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Four years ago Kawasaki announced that it was developing a virtual assistant for motorcycles, a kind of “Siri on wheels”. It took some time, but the first results of the project were finally presented to the public.
The automaker calls “Rideology” the study of the interaction between a rider and his motorcycle, and says that applying artificial intelligence to the concept could allow it to produce “new types of next-generation motorcycles.”
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As an example, the company cites a motorcycle with two-way communication with the rider, capable of detecting his behavior and developing appropriate and unique responses. But for now, what it has to show is something a little more modest.
What is the virtual motorcycle assistant capable of?
The first feature of the Kawasaki virtual motorcycle assistant is the voice communication between the motorcycle and the rider, as in the “KITT” car from the “Supermachine” series. The pilot can ask, for example, how is the time at the destination or how many kilometers he can travel with fuel in the tank and the assistant answers aloud.
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The second function is called “Visual Ride Playback”, which combines various statistics collected during the journey, such as speed, position, slope of the terrain and even video from a camera on the handlebar. All of this is presented in a visual way, with 3D animations that make it easy to understand what happened at various points in the journey.
Kawasaki did not mention when their virtual motorcycle assistant will be on the market or how much it will cost. But the project page on its website states that “the integration of these functions and services is planned for several motorcycles currently on sale.” That is, you won’t need to change bikes to be able to talk to her.
The electric motorcycle is also in the plans
Recently patent images brought details on the development of Kawasaki’s electric motorcycle, Endeavor. The drawings appear to indicate that the motorcycle’s battery and control unit will be manufactured in a separate facility from the rest of the vehicle. The two components will be sent to a third location, which may already be the dealer, and only then will they be installed.
Another detail is the wiring diagram of the control unit, which includes accelerometers and temperature sensors. These features can be used either while the bicycle is in motion – to diagnose a fault, for example – or to monitor the health of the battery during transport, alerting the dealership to any damage that may have occurred during delivery to the customer. They can also be one of the sources of information for the virtual assistant.
Kawasaki first announced its intention to develop an electric motorcycle last year, during the EICMA Milan Motorcycle Show 2019.
Among the few details revealed is that the design is based on a 4-speed Kawasaki Ninja 650 frame and that the bike will have a 10 kW (13 HP) and 20 kW (27 HP) continuous peak electric motor. A prototype made a few laps on a prepared circuit, but little has been officially announced since.
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