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posted by cmn32480 on Sunday November 01 2015, @08:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the danger-on-two-wheels dept.

Yamaha unveiled the "Motobot" at the Tokyo Motor Show on Wednesday. According to the company, it's an "autonomous motorcycle-riding humanoid robot built around a fusion of Yamaha's motorcycle and robotics technology".

It adds: "R&D is currently underway with the goal of developing the robot to ride an unmodified motorcycle on a racetrack at more than 200 km/h. The task of controlling the complex motions of a motorcycle at high speeds requires a variety of control systems that must function with a high degree of accuracy."

It remains to be seen if Motobot does ultimately surpass Rossi, who currently rides for Movistar Yamaha MotoGP. With one race left in the 2015 season, he's leading the title chase, with a seven point advantage over team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.

The world has been lacking motorcyclists with even less fear of death.


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  • (Score: 2) by Tork on Monday November 02 2015, @07:32AM

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 02 2015, @07:32AM (#257388)
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  • (Score: 1) by Francis on Monday November 02 2015, @04:21PM

    by Francis (5544) on Monday November 02 2015, @04:21PM (#257563)

    Yes, but really motorcycles aren't that dangerous.

    They are more dangerous than cars, but most fatalities are the result of the motorcyclist driving too aggressively and slamming into something. The bulk of the rest are the result of being run over by a car. Just laying the bike down, even at great speed is unlikely to be fatal, as long as you're wearing full protective gear and don't run into anything before you've come to a rest. Most of the time you'll break and arm or a leg, but otherwise be fine. It's those times when you get crushed or smashed that are likely to result in death.

    Still, it would be kind of nice to have adaptive cruise control for straightaways so that I could take my hand off the throttle for a short bit to stretch my hand out.