Motorcycle Autonomous Emergency Steering (MAES): Empirical Riding Data Analysis for Actuation Selection and Bench Test Protocol Development

Considerable progress has been made in recent years to improve motorcycle safety, particularly in the development of emergency braking systems. In this context, the research in the field of emergency steering assistance systems was indicated in previous studies as promising, especially at high speeds, where emergency braking alone may not be enough to avoid a collision. The so-called Autonomous Emergency Steering system for motorcycles (MAES) is designed to meet these needs. The main goal of this study is to use experimental data to derive the magnitude of steering torques to be applied by a demonstrator of MAES system, allowing emergency evasive manoeuvre while ensuring motorcycle control from the rider. Following that, this paper aims to define the specifications for the electric actuator to be used in the demonstrator and define a test bench to assess its performance. Riding manoeuvres performed in field tests previously carried out on the same motorcycle that will be provided with the MAES demonstrator were used to obtain data allowing designing MAES intervention in terms of steering torque and timing. Considering lane change manoeuvres, the torque values recorded by the surrogate stick reproducing MAES action allowed us to derive the maximum torque to be applied by the MAES demonstrator. Based on the data collected in field tests, the electrical drive and transmission of the MAES demonstrator to be capable of applying the required steering torque with the required timing were designed using standard electrical drives commercially available. A test protocol and a test bench are presented in the last part of the paper, providing directions for appropriate testing and calibration activity required for the demonstrator before its installation on the test vehicle.