During our Engineering days, we also were keenly involved in research work. One such opportunity is provided to every engineering graduate in the form of a Major Project. We are supposed to submit the project thesis before the completion of our final semester. We always wanted to create something which is practical and which could actually work as a solution to a real-world problem. So we did some research and created a Tandem reduction system for steering system which we monikered - ANIMA. The design and conceptual details of the project are given below - 

​

Oversteer/Understeer has been a serious problem in cars while manoeuvring a corner at high speeds or while avoiding an obstacle. By some estimations and studies conducted by the US Department of Transport and NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), 30% of road accidents on average, are due to loss of control. The primary reasons cited in these studies point towards imprecise steering setting and tread separation if human and weather factors are neglected.

Through this project, we have proposed a potential solution to the above problem. We call it ANIMA (AN Instrument for Mode-shift Applications), a Tandem-Reduction System that delivers mode dependent steering ratio at your disposal and can easily be fitted in between the steering column and Rack and Pinion steering gearbox. The salient features of the proposed system are as follows:

​

• The Tandem-reduction system is basically a one-of-a-kind gearbox comprised of two planetary gearsets.

• The use of planetary gearsets makes this system, very compact, lightweight and robust. It can be easily fitted in the void space under the cowl (dashboard support).

• The system can easily sustain the steering torque, Lateral forces as well as impact forces of real-world conditions (steering effort and ground resistance). This advantage is rooted in the distribution or “Branching” of the load into multiple gear mesh locations.

• The smaller gears in the planetary system result in lower Inertia. Compared to the same torque rating standard gearbox, it’s a fair approximation to say that the inertia of this system is smaller by the square of the number of planets.

• This system offers three different modes of steering (ratio) according to the requirements of the driver.

​

Our project received critical acclaim from teachers and students alike. It's actually a device, which after some further improvements and integration with vehicle electronics might rival OEM products as well.