Assistance and Mitigation Strategies in Case of Impaired Motorcycle Riders: The ADAS&ME Case Study

Riding a motorcycle requires both physical and mental effort. These requirements are amplified by factors like long riding hours, high or low temperatures, high relative humidity levels or rain. Besides exposing the rider to the external environment, the vehicle cannot offer full aerodynamic protection and limits him/her in a fixed position, which is less comfortable than that of a car. Furthermore, physical effort is required to steer and actively balance the motorcycle. Such factors may induce impairing states like physical fatigue, distraction and stress. The work carried out within the ADAS&ME project has the aim to create a system able to detect, and possibly in extreme conditions prevent, these states, and then to provide adequate assistance to the rider during long touring travels and, if the situation becomes safety critical, actively enable intervention functions with embedded ad-hoc safety strategy.