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5 min read
Ride Vision: protecting the motorcyclists from themselves
(DISCLOSURE: I am NOT a Ride Vision employee, have NOT received any sponsoring from them, and bought the system in question here just as any regular customer. This article and the video published by me are the result of my enthusiasm with a system which can actually save lives of motorcyclists).
Many years ago, in 2008, a system called Mobileye was launched onto the market. Mobileye targeted avoiding accidents with cars by using a camera at the front of the car and a strong image interpretation system for accident prediction. They did that by interpretating the video from the camera to warn the drivers that they were either too close to the car in front of them, or inadvertently diverting from their lane into another lane. These systems are today part of all the modern cars, and are active systems since they come from the factory in the car.
At that time, in my condition as a technology writer with my own website, I was invited to the launch, in which we also had the chance to drive a car with the system installed on it in a closed circuit in which some obstacles were placed in strategic points. Thrilled with the technology, my first question was: "When will this technology be available also for motorcycles?". The response was quite disappointing: "Not on our radar. A motorcycle is a completely different beast, there are all the handles of inclination, and we are not intending to deal with this."
Fast forward 10 years, and a new company called Ride Vision (https://ride.vision) was founded by two riders, Uri Lavi and Lior Cohen, doing exactly what I asked Mobileye in 2008 - bringing safety technology to motorcycles. I was introduced to their technology by a friend in 2021, and loved it, but at that time for some reason I did not install it on my motorcycle.
Last July (2024), I decided to install it, and then I understood what I missed for 3 years. So, I decided to draft this article.
Many years ago, in 2008, a system called Mobileye was launched onto the market. Mobileye targeted avoiding accidents with cars by using a camera at the front of the car and a strong image interpretation system for accident prediction. They did that by interpretating the video from the camera to warn the drivers that they were either too close to the car in front of them, or inadvertently diverting from their lane into another lane. These systems are today part of all the modern cars, and are active systems since they come from the factory in the car.
At that time, in my condition as a technology writer with my own website, I was invited to the launch, in which we also had the chance to drive a car with the system installed on it in a closed circuit in which some obstacles were placed in strategic points. Thrilled with the technology, my first question was: "When will this technology be available also for motorcycles?". The response was quite disappointing: "Not on our radar. A motorcycle is a completely different beast, there are all the handles of inclination, and we are not intending to deal with this."
Fast forward 10 years, and a new company called Ride Vision (https://ride.vision) was founded by two riders, Uri Lavi and Lior Cohen, doing exactly what I asked Mobileye in 2008 - bringing safety technology to motorcycles. I was introduced to their technology by a friend in 2021, and loved it, but at that time for some reason I did not install it on my motorcycle.
Last July (2024), I decided to install it, and then I understood what I missed for 3 years. So, I decided to draft this article.
THE PROPOSAL:
Ride Vision's proposal is remarkably simple: to protect the rider from riders' most common mistakes.
They use a system of wide-angle cameras backed by a neural network and AI to result in a Collision Aversion Technology that will warn the rider about challenges around him and give him some extra time to act on these challenges.
Ride Vision's proposal is remarkably simple: to protect the rider from riders' most common mistakes.
They use a system of wide-angle cameras backed by a neural network and AI to result in a Collision Aversion Technology that will warn the rider about challenges around him and give him some extra time to act on these challenges.
(image taken from the Ride Vision website)
(image taken from the Ride Vision website)
So which are these most common mistakes?
1. Underestimating the minimum distance to be kept from the vehicle ahead of them. This can be dangerous if the car in front of them suddenly brakes, or in case a car suddenly "jumps" into their lane from a lane beside them, to overtake another vehicle. We, motorcyclists, are used to underestimating the necessary distance, and many accidents could be avoided if we were a little bit further.
2. Not paying enough attention to the traffic coming from behind. Here, in most cases, the danger is moving from one lane to another while missing a vehicle that is coming at the "dead-spot" in the mirror which we never see.
These two cases represent the deadliest situations into which a rider can suddenly find himself.
The Ride Vision technology can save the rider from these situations, using an accident prediction algorithm developed by the company, which uses the input of two cameras, one at the front and one at the back of the bike, a magnetic sensor that measures the speed of the bike, an ECU (the brain of the system) and two indicators at a visible point for the rider, left and right. They are marked in black in the grey image on the left.
A simple system with a lot of intelligence behind it.
The alerts to the rider are given by strong led lights placed on both sides of the motorcycle - in most bikes, they will be placed at the top of the mirrors; in the case of my motorcycle, which has a big dashboard, they were placed at the top of the loudspeakers.
The red lights appearing in the picture on the left are the distance indicator. They turn on if you are too close to an obstacle ahead of you and can also flash in a situation of imminent accident.
The yellow light in the picture on the right, at the left side of the motorcycle, is the light that indicates that something is coming from the back at my left. If something is coming from the back on my right, the right yellow light will turn on.
The red lights appearing in the picture on the left are the distance indicator. They turn on if you are too close to an obstacle ahead of you and can also flash in a situation of imminent accident.
The yellow light in the picture on the right, at the left side of the motorcycle, is the light that indicates that something is coming from the back at my left. If something is coming from the back on my right, the right yellow light will turn on.
(led indicators on my dashboard)
Well, enough introduction. Let me just finish by saying that from now on Ride Vision will be an integral part of every bike I have in the future.
See the video of my experience riding with it from home to the office.
See the video of my experience riding with it from home to the office.
9 Comments
Thanks in advance and greetings from Winterthur/Switzerland, Thomas
First of all, thank you!
Please, take a look at the video - in the first 5 minutes of the video I show exactly where every component is placed. You will see it perfectly. Your RT is a 2015 and mine is a 2017, so in terms of design they are the same and you can use the same configuration. Just take care to align the magnetic sensor with the screws in the brake disc, if they are not aligned it won't work well.
Thanks a lot for your feedback. Yes, I noticed from your video where you placed the cameras and the indicators. Besides the velocity sensor it sounds like installing the other components was straightforward and the Ride Vision system tolerates e.g. the front camera not perfectly centered which is good news. If there is anything else that is important please let me know. Thanks!
I think this is all that I can add.
thanks again for the info.
Happy and safe riding,
Thomas
I went to see my local BMW dealer to discuss the installation of the Ride Vision. They were a bit skeptical even questioning if it can be hooked up to the onboard electronics. Did you do the wiring yourself? In any case do you have a picture that shows how you connected the yellow wire to the switched key wire? That would be very helpful. Thanks very much and have a great time with your fellow BMW riders, Thomas
Sorry, I can't help much with this one. I had a technician from Ride Vision installing it for me.
What I can say is that he connected directly to the area of the battery, bu had a way such that when the bike is turned on the system turns on, and when you turn the bike off it turns off, all automatically.
thanks for your reply and no problem. I was in contact with Uri Lavi from Ride Vision anyway and will ask him about the wiring.
Kind regards, Thomas