Analysis of the intervention of an anti-fall device in Motorcycle Autonomous Emergency Braking (MAEB) experimental tests

Abstract

Motorcycle Autonomous Emergency Braking (MAEB) is a rider assistance that may soon play a role for the improved safety for Powered-Two-Wheeler users. Several studies were carried out to investigate the feasibility of automatic braking (AB) events. In a recent experiment, tests were conducted with volunteer participants to assess AB intervention under different riding conditions. The prototype vehicles were equipped with an anti-fall device (outriggers), the main object of this study, to ensure participants’ safety. The outriggers limit the roll angle of the motorcycle, thus preventing accidental capsize. Data from the sensors installed on the side arms were analyzed to identify ground contact events, for which a correlation with the driving style adopted by the participants has emerged. There was one case in which MAEB activation was followed by outriggers intervention. However, detailed analysis indicated that this could not be assimilated to an incipient fall. Our results show that the simple sensor setup was able to gather useful information for the experimental tests.