Occupying the entire 225m2 South Hall 2, the company aims to give new meaning to autonomous driving by illustrating a breadth of unique applications its technology can provide.
You may be anticipating announcements from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), but among the hustle and bustle of the holidays, did you ever stop and realize that it’s less than a month away?
CES has been the trade show for pushing the envelope of technology since it was first held in 1967, introducing everything from the video cassette recorder to the original Xbox to OLED TVs.
But, in 2018, it’s about to ramp up even more. Yamaha Motor, a company best known for its motorized bikes, four-wheelers and marine equipment, is about to make its premiere debut at CES 2018.
That’s a considerable development in its own right, but what piques our interest more is that Yamaha Motor is doing so while touting its theme “Expanding the possibilities of mobility with advanced technology.”
You’re probably curious then as to how a brand that specializes in recreational vehicles has any hand in consumer technology, but if you know anything about self-driving cars, you should be able to read between the lines.
That’s right, from Tuesday, January 9 to Friday, January 12, 2018, Yamaha Motor will be showing off a range of new products at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. These include not only 2- and 4-wheel vehicles that can drive themselves, but a robot that can ride motorcycles as well as a drone and unmanned helicopter designed for industrial use.
These include a prototype of Yamaha Motor’s MOTOROiD motorcycle, which integrates artificial intelligence (AI) to maneuver a rider – albeit at a low speed – based on their biometric and movement analyses specific to them. This drew a great deal of attention at the Tokyo Motor Show, so we can only imagine how well it’s bound to fare at CES.
Meanwhile, the MOTOBOT Ver.2 will be present at the show as well. This is the aforementioned robot that can drive a basic stock motorcycle without human aid. This is accomplished as a result of advancements in both motorcycles and robotics, of course, and is intended to be used by Yamaha Motor’s partners for autonomous driving services.
Imagine if, in the future, when you order a pizza, it’s delivered on the back of a bike driven by a robot. That’s what Yamaha Motor is hoping to achieve with the MOTOBOT Ver.2. For a multi-passenger alternative, the company presents the Public Personal Mobility, a four-wheel system designed to transports several pedestrians at a time over the course of a few miles.
Lastly, on the industrial side of the fence, the YMR-01 prototype is taking coaxial rotor technology and fusing it with the latest weight-reduction technology. We wouldn’t blame you for associating drones with military use by default, but this one in particular is ideal for farmers, if only for its high crop-spraying performance.
The FAZER R, on the other hand, is Yamaha Motor’s unmanned helicopter, distinguished by its incorporation of turn assistance functionality for keeping flying paths evenly spaced. Naturally, this feature is utilized by toggling the spraying switch and allows for a much more precise spray when used on a farm.
To top it all off, Yamaha Motors is eagerly looking to meet potential partners at CES 2018, hoping to find collaboration opportunities in technological innovations along the way. As the company plans to lift the veil off its R&D results, like the MOTOROiD, you can learn more about Yamaha Motor’s presence at CES 2018 here.
For US business and press inquiries, you can contact Ken Bieber by phone at (949) 294-7831 or by email at Ken.Bieber@threerocks.net. Our Japanese readers can reach John Boreland at (0)80 8814-4520 or by email at johnjboreland@threerocks.com.
Sponsored by Yamaha
