Honda’s Crosswind Assist and Lane Warning Systems

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Honda has been working on advanced rider-assist features for years. The latest ideas revolve around lane warning and crosswind assist systems. (Honda/)

Honda has been hard at work on self-steering rider-assistance systems for years now. We saw details of the mechanical components back in 2022. The firm is still finding new applications and modes for the idea with the latest being a crosswind-countering system.

Rider assist is always a contentious subject, and in cars we can see how the objective of a machine that intervenes only when you really need its help isn’t always met. Oversensitive systems that try to overrule you unnecessarily are as frustrating as those that fail to spot real threats, but well-calibrated and subtle setups can be exactly the sort of unobtrusive aids promised by their on-paper claims. Whether Honda’s motorcycle rider assist—whenever it finally reaches production—manages to hit that fine balance that distinguishes a help from a hindrance remains to be seen, but on the basis of patents being applied for, no other company appears to be as actively involved in the development of such systems.

One of the features Honda would like to solve is a crosswind assist system, which would nudge the bike back into the center of the lane when a gust or steady wind is affecting the bike’s travel path. (Honda/)

Like previous Honda patents, the latest one revolves around a servo-assisted steering device that falls somewhere between an active steering damper and an auto-steering system. The actuator itself is mounted behind the steering head, attached to the triple clamps via a simple arm and linkage. Visually, it’s not unlike a rotary steering damper, but rather than simply preventing rapid movements of the bars it can introduce steering of its own at the command of an onboard computer. That computer is fed information from an array of sources including acceleration and speed sensors, steering torque and angle sensors, radar, and a camera, with the aim of working out what you want the bike to do and how best to achieve that goal.

There is a complex suite of systems necessary to achieve the goal of crosswind assist. (Honda/)

In normal conditions the actuator would do nothing, leaving you in complete control of the bike, but when needed it can step in, just like ABS on brakes or traction control for your throttle, to add a layer of additional safety.

The latest Honda patent application related to the system shows how it hopes to be able to counter the effects of crosswinds, whether they’re steady or gusting, to keep the bike on your chosen  line. To do this, the computer splits the lane you’re traveling in into several, narrow “virtual lanes,” shown by dotted lines in the patent drawings, and attempts to keep the bike within one of those lanes. The system is intended to be tied into a suite of rider aids including adaptive cruise control, so it’s aware of the positions of other nearby vehicles as well as the edges of the road, so the intervention can be tailored to be more, or less aggressive depending on how urgent the need is to get the bike back on track.

Another idea is a lane warning system that would alert the rider with haptic (vibration) feedback through the bars to alert them that the bike is veering off the intended path. You can see the units that would vibrate in the end of the bars (56, 46). (Honda/)

Simultaneously, Honda has filed another patent for a simpler part of its planned rider-assist system in the form of haptic feedback for the rider. Again, cars already use this idea, with some having systems that vibrate the steering wheel or seat if you’re starting to drift out of lane or encroaching on another vehicle’s space, often as a precursor to actively intervening. Since audible warnings are of little use on a bike and dashboard lights are easily missed, Honda’s idea is to vibrate the left or right bar (or both at once) to provide a physical form of feedback.

A close-up look of the vibration mechanism in the bar, which is essentially an offset weight attached to a motor. (Honda/)

The vibrations are achieved by using the same idea that’s already familiar from the sort of “rumble” systems that have been used in video game controllers for many years. An offset weight is attached to an electric motor, creating a vibration that can be controlled by the computer. Honda’s patent proposes putting one of these vibration motors into each bar-end weight. Just as in a game controller the vibrations could be given different speeds and rhythms, to convey a variety of messages, but lane keeping or blind spot monitoring warnings are the most obvious use for the idea.

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