Yamaha Announced Their Motorcycle Riding Robot

At the Tokyo Motor Show which is taking place right now Yamaha announced their motorcycle riding robot. The company has named it Motobot and it can ride a wide variety of motorcycles without any assistance from a human being.

The creators of this amazing robot have issued a challenge to Valentino Rossi. Rossi has won the MotoGP nine times already which makes him one of the biggest stars in the sport. The challenge was hinted through their presentation video in which clips of Rossi wearing his MotoGP gear were intertwined with those of the Motobot running tests on a racetrack.

Yamaha have spared no expenses when building this robot. It contains state of the art motorcycle and robotics technology. The blue colored robot was shown riding a Yamaha R1M superbike which has a monstrous 1,000cc engine.

Their main goal in building this robot has been to further study the techniques which are used while riding a motorcycle. Of course they will have to adapt anything that the Motobot teaches them to the capabilities of the human body. Compared to a hulking piece of steel we are very frail creatures.

As far as his racing skills go, Motobot has a multitude of sensors which allow him to adjust his position on the bike depending on the situation he is facing. He is also able to make his very own decisions while going around a racetrack and deciding on what the best lines to follow are. By doing this he can improve his lap times after he has spent enough time around that particular track.

Yamaha have further stated that this is not just a creation they made because it looks cool. They hope to learn a great deal of things from the Motobot. The act of controlling a motorcycle adequately requires a lot of accuracy and high speed decision making.

Experts from the company think that if enough research goes into this technology they might be able to create better rider safety and rider support systems. In time they could implement these technologies on their current business or even create new brands which would be equipped with these safety measures.

Motorcycles are still fairly dangerous vehicles compared to other forms of transportation as evidenced by the high mortality rate. Maybe Yamaha will be the first of many to try and ensure the safety of motorcycle riders.

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