Drones are quickly becoming indispensable in modern life, whether as a cheap way to make stunning videos or as a future delivery system for our online orders. But until now, no one has ever considered having one integrated into their motorcycle.
Via Honda's R&D department, a patent application for a drone mounted on a motorcycle has been filed. This patent describes a four-rotor drone that sits in a housing located in the rear loop of a motorcycle. The idea is that it is a completely autonomous flying machine that can be released on command and automatically return to the motorcycle when a recharge is needed.
We can logically wonder what this drone would be used for. Even Honda's patent remains vague on the subject, listing a multitude of possible uses without focusing on a single main benefit.
Among the drone's potential goals, Honda suggests it could be used to deliver fully charged batteries to an electric motorcycle, thereby solving the autonomy problem, although there is no clear mechanism for actually swapping the batteries. packs. Furthermore, given current technology, it remains impossible to imagine a quadcopter that is both small enough to fit on a motorcycle and large enough to carry a battery capable of powering the same motorcycle.
A more realistic suggestion is that the drone could operate as part of a traffic monitoring system, monitoring the road ahead of the pilot and sending information back to him to anticipate and warn of potential problems before they are visible. The drone is also proposed as a sort of communications relay, extending the range of electronic systems on the motorcycle itself or alerting emergency services in the event of an accident. According to the patent, Honda also specifies that when in position on the motorcycle, it could be integrated into the motorcycle's cooling system, using the rotors as fans to draw air in front of a radiator .
Since drones, communications systems, and motorcycles are all well-established technologies, you may be wondering what Honda is actually trying to patent. It seems that the main technical novelty of this drone installed on a motorcycle is a system for moving the rotors, which makes the quadcopter compact enough to fit in a case on a motorcycle but also allows the rotors to move further apart once it is released, making it a more stable drone.
Of course, this isn't the first time bikes and drones have been put together. Honda was edged out by a surprising competitor: Ural, which created a sidecar with an integrated DJI Spark quadcopter in 2018. Like Honda's patent, the prototype Ural developed suggested the drone could be used as a scout, checking what awaits us before it is in the pilot's line of sight. Unlike the Honda, the drone was not fully automated: the passenger piloted it from the sidecar, using a screen on their remote control to see the view of the drone in front of them.
