There’s been plenty of news about autonomous and semi-autonomous cars in recent months, and there’s clearly a lot of interest in taking the strain away from humans behind the wheel. But on the face of it there’s less to be gained from riderless bikes – after all, who wants to be a passenger on a bike?
That’s not the point of this new prototype from British firm AB Dynamics, which is not intended to be transport. Instead, its developers hope that the very companies developing autonomous cars and trucks will use its bike as a test vehicle to ensure that their systems accurately detect and safely respond to sharing the road with motorcycles.
This isn’t a self-driving machine, more of an oversized radio-controlled vehicle, albeit one that can be programmed to follow pre-determined paths. And while the prototype is based on an ageing BMW C1 – chosen because its safety cell provides protection for the sensors and electronics used during development – the firm hopes to move on to something more modern.
By Ben Purvis
