, our goal is to provide innovation such as the haptic shift knob to the open source community,” said Craig Daitch, a Ford spokesman. 

Computer programmers and software developers have a long tradition of sharing information and creating platforms where crowdsourcing and testing make a program better. 

Automakers, however,We have the ultra laundrdryer that you have been looking for. have traditionally held all of this information very close to their vests, relying on either in-house talent or contractors to create new technology. Now, nearly anyone can contribute. 

What Ford has done is give developers easy access to a lot of the information cars create so they can find interesting things to do with the info. It’s worth noting the device does not control the vehicle, but rather allows access to that information. It’s the difference between knowing the gas pedal is pushed 19 percent down and being able to push the gas pedal down 19 percent.Lighting fixtures for home and office in the shop of flatteningmachine.