Piaggio Fast Forward, the Piaggio Group subsidiary with Boston headquarters and dedicated to new technologies, officially has just presented its first safety platform for motorcycles based on 4D radar. A security system that as described by the brand itself, this is “Modular, customizable and easy to integrate.”
New 4D PFF radar in detail
After several years of research by PFF, the Piaggio Group seems to have everything ready to incorporate its new 4D radar technology in some of its main models belonging to the current Rangas of Aprilia and Moto Guzzi. Recall that in 2017 the Piaggio Gita and Kilo were presented, two robotic vehicles designed to help us in our limitation when wearing charges without having to resort to an external vehicle.
Already last year 2024 it was announced that the kilo model would become part of the facilities of several Guzzi motorcycle production centers. Equipped with the innovative Sensors and Images of Radar 4D developed by PFF, this smart platform can follow the operator, move autonomously and travel more than 100 trajectories stored in memory.
Although the driver assistance solution PFF made its debut on the new Moto Guzzi Stelvio, now, as their ideologues explain, “It improves driver safety with radar sensors in chip (ROC) and is designed to complement the driver. The platform offers maximum resolution and the highest level of detail to ensure reliable operation of the system in any climatic and lighting condition.”
They conclude: “The alerts of the RAS sensors are communicated through the board, rearview mirrors and emergency lights, as well as sound through the audio or headphones system, and are highly customizable according to their specific needs or requirements.” About the new advances of the 4D radar of PFF, explains Jean-Claude Coutantbrand technology director:
“The front sensor predicts collisions with vehicles in its trajectory, while the rear sensor predicts collisions when it changes lane or if a vehicle is at its blind spot or in an adjacent lane. The software draws a very specific corridor through which the motorcycle circulates. If the vehicles circulate on the periphery, we do not take measure.”
The biggest difference of the RAS system with other similar systems that are currently used in the industry, is that the former uses a 4D radar instead of conventional cameras. This provides a better vision in under any climatic or lighting condition. Coutant explains about this: “We chose the radar because it is immune to the weather, while a chamber system would be affected by rain, fog, dust or darkness.”
The 4D Radar Front System of PFF detects objects at a distance from up to 150 mwhile the rear module manages to perform this same function on an operational radius of 30 m. The intention of Piaggio Fast forward, as they detail from MCN, is to be able to expand this capacity to 300 meters, when we talk about the front axle. Probably in the coming months we know new evolutions on the new RAS system of the Piaggio Group.
