Zach Nelson, one of many brilliant minds in Ford, came up with an innovative idea of teaching new drivers how and when to shift gears. The technology is basically meant for people who use manual gearing system for the reason that manual transmissions are much harder than automatic. The haptic feedback shift knob vibrates when you need to shift a gear. Ford developed a vibrating 3D-printed gear knob
Zach used a MakerBot Thing-O-Matic 3D printer to make a shifter, vibrating motors of an Xbox 360 controller, Android tablet, Arduino controller and a Bluetooth. He placed vibrating motors inside the shifter and connected the gear knob to the car’s on-board diagnostic system. Arduino and the Android tablet communicate with the system to keep a check on engine and sense when the best time to shift is.
The shift knob has an LED that displays current gear in case you forget it. It may also be set to make car more fuel efficient or vibrate when car approaches redline. If you want to make it for yourself all you need is some programming a 3D printer and an Xbox, not to mention, hell lot of brain.