Analysis of the rider’s body movement during the intervention of the Autonomous Emergency Braking system for Motorcycles (MAEB)

Among the rider assistance systems for powered-two-wheelers (PTWs) that are currently in the developing stage, autonomous emergency braking (identified by the acronym MAEB - Motorcycle Autonomous Emergency Braking) was shown to be very promising to significantly improve the safety of such class of vulnerable road users. This system, which is already available on passenger cars and trucks (known as AEB), reduces the vehicle speed in the event of a forthcoming collision. Its lack of implementation on standard motorcycles is due to the lower stability of PTWs compared with four-wheeled vehicles and their complex dynamics, which are strongly influenced by the motion of the rider. In a recent field-test campaign within the EU funded project “PIONEERS”, tests were conducted with common riders as participants to evaluate the intervention of MAEB in urban riding scenarios. A combined analysis of the data recorded from the vehicle, data related to the movement of the rider's body measured through an inertial measurement unit and videos recorded during the test, has allowed characterizing the different behaviours of the rider's body in response to the activation of the automatic braking system in straight riding conditions. The results showed that body movement can be used as an indicator of the riders’ ability to control the vehicle under automatic braking conditions. In addition, in tests conducted with a 0.5g level of automatic deceleration, riders showed to be able to return to their natural riding position within the automatic braking activation event. This study defined an innovative method for evaluating the response of motorcyclists to the automatic braking intervention and provides insights into the applicability of MAEB on standard vehicles.