Not so long ago, BMW Motorrad presented their first autonomous motorcycle- the R 1200 GS at the BMW Motorrad tech day 2018. Now the German brand has displayed this motorcycle at CES 2019.
This completely automated test and research vehicle is capable of starting, accelerating, performing cornering manoeuvres, slowing down as well as coming to a halt- all by itself! The company says that this vehicle will aid their research, providing insights into the riding dynamics to help the riders identify dangerous situations and hone difficult riding manoeuvres. This motorcycle won’t eliminate the need of a rider but will help riders improve their skills constantly with the motorcycle’s understanding of right braking points, the comprehensive understanding of ideal lines for perfect cornering and traction-optimised acceleration.
The motorcycle doesn’t have a gyroscope to keep it upright and makes use of the existing hardware to run the motorcycle without any external aid, mentioned Michael Payton, vice president, BMW Motorrad North America.
Though, we are not sure which tech will make it to the masses but are glad to know that BMW Motorrad is on the forefront in this tech war, again. In the near future, we may have the big beemers’ LCDs showing the riders the correct braking point and the ideal cornering lines.
You can read here what our man Alan Dowds has to say about the fancy gadgetry motorcycles are being loaded with.
Here’s the video of the autonomous BMW R 1200 GS from the CES 2019
Words by Manaal Mahatme