infrastructure

Queensland wraps up connected vehicle road safety pilot

General Posts / By

by Aimee Chanthadavong from https://www.zdnet.com The Queensland government said during the nine-month pilot drivers were alerted about on-road hazards, including red lights, pedestrians, and cyclists. A pilot involved with testing technology that alerted drivers about upcoming on-road hazards, including red lights, pedestrians, and bike riders in Queensland’s Ipswich has now wrapped up after nine months. As part of the Ipswich Connected Vehicle Pilot (ICVP), 350 participants had their cars retrofitted with cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) technology, including an antenna mounted on a roof-rack, in-vehicle communications box placed under the driver’s seat, and a display on the dashboard that signalled safety warnings to the driver. The equipment enabled each vehicle’s position, speed, and other data, to be shared, while it also received data from traffic signals and traffic management systems related to traffic lights, speed limits, road works, and road hazards. The pilot covered 300 square kilometres within the Ipswich local government area, and included 30 traffic signals fitted with roadside communication devices. These devices, plus those that were installed in participant vehicles, had access to cloud-based data sharing systems throughout the pilot area. The ICVP was delivered by Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads, in partnership with Motor Accident Insurance Commission of Queensland, Telstra, Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety Queensland, iMOVE Australia, Ipswich City Council, and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development. “The connected technology tested allows vehicles to talk with other vehicles, roadside infrastructure, and transport management systems,” Member for Ipswich Jennifer Howard said. “Messages received are combined with the vehicle’s data and used to generate driver warnings such as red lights, road works, road hazards, congestion, and pedestrians.” The pilot was launched under the Queensland government’s broader Cooperative and Automated Vehicle Initiative (CAVI) that aims to reduce […]

Queensland wraps up connected vehicle road safety pilot Read More »

Piaggio, KTM, Honda and Yamaha set up swappable batteries consortium

General Posts / By

by Reuters from https://www.investing.com MILAN (Reuters) – Italian scooter maker Piaggio said on Monday it had set up a consortium with Honda Motor Co., KTM AG and Yamaha Motor Co. to encourage the use of swappable batteries for electric motorcycles and light electric vehicles. The Swappable Batteries Motorcycle Consortium (SBMC) aims to broaden the use of light electric vehicles, such as scooters, mopeds and motorcycles, and support a more sustainable management of their batteries, a joint statement said. It will focus on issues such as battery life, recharging times, infrastructure and costs and will work on defining international standard technical specifications for swappable batteries. The companies in the consortium said they welcomed others joining them to extend standards to as many companies as possible. “Urban mobility is going through a delicate transition moment towards electrification. Thanks to this consortium, motorbikes will keep their key role,” Piaggio Chief of Strategy and Product Michele Colaninno said. Honda’s Motorcycle Operations Chief Officer Yoshishige Nomura said the consortium’s objectives aimed to make electric motorbikes more convenient for clients, as their “use on large scale can substantially contribute to the creation of a more sustainable society”. Piaggio Group owns iconic two-wheeler brands such as Vespa, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, among others.

Piaggio, KTM, Honda and Yamaha set up swappable batteries consortium Read More »

Self-Driving Vehicles – Available Soon? Part 2

General Posts / By

From https://www.motorists.org By Gary Witzenburg, Automotive Senior Writer and Contributing Editor, President of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year, and NMA Member. Editor’s Note: HOUR Detroit Magazine has graciously permitted the NMA to publish this piece, which initially appeared in a slightly different version on its pages. Please Click Here to Read Part 1. Missions and Issues “Automated vehicles’ potential to save lives and reduce injuries is rooted in one critical and tragic fact: 94 percent of serious crashes are due to human error,” contends the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). “Automated vehicles have the potential to remove human error from the crash equation, which will help protect drivers and passengers as well as bicyclists and pedestrians.” Another mission will be to provide much-needed mobility for the aged and disabled, though ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft are already serving many Americans. “Roads filled with automated vehicles could also cooperate to smooth traffic flow and reduce traffic congestion,” NHTSA continues. “With automated vehicles, the time and money spent commuting could be put to better use. In many places across the country, employment or independent living rests on the ability to drive. Automated vehicles could extend that kind of freedom to millions more.” But major hurdles lie ahead. To be as safe as envisioned, AVs will need to see, understand, analyze, and react to everything around them through a complex system of sensors, radar, LiDAR (radar-like, using laser light), and visual and thermal cameras. All that will add a lot of cost. And how effective will those systems be in darkness and nasty weather? When dirt covers their lenses? When snow blankets lane markers and road edges? “Inclement weather is a challenge,” says GM engineer Jason Fischer, “We are working with suppliers on advanced cleaning

Self-Driving Vehicles – Available Soon? Part 2 Read More »

Highway Bill Unveiled for 2021

General Posts / By

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure unveiled its 2021 highway bill, titled the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation (INVEST) in American Act. As you may remember, every five years Congress is required to reauthorize many of the highway related spending bills it passes. The current highway bill, known as the FAST Act, was given a one-year extension last year and is set to expire in September of 2021. The bill introduced Friday is a key component of the major infrastructure spending push the Biden Administration has made a top priority. For the last two years, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation and its members have diligently educated and lobbied lawmakers about the need to include motorcyclist specific priorities in a new highway bill. These grassroots efforts were given a boost with the inclusion of three major motorcyclist specific items in the bill. The Democrat lead bill includes the following provisions in its nearly 1,300 pages of text: Expanded prohibition on motorcycle only check points, including prohibiting using the clothing or apparel of riders or their passengers to profile or target bikers. Reestablishment of the Motorcyclist Advisory Council, which gives bikers a voice within the Federal Highway Administration. Included in the bill, a seat on the council is specifically designated for a “representative of a national motorcycle foundation.” Inclusion of motorcycles as a specific category that autonomous vehicle studies must account for during the testing of this new technology. Additionally, a motorcyclist rights organization is assigned a seat on an autonomous vehicle working group at the U.S. Department of Transportation. The road ahead for a massive infrastructure plan remains uncertain. Negotiations between the House, Senate and White House will be contentious and as always political. However, what is certain is that

Highway Bill Unveiled for 2021 Read More »

JJ Solari reviews Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Plans

General Posts / By

Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Plans to to create more mobilized outhouses via Amtrak. Plus more Municipal hobo-transport rolling toilets called Buses. by JJ Solari If you’ve ever looked forward to leaving your car in the garage and bicycling to your local Amtrak yard to board a train filled with deranged wandering resurrected-dead from the planet Zarkon….you are in luck, moe-foe Lose-a-Relative Joe is gonna make all your dreams of tuberculosis and probably ebola come true. You can give C-19 a big hug of welcome compared to what Rolling-Toilet Joe has planned for you. You won’t need facemasks on Biden Transport, you will need flamethrowers to kill the microbes, bacteria, viruses, insects, vermin, chiggers,fleas, leeches and subterranean fecal matter from the undead that you are going to be harboring on you and in you for the rest of your life. Click Here to read this article by JJ Solari on Bikernet. Join the Cantina – Subscribe Today. https://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/subscription.aspx

JJ Solari reviews Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Plans Read More »

Car and Motorcycle Companies Now Making Electric Bikes

General Posts / By

by Roy Furchgott from https://www.nytimes.com They see branding opportunities as the pandemic and a desire by cities to curb traffic propel e-bike sales to new heights. The transportation industry has seen the future, and the future is 1895. That was the year Ogden Bolton Jr. of Canton, Ohio, was awarded U.S. Patent 552,271 for an “electrical bicycle.” A century and change later, electric bikes have gained new currency as car and motorcycle companies like Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Yamaha have horned into the market with their own designs. While the pandemic has accelerated bike sales, the overriding attraction is that cities worldwide are beginning to restrict motor traffic. These companies are betting that e-bikes are the urban vehicles of tomorrow — or at least vehicles for good publicity today. “In the past 12 to 18 months, you have seen a lot of new brands come into the market,” said Andrew Engelmann, an e-bike sales and marketing manager at Yamaha, which has been in the electric bike business since 1993 and claims sales of two million worldwide. “We in the U.S. have not seen this new energy toward cycling since Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France.” Credit the coronavirus pandemic, which has ignited bike sales of all stripes, but none so much as e-bikes. While retail unit sales of bicycles from January to October last year were up 46 percent from a year earlier, electric bikes were up 140 percent. Measured in dollars, regular bikes were up 67 percent and e-bikes 158 percent — so don’t expect a discount. Those numbers, from the market researchers at NPD, do not include online-only retailers such as Rad Power Bikes, so sales may actually be higher still. Ogden Bolton aside, there is a historical connection between bicycles and motorcycles. Many early

Car and Motorcycle Companies Now Making Electric Bikes Read More »

Piaggio, KTM, Honda and Yamaha to set up swappable batteries consortium

General Posts / By

from https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com The consortium will define the standardised technical specifications of the swappable battery system for vehicles belonging to the L-category, mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles. Piaggio Group on Monday said it has signed a letter of intent with KTM AG, Honda Motor and Yamaha Motor to set up a Swappable Batteries Consortium for motorcycles and light electric vehicles. The consortium will define the standardised technical specifications of the swappable battery system for vehicles belonging to the L-category: mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles. The companies will be working closely with interested stakeholders and national, European and international standardisation bodies. The founding members of the consortium will be involved in the creation of international technical standards. The Consortium will start its activities in May 2021. In the context of the Paris Climate Agreement and the transition to electromobility, the founding members of the consortium believe that the availability of a standardised swappable battery system would both promote the widespread use of light electric vehicles and contribute to a more sustainable life-cycle management of batteries used in the transport sector, the companies said in a joint statement. Also, by extending the range, shortening the charging time and lowering vehicle and infrastructure costs, the manufacturers will try to answer customers’ main concerns regarding the future of electromobility. Michele Colaninno, Piaggio Group chief of strategy and product, commented, “With the signing of this letter of intent, the signatories show their proactiveness vis-à-vis the major concerns of their customers and the political priorities as regards the electrification of vehicles.” An international standard for the swappable batteries system will make this technology efficient and at the disposal of the consumers, added Michele Colaninno.

Piaggio, KTM, Honda and Yamaha to set up swappable batteries consortium Read More »

Ducati partners with Lenovo for designing superbikes

General Posts / By

The bike manufacturer will use a Lenovo high-performance computing cluster that will help the company to drive rapid innovation. Ducati Motor Holding has joined hands with Lenovo for the design of its superbikes. The bike manufacturer will use a Lenovo high-performance computing cluster that will help the company to drive rapid innovation. As the brand says, it is continually looking for innovative ways to make its vehicles faster, safer and even more attractive. Konstantin Kostenarov, Chief Technology Officer at Ducati, said, “Our HPC environment is the engine that drives the development and design of our road and racing bikes.” He also added, “We use advanced aerodynamic and fluid dynamic modelling tools to calculate how a particular design or bike feature will react in different riding conditions. We don’t just do this for the superbikes that we sponsor on the racecourse, but for our road models too, so all bikers that choose Ducati enjoy an exceptional riding experience.” Previously, Ducati used its own HPC infrastructure for the design process, but recently, it found that is no longer delivering the performance, reliability or flexibility which is needed in order to test new designs within tight deadlines. Hence, Ducati decided to use Lenovo’s HPC infrastructure. Stefano Rendina, IT Manager at Ducati, said, “Previously, we had to transfer the results of our models and stress tests from the HPC environment and then use an entirely different workstation to transform this data into easy-to-understand visualizations. The process of transferring data in this way was both time-intensive and expensive—slowing down research and development.” News Source https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Ducati partners with Lenovo for designing superbikes Read More »

Yamaha Expects India to Become its Largest Production Base in 5 yrs

General Posts / By

Markets in Indonesia, Vietnam saturating; India priority No. 1, says top executive. Japanese auto major Yamaha Motor Company (YMC) expects India to overtake Indonesia to emerge as its largest base in terms of production output in the next five years. “India sells more than 20 million two-wheelers annually and the numbers are growing. Our company’s market share is in single digits. We want to improve this. There is a lot of opportunity,” says Yamaha India Chairman Shitara. Two-wheeler sales in India increased 6.95% to 19,740,727 units till February this fiscal. In the same period, India Yamaha Motor’s sales remained largely flat at around 732,006 units. The company additionally exported 226,010 units. Yamaha Motor India’s group chairman Motofumi Shitara was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of MT-15 priced at ₹1.36 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). “India is priority number one for us worldwide. We aim to have production volume of 2.5 million units in India in the next five years,” he said. Going ahead, Shitara said the company would steer clear of the mass segment and focus on launching premium motorcycles in the domestic market. The company has also commenced a study on introducing electric two-wheelers in India. Shitara is currently defining the mid-term roadmap for the company till 2025 to lay the foundation on how the brand Yamaha takes shape the country. Apart from growing volumes, Shitara said a focus area for him is to project a strong image for the Yamaha brand in the local market. Yamaha MT-15 was launched on Friday – a 155cc bike with liquid-cooled four-stroke engine mated to a six-speed transmission. MT-15 is priced at Rs 1.36 lakh ex-showroom. It has ABS and fuel injected variable valve actuation (VBA). On the idea of electric motorcycles, the Yamaha Chairman says – “Three points are important, one

Yamaha Expects India to Become its Largest Production Base in 5 yrs Read More »

Scroll to Top