Yamaha made a splash last year when it revealed the successful development of Motobot, a humanoid robot that can ride a motorcycle and has an ambitious goal of surpassing human riders. When it was first announced, the prototype could only manage slower speeds, as HNGN reported. In 2017, however, its potential will finally be realized and it will be tested by no less than Valentino Rossi, one of greatest motorcycle riders of all-time. This was announced at CES 2016 last Friday.
In partnership with SRI International, a Silicon Valley robotics company, Yamaha is now working on a new prototype that can beat the record of Valentino Rossi, the multiple MotoGP world champion. "The end performance goal of Motobot is to be able to beat MotoGP world champion rider Valentino Rossi's lap times around a racetrack," Yamaha said in a Daily Mail report.
The company is building a technology that involves breakthrough components and systems so that Motobot is able to race around a racetrack and navigate potential challenges at high speeds.
"This project will be able to push several boundaries: visualizing data about human motorcycle operation, further quantifying the relationship between rider input and machine behavior, and then using the resulting know - how to build even better vehicles," Amish Parashar, director of strategic business development at Yamaha, told the Daily Mail.
It is important to note that while beating the world's fastest human rider remains Motobot's goal, the robot is also crucial in testing technologies particularly about motorist safety. "This project will be able to push several boundaries: visualizing data about human motorcycle operation, further quantifying the relationship between rider input and machine behavior, and then using the resulting know-how to build even better vehicles," Parashar told Gizmag.
