KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

http://jalopnik.com/this-patent-for-...n-i-1797724392

http://www.thedrive.com/sheetmetal/1...l-transmission

^^ It's worth reading both articles as each discusses different possible applications for this technology from preventing dumb shifts that would cause lugging or over-revving to possibly even locking out certain gear selections (as a purely hypothetical possibility, think the mandatory skip-shift feature first used in the Corvette C4 and in the later C5, C6 and C7 where applicable). Or... theoretically this system could be programmed with a "valet" mode that would disallow anything more than short shifting on your high performance Toyota until the master key or fob is used.

Personally I'm of the mind that it adds more complication than necessary when a reverse lockout for modern manuals already exists. No telling what vehicles, if any, this would be included with and how it would be implemented. I'll keep an open mind until I actually experience it in something.

In a similar vein, a few years ago Bosch announced a patent for a partially automated manual clutch pedal that would all but eliminate the possibility of stalling or bogging the engine when clumsily balancing the clutch engagement or disengagement with the throttle and brake.

That's here: http://www.autonews.com/article/2013...ing-boosts-mpg