I love riding motorcycles. I have owned them, had tremendous fun and fallen as well – injured badly at least twice, the repercussions of which I deal with till today. While I rode motorcycles primarily for fun, for many it’s their primary mode of urban transportation.
India for example has about 77m motorcycles and about 15m are manufactured each year. It is the most widely used motorised transport for its low cost, fuel efficiency, easy maintenance, agility to negotiate traffic and ability to transport up a family of 6, your luggage and 2 dogs (look closely)!
Riding a motorcycle is also extreme safety hazard. Motorcycles have a substantially higher rate of fatal accidents than cars or other vehicles with more than 2 wheels. Per data from the US, for passenger cars, 18.62 fatal crashes occur per 100,000 registered vehicles. For motorcycles this figure is higher at 75.19 per 100,000 registered vehicles – four times higher than for cars. As determined in 2007, the chance of a fatality on a two wheeler is 37 times more per mile travelled than a car. [Source: Wikipedia]. In India, a whopping 25% of road fatalities involve two wheelers riders [National statistics: 2008].
A substantial cause of fatalities and injuries to motorcycle riders is due to the fall resulting from poor driving, slippery conditions, vehicle malfunction, hitting an obstacle or a road accident.
I’ve wondered if the advanced riding skills of MotoGP riders and the gyroscopic effects of inertia, rotating wheels, gravity, traction and suspension could be codified into electro-mechanical technology to build a motorcycle (or another vehicle with the agility of a motorcycle for urban transport) that could be self-balancing, self stabilizing and hence never fall.
MotoGP Skilled Driver Balance
Since Segway first commercialized two wheel, self balancing technology, a few other players make notable mention.
1. Lit Motors, C-1
The C-1 is an electric, fully enclosed, self-balancing two-wheeled vehicle which appears like a cross between a car and a motorcycle. It comes with a steel unibody chassis, seat belts, airbags, and a gyroscope stability system.
2. Ryno Motors, RYNO
The RYNO is an electric, self-balancing single-wheeled vehicle that appears only half a motorcycle. Capable of speeds up to 10 miles per hour and 10 miles per single charge, it’s being positioned as the future of personal, urban mobility.
3. Jyrobike
Jyrobike is new range of Auto Balance Bicycles that supposedly offer brilliant balance at low speeds. The manufacturer claims the Jyrobike is ideal for children aged 3 – 9 learning how to ride a bicycle.
The Enicycle and the Ecoboomer are other vehicles in this category.
Although each of the vehicles serves a niche, the developments as such are exciting. They herald a transition towards safe urban mobility. As of this writing, none of the above are commercially available. Even when they are commercially available, they will not really address the needs of riders in countries like India, China or the Philippines where cost considerations, urban infrastructure, traffic conditions, weather, regulatory framework, user expectations and use case scenarios are vastly different.
MPU 9150 Accelerometer Gyroscope Compass
At the heart of self balancing technology is a Gyroscope, the principles of which have been applied for thousands of years. While Gyroscopes have been in use for a while in helicopters, airplanes, boats, space ships and other devices, it’s amazing how common place the technology has become. Consumer electronics like smart phones, tablets, wearable devices, gaming consoles and smart TVs are fitted with low power, low cost chips such as the MPU-9150 – a 9-axis MotionTracking device to enable users to interact with these devices by tracking motion and converting motion into input commands.
Imagine what a 3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer and an onboard Digital Motion Processor all in one small package could do the future of safe 2 wheel transportation!
It’s about time manufacturers in countries like India wake up and start developing indigenous, low cost, safe, self balancing urban transport vehicles for personal transport.
I want to ride a motorcycle that can transport my family of 6 :), loads of luggage, my two dogs and most importantly be safe and low cost to buy, operate and maintain. Hey, I am just a motorcycle lover with simple desires. Any one out there that can make a safe motorcycle for me and the millions of riders around the world?
