Ducati is a member of the Connected Motorcycle Consortium (CMC), an international association that is working to develop and standardize motorcycle-car connectivity systems to improve rider safety.
At a recent demo event at the Lausitzring in Germany, Ducati demonstrated the effectiveness of its motorbike-car connectivity systems in three critical accident cases.
This is a detailed account of Ducati’s involvement with the Connected Motorcycle Consortium (CMC) and its ongoing efforts to improve motorcyclist safety through Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technologies.
Here’s a brief summary:
Ducati & The Connected Motorcycle Consortium (CMC)
- Objective: Improve motorcyclist safety through connected mobility.
- Background: CMC was founded in 2016 with Ducati becoming an affiliate in the same year. The consortium seeks to include motorcycles in the realm of V2V communication technologies, which cars have been developing for years.
- Research: Started with an analysis of dangerous accidents between bikes and cars. From this, the most critical accident scenarios where connectivity could be most effective were selected. The focus was to minimize the system’s reaction time to alert drivers and riders in advance.
Collaboration with Lamborghini
- Lamborghini provided an Urus for case simulation use during the experimental phase.
- Ducati focused on three critical accident scenarios:
- IMA (Intersection Movement Assist) : For low visibility intersections with bikes on a busy road.
- LTA (Left Turn Assist): Addressing a bike and car coming from opposite directions where the car intends to turn left.
- DNPW (Do Not Pass Warning): When a bike wants to overtake a large vehicle with an unseen car ahead wanting to turn left.
- Implementation: Ducati developed the tech with suppliers Bertrandt (hardware) and Nfiniity (OS and algorithms). The system displays warnings on an added bike screen, informing the rider of potential hazards.
Public Demonstration
- Ducati and Lamborghini displayed the effectiveness of these systems at the Lausitzring.
- To showcase the results, a video featuring a Ducati Multistrada and a Lamborghini Urus was made, available on Ducati’s official YouTube channel and website.
Quote from Simone Di Piazza, Ducati Innovation Manage: Ducati prioritizes road safety, as evidenced by being the first to offer bikes with ABS Cornering and Blind Spot Detection. They believe V2V communication will significantly reduce accidents involving bikers.
This project highlights Ducati’s proactive stance towards leveraging modern technology to ensure the safety of motorcyclists on the road.
