FEELER: Steering Angle Indicator

Hey Guys,

Got an idea and wanted to run it across. I'm a design engineer and I thought of a sensor circuit design that may be of interest to some...

When offroading last month, I thought about how a steering angle indicator could be useful. Although you can determine the angle somewhat from the steering wheel, you can lose track sometimes when stopped, etc. Plus having an acurate measurable reference is nice.

I was thinking a digital dispay that would show the angle and to which side you are steered, for example, if @ 30 degrees left or right, it'd show: L-30 ̊ or R-30 . It would ideally be a bolt on kit that would also involve 12V power wiring and display mounting.

It sure beats sticking your head out the window all the time, especially for crawling, And in some roading situations I would think it would eliminate having to roll to get an idea of where you're at.

So what do you all think of this, interesting? Currently working on a prototype... but want to know if it's worth moving forward

Thanks

 

Sounds cool to me. (Depending on the price of course)

 

Cheap and easy to install, yes. I'm thinking two peice, clamp-on gear attached to the steer shaft and a rheostat on the firewall or bracket.

 

Exactly! hah that Seemed like the best approach. I got a shaft collar design and an encoder+board to 7-segment display circuit in the works...

 

Hmmm....keep going. Maybe something I wouldn't use everyday but depending on how the display is mounted it would look really cool.

 

Bump!
I'm thinking of placing the digital display to the top right portion of the cluster, above the A/C vent where it'd be easy to view aside the steering wheel...also will consider matching the amber orange with the lighting (Other colors could be options)

 

Modified fuel gauge to read L,C,R?

 

i would allow multiple mounting places. also a reset button would be nice incase you started with your wheel cocked to the side. like when on the road hit a button and reset back to 0.

 

but what happens if you've already turned the wheel 1 full rotation??

 

Baja style

 

but I'z a dumbass....I already forgetted how far I turned my wheel...I needz to spend moniez on a electronic doo dad to tell me

 

Make it work with a Scangauge for the display.