How Volvo’s patented steering tech turned a hamster into a truck driver

Have you ever seen steering tech so good that a rodent could drive it? Well, in a scene straight out of Ratatouille, Volvo’s patented steering tech turned a hamster into a truck driver.

Meet Charlie, the Syrian hamster who was going to be turned into the tiniest and cutest truck driver in the whole world.

Volvo’s patented steering tech combines hydraulics with an electric motor controlled 2,000 times per second, and in a special hamster wheel attached to the truck’s steering wheel, Charlie ran the show.

The VDS system reduced steering resistance so drastically that even a little hamster could drive a massive truck, and while a professional driver handled the throttle and brakes, the steering was all Charlie.

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Volvo’s patented steering tech turned a hamster into a truck driver

When you look at some of the best drivers alive today, you might think of Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton, but we’d like to introduce you to Charlie the Syrian Hamster.

Although it’s not been confirmed, it’s probably safe to assume that Charlie is the only hamster in the world who has ever driven a truck, and a video from Volvo showed us how.

Thanks to Volvo’s patented steering tech, Charlie managed to successfully steer a heavy-duty Volvo FMX construction truck like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Not only did he steer it, he managed to successfully steer it out of a winding quarry, with only the reward of pride to guide him; unfortunately, we are kidding, and he was actually bribed with a carrot on a stick.

How did Charlie drive the Volvo FMX construction truck?

Volvo Dynamic steering is quite something, and it combines hydraulics with an electric motor controlled 2,000 times per second.

At low speeds, the system is feather light, and it cuts steering effort by a whopping 75 percent, but at high speeds, it stiffens up, countering road bumps, tire blowouts, and side winds.

Charlie was placed in a custom hamster wheel attached to the truck’s steering wheel, and then a carrot on a stick guided his direction, translating his tiny feet movements into real steering inputs.

While a human handled the throttle and brakes, the steering was 100 percent rodent, and it worked because the dynamic steering reduced the resistance so dramatically that even Charlie could turn the wheel.

Well done, Charlie, and who knows where we might see him next, driving an Uber? Delivering your next DoorDash? The world’s his oyster.

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