Hey everyone,
I was watching tv just a second ago and I saw a commercial by Audi (maker of the A series, S series, and the TT coupe). They are going to be implementing a new kind of transmission, besides their tiptronic. Tiptronic is a semiautomatic system and its really pretty cool. The driver controls when to shift, but does it without a clutch. All it requires is a quick bump of the shifter when its in through the "tipronic gate." Anyway, it turns out they are going to start putting in what they're calling "multitronic." This is a continuously variable automatic tranny.
Just saw it and thought of robotics
Here's a quick explanation on their site.