Motorcycle Haptic Brake Control for Noticeable Rider Warnings

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Solution Overview

Problem

Straddle-type vehicles, with their short wheelbase, experience significant travel safety deterioration from slight changes in acceleration/deceleration, and conventional haptic warnings may not adequately perceive riders due to minimal changes in acceleration/deceleration, leading to insufficient perception of warnings.

Innovation Solution

A controller for a rider-assistance system that adjusts the priority of front and rear wheel braking forces based on travel state information to perform haptic motions with larger changes in acceleration/deceleration, prioritizing the wheel with less impact on safety.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If haptic motion is performed with large acceleration/deceleration changes to improve rider perceptibility, then warning perception is improved, but travel safety deteriorates due to short wheelbase instability

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverider perceptibility of warningVSAvoidtravel safety
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The braking force application is segmented into front wheel and rear wheel components. The controller selectively applies braking force to one wheel or the other based on current vehicle state, rather than applying force to both wheels simultaneously. This segmentation allows the system to achieve sufficient haptic feedback while maintaining stability by choosing the less critical wheel for braking application.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The controller dynamically adjusts which wheel receives braking force based on real-time vehicle state information including acceleration, deceleration, and wheel slip conditions. The system transitions between different braking strategies (front wheel braking, rear wheel braking, or combined braking) depending on the operational context, optimizing both perceptibility and safety for each moment.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

2Reliability

If braking force is applied to both wheels simultaneously for stable deceleration, then travel safety is maintained, but rider perceptibility of warning is reduced due to symmetric force distribution

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetravel safetyVSAvoidrider perceptibility of warning
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of applying braking force uniformly to both wheels, the system applies braking force locally to a specific wheel (front or rear) based on current vehicle state. This localized force application creates more pronounced haptic feedback for the rider while maintaining overall vehicle stability, as the braking is concentrated on the wheel least likely to cause instability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The braking force distribution is made asymmetric by selectively applying force to either the front wheel or rear wheel rather than both wheels equally. This asymmetric application enhances the perceptibility of the warning to the rider while the controller manages the asymmetric force to prevent safety issues through real-time state monitoring and adjustment.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #4Asymmetry

Data Source

PatentEP4108528B1Control device and control method
Publication Date: 2026.04.22 ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
  • EP4108528B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4108528B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The present invention obtains a controller and a control method capable of improving a rider's perceptibility of a warning. A controller (51) for a rider-assistance system (50) mounted to a straddle-type vehicle (100) includes: a determination section that determines necessity of the warning given to the rider; a haptic motion performing section that performs haptic motion at least once to reduce or increase acceleration/deceleration of the straddle-type vehicle (100) only for a moment; and an acquisition section that acquires travel state information of the straddle-type vehicle (100). The haptic motion performing section changes a priority of each wheel (3, 4) at the time of changing a braking force to reduce or increase the acceleration/deceleration only for the moment in the haptic motion according to the travel state information acquired by the acquisition section.