WABCO to Expand in Active Steering, Inks Deal with Leader in Intuitive Motion Control

WABCO and Nexteer have joined forces to develop and supply breakthrough active steering systems for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles using Nexteer MagnaSteer™ Actuation Technology.

This news follows WABCO’s recent announcement of its plans to acquire RH Sheppard Co., Inc–know for their suite of power steering gears has set the industry standard for heavy-duty commercial vehicles.

The next partnership between WABCO and Nexteer is an attempt to integrate technology from MagnaSteer and Sheppard.

“This cooperation agreement marks another key milestone as WABCO advances toward enabling self-driving commercial vehicles,” said Jorge Solis, WABCO President, Truck, Bus and Car Original Equipment Manufacturers Division. “We have a clear line of sight on the fundamental technologies – such as active steering, active braking, electronic stability control and other advanced driver assistance systems – which will enable significant intermediary steps on our industry’s path to realize fully autonomous driving.”

Full dynamic control of commercial vehicles – lateral and longitudinal – is necessary to progressively achieve the industry’s vision of autonomous driving.

The acquisition of Sheppard and the cooperation agreement with Nexteer are key capabilities toward providing lateral control through active steering, which is a cornerstone that complements WABCO’s leading technologies in longitudinal control through active braking, stability and suspension controls.

Nexteer’s MagnaSteer offers precision engineering for flexibility as a modular design that is contemplated to fully integrate within Sheppard’s gear product line. It is planned that it wouldalso scale efficiently for manufacturers of medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses.

This breakthrough active steering solution is engineered to make vehicles safer and more comfortable to drive compared with conventional steering gears. At the same time, active steering enables further advanced driver assistance systems with steering correction, lane keeping and lane centering functionalities, among other advancements.

Tags: Active Steering, Nexteer, RH Sheppard Co., WABCO

Category: Management, News