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Mark Hinchliffe·
DucatiBy manufacturerMotorbikes
··2 Comments·1 min read

Ducati radar to warn riders by 2020

Front and rear radar coming to Ducati Multistrada warn

Ducati has announced that by 2020 it will add front and rear radar sensors to its motorcycles to warn riders of dangers.

They are called blind spot warning and adaptive cruise control in cars where they have been used extensively for years. However, Ducati calls their technology ARAS (Advanced Rider Assistance Systems).

The systems include a user interface to warn the rider of dangers.

They say it will be available on a Ducati in 2020, but they do not say which model. However, we expect it will be on their Multistrada (pictured above) which is the photo Ducati supplied with their official press release on the technology.

The Italian manufacturer has been working on the technology since 2016 with the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering of the Politecnico di Milano University. 

Ducati has already filed an American patent for the rear sensor which will detect a fast-approaching vehicle from behind.

Now they have added a front radar sensor to manage adaptive cruise control which automatically keeps a safe distance from the vehicle in front.

(Why anyone would want adaptive cruise control on a 150-horespower motorcycle that can overtake in second is a mystery to us!)

Radar research

Meanwhile, Ducati is working on other radar projects in Australia.

Bosch radar warns riders of traffic autonomous warn
Bosch radar warns riders of traffic

The Bologna company has joined with South Australian company Cohda Wireless and Bosch to develop radar technology that warns riders of nearby traffic before they can see it.

The technology uses public WLAN standard (ITS G5) and was initially developed for use in driverless cars. 

The radar sends information about vehicle type, speed, position and direction of travel at 10 times per second and uses “multi-hopping” to relay information up to several hundred metres.

Riders will see the information as a 3D map on a screen and receive an audible alert via Bluetooth that warns of approaching vehicles.

All this safety technology is part of Ducati’s “Safety Road Map 2025” strategy.

It also includes hill hold control which automatically applies the handbrake when stopped and the progressive extension of Bosch ABS Cornering to the entire product range.

Bosch hill hold and blind spot alert - Bosch radar warn riders of traffic radar
Hill hold assist

ABS cornering has been introduced on the Scrambler 1100 and allows full braking grip control even when cornering.

2018 Ducati Scrambler 1100 Sport highlight radar warn
2018 Ducati Scrambler 1100 Sport
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Mark Hinchliffe
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2 Comments

  1. Why anyone would want smart cruise control with 150bhp?

    Smart motorays and average speed zones. I’m not sure what the reaction acrosss the EU has been, but the reality in the barely united kingdom has been the 50mph (80ish km/h) and lower temporary *average* speed limits on motorways cause everyone to drive nose to tail in large plugs of traffic behind the one person with an optimistic speedometer. It’s even worse should the limit hits 30 past roadworks as everyone moves into the left hand lane sealing off sliproad access. This is utterly terrifying to be in the middle of as a motorcycle, and winding on to overtake the slowing down is risky even if you have a satnav that keeps track of average speed, as the speed camera gantries can be quite close together. Worse still most of the bikes I have ridden have alarmingly optimistic speedos, my old bandit being the worst of the bunch, showing 58ish at a satnav indicated speed of 50. Fortunately a tomtom can be set to sound all the alarms should you creep over the limit. Whilst less scary and empty road with average speed enforcement is even harder to comply on as it’s pretty featureless to the point of feeling like walking pace and the insinct is to wind on untill it feels fast.

  2. All this wonderful new safety gear will see the death toll plummet NOT!
    Riders who are paying attention are using close to one hundred percent their available mental capacity to ride safely and stare at the speedometer to keep their wallets safe.
    Adaptive cruise control may occasionally help by allowing us to take our eyes off the speedo but if it starts hitting the brakes before you are ready it could kill you! Visual displays and beeps etc just add complexity to a bike along with extra cost and weight and are quite possibly more dangerous than not having them.
    People will either not register the warnings misinterprete them or become overly reliant on them.
    ABS has killed people who have overly relied on it and had it fail. I’ve had ABS fail to work when needed but have not had an accident because I never expect it to work when needed and allowed for the chance it might fail. People who have only ever operated vehicles with ABS tend to rely too heavily on it to get them out of trouble and have paid the price or motorcyclists have paid the price when sandwiched between two slabs of metal and plastic.

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