Electric motorcycle recognizes obstacles on the road thanks to 5G

To put the application into practice, a mobile 5G router and an HD dashcam were installed on a Saroléa motorcycle. The connected dashcam sends images in real time to an AI-capable algorithm in the cloud, where they are analyzed and where obstacles on the road, such as pedestrians or other vehicles, are identified. The algorithm was developed by Ghent-based company ML6, specialized in AI applications.

After a first series of tests at the end of October, a selection of journalists was invited today to see the application live. An impression of the earlier tests can be seen in the video (Dutch video, without English subtitles) below.

The objective of the test sequence at this stage consisted mainly of identifying pedestrians along the route of the motorcycle in "real time" and with high reliability. The 5G connection was tested at different speeds and at different distances from the antenna. With success, as the recognition and identification of obstacles proved to be more than 99% accurate, and the variations in speed and distance from the antenna did not have any impact on the stability of the connection, nor on latency.

Thus, the 5G application shows promise to contribute to safer traffic in the future. Thanks to further technological developments, the server could then send a warning to the driver on the basis of the images, or could force the motorcycle to slow down automatically from a distance.