Evaluation of Lane Change Maneuvers on a Dynamic Motorcycle Riding Simulator Utilizing a Rider Leaning Input

Type of the Paper: Extended Abstract

Evaluation of Lane Change Maneuvers on a Dynamic Motorcycle Riding Simulator Utilizing a Rider Leaning Input

Raphael Pleß^1,*, Sebastian Will¹, and Nora Leona Merkel¹

¹Würzburger Institut für Verkehrswissenschaften GmbH; pless@wivw.de, https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5984-6723; will@wivw.de, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0098-6212; merkel@wivw.de, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4865-368X

*corresponding author.

Name of Editor: Jason Moore

Submitted: 28/02/2023

Accepted: 13/04/2023

Published: 26/04/2023

Citation: Pleß, R. (2023). Evaluation of Lane Change Maneuvers on a Dynamic Motorcycle Riding Simulator Utilizing a Rider Leaning Input. The Evolving Scholar - BMD 2023, 5th Edition.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY).

Abstract:

Up until today, high fidelity dynamic motorcycle riding simulators (DMRS) lack behind the rideability and accessibility of real motorcycles. This is a limiting factor, when it comes to the applicability of such simulators in the development processes of motorcycle manufacturers, suppliers and research institutes. Extensive training of the study participants enables valid studies, but decreases the test efficiency and weakens the trust of managers and decision makers into the results gained on the simulator.

One approach to increase the rideability of DMRS is to introduce technology, that allows utilizing rider motion as an input to the simulation, instead of only implementing a steering input. This approach is called “Dual Loop Rider Control” (DLRC) and is realized on the DESMORI Simulator by means of a roll torque measurement that takes any coupling torque between the rider and the motorcycle frame around the vehicle’s longitudinal axis into account. (Pleß, 2016)
The mechatronic concept is depicted in Figure 1. The system is affecting the steady state equilibrium of the motorcycle during cornering, e.g., reducing the motorcycle roll angle and steer torque, when a rider is performing a lean-in motion.

The objective of the paper at hand is to discuss, if and how the applicability and performance of DLRC in dynamic riding maneuvers can be rated. Scales and ratings known from literature, that are for example applied for the analysis of motorcycle handling, are not sufficient for this purpose. For instance, the Lane-Change-Roll Index will decrease when implementing DLRC and utilizing lean-in (vs. riding with steering input only). Typically, the lower steer torque efforts would indicate improved handling ratings. But ultimately, they have no relevance in terms of rideability, accessibility and realism of the simulator, as these don’t just correlate with lower steering efforts. Therefore, new performance measures are needed.

It is hypothesized, that an increased rideability of the simulator is observable in a higher precision and repeatability when performing a certain maneuver. A set of characteristic values describing the lance change maneuver is presented, that allows to rate the performance of the simulator. The values result from a curve fitting of the vehicle trajectory to a hyperbolic tangent function. In order to investigate the effects of DLRC on these characteristic values, the lane change maneuver is tested at velocities between 30 km/h and 100 km/h in three different configurations:

• Configuration 1: The maneuvers are performed without activation of the rider leaning input.
  (i.e. representing the state-of-the-art simulators that utilize pure steering control.)

• Configuration 2: The maneuvers are performed with activated rider leaning input
  (i.e., riding without hands.)

• Configuration 3: The maneuvers are performed using both steering and leaning input.
  (i.e. with DLRC)

The data collected in the lane-change maneuvers shows, that the leaning input results in plausible dynamic vehicle responses, when riding without hands. The developed characteristic values indicate slight improvements by the use of DLRC compared to the state-of-the-art configuration. Figure 2 exemplarily shows a representation of the characteristic values resulting from the lane-change tanh-fitting. An activated DLRC (red circles) results in slightly smoother lane transitions compared to the pure steering control (blue circles). The lateral change rate decreases slightly, as does the root mean square error between the measured trajectory and the reference tanh-curve.

It is concluded, that the use of DLRC is beneficial in dynamic scenarios. However, just like on real motorcycles, the simulator handling is still dominated by the steering controls and imperfections in that domain cannot be compensated by DLRC.

References

Pleß, R. (2016). Approach to a holistic input determination for a motorcycle riding simulator. Proceedings of the Bicycle & Motorcycle Dynamics Symposium, Milwaukee, 2016