A review on motorcycle and rider modelling for steering control

Abstract

The paper is a review of the state of knowledge and understanding of steering control in motorcycles and of the existing rider models. Motorcycles are well known to have specific instability characteristics, which can detrimentally affect the rider's control, and as such a suitable review of these characteristics is covered in the first instance. Next, early models which mostly treat riding as a regulatory task are considered. A rider applies control based on sensory information available to him/her, predominantly from visual perception of a target path. The review therefore extends to cover also the knowledge and research findings into aspects of road preview control. Here, some more emphasis is placed on recent applications of optimal control and model predictive control to the riding task and the motorcycle–rider interaction. The review concludes with some open questions which naturally present a scope for further study.

Keywords:

• motorcycle
• rider model
• road preview
• path following
• optimal control
• predictive control