www.citybikerblog.com

Ever try to teach your (let’s not say “elderly”, but older) mom how to use a new electronic device or computer?  Me: “What did you just do?” Mom: “I didn’t do anything” Me: “You just pressed something, what did you press?” Mom: “I don’t know what you’re talking about I didn’t do anything!”  The problem is we’re always DO-ing something without realizing what we’re doing.  Since the beginning of motorcycles and bicycles in the 1800’s people have been countersteering…  But it wasn’t until recently people still insisted that they just sorta’ shifted their weight around (even the best riders in the world insisted that was what they were doing at one point)….

The challenge with anything motorcycle related is that the human element is HUGE.  It’s hard to differentiate what the rider is doing vs what the bike is doing…  That’s why I think THIS project (an autonomous motorcycle) is so interesting.  They really can eliminate the human element (eventually when the thing learns to ride)…

The other part I find interesting is that you can have an autonomous car do stunt moves into a parking space, but you can’t teach a robot to ride a bike through simple obstacles that a twelve year old could manage on a dirt bike.  It’s THAT hard.  You may not realize it, but riding requires all of your senses, attention, spatial perception, judgment, reflexes, and planning skills.  And so far you can’t program a machine to beat a twelve year old.

But if you allow your inner geek to dream a bit, imagine what such an autonomous motorcycle could do one day…  Find the three ideal lines that no one is taking on a racetrack (just set it to Rossi-mode), or deliver medical supplies to out of the way places overnight…  Pretty cool.