Steady-State Manifold of Riderless Motorcycles

Keeping balance is one of the most important tasks of a motorcycle. The steady-state manifold is proposed in this paper to explore the inherent dynamics and the balance properties of a riderless motorcycle. The dynamic and kinematic characteristics are analyzed based on the manifold and are validated by simulation. Comparing to traditional control method, the usefulness of the manifold in control is shown through the design of a novel control strategy. Furthermore, based on the analysis and the simulation, the potential applications of the manifold for control and planning are summarized.