| Summary: | Steering is the term applied to the collection of components, linkages, etc. which will allow a vessel (ship, boat) or vehicle (car, motorcycle, bicycle) to follow the desired course. An exception is the case of rail transport by which rail tracks combined together with railroad switches (and also known as 'points' in British English) provide the steering function. The most conventional steering arrangement is to turn the front wheels using a hand–operated steering wheel which is positioned in front of the driver, via the steering column, which may contain universal joints (which may also be part of the collapsible steering column design), to allow it to deviate somewhat from a straight line. Other arrangements are sometimes found on different types of vehicles, for example, a tiller or rear–wheel steering. Tracked vehicles such as tanks usually employ differential steering — that is, the tracks are made to move at different speeds or even in opposite directions to bring about a change of course or direction. Automatic Braking is a technology for automobiles to sense an imminent collision with another vehicle, person or obstacle; or a danger such as a high speed approach to a stop sign and to respond with the braking system by either precharging the brakes or by applying the brakes to slow the vehicle without any driver input. Sensors to detect other vehicles or obstacles can include radar, video, infrared, ultrasonic or other technologies. GPS sensors can detect fixed dangers such as approaching stop signs through a location database.
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