Patent ID: 6988583
Filing Date: 2006-01-24
Classification: B62D

Abstract:
1. An electrical steering system comprising: an upper shaft; a steering wheel coupled to the upper shaft for rotation with the upper shaft; an electric motor capable of receiving a rotational input from the upper shaft; a torque transducer connected to the upper shaft for sensing a torque placed on the steering wheel; a steering assembly coupled to at least one of the electric motor and the upper shaft; an operator detector electrically or electromagnetically coupled to the torque transducer, the operator detector detecting a presence of the operator for a corresponding time interval by the sensed torque meeting or exceeding a threshold minimum torque level; a steering controller for controlling the electric motor based upon the detected presence; and a sensor for sensing a weight of the operator, wherein the threshold minimum torque level is based upon a user profile of an operator, the user profile including the weight of me operator.