Design of Highly Integrated Mechatronic Gear Selector Levers for Automotive Shift-by-Wire Systems

Increased requirements regarding ergonomic comfort, limited space, weight reduction, and electronic automation of functions and safety features are on the rise for future automotive gear levers. At the same time, current mechanical gear levers have restrictions to achieve this. In this paper, we present a monostable, miniaturized mechatronic gear lever to fulfill these requirements for automotive applications. This solution describes a gear lever for positioning in the center console of a car to achieve optimal ergonomics for dynamic driving, which enables both automatic and manual gear switching. In this paper, we describe the sensor and actuator concept, safety concept, recommended shift pattern, mechanical design, and the electronic integration of this shift-by-wire system in a typical automotive bus communication network. The main contribution of this paper is a successful system design and the integration of a mechatronic system in new applications for optimizing the human-machine interface inside road vehicles.