Automotive Tier supplier Continental is expanding its range of electronic braking systems by introducing a one-channel ABS for smaller motorcycles and scooters. Based on its proven ABS technology for passenger cars it was developed especially for cost-sensitive markets such as Asia, where the two-wheelers must be equipped only with a hydraulic brake on the front wheel. Production launch of the one-channel ABS is planned for the beginning of 2014. With a box volume of significantly less than 300 cubic centimetres and weighing roughly 420 gm, the motorcycle ABS is very light and can be easily applied to suit the widest range of motorcycle and motor scooter models. ABS control of the front wheel stops it from locking up even during a panic brake by the driver and prevents a fall. A wheel speed sensor constantly monitors the front wheel’s turning speed and from this the algorithms in the control unit calculate whether braking could potentially cause the front wheel to lock up. If so, the system will reduce the brake pressure, thus preventing loss of directional stability and road holding.
The one-channel ABS is the newest addition to Continental’s portfolio of motorcycle systems currently in series production: Motorcycle Integral Brake Systems and Motorcycle Anti-Lock Brake Systems (2-Channel ABS).
According to Murali Srinivasan, Managing Director of Continental Automotive Brake Systems India, his company wants to make the one-channel ABS available to all road users and offer motorcyclists a significant safety gain. Just how great the requirement is, throughout Asia for example, is demonstrated by a study into global traffic safety carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2009. It found that roughly 28 per cent of traffic fatalities in India and China were suffered by drivers of two and three-wheeled vehicles.
In countries such as Indonesia and Thailand, the figure rose to 61 and 70 per cent respectively. The 2010 DEKRA Traffic Safety Report in Germany showed that ABS could either prevent many accidents or reduce the severity of their impact.
It even concluded that 25 to 35 per cent of the serious accidents analysed in the report could have been prevented, had the motorcycles been fitted with ABS.
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