BMW Motorrad's first autonomous motorbike was presented at the BMW Motorrad Techday 2018. A BMW R 1200 GS made its first rounds in front of assembled journalists, as if by magic, at the BMW Group testing ground in Miramas, southern France. Developed by graduate engineer Stefan Hans and his team, the vehicle independently drives off, accelerates, circles a winding test track and independently slows down to a stop.
With this forward-thinking development, BMW Motorrad, as a driver for technical innovations in the field of motorcycling, is by no means aiming for a completely independent motorbike. Rather, the underlying technology should serve as a platform for development of future systems and functions to make motorcycling even safer, more comfortable and increase the riding pleasure. The aim of the prototype is to gather additional knowledge with regards driving dynamics in order to detect dangerous situations early on and thus support the driver with appropriate safety systems while turning at intersections or when braking suddenly, for example.
