Turn signal idea for 3D printers or accessory vendors.

[BritX]

I love it just like it is, I don’t want to have to put my right hand on the wheel to signal right. Seriously, it took me about 5 seconds to get used to it and I’ve been driving for 50 years.

That is why it’s an option.. I’m not as smart as you and only been driving +50 yrs… ;-)

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[Woodrick]

Huh? Where did I say stalks move left and right?

Steering wheels do not go left or right as well, they rotate. Are you suggesting we use a Ouija board to drive instead of a wheel?

Sorry, I misread one of your sections.



This is a Tesla. Tesla throws legacy away, especially when it has so many historical requirements attached. Stalks are legacy for when large switches were required to do things. They eventually became relays and now solid-state switches, but the human UI has remained essentially exactly the same until now.

This, honestly, is one of the smallest physical changes that Tesla did with the squircle. It stays the nearest to the original functionality.

Just like the stalk, up is right, down is left.

 

[Pops]

Protype completed. I ended up making a much simpler design than my original proposal.

The good: It works perfect and I love it. I think a sharper profile would feel a little better.
The bad: It looks very rough, I think a 3D printer or professionally make products would have a much better looking result.

I hope someone takes this idea and makes an accessory with it. Or I hope someone finds a better suited switch or bumper that can be bought off the shelf to do the same thing.,

I started with a rubber foot and trimmed it down:

 

[wayne]

I like it the way it came clean simple and better than a stalk!

 

[Woodrick]

Protype completed. I ended up making a much simpler design than my original proposal.

The good: It works perfect and I love it. I think a sharper profile would feel a little better.
The bad: It looks very rough, I think a 3D printer or professionally make products would have a much better looking result.

I hope someone takes this idea and makes an accessory with it. Or I hope someone finds a better suited switch or bumper that can be bought off the shelf to do the same thing.,

I started with a rubber foot and trimmed it down:

Yall do realize that hitting the buttons can be the EXACT SAME motion with the hands as the appendages? Just with a little pressure?
My thumb finds the notch and then just moves up or down, just like the stalk.

 

[Pops]

Yall do realize that hitting the buttons can be the EXACT SAME motion with the hands as the appendages? Just with a little pressure?
My thumb finds the notch and then just moves up or down, just like the stalk.

Its really not the same. Watch the video please. I am moving my hand up and down, mimicking the motion of turning the wheel. With the buttons the hand remains stationary and the thumb navigates to the button and presses the button.

With this accessory you could still press the buttons if you choose, it works in both manners.

This is simply a matter of preference, everyone has one. There is no point in arguing why one preference is better than another.

 

[Woodrick]

Its really not the same. Watch the video please. I am moving my hand up and down, mimicking the motion of turning the wheel. With the buttons the hand remains stationary and the thumb navigates to the button and presses the button.

With this accessory you could still press the buttons if you choose, it works in both manners.

This is simply a matter of preference, everyone has one. There is no point in arguing why one preference is better than another.

I watched the video.

All I saw was you having to move your hand MUCH MORE than I ever do.

With the button, it appears that you have to move your thumb above it to turn left and then below it to turn right.
If my thumb is in the right place, I really don't have to move it at all, otherwise, maybe a half inch.

 

[Pops]

All I saw was you having to move your hand MUCH MORE than I ever do.

With the button, it appears that you have to move your thumb above it to turn left and then below it to turn right.
If my thumb is in the right place, I really don't have to move it at all, otherwise, maybe a half inch.

I exaggerated my movement for demonstration.

Do you drive with your finger already on the turn signal? I tend to drive with my thumb wrapped around the wheel, sometimes above the control, sometimes below. So 50% of the time I do not need to preposition my thumb.

 

[Woodrick]

I exaggerated my movement for demonstration.

Do you drive with your finger already on the turn signal? I tend to drive with my thumb wrapped around the wheel, sometimes above the control, sometimes below. So 50% of the time I do not need to preposition my thumb.

If I'm using my left arm, mainly because I'm in areas in which I doing multiple turns, yes I do.

I don't need to preposition my thumb, that just where my hand goes when turning, you know, it's already used to going their when using stalks.

Fight it all you want, LOTS of people are extremely comfortable with it!

 

[Pops]

Fight it all you want, LOTS of people are extremely comfortable with it!

This is where you are getting this all wrong. You are taking it as a personal afront that someone has an idea on how to use the vehicle that differs from your preference.

Do you get bothered that someone uses an add on phone holder, cup holder protectors, or visor attachments? This is no different. Its an idea for accessory to customize the vehicle, if you do not want it that is fine. I am not pushing or trying to coerce people to like it.

 

[Djinndjinn]

Wow. Lots of fur flying. interesting to read. I am an early adopter, really like new and innovative ways of doing things. I’ve been using the stalk-less steering yolk on my 2022 model S for over two years. I have never been able to retrain my brain to get the left right signaling correct - reliably. The motion is happening very quickly, and for whatever reason, I am constantly hitting the wrong button.

yes, if I had three seconds to do this, every single time, it would be very easy to find the separation between the two buttons, and cognitively recognize that the upper button is right, and the lower button is left. But when driving in real time, that doesn’t happen.

there were two innovations with this change. One was removing the stalk, and the other was substituting buttons in a similar position to what was previously a stalk motion. It is definitely not the same cognitive behavior. There are certain people where it is easy for them to transition from a stalk and forefinger in an up-down motion to a thumb and a button with a inword press in either an up or down location. Clearly not the same behavior represented with both activities - different digits, different controller, different direction.

I think the OP did an excellent job of trying to reproduce a stalk-like motion on the steering wheel. To be honest, this is something that I think I could adopt to relatively quickly as it’s the same concept and direction, except it’s done by the thumb instead of the forefinger. Nicely done! If you decide to market it, I suspect there will be others like myself who might find it useful as long as it was aesthetically pleasing.

Congratulations to those of you who easily adopted. For those of us that couldn’t, it was not for want of trying, and has nothing to do with being an early adopter or non-adopter. and yes, I too have been driving for 50+ years, drove a stick shift, etc. different strokes for different folks, and an aftermarket svelte “stalk simulator” would be great for the 80%? 50%? 10%? of us who are struggling.

thanks OP for the McGyvering!

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