Yamaha’s robot rider (no, not Lorenzo)

Yamaha have revealed MOTOBOT Ver. 1 – alongside a host of concept vehicles – at the Tokyo Motor Show. MOTOBOT is a robot that can ride an unmodified bike all on its own. Rumours that it will soon share a track with Honda’s Asimo to test anti-collision technology are entirely fabricated.

MOTOBOT is a humanoid robot that is currently under development at Yamaha, with an ambitious and admirable aim of riding unaided on an unmodified motorcycle at more than 200kph on track. It’s been designed to help improve rider safety mechanisms on motorcycles, the intention being to use the data it generates in research to develop further rider–support systems on future motorcycle models.

It may not yet be quite at Terminator levels of sophistication yet, and hasn’t been programmed to steal either your clothes or your motorcycle, but it is an incredibly impressive concept that could genuinely help improve the development of future safety systems by eliminated the weakest, most variable and subjective part of the motorcycle – us.