BMW, Honda and Yamaha have agreed to enhance and promote the Cooperative-Intelligent Transportation Systems (C-ITS) for powered two-wheelers. The purpose of the system is to integrate safety technology mechanisms for motorcycles and scooters.
The pooled efforts of the three vehicle makers are expected to lead to increased road safety.
The partnership was officially announced on Oct. 6 at the ITS World Congress in Bordeaux, France. The event was under the patronage of the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM).
Honda, Yamaha and BMW agreed to establish the Connected Motorcycle Consortium with a series of objectives. The first important deadline is set four years in the future. The C-ITS' main purpose is to facilitate communication systems integration in the vehicles. This will generate a shared information network, offering traffic participants all the necessary info to make proper decisions concerning desired routes.
Even if all three vehicle producers dabbled in connected vehicle innovations, the ITS systems for cars would still be difficult to transplant to motorcycles. BMW cooperated with simTD, while Honda and Yamaha participated in Drive C2X, but the results still pointed in the same direction: motorcycles need a different set of smart tools.
"We came to realize that the specific requirements of motorcycles are beyond the scope of this consortium, however. The next logical step is to enter into a cooperation dedicated solely to the challenges relating to powered two-wheelers," Takaaki Kimura, representative director of Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd., said.
Kimura also occupies the position of chief general manager of the Technology Center and executive vice president of the Japanese motor company.
Car-devised applications are lackluster when applied to motorcycles. Two-wheelers have notoriously limited space, which raises an essential compatibility issue. Communication units have to be calibrated so that they are not only very compact, but also dust-, water- and vibration-proof. On the software side, things don't get easier: motor vehicles behave differently from cars during travel. This means that they need customized computing algorithms.
In 2014, ACEM members signed a Memorandum of Understanding, promising that C-ITS apps will be commonplace starting in 2020. By establishing the Connected Motorcycle Consortium, BMW, Honda and Yamaha invite every other manufacturer to work together for the improvement of motorcycling safety.
