Abstract

The purpose of this project is to improve motorcycle lighting in corners. Given that motorcycles need to lean or bank to turn, the headlight aim becomes obscured and inadequate around curves. This lighting phenomenon can present a safety hazard to riders at night. Although this problem has been present since headlights were first put on motorcycles, it is now prudent to accept the challenge of correcting this problem thanks to the recent advances in sensor and microprocessor design. The solution was to design a headlight control system that sensed the dynamic behavior of the motorcycle, predicted the current situation on a roadway, and manipulated the aim of the headlight to best illuminate the roadway. The system senses the bank angle and speed of a motorcycle, and then uses that data to manipulate a small projector beam headlight. The result of the project is a light that reacts to the banking of a motorcycle and corrects the beam aim quickly and accurately along two axes. In this project a working prototype was constructed. This prototype will be used to demonstrate and prove the concept with the intention of marketing the technology to motorcycle manufacturers.

Notes

Capstone Design Course ME 1501-1502, Technical Design Report, Final report

Keywords

improved motorcycle lighting, headlights

Publisher

Northeastern University

Publication Date

11-5-2007

Rights Holder

Northeastern University, Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Permanent URL

http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d10011389


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