Astemo’s Innovative System Could Give Honda an Edge in Crash Mitigation and Adaptive Cruise Control
News broke recently of Astemo’s clever brake cooling patent, but Another Astemo project that’s edging its way towards production in a potential future Honda is a rider assist system based around stereo cameras rather than the more common front radar used by rivals.
Honda is notably falling behind in terms of these systems, lacking any bikes to compete with the radar cruise control and crash mitigation systems offered by Ducati, BMW, Kawasaki, KTM and Yamaha. All those brands buy their radar systems from Bosch, giving them a leg-up by accessing an off-the-shelf set of components, while Honda prefers to develop its systems in-house.
Astemo’s system, shown at successive EICMA shows and slowly evolving towards a showroom-ready design, uses two front-facing cameras rather than a radar, mimicking the stereoscopic vision of the rider to judge distances and recognise obstacles. Unlike a radar, camera-based crash mitigation or adaptive cruise control systems can pick out colours and lights, like the brake lights of a vehicle ahead or changing traffic lights, rather than just the shapes.
The latest iteration of Astemo’s system, seen fitted to a Honda Africa Twin, adds a bump recognition system, scanning the road ahead for uneven surfaces like speed humps, and sending that information back to the bike and the rider. Since Astemo owns Nissin (brakes), Showa (suspension) and Keihin (fuel injection), that means adaptive suspension, pre-emptive or antilock braking, and traction control or engine mapping systems can all be harmonised to react to the obstacle before the bike reaches it.
