Blown away by the technology of autonomous cars? Well Yamaha's self-riding 'Motobot' Yamaha R1M takes things to an entirely different level.
Unveiled late last year, the Yamaha Motobot has been developed to eventually be capable of lapping a racetrack faster than world champion Valentino Rossi. Now the Japanese marque has confirmed that the second phase of development for Motobot has kicked off with the intention of it hitting a racetrack in 2017.
Unlike autonomous cars which have the ability to drive themselves, the Yamaha R1M used by Motobot is actually completed standard, albeit for the crash frame. It is therefore the robot itself which rides the super sports bike in place of a human.
Yamaha believes that this crazy technical exercise will allow it to develop new safety systems and improve their future products.
At CES 2016, officials from Yamaha said “The sophisticated technologies acquired in achieving the high objectives detailed here are also intended to be applied to advanced technologies and rider support systems in the future, as well as other options that may segue into new business development."