RADAR ROLLOUT?
BMW files designs for next generation radar system
BMW’s come up with another bit of kit to try and make the riders of its bikes and scooters more visible to the smart technology fitted to other road users’ vehicles.
We all know that one of the biggest problems with rider safety is that two-wheelers are more difficult to see than a car, van or lorry. Of course, they are smaller, but there’s also been some interesting research done that suggests other road users struggle to spot a biker approaching, particularly when performing left and right checks before pulling out of a junction. Interestingly, much like people, semi-autonomous vehicles are also having a bit of an issue recognising bikes and scooters.
That’s why the German factory has filed a patent for a bit of technology which reflects radar signals.
Assisted driving is becoming much more prevalent, and also subsequently much more sophisticated. Whether you like it or not, there’s no denying it’s clever kit which removes some of the risk of driver error. But it’s not infallible. As the technology gets rolled out it turns out there are problems emerging, specifically with the radar systems used for adaptive speed control. You know the ones, which work to accelerate or brake depending on what the vehicle in front is up to, thus ensuring a consistent safe distance is maintained. But it turns out that as motorcycles aren’t quite so substantial in size, they’re going unnoticed by some systems, which in turn is presenting some serious risks.
Thankfully, there is a fairly simple solution to the problem. It’s just a case of installing radar reflectors on the motorcycle, which will then work to bounce the signal back to the motor behind and ensure it’s detected. It’s actually not a new idea at all. Suzuki filed designs for something fairly similar a couple of years ago. But as you’d expect, BMW’s made a few tweaks to make it its own.
The technology has been used by small boats for a while now by joining a couple of sheets of metal at right angles to deflect radar signals back to bigger boats. Yes, it’s really that simple. BMW's patent application details the fitment of a relatively large reflector (the size of a golf ball) to each handlebar – kind of like a pair of bulbous bar ends. It’s different from Suzuki’s solution because they’re immediately identifiable, but as a result, it’s likely that they’re much more efficient (if they can be seen by the human eye then they’ll surely be much better at deflecting the signal from another vehicle). Plus, they’ll be pretty handy at protecting the bike should you take a slow-speed tumble and it ends up on its side.