Remember the biker robot who was created to surpass legendary MotoGP racer Valentino Rossi? Well, that bot has come face to face with The Doctor for the first time. But it wasn’t a competitive meet as the bot is still not ready to challenge the multiple time World MotoGP Champion. Rossi was absolutely stunned by the bot revving the Yamaha YZF-R1M on the circuit. Rossi even did a few laps on a YZF-R1M so that the technicians can use the data to develop the human droid further.
The human droid is built with a combination of Yamaha’s motorcycle and robotics technology. The objective was to improve techniques and performance of riders on the track and also to develop the next-gen support systems for riders to make riding safer. The aim or the benchmark for the MOTOBOT is to become capable of competing against Valentino Rossi’s lap times around a racetrack. Yamaha is currently aiming to develop a robot to ride an unmodified motorcycle on a racetrack at more than 200 km/h.
Yamaha says that 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. The aim is to apply the fundamental technology and know-how gained in the process of this challenge to the creation of advanced rider safety and rider-support systems and put them to use in our current businesses.
Check out Rossi meet the MOTOBOT in the video below: