Yamaha furthers investment in self-driving technology
Yamaha has made its third investment to Tier IV, the lead developer of the Autoware open-source self-driving operating system.
Yamaha has furthered its investment in autonomous driving technology with its third investment into Tier IV Inc.
Yamaha first invested in Tier IV back in August 2017, before investing again in July 2019. This latest investment - three years on from its last commitment - is therefore its third, as it continues to promote and develop autonomous driving technology.
Tier IV is the development leader of Autoware, which is the first open-source autonomous driving operating system (OS), which Yamaha says is “committed to “democratising” autonomous driving so that anyone can contribute to the advancement of the technology.”
Alongside Bridgestone and other investors, Yamaha has helped bring the total investment in Tier IV to 12.1 billion Yen (around £74,000,000).
Yamaha says that the autonomous driving technology they are developing with Tier IV and its other investors is aimed at “low-speed automated driving under specific conditions.”
This makes it possible to believe that Yamaha is currently not looking at autonomous technology for motorcycles. However, it is hard to believe that they would be investing in such technology at all if they did not think it would eventually become applicable to their own products.
While autonomous technology might not make much sense on a Tenere 700 or an R1 for example, it could work on something that is more practical, where enjoyment is less of a factor. A NEO’s, for example, or an E01. These are scooters that are aimed to be practical intracity commuters, not the pinnacle of riding experience.
That’s not to say they are boring - in fact, we described the NEO’s as “ridiculously fun” in our review - but if there was something in Yamaha’s roster that would get away with a function that essentially removes the fun and enjoyment of riding, it would probably be something like a NEO’s, or an E01.
So, will this furthering of Yamaha’s investment in autonomous driving technology have much of an effect on the average motorcycle enthusiast? For now, absolutely not, and there is a chance there will be no future impact, either. But, at some point, it seems inevitable that ‘self-riding’ will arrive to motorcycles, at least as an option.
