For the automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler, electric mobility is one of the most important innovative driving forces for the future. Against this background of increasing vehicle electrification and automation, Schaeffler has been working together with several project partners to develop concepts and prototypes for new steering systems in urban applications. After a duration of three years, the “OmniSteer” group project – which received a subsidy of 1.9 million euros from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research – is now set for successful completion.

Omni stands for orthogonal and multidirectional driving maneuvers and non-linear (German: “nichtlineare”) steering. This is what is behind it: In combination with the “Schaeffler Intelligent Corner Module” and innovative wheel suspension that allows wider steering angles, functionally reliable mechatronic lateral and transverse (distance and lane) guidance systems have been developed that will make greater vehicle maneuverability possible in the future. “For us, OmniSteer is a very valuable project from which we have generated a wealth of knowledge that will be put to use during the subsequent development of products for automated driving”, explains Prof. Dr.-Ing. Tim Hosenfeldt, Senior Vice President Innovation and Corporate Technology at Schaeffler.

The basis: Electric wheel hub drives

Schaeffler’s E-Wheel Drive electric wheel hub drive is the optimum solution for the mobility of tomorrow. “The initial prerequisite for OmniSteer is the electrification of the drive train and, in a subsequent step, the corresponding integration of the drives into the wheels”, explains project manager Dr. Paul Haiduk. The extremely compact drive opens up entirely new areas of application in urban mobility.

Parking is a key area: “The major advantage of having a wheel steering angle of 90 degrees in each direction and wheels that can be steered individually is that it is possible to transition from driving in a straight line to parallel parking, without any intermediate stops along the way”, adds Haiduk. Depending on the situation, the driver can switch between front-wheel, rear-wheel, and all-wheel steering. Even turning on the spot is possible.

OmniSteer received a subsidy of 1.9 million euros from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and was carried out over the last three years as part of the SHARE (Schaeffler Hub for Automotive Research in E-Mobility) research cooperation at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). A consortium made up of several participants worked on the project. In addition to Schaeffler, these included Paravan GmbH (the world’s market leader in the field of innovative vehicle conversions for people with disabilities) and Hella Aglaia Mobile Vision GmbH (a leader in the development of intelligent visual sensor systems) in addition to the KIT’s information technology research center (FZI) and institute of vehicle systems engineering (FAST).