Rider aids and safety assistance systems have advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years. A decade or two ago, a motorcycle with ABS and traction control was considered groundbreaking in terms of safety. Today, even simple urban scooters come equipped with TC and ABS as standard.
Manufacturers are now harnessing the power of technology in an attempt to make motorcycles safer than ever. We’re seeing it with BMW, Ducati and KTM’s radar systems and, this time, it looks like Honda is working on a similar adaptive cruise control system.
Interestingly, instead of relying solely on radar, it combines stereo cameras with radar technology for a more intelligent adaptive cruise control system.
Well, of course, it’s safety. Radar systems alone have some limitations, such as a lack of ability to distinguish certain objects on the road, but they have a much greater range than camera systems. Meanwhile, camera systems can quickly identify objects, but they can also be affected by variables such as dirt and glare.
So, by combining the two, Honda hopes to develop a safer and smarter system.
Judging by the patent images, the new radar and camera adaptive cruise control system will be used on a future version of the Honda Africa Twin. The image shows the cameras mounted just below the headlight, with rubber mounts and a gimbal to absorb vibrations, as well as tilt and yaw adjustments.
Another interesting development from Honda comes in the form of an automatic braking system. This system uses the data collected by the radar and camera setup, so it’s more than likely that this feature will be incorporated when the full package is released. So yes, it’s very similar to the adaptive cruise control systems we find in our cars, as the radar and camera systems will tell the bike to speed up and slow down depending on the pace of traffic.
Naturally, this system would also make sense on touring models such as the NT1100, Rebel 1100 and Gold Wing.