As self-driving cars and trucks might get all the attention, BMW has unveiled its first autonomous motorbike, based on the best-selling BMW R1200 GS model.
In it, the driverless motorcycle starts its engine and then takes off down a track. It accelerates and makes turns all on its own before returning to a complete stop. The best part: the tech powering the motorcycle could one day keep bikers safer on the road.
The driverless motorcycle independently drove off, accelerated, circled a winding test track and independently slowed down to a complete stop.
Despite the amazing feeling to see this artificial intelligence-powered bike driving around the racetrack, BMW said that it has no intention, at least in the near future, to sell a "completely independent motorbike," and that the underlying technology will be used as a platform to develop future systems and functions to make motorcycling safer and more comfortable.
"Motorcycles are intrinsically dangerous," said Marco Graziano, CEO of Visible Energy and a lifelong Ducati rider. "Safety is in the driver s skills, dedication, and the universal rules of chance."
