Well, actually it's already reality. But this article is a very nice read, giving you some background information.
The VAG Direct Shift Gearbox - sometimes called the S-Tronic in the Audi range - is the world's first production dual clutch semi automatic gearbox. The system was developed for Audi by BorgWarner for use in the companies Audi TT 3.2V6, and was so well received it is now used in much of the Volkswagen Audi Group range.
The DSG is often compared to F1 style automated or robotic manual gearboxes, but differs in some very important ways.
The DSG box takes the basic idea of pneumatic clutched boxes a step further. The heart of the DSG comes from the fact it has two clutches. The basic idea being that the gearbox can then have two gears engaged at any one time, one driving the car, the other waiting to take over.
The clutch arrangement is setup for odds and evens, where clutch 1 operates the 1-3-5 gears and clutch 2 operates 2-4-6.
DSG works by allowing the software to decide what gear the car will need next, and then pre-selects it. If you are accelerating, it will have the next gear up, and likewise if decelerating, the next gear down.
The system can then watch for a change signal - this is either done by clicking the corresponding paddle by the driver, or if in full auto mode the computer - and the gearbox can then tell the currently disengaged clutch (the one driving) to engage, and at the same time tells the engaged clutch (the pre-selected gear) to disengage. In this way the driver and passengers do not experience the on-off-on feeling associated with manual gearboxes. Instead, the gear change feels much more like that of an automatic gearbox.
However, because the change happens so quickly - around 8 milliseconds - the engine can maintain drive and the losses involved in the gear change are much reduced. This can be seen visually in the video below.
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